Vienna is by far one of the most spectacular and culturally rich city in Europe. Having changed from a village some hundred years ago to a vibrant European city, offering the best opera, theatre and culinary delights one can only hope for to experience in one city.
Vienna is most popular for it’s culinary ‘Schmankerl’. Have breakfast at it’s famous coffee houses such as Demel, Cafe Landmann or the traditional Cafe Hawelka. The coffee houses offer a wide variety of cakes and pastries that are baked in the same old traditional way that they have been hundred years ago. It is common for the Viennese to spend entire mornings and afternoons in the coffee houses, watching people passing by and reading newspapers.
Getting around in Vienna is easy and I suggest you make use of the well connected public transport system. It is cheap, reliable, safe and brings to every popular tourist destination within Vienna.
Things to do in Vienna, besides eating and drinking, range from visiting museums to seeing the magnificent churches which can be found all over the city. If you do not have a lot of time here are some of the most important things to see whilst in Vienna:
PLACE TO VISIT
The Belvedere - Intended as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy, the
Belvedere was located outside the city walls. Its two palace segments, the Upper and
Lower Belvedere, later became the permanent home of the Austrian Gallery. The Oberes
Belvedere (Upper) contains recent Austrian and international art from the past two
centuries. Viennese art from the early twentieth century is well-represented in the
permanent collection "Vienna around 1900 and the Art of the Classical Modern."
The New Palace - (Neue Hofburg). The New Palace is the newest and largest
section of the Imperial Palace. It contains the Ethnological Museum and three branches of
the Museum of Fine Arts. The Ephesus Museum contains classical art from Asia Minor,
the Collection of Historical Musical Instruments is self-explanatory, but the jewel of the
New Palace is the Collection of Arms. This collection, second largest in the world, houses
an immense and exhaustive representation of weaponry from past centuries.
Schatzkammer - (Imperial Treasury). Located in the Neue Hofburg, the
Schatzkammer (also known as the Secular and Ecclesiastical Treasures) is the best part
of the Hofburg, and an absolute must on any tour of Vienna. Second only to a tour of the
Kunsthistorisches Museum itself, of which the Schatzkammer is officially a part, there are
20 rooms of priceless treasures that give a fairly accurate feel for Habsburg court life over
the centuries.
Kunsthistorisches Museum - One of the world's great art museums, in a
palace that's a work of art itself. Like the Louvre, serious art fans may wish to devote more
than a day to its treasures. The mother of all Austrian museums - there is no other word to
describe the Kunsthistorisches other than mind boggling. It’s at the very least a full day’s
worth of sightseeing, if you intend to go through it thoroughly and attempt ponder the
importance of each major work. The better approach here is to break up sections of the
museum and visit them over a series of days, or if that’s not an option, pick one section
and concentrate on it alone. The Picture Gallery is kept open until 9 pm on Thursdays.
Beginning with another section of the museum, it’s possible to have a lunch or light
dinner in the café and then continue through the Picture Gallery until closing time. The
Museum has an excellent collection of ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art. The coin
& medals collection is also exhaustive in its scope. The Museum cafe is a bit pricey, but
good, and in a beautiful setting.
KunstHausWien - Even an avowed hater of modern art can appreciate the
KunstHausWien, Hundertwasser's (born Friedrich Stowasser in 1928) major contribution
to the Viennese art world. In a time when artists often try to shock the public or merely
impress other members of the rarefied gallery subculture, Hundertwasser's manifesto
rings out as an utterly reasonable plea: The architecture of KunstHausWien would be a
bastion against the dictatorship of the straight line, the ruler and T-square, a bridgehead
against the grid system and the chaos of the absurd. Starting with the façade of the
building, adapted from its prior life as a furniture factory, there is a Gaudi-in-Barcelona feel
to the place. Windows peek out like eyes from curvy, rounded plaster and colorful paint.
It's a Disneyland for grownups! Do not miss the Hundertwasserhaus and the shopping
village situated about 300m from KunstHausWien. Take tram O/N, stop Radetzkyplatz.
Technical Museum - This newly renovated museum near the Schoenbrunn
Palace exhibits machines, transportations, electronic equipment and the like from their
first design up to their current form. It also depicts the development of Vienna as a city, on
all its technical aspects (recycling, power, sewage). The museum is huge (22,000 m2)
and requires at least two hours to go through
Natural History Museum - This museum was erected as a mirror to its twin
museum, The Museum of Fine Arts. It exhibits various minerals (eg. a collection of
meteorites), fossils, stuffed animals and skeleton reconstructions (among others,
dinosaurs' skeletons). It also includes an anthropological section, where you can see the
beautiful Venus of Willendorf (which is 25,000 years old!).
Haus der Musik - (The Music House) This relatively new museum is a special
museum, in that it attributes great value to interactive learning experience. It covers the
history of the Vienne Philharmonic Orchestra, the history of Vienna as a centre of music
making (Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mahler, Schubert and others are documented). In
addition there are the more experimental sections of futuristic composition (The Brain
Opera) and sound experiences. Highly recommended
Albertina - Once a palace, it is now the most popular exhibition space in Vienna,
mainly for traditional modern art. The building itself is an experience as well. It is also
home to a valuable drawing collection including many works of the German Renaissance
painter, Duehrer.
