Some folk ask me for my personal suggestions for where to go in the city, given I spend hundreds of hours wandering the streets to bring you this website. So here are my top ten places to visit in Vienna…
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A lot depends on your interests, of course. Mine is mostly history of one kind or another. And art. And coffee. And, um, cake. So in no particular order…
1. Wander around the centre
(Michaelerplatz square and gateway to the Hofburg palace complex)
If that sounds a bit lame, then I don’t apologise.
Vienna is a beautiful historical city. Every few paces in the centre seems to bring a palace, monument, church, or a building with the kind of costly decorative façade you just don’t get today.
The old town is compact and relatively flat, so easy to walk around. Let your feet take you along the pedestrianised streets and enjoy the view.
Here’s my suggested self-guided walking tour route for the centre, which begins at the Staatsoper opera house and takes about 90 minutes (without breaks for photos, ice cream, reading, more ice cream etc.). It ends at the gothic Stephansdom cathedral.
Do wander along little alleyways and parallel streets on the way to escape any crowds and experience those extra architectural delights that most people hurrying from A to B won’t see.
And if you prefer a guided walking tour, I have a few suggestions for you.
2. Café Central or…
(No prize for guessing the name of this coffee house)
As you wander, be sure to drop in somewhere for that coffee and cake I’m so fond of. That’s pretty much top of my recommended experiences.
The traditional Viennese coffee house remains one of humanity’s better creations. As places for conversation and contemplation, these cafés produced great art and literature, catalysed political and philosophical movements, and precipitated the rise and fall of nations. (I’m only slightly exaggerating.)
The question is…where do you drop into?
Everyone recommends Café Central or Café Sacher, so you might expect them to be full of visitors.
And they are.
(The elegance of Café Sacher)
Queues to get into both of those iconic locations are common. To be safe, reserve a table or visit first thing in the morning when they open.
Café Central, in particular, offers some mind-blowing interior décor, as if you just walked into a film set. Café Sacher actually served as a recent film set.
But plenty of other locations offer traditional and alternative Viennese coffee and cake experiences: try some of these coffee houses or a café-Konditorei.
Take a book to read (or a pen and paper to write your own).
3. Kunst Haus Wien
(Home to a permanent Hundertwasser exhibition)
Many people have heard of Hundertwasserhaus, the apartment block designed by the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. And it’s an intriguing place to see, with its colours, curves, murals, spirals, and trees poking out at odd angles.
But there are too many souvenir outlets around there for me. Nor can you really go inside.
So I’d rather visit the Kunst Haus Wien instead: the building is all Hundertwasser, but with far fewer onlookers. And you can actually go into the location.
Inside, you have a large and wonderful collection of Hundertwasser’s art in the permanent exhibition. Equally, the Kunst Haus Wien houses the lovely Café Friedlich along with special installations & art exhibitions on green themes. So much colour and life in one place.
(Another spectacular Hundertwasser building that deserves more attention is the Spittelau incinerator.)
4. The palaces, of course
(View of the Schönbrunn palace entrance at Christmas)
Schönbrunn Palace is Vienna’s most popular tourist spot. And for good reason: it’s gorgeous. A tour through the interior is a tour through some pretty impressive European history.
Visit in the early morning, when the park gates are open but the ticket office isn’t. Then pop round the back, walk up to behind the Neptune Fountain and look down at the landscaped gardens and palace when empty of visitors.
What a glorious sight.
I love the zoo there, too, which is one of the world’s best. It has giant pandas (although not at the time of writing, as they’re transitioning between pairs).
Elsewhere, the two Belvedere palaces offer some photo-worthy baroque architecture. More importantly, they also offer some world-leading art (see suggestion 7 below).
5. The Kunstkammer
(The KHM at night)
The Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) contains more artistic treasures than you can shake a priceless Bruegel at (they have several of those, incidentally). Everything from Rembrandts to Roman gold.
But the real magic lives in the Kunstkammer section: home to the curiosities and wonders collected by various Habsburgs over the centuries.
The displays in there take your breath away. And dominate my personal KHM highlights.
