Places to Visit in Europe
Vienna's State Opera House and grand Habsburg architecture

Vienna, Austria

Vienna does not announce itself the way some European capitals do. There is no Roman ruin in the middle of a roundabout, no medieval cathedral dominating the skyline, no obvious postcard angle from which the city declares what it is. What there is, instead, is a long, generous succession of beautiful rooms. The Habsburgs built for centuries, and they built well: the Hofburg, the Schönbrunn, the Belvedere, the Ringstrasse palaces, the opera houses, the concert halls, the great formal parks. Add to this one of the world's great coffeehouse cultures, a living classical-music scene that has not been gentrified into museum-piece status, and a wine country at the edge of town that has been pouring the same fresh young wines for two thousand years, and you have a capital that rewards unhurried exploration more than any other in Europe.

The city sits in the northeast of Austria, on a flat plain where the Danube widens into something that almost resembles a delta — the Danube Canal slicing through the centre, the New River running parallel to the east, the hills of the Wienerwald rising gently to the west. It is a green city by central-European standards: the Wienerwald is essentially inside the city limits, the Prater is a vast public park in the middle of the second district, and the formal Schönbrunn gardens roll out to the west like a green lung. Vienna is one of the most consistently liveable cities in the world, and you can see why after a day or two of walking it: the public transport is excellent, the food is honest, the streets are clean, and the pace of life is human.

This guide is for travellers who want to experience Vienna as more than a series of imperial rooms. It covers the essential sights — Schönbrunn, the Hofburg, the Belvedere — and also the neighbourhoods, the coffeehouses, the Heurigen wine taverns, the day trips along the Danube, and the practical details that turn a weekend break into a real encounter with the city.

Best Places to Stay

Vienna's central accommodation is concentrated in the Innere Stadt (1st district) and the old suburbs that ring it. The 1st is the most beautiful and the most expensive. The 2nd (Leopoldstadt) and 7th (Neubau) are hipper and more affordable. The 8th (Josefstadt) is the quiet middle. The 4th and 5th (Wieden and Margareten) hide the most authentic neighbourhood feeling, and the 6th and 7th contain the Museumsquartier and most of the city's design hotels. Where you stay will shape your Vienna — staying in the 1st means walking past the cathedral on the way to breakfast, while staying in the 7th means walking past a dozen independent coffeehouses and concept stores instead.

The 1st District (Innere Stadt): The most beautiful and the most expensive base in the city. Everything is within a few minutes' walk — St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Hofburg, the State Opera, the Albertina, the cafés of the Graben, the Spanish Riding School. The trade-off is that you will pay a premium for the location. Hotel Sacher Wien (Philharmoniker Strasse 4), the famous home of the Sachertorte, is the city's most storied grand hotel — a few steps from the Opera, with the kind of opulent rooms that have been hosting visitors since 1876. The Ritz-Carlton, Vienna (Schubertring 5-7) is the contemporary luxury option, on the Ringstrasse with a rooftop bar overlooking the old town. Park Hyatt Vienna (Am Hof 2) is in a former bank building from the early 20th century, with a vast indoor swimming pool in what used to be the bank's vault. Hotel König von Ungarn (Schulerstrasse 10), just off the Stephansplatz, is a quietly elegant old-world option that has been operating since 1906.

The 7th (Neubau) and 6th (Mariahilf): The creative and design-hotel heart of Vienna, with the Museumsquartier at its centre. The 7th is the part of the city where the young Viennese actually live and drink — a dense grid of independent boutiques, small galleries, and the city's best restaurants and bars. 25hours Hotel Vienna at Museumsquartier (Lerchenfelder Strasse 1-3) is a design-forward hotel that is one of the most reliably well-reviewed stays in the city. Altstadt Vienna (Kirchengasse 41) is a long-established boutique property that is more like staying with a stylish Viennese aunt than in a hotel. Hotel Sans Souci (Wiedner Gürtel 36, technically 4th) is a design hotel near the Naschmarkt, and the Hotel Saint Shermin (Rilke-Platz 7) is a small boutique option in a beautifully restored 19th-century building.

The 8th (Josefstadt) and 2nd (Leopoldstadt): Two of the most pleasant central neighbourhoods, much calmer than the 1st. The 8th, north of the Ring, is a quiet residential district of grand 19th-century apartment buildings, embassies, and the old Theater in der Josefstadt. The 2nd is the Prater side, the bigger of the two central districts, with the Prater park, the Augarten, and a growing cluster of design-forward restaurants and bars around the Taborstrasse and Karmeliter markets. Hotel Stefanie (Taborstrasse 12, 2nd) is a long-established family-run hotel on a quiet street, with a leafy inner courtyard and a Viennese breakfast that has not changed in decades. Henriette Stadthotel (Praterstrasse 44-46, 2nd) is a design option in a converted 19th-century townhouse. Hotel Rathaus Wein & Design (Lange Gasse 13, 8th) is a tiny, design-obsessed hotel that is essentially a wine bar with rooms above it.