Schloss Schönbrunn - Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996,
The former summer palace of the Habsburg family, Schönbrunn is the ultimate palace
experience in Vienna. Its gardens and zoo (the oldest in the world, built for Maria Theresa’
s husband in 1752) alone are worth a lengthy visit, not to mention the palace, which has
seen its fair share of excitement over the years, including a meeting between John F.
Kennedy and Nikita Khruschchev at the height of the Cold War. The Palace Park offers a
lot of attractions, such as the Privy Garden, a Maze and Labyrinth and the Gloriette with
Panorama Terrace.
Hofburg Palace - This immense palace complex grew into a large, unwieldy series
of buildings over the years, and was the imperial residence of the Habsburg emperors
until 1918. What began as a medieval castle (whose chapel is the only original element of
that building to survive) was expanded, redecorated and redone as the Habsburgs’ power
increased correspondingly. The Palace Stables and Amalia’s Wing were added in the
sixteenth century, the Imperial Chancery Wing, Court Library and Spanish Riding School
in the eighteenth. In the last century St Michael’s Wing was tacked on, and then around
1900 the New Palace was completed. The contents of each separate building contain so
many treasures that the time spent moving from one to another is like opening box after
box of fabulous jewels – it's difficult to know when to stop, and tempting to rush through
them all at once.
Karlskirche - Largest Baroque cathedral north of the Alps, designed by the famous
architect Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. Frescos done by Michael Rottmayr and paintings
from the Italian Baroque painters Sebastiano Ricci and Giuseppe Antonio Pellegrini, and
the Austrian painter Daniel Gran.
Augustinian Friars' Church - Facing the sculpture in the center of the square,
the entrance is small and easy to miss – it's on the left hand wall of the square. Yet
another example of the gruesome divide-and-conquer burial strategy of the Habsburg
dynasty. It's said that other dynasties waged countless wars to acquire new lands, but
"you, happy Austria, marry." Even in death the Habsburgs placated three different
churches with the honor of caring for their remains.
St. Stephen's Cathedral - Yet another patchwork of architectural styles, but
predominantly Gothic. None of that original construction remains – the oldest extant
sections are the thirteenth century Giant Gate (Riesentor) and Towers of the Heathens
(Heidentürme), both of which are Romanesque. The 448-ft South Tower (Südturm), often
known by its Viennese diminutive Steffl (also a nickname for the entire cathedral), was
finished in 1433. This is where the Pummerin, a huge bell cast from melted-down Turkish
cannons, hangs. Steffl's intended twin, the North Tower (Nordturm) was never finished.
Gothic architecture was out of fashion, and in 1511 building in that particular style ceased.
Over fifty years later, in 1579, a Renaissance spire was added to the Nordturm to make it
look less like the builders had stormed off the job. The main altar has a Baroque panel
showing St. Stephen, Christianity’s first martyr.
Kirche am Steinhof - A special church constructed by the Viennese master
architect, Otto Wagner. It is situated in a psychiatric hospital on the hills near the wood
overlooking Vienna. Very beautiful!
The Old Synagogue - An underground medieval synagogue excavations. An
interesting surprise underneath the Judenplatz (The Jewish Square). Amazingly, although
the synagogue was destroyed centuries ago its existence was remembered by the area's
inhabitants up to the 20th Century. If you are interested in Vienna's Jewish side you can
but a combined ticket with the Jewish Museum and the Stadttempel, a well preserved
19th Century synagogue, which is being used as the main city's synagogue by the current
growing Viennese Jewish community.
Chapel of the Imperial Palace - (Burgkapelle). The original chapel of the
Palace, built in Gothic style 1447-1449, was made over in Baroque style. On Sundays and
Catholic holidays (of which the Austrians celebrate many), the Court Musicians perform
here. This group is made up of members from the Vienna Boys Choir, as well as
performers from the orchestra and choir of the Vienna State Opera.
Haus des Meeres Aquarium Zoo - is a marvelous zoo, with a rainforest
glasshouse, tiny apes, aquariums, even with sharks, and terrariums with reptiles and
venomous snakes, situated into one of the leftover second world war air raid shelter, a so
called "Flakturm"
Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Pavilion - This city tram stop, designed by Otto Wagner,
is located near the Secession Building and Naschmarkt. It is a good example of
functional turn of the century architecture – ornate, yet useful. Wagner was one of the most
influoential architects in Vienna and his style was widely copied.
Opera House (Wiener Staatsoper) - probably the most-beloved symbol of
Viennese arts, and one of the first buildings to be rebuilt in the postwar era, as a show of
pride, the Opera has had a fascinating history. It was built 1861-1869 under the direction
of architects were Eduard van der Nüll and August von Siccardsburg for then-emperor
Franz Josef I. The first performance, 25 May 1869, was Austrian native Mozart's opera Don
Giovanni.
