Attractions - Austria

Attractions - Vienna

Vienna, Austria

Vienna - Austria’s legendary capital city - lives in the international imagination as the city of Strauss waltzes, the River Danube, Art Nouveau, Sigmund Freud, prancing white Lipizzaner horses, elegant cafés and fine restaurants. Combine this with stunning architecture, all kinds of music, and some of Europe’s finest museums and you’ll discover a lively, attractive city that boasts something for everyone. The Vienna Boys’ Choir can still be heard at morning mass at the Hofburgkapelle during the summer months.

Vienna was the imperial seat of the Habsburg court from the 17th century and was one of the most powerful cities in the world, both culturally and politically, until World War I. Home to some of Europe’s greatest composers - Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Strauss, and Mahler - Vienna has music at its very soul. Make the most of the wide and varied programmes on offer. Take in an opera at the Staatsopera, one of the world's great opera venues. To really get the feel of the city, take a tour around the town on foot, tram, bicycle or fiacre, stopping from time to time for some of those beautiful cream-filled pastries for which Vienna is renowned. Although the tour covers only around 2.5 km, it could take you several days to complete, as there is so much to see and do on the way. It takes you through streets of great architectural interest and encompasses many different sights, including the Donnerbrunnen Fountain, the Loos Haus, the Michaelerkirche, and the Rathaus as well as some of the best museums in town.

Vienna boasts no fewer than 90 museums. Make sure to visit the fabulous Secession Building, designed by Josef Maria Olbrich, for its architectural beauty as well as for its contents. Check out the fabulous Art Nouveau collections, particularly the paintings of the movement’s most famous member, Gustav Klimt. The finest art museum in Vienna, if not the whole of Europe, however, is the Kunsthistorisches, which is worth a visit for its Rubens collection alone, although it also houses a stupendous collection of works by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. After the urban landscape of Vienna, the rolling hills and trails of the Wienerwald or the Prater woods nearby make for a refreshing break. Within easy reach of the city, start at Nussdorf and climb up to Kahlenberg, a walk that provides a bird’s eye view over one of Europe’s most stunning cities.

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