The 4th and 5th (Wieden and Margareten): South of the Ring, these two districts are the most authentically Viennese part of the inner city — old working-class neighbourhoods that are now full of small restaurants, coffeehouses, and the Naschmarkt, the city's best food market. Hotel Prinz Eugen (Wiedner Gürtel 14, 4th) is a quietly comfortable four-star near the Belvedere, with classic Viennese interiors. Hotel Johann Strauss (Favoritenstrasse 12, 4th) is a small mid-range option in a 19th-century building. Das Triest (Wiedner Hauptstrasse 12, 4th) is the city's most famous designer hotel, designed by Sir Terence Conran in a former telegraph office, and still one of the most stylish places to stay.

Budget: Vienna is a great value for an Austrian and central-European capital, with a strong network of hostels, pensions, and apartment rentals. Wombat's City Hostel Vienna (Grangergasse 6, 10th) is a reliable design hostel with both dorms and private rooms. a&o Wien Hauptbahnhof (Sonnwendgasse 11, 10th) is a clean budget option near the main station. Vienna Hostel Ruthensteiner (Robert-Hamerling-Gasse 24, 15th) is a small, atmospheric independent hostel that has been a backpacker favourite for decades. Hotel Kaffeemühle (Kaiserstrasse 45, 7th) is a tiny two-star with a great location. Apartment rentals in the 2nd, 4th, and 7th districts are also plentiful and well-priced compared to hotels.

Best Places to Eat

Viennese food is a serious regional cuisine that has been protected from homogenisation by the strength of its traditions. The core of it is a few signature dishes: the Wiener Schnitzel (a thin breaded and fried veal cutlet that is said to have been brought back from Italy in the 19th century and is now a national icon), the Tafelspitz (boiled beef, served with apple-horseradish and chive sauce, originally a Habsburg court dish), the Gulasch (the Viennese version is a thick paprika-flecked stew, quite different from the Hungarian original), the Sachertorte (the dark-chocolate-and-apricot-jam torte from Hotel Sacher, with a copyright feud that ran for decades), and the Kaiserschmarrn (the shredded caramelised pancake named after the emperor). Add the city's three world-class coffeehouse traditions, the standing-only wine bar scene, and the Heurigen (wine taverns) in the hills above town, and you have a food culture that is much more distinctive than its reputation suggests.

Fine Dining: Vienna has a serious fine-dining scene that is less well-known internationally than Paris or London but rewards the traveller who looks for it. Steirereck (Am Heumarkt 2A, Stadtpark) is the most famous restaurant in Austria, run by chef Heinz Reitbauer and his wife Birgit in a modern glass pavilion in the Stadtpark. The kitchen works with Austrian ingredients at the very highest level — river fish from the Danube, wild herbs from the mountains, pork and venison from Styrian farms. Tasting menus are around €245 per person. Amador (Grinzinger Strasse 86, 19th, in a Heuriger setting) is the two-Michelin-starred restaurant of chef Juan Amador, a Spanish-trained chef who married Viennese ingredients to modern technique. Konstantin Filippou (Dominikanerbastei 17, 1st) is a contemporary two-star restaurant in a vaulted cellar near the old town, with tasting menus around €195. TIAN (Spiegelgasse 17, 1st) is the most ambitious vegetarian restaurant in the city, with a Michelin green star and an entirely plant-based tasting menu.

Traditional Viennese: The classic Viennese Beisl is the local equivalent of a Parisian bistro — a small neighbourhood restaurant with a chalkboard menu, hearty portions, and usually a few tables outside in summer. The best of them have been operating for generations. Figlmüller (Wollzeile 5, 1st, and other locations) is famous for its Wiener Schnitzel — each one is the size of a small shield, and the restaurant has been preparing them the same way for more than a century. Plachutta (Wollzeile 38, 1st, and other locations) is the canonical Tafelspitz restaurant, with five cuts of boiled beef on offer and a proper Habsburg-style service. Wiener Deewan (Liebiggasse 4, 1st) is a small student-favourite Beisl with an unusual pay-what-you-want policy. Esterházykeller (Haarhof 1, 1st) is a vaulted cellar restaurant in a 16th-century building, serving hearty Hungarian and Viennese dishes. Zum Schwarzen Kameel (Bognergasse 5, 1st) is the most historic Beisl in the city, operating since 1618, with a small upstairs dining room and a famous hot-dog window at street level.