Secession Building - building 1897-98 as a display space for artists working in
the new Secession artistic movement. It is topped by a giant, frothy golden ball, lovingly
called "Krauthappel" by the Viennese, but the building was definitely not loved when it first
opened.
Lainzer Tiergarten - Its a beautiful natural reserve at Vienna's border with the
woods. This reserve used to be the Emperor's private hunting wood with the fancy
"Hermesvilla" - the favorite mansion of Empress Sissi in Vienna. Nowadays, the major
part of the park is closed in the winter time, but in summer you can see wild pigs, dear
and many Viennese families.
Tuerkenschanzpark - A very beautiful park which commemorates the Austrian
victory on the Turks near the city boundary. Nowadays, a tranquil resort in the heart of a
nice villas cluster
The Danube Island - Home to Europe's biggest Rock festival. In Summer, a very
nice park with a lot of Viennese bathers. There are also floating pubs on the Danube. A
nice experience!
WHAT TO DO
Wiener Metropol - is a beautiful little theatre in the heart of "Hernals", mostly
frequented by Viennese themselves.
The Naschmarkt - is the biggest of Vienna's 22 market places and provides a
unique blend of typical Vienna contumely and orientalic flair. Stroll through the market and
be part of the amazing ambiente. If you like to cook, you will find all spices you can
possibly imagine at the Naschmarkt. The side of the Secession tends to be more touristy
and thus expensive, than the side of the "Kettenbrueckengasse". Remember that it is
illegal to export antiquities outside of Austria, even if you legally buy them at a market. A
part of the Naschmarkt are the small nice restaurants with fresh Italien, Japanese, Greek
and Turkish food, and in summer they have nice open-air gardens.
Vienna Boys Choir - Vienna Boys Choir was founded at the pleasure of the
Habsburgs. 20 July 1498 Emperor Maximilian I decided to hire six singing boys, the first
permanent boys choir attached to the court. He also made arrangements for their
education – fringe benefits that are difficult to get from a modern employer. The choir
served the monarchy until its demise at the beginning of the first World War. The last
Imperial Chaplain, Monsignor Josef Schnitt reestablished the Boys Choir as the "Vienna
Boys Choir" in 1924 as a private institution. To earn money, the Choir began to perform
outside the Imperial Chapel. Even though they are a not-for-profit organization, the rising
costs of educating the choristers from a very young age as well as providing music and all
the other variables required made establishing the Verein Wiener Sängerknaben
necessary
River and Canal tours - In the summer it's just wonderful to hang out in
Museumsquartier in the evenings. The big yard is filled with large fiberglass sofas you
can use for free. Optionally you can buy drinks at the open air bars there. Just ask for a
glass you can take away so you can use the sofas. During the day a visit to Burggarten is
highly recommended if you are looking for a more alternative young crowd. Buy something
to eat and drink at a supermarket and join the others on the grass.
HOW TO REACH
By plane - The Vienna International Airport is actually located in the suburb of
"Schwechat". The airport "Wien-Schwechat" is the home base of the Flagcarrier Austrian
and the budget airline Fly Niki. Most European airlines and a significant number of
international airlines have direct connections to Vienna.
Nevertheless, sometimes it is cheaper to fly to a nearby city and connect by train or bus.
Ryanair flies to Linz (1.5 - 2 hours by train), Graz (2.5 hours by train) and Brno (IATA: BRQ)
and Sky Europe flies to Bratislava (1.5 hours by bus and 8 euros book at Ryan airlines
destinations page). By March 25, 2007, SkyEurope will also serve Vienna International
Airport from which the company will operate a network of 16 European routes.
By train - Vienna is a railroad hub, easily accessible from other major European cities.
Overnight trains arrive from places like Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Bucharest, Sofia,
Belgrade, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Moscow, Kiev, Milan, Warsaw, Cracow,
Prague, Cheb, Rijeka, Koper, Rome and Venice. The day trains from Prague take less
than 5 hours, the night train takes less than 8 hours.
By car - Most Austrian highways ("Autobahn") terminate/originate in Vienna. Unlike
Germany, there is a strictly enforced speed limit of 130 km/h on highways (80 km/h on
highway sections in Vienna). Within towns it is 50 km/h, and on major roads it is 100
km/h. Also a Highway Toll Sticker (Vignette) is a must! Not having one can be really
expensive. Usually they can be purchased at petrol (gas) stations. Drivers in Austria are
also required by law to carry certain safety equipment. This includes a reflective vest, first
aid kit and traffic warning triangle
By bus - Eurolines is a relatively cheap way to reach Vienna from major European
cities. Buses usually stop at the subway station Erdberg (line U3).
By boat - Riverboats on the Danube include connections with Bratislava and
Budapest, but it's of little value - unless you just love going on (slow and relatively
expensive) riverboats. There is a fast catamaran service to Bratislava for 25 euros.
