Imperial palaces, cafés where people linger for hours, trams circling the Ring. Discover Vienna slowly, between a museum, a slice of cake and a glass of wine at a tavern by the vineyards.
apital of the Habsburgs for centuries, Vienna was the heart of an empire stretching from the Alps to the Balkans. After 1857, Emperor Franz Joseph had the walls torn down to lay out the Ring, a boulevard lined with the opera, parliament, museums and palaces.
The city of Mozart, Beethoven, Klimt and Freud is best enjoyed neighbourhood by neighbourhood: historic cafés in the centre, Neubau’s shops, the Prater in Leopoldstadt and the stalls of the Naschmarkt. Vienna takes its time; do the same.
Find your bearings
For a first stay on foot: St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Hofburg, the opera and historic cafés. The priciest and most touristy area; side streets stay quiet at night.
For the MuseumsQuartier, designer shops and the cafés of Spittelberggasse. A lively base one stop from the centre.
For the Naschmarkt, St. Charles’s Church and small restaurants. Well connected by subway, often more affordable than the centre.
For the Prater, the Danube Canal and the Karmelitermarkt. It varies street by street; avoid booking a hotel right next to Praterstern station.
A first visit
A starting point to adapt to the weather, your energy and opening hours.
Morning at St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the central streets, with a break in a historic café. Afternoon at the Hofburg or the Kunsthistorisches Museum. In the evening, the opera or a concert; book ahead, or try same-day standing tickets.
Morning at Schönbrunn and its gardens. Lunch at the Naschmarkt, then the MuseumsQuartier and Neubau. Late afternoon, a Heuriger (winemaker’s tavern) in Grinzing or the Prater, as you like.