Coffee and Cake: The Viennese coffeehouse is a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, and the city has more than a thousand of them. The best are not chains but old establishments where the marble-topped tables, the Thonet bentwood chairs, the newspaper stands, and the long unhurried afternoons have not changed in a century. Café Central (Herrengasse 14, 1st) is the most famous — a grand Austro-Hungarian room where Trotsky, Freud, and the young Hitler reportedly used to sit (the first two are real; the third is a myth, but the café still trades on the rumour). Café Sacher (Philharmoniker Strasse 4, 1st) is inside Hotel Sacher and is the only place that serves the original Sachertorte; the apple strudel is also excellent. Demel (Kohlmarkt 14, 1st) is the imperial confectioner's, founded in 1786, with a window on the street where you can watch the confectioners icing cakes by hand. Café Landtmann (Universitätsring 4, 1st) is Sigmund Freud's old café, slightly less famous than Central but with better food and a more comfortable back room. Café Hawelka (Dorotheergasse 6, 1st) is a smoky, book-strewn bohemian institution that has been run by the same family since 1945. Café Prückel (Stubenring 18, 1st) is the classic stop for a hot Eiskaffee or a small Sachertorte with whipped cream.

Heurigen (Wine Taverns): The Heuriger is one of Vienna's most distinctive institutions — a wine tavern in the hills above the city where the vintners serve their new wine (called Sturm in autumn, Junger Wein in spring) and a few cold dishes under chestnut trees from May to October. The Grinzing, Nussdorf, Sievering, and Neustift am Walde neighbourhoods are the main Heuriger districts. Mayer am Pfarrplatz (Pfarrplatz 2, 19th) is the most famous — Beethoven reportedly lived in an apartment above the tavern in 1817, and it still has the most beautiful garden of any of the Heurigen. Wagner in Grinzing (Am Grinzing 21, 19th) is a sprawling tavern with a vast garden and a band playing Viennese Schrammelmusik. Singerhof (Grinzinger Strasse 41, 19th) is a smaller, more local Heuriger. Weingut Cobenzl (Am Cobenzl 1, 19th) is a more modern wine estate high above the city with stunning views.

Naschmarkt and Markets: Vienna's best food market is the Naschmarkt (Wienzeile, 6th), a kilometre-long stretch of stalls and permanent restaurants running between the Ring and the Gürtel. The market has been operating since the 16th century and is the city's most international food destination — Austrian, Italian, Turkish, Indian, Vietnamese, Middle Eastern, Balkan, and Levantine restaurants, plus excellent fruit, vegetables, cheese, olives, and bread stalls. The Saturday flea market at the western end is one of the best in Europe. Karmelitermarkt (Im Werd, 2nd) is a smaller and more local market in the Leopoldstadt, with a Sunday antiques market. Brunnenmarkt (Brunnengasse, 16th) is the working-class market of the Yppenplatz area, full of Turkish and Balkan food stalls, vintage shops, and the kind of independent restaurants you don't find in the guidebooks.

Best Sites to Visit

The Schönbrunn Palace: The Habsburg summer residence, a 1,441-room Rococo palace in the west of the city, is Vienna's single most visited attraction. The palace was built and rebuilt over the 18th century for Empress Maria Theresa, and the 40 rooms on the Grand Tour take you through the gilded age of the imperial court — the Great Gallery, the Hall of Mirrors, the Vieux-Laque Room, the Million Room with its rosewood parquet. The gardens, designed by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg, are the apotheosis of the French formal garden in the German-speaking world: a vast symmetrical layout of parterres, statuary, fountains, the Gloriette hilltop monument, the Palm House, the Desert House, and the world's oldest zoo, the Tiergarten Schönbrunn, which was founded as an imperial menagerie in 1752. Plan at least half a day. The palace is open every day; entry is around €24 for the Grand Tour, €17 for the Imperial Tour (22 rooms). The gardens are free. Note that the famous painting of the young Mozart performing for Maria Theresa is in the Great Gallery and is one of the few surviving 18th-century depictions of the composer.

