Spanish Riding School
So how do you get to see the famous Lipizzaner horses in action? Relatively easily it turns out, provided you can settle for less than a fully fledged performance.
The formal performances take place most months usually on the weekend. Exceptions are when the school is touring and during much of July and August, when the horses are on their summer holidays in the country.
Performances last a little over an hour and tickets are in great demand: you need to book early, especially if you want a good seat at an evening gala performance.
Performance schedules, pricing and booking links are available from the riding school's website.
There are alternatives, though.
The stallions are often trained in the winter riding hall in the mornings. This Morgenarbeit (morning training) is open to the public.
It doesn't have the glamor or comprehensiveness of the gala performances, but the exercises are done to music and it's a (relatively) cheap and easy way to see the horses undertaking some of their moves.
I say relatively cheap because you do need a ticket to see the training. See here for details.
You can't book tickets for future training sessions - you simply buy a ticket from the Spanish Riding School visitor center and turn up on the day hoping to get in. Note that some days can be very busy, so get some advice from the center on when best to attend.
You can also take a guided tour round the riding school and stables.
If you want to see the stallions for free and you have plenty of patience, you can wait outside the stable areas for the horses to transfer from their accommodation to the training areas on days when there's Morgenarbeit or a performance.
Stand outside the former Lipizzaner Museum (Address: Reitschulgasse 2), facing the wall. To your right is the entrance to the stables. If you're there just before, during and after the times of a session or performance, you should see some stallions walked past by their riders.
The question just remains, how do you get there? The visitor center and entrance to the Spanish Riding School is part of the Hofburg Palace area, underneath the giant dome (Michaelerkuppel).
You can best reach it on bus numbers 2A and 3A, stops Michaelerplatz and Habsburggasse respectively. Alternatively, it's a short walk from subways U1 (Stephansplatz), U2 (Volkstheater, Museumsquartier or Karlsplatz), U3 (Herrengasse or Stepahnsplatz) and U4 (Karlsplatz) and from any stop on the trams 1, 2, D and J between the stops Dr.Karl-Renner-Ring and Oper/Karlsplatz.
Address: Spanish Riding School (visitor center and entrance), Michaelerplatz 1, 1010 Vienna
Website: http://www.srs.at/