For example, view glorious bronze statues by Giambologna, biblical scenes carved into wood the size of a key fob, 16th-century mechanical ships, golden salt and pepper pots worth millions, and so much more.
6. Volksgarten Rose Garden
(A huge mix of colours and varieties)
I like roses.
Imagine row after row of different varieties all put together to create a blast of colour to a backdrop of 19th-century imperial opulence.
That’s the rose garden in the Volksgarten park.
Be sure to go early when nobody is around. And go in late spring and summer, when the roses are out. Otherwise all you get is a small park.
7. The MAK and more
(The MAK at night with the MAKlite light installation)
Vienna has a lot of top-quality museums. But I have a particular soft spot for the MAK Museum. You can feel the love for what they do in this showcase of applied art and design.
I come away enthused and rejuvenated every time I visit (and I’m a miserable old man with the attention span of a gnat).
Since we’re on the subject of museums, a shout-out again for Belvedere, not least because it has Austria’s most famous piece of art inside. It might be rude to visit Vienna and not catch a look at Klimt’s The Kiss.
And another shout-out, this time for the Albertina for hosting perhaps the most prestigious art exhibitions. You are almost certain to find some world-famous name or intriguing theme there.
Actually, I could list quite a few other places here because we really do have some wonderful art museums.
8. A little spot on Heldenplatz
(View of the Neue Burg wing of the Hofburg complex)
It’s hard to get away from the modern world, but here’s something worth a try…
Go to Heldenplatz square and stand in front of the Neue Burg building just off the road that leads away from the Burgtor gates to cross the square. Then do a 360° turn.
You might have to adjust your position a little and keep your eyes up to avoid any cars. But you should see a panorama largely unchanged since the late 19th century.
I get a kick out of that every time.
Of course, a construction crane or scaffolding might spoil the view. But you can use your imagination.
With any luck, a horse-drawn carriage will pass by to add a little aural authenticity to proceedings.
9. The Military History Museum
(The museum entrance)
I do like seeing items that offer a direct connection to the past (see suggestion 10). And the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum offers numerous such exhibits.
If we look back at the past, we can name one or two moments that changed the course of the world dramatically.
One such moment is the assassination of the Austrian Archduke, Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo on June 28th, 1914. The incident led directly to World War I and all that followed. A truly pivotal moment in history.
The museum has the car Franz Ferdinand was sitting in when he was shot, complete with bullet holes. And the clothes he wore, too…still stained. I uttered a significant expletive when I first saw them.
Strangely, few people ever seem to talk about that exhibit, despite its extraordinary historical importance.
10. Mozart’s apartment
(A plaque outside the house Mozart lived in)
Which brings me to Mozart’s Apartment. You have celebrities and then you have Mozart. Perhaps the most famous composer of all time.
So can you imagine standing in the very same room he stood in?
Can you imagine looking out the window at the very same view he once admired?
Can you imagine humming The Marriage of Figaro in your head on the very same spot Mozart actually wrote the opera?
No imagination is required.
Take a few steps down, and you can even listen to a live performance of works Mozart wrote at the same location.
Vienna is full of such experiences (cough, Beethoven, cough, Haydn, cough Strauss, and many more), but the Mozarthaus is perhaps the most impressive of them.
11. Christmas in Vienna
(The Christmas market in front of Upper Belvedere palace)
One more tip than promised. This list goes up to 11.
If you can, go to Vienna during the Christmas season. A special atmosphere pervades the place, full of lights and wisps of steam from mugs of punch.
Try the Belvedere Christmas Market after dusk for a wonderful photo opportunity. Or any market, frankly.
Even professional cynics like me can’t help but enjoy chocolate-coated fruit, roast chestnuts, good cheer, and the chance to buy a remarkably-lovely handmade item for some ungrateful relative.
And the rest…
For more ideas, a couple of other articles for you:
- Introduction to Vienna: an overview of what the city’s all about, what it has to offer, and how to get around the place
- What to do in a day: a guide to where to invest your time best if here for a brief visit, organised by themes like “history” or “art”
- What to do in the evening: ideas on how to while away the time at the end of the day
Oh, and you might also like to explore my suggested authentic experiences, too.