The Hofburg Palace: The imperial winter residence in the heart of the city, the Hofburg has been expanded by every Habsburg ruler for 700 years and is essentially a small city of palaces. The Imperial Apartments ( Kaiserappartements) are the most visited section, where Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Sisi lived until 1918. The Sisi Museum is dedicated to the famous and still-popular Empress Elisabeth (1837-1898), who was assassinated in Geneva. The Spanish Riding School (Spanische Hofreitschule) is the world-famous Lipizzaner horse-riding school, founded in 1572 and still performing the classical dressage routines in the 18th-century Winter Riding School. Heldenplatz, the great open square in front of the Hofburg, is where Hitler announced the Anschluss in 1938 and where the giant equestrian statues of the Habsburg archdukes still preside. The Imperial Treasury (Kaiserliche Schatzkammer) holds the imperial regalia — the Holy Lance, the imperial crown, the cradle of Napoleon's son — and is one of the most extraordinary collections of medieval and Renaissance goldsmithing in the world. Plan at least three hours for the full complex.

The Belvedere Palace: Two Baroque palaces (Upper and Lower Belvedere) at the south end of the Ringstrasse, built for Prince Eugene of Savoy in the early 18th century and now one of Austria's most important art museums. The Upper Belvedere is the showstopper — a long symmetrical palace set on a hill with a panoramic view back over the city, holding the world's largest collection of Gustav Klimt paintings including the iconic Kiss (1908) and Judith (1901). The view down over the formal Belvedere gardens toward the Innere Stadt is one of the great Vienna photographs. The Lower Belvedere holds temporary exhibitions and the Baroque Museum. The Belvedere 21 across the street is the modern art museum in a 1950s modernist building. Entry to the Upper Belvedere is around €19.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum and Naturhistorisches Museum: Two grand 19th-century museums facing each other on the Ringstrasse, the Kunsthistorisches (KHM) and the Naturhistorisches (NHM) are the twin pillars of Vienna's museum culture. The KHM, opened in 1891 around the Habsburg collections, holds one of the world's great picture galleries — the Bruegels (almost all the major works are here, including the Hunters in the Snow and the Tower of Babel), the Vermeers, the Rembrandts, the Raphaels, the Titians, the Velázquez, the Dürers. The picture gallery alone requires a half-day. The NHM across the square is the natural history museum, with the 25,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf (one of the oldest known figurative sculptures), the 1,500-year-old mummy of an Egyptian child, the world's largest collection of meteorites including a 300kg piece of Mars, and a famous dioramas hall. The buildings themselves are identical in plan and equally grand, with marble staircases and painted ceilings throughout.

The Albertina and the Modern Art Museums: The Albertina (Albertinaplatz 1, 1st), a former Habsburg residence facing the Opera, holds one of the world's great collections of graphic art — a million prints and drawings including Dürer, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and a deep Impressionist and early-modernist collection. The Leopold Museum (Museumsplatz 1, 7th) in the Museumsquartier holds the world's largest collection of Egon Schiele paintings and the largest Gustav Klimt collection outside the Belvedere, in a sober white-cube building. The MUMOK (Museumsplatz 1, 7th) is the museum of modern art, in a striking basalt-clad cube next to the Leopold, holding Warhol, Lichtenstein, Picasso, and a deep German-speaking expressionist collection.

The Vienna State Opera, Musikverein, and Konzerthaus: Vienna is still one of the great music cities, and a night at the opera or a concert is one of the most memorable things to do in the city. The Wiener Staatsoper (Opernring 2, 1st) is the opera house — the world's largest repertoire opera company, with more than 300 performances a year and standing-room tickets from €10 to €40 that are still available on the day of performance. The building is one of the great 19th-century theatres and was rebuilt after a 1945 Allied bombing. The Musikverein (Musikvereinsplatz 1, 1st) is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic — the famous gold-leafed Goldener Saal is one of the most beautiful concert halls in the world, and the New Year's Day Concert is broadcast from here to a global audience of around 50 million. The Konzerthaus (Lothringerstrasse 20, 3rd) is the other great concert venue, more modern and slightly more adventurous in its programming.

Prater and the Giant Ferris Wheel: The Prater is a vast public park in the 2nd district — once an imperial hunting ground, now Vienna's most popular green space. The Wurstelprater at the entrance is the old amusement park area, with the Giant Ferris Wheel (Riesenrad) as its centrepiece. The Ferris Wheel, built in 1897, is one of Vienna's most recognisable landmarks; the views from the top, over the Prater and across the Danube to the hills beyond, are exceptional. The rest of the Prater — the Hauptallee with its trees, the meadows around the Lusthaus, the Praterstern roundabout — is a genuinely pleasant park to walk, jog, or cycle. The Kugelmugel is a small spherical house built by an artist in 1984 and declared an independent republic; the story is endearingly Viennese.

St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Inner City Churches: The Stephansdom (Stephansplatz 1, 1st) is Vienna's Gothic cathedral, with the 136-metre south tower that has defined the city's skyline since the 15th century. The roof is covered with 230,000 glazed tiles arranged in patterns including the double-headed Habsburg eagle. The interior is a layer cake of Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque elements. The cathedral is free to enter; the towers (South Tower by 343 steps, North Tower by lift) are around €6. The catacombs tour is around €7. The other inner-city churches are worth visiting for the architecture alone: Peterskirche (Petersplatz, 1st), a Baroque masterpiece by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt; Karlskirche (Kreuzherrengasse 1, 4th), a grand Baroque church with a Greco-Roman portico and lift-access dome; and the Jesuitenkirche (Dr.-Ignaz-Seipel-Platz 1, 1st), one of the most extravagant Baroque interiors in the city.

Sample 2-3 Day Itinerary

Day 1: The Imperial Vienna

Start with a coffee and a Kaiserschmarrn at Café Central in the Herrengasse, then walk two minutes to the Hofburg for the Imperial Apartments and the Sisi Museum (allow 90 minutes). After the Hofburg, walk through the Heldenplatz to the Kunsthistorisches Museum (open until 6pm most days, late on Thursdays) — the Bruegels alone justify a visit, and you can spend a full afternoon in the picture gallery. Have lunch in the museum restaurant or walk back to the Graben for a quick bite. After lunch, walk south through the historic centre to the Stephansdom (climb the South Tower if the weather is good) and then continue south across the Schwedenplatz to take the U4 metro out to Schönbrunn for a late-afternoon visit. The palace tours take 40-60 minutes, but the gardens are the real attraction in late afternoon light — walk up to the Gloriette for the view, and have a coffee in the café on the way back. End the day with dinner at Plachutta (Wollzeile) for the canonical Tafelspitz, and a night at the Wiener Staatsoper (standing tickets from €10-40 are still available on the day of performance from the front-of-house ticket window — queue from 30 minutes before opening).

Day 2: The MuseumsQuartier, the Belvedere, and the Heurigen

Morning at the Leopold Museum in the Museumsquartier (MQ) for the Schiele and Klimt collection (two hours), then a walk through the MQ complex and a coffee at the Daniel Spoerri garden café in the centre. From the MQ, walk south through the 7th and 8th districts to the Rathausplatz (the great square in front of the neo-Gothic City Hall, with the giant ice-skating rink in winter and the open-air film festival in summer), then continue south to the Volkstheater and on to the Museumsquartier for lunch at the Leopold's Lefèvre or a quick bite at the MQ food court. After lunch, take the U2 metro to the Karlskirche, walk through the gardens of the Belvedere, and visit the Upper Belvedere (two hours) for the Klimt collection and the great view over the city. From the Belvedere, take the U4 to Heiligenstadt and a tram to Grinzing for an evening at a Heuriger — Mayer am Pfarrplatz or Wagner in Grinzing are the most famous, but the smaller ones in the side streets are more atmospheric. End the night with a final glass of Sturm in the chestnut-shaded garden.

Day 3: The Danube, the Naschmarkt, and the Coffeehouses

Morning on the Donauinsel (Danube Island), the long narrow island in the middle of the Danube that is one of the great urban parks in Europe — more than 40km of cycle paths, beaches, and meadows, easily reached by U-Bahn. Rent a bike and cycle the length of the island, or take a small ferry over to the Copacabana beach for a swim in the New Danube. After a couple of hours, take the metro back into the centre and have lunch at the Naschmarkt — the Saturday market and the permanent international restaurants (try the Motto am Fluss on the river, or stay at the Naschmarkt for an authentic Turkish kebap or an Indian thali). Afternoon in the Innere Stadt for the museums you missed: the Albertina for the graphic art collection, the Imperial Treasury in the Hofburg for the regalia, or the Kunstkammer Wien for the Wunderkammer. Late afternoon at Demel or Café Sacher for the cake, then a long walk through the Stadtpark to see the gilded Johann Strauss monument and a drink at the Motto am Stadtpark café-restaurant on the edge of the park. End the day with dinner at a Beisl in the Spittelberg (the small cobblestone quarter at the edge of the 7th) — *7Stern is a local favourite, or Mariahilferbräu** if you want a casual meal in a converted brewery.

Note: Buy a Vienna Pass (€72 for 1 day, €99 for 2 days, €129 for 3 days) if you are planning to visit multiple major sights — it covers entry to more than 90 attractions and includes the hop-on-hop-off bus. The Wiener Linien public transport pass (€8.80 for 24 hours, €17.10 for 72 hours) is the cheapest way to use the U-Bahn, trams, and buses. Dress warmly in winter — the Viennese winter is cold, dry, and often foggy, but the city's cultural life is at its peak.

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