On a stroll through the streets and cobblestoned alleys around St Stephen’s Cathedral, you can still sense some of the atmosphere of old Vienna. In the picturesque house at Domgasse no. 5, the only surviving Viennese APARTMENT OF MOZART can be visited. A conspicuous feature on Hoher Markt is the ANKERUHR (Anchor Clock), designed by the Art Nouveau artist Franz Matsch as a bridge-like link between two buildings. When it strikes the hour, one of twelve over-life-sized figures from city history appears in turn, and at 12 o’clock they are all on parade together.

The magnificent grounds of the Hofburg (Court Castle) shows what the headquarters of a global power look like. For over 600 years this was the residence of the Habsburg emperors. In the course of centuries it grew into a huge, irregular complex of buildings covering 240,000 square metres, 18 wings, 19 courtyards and 2,600 rooms. Here you can wander through imperial history, immerse yourself in the everyday life of monarchs, admire artistic treasures and get to know the beautiful Empress Elisabeth (Sisi).

THE FAMOUS “ALBERTINA”

One of the highlights among Vienna’s museums is the Albertina at the southern tip of the Hofburg, up on the wall of the Augustinerbastei. From far away this Habsburg palace can be recognized by its widely protruding roof in the controversial Soravia Wing, which Hans Hollein added during a general overhaul of the building (19972003). There are several reasons for not missing this museum: first of all, the Albertina holds one of the world’s largest and most valuable graphic collections, founded by Duke Albert von Sachsen-Teschen (17381822), the son-in-law of Maria Theresia. From Dürer’s Hare and Hands Folded in Prayer and Raphael’s Study for the Borgobrand to Rubens’ studies of children and Klimt’s studies of women, 50,000 drawings and watercolours and some 900,000 printed works from the late Gothic period to the present, its treasures are presented in changing exhibitions.

VIENNA STAATSOPER – THE OPERA HOUSE

Constructed between 1861 and 1869, the opera house was the first building on the Ringstrasse. Initially, on account of its metal barrel roof, the Viennese called it the “chest”, and even, because of the raised level of the Ringstrasse during building work, the “sunken chest”.

But after the opening, with Mozart’s Don Giovanni in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth, the critics fell silent, and the Staatsoper became one of the world’s leading opera houses.

THE FAMOUS “BURGTHEATER”

When this neo-Baroque building was opened on 14 October 1888, it was the first monumental structure with electric lighting. To gain insights into the architecture and art of this theatre, take a tour to see the stairway halls with famous ceiling paintings by Franz Matsch and the Klimt brothers, passing busts and portraits of celebrated actors, and to get the feeling of being transported back to imperial times in the red-and-gold auditorium.

TO SPEND AN EVENING OUT

The Old Town, consisting of the narrow alleys around St Stephen’s Cathedral, is one of the most popular districts for an evening out. Here you can move on from one Beisl to the next. Night owls are drawn to the entertainment quarter around Rabensteig, Seitenstettengasse and Ruprechtsplatz, the “Bermuda triangle” where one bar or pub is lined up next to the other. In contrast to the region of the Atlantic where ships and planes disappear without trace, in this area you are bound to surface again, whether you were drinking beer in Krah Krah, listening to live music in the Roter Engel, partying through the night in the Kaktus Bar, sipping drinks on the First Floor, one of the city’s most pleasing cocktail bars, or ended up in Jazzland, Vienna’s oldest jazz cellar.

Find more information in our travel guide „3 Days in Vienna“.

One of the best things you can do in Vienna is to have an early breakfast on a sunny day at the Naschmarkt (Eating Market). This colourful, lively market, where visitors can immerse themselves in a paradise of multicultural specialities, extends from the edge of Karlsplatz to the Kettenbrückengasse subway station. Traders from all over the world offer exotic and Austrian delicacies in huge quantities. Fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, baked goods, spices and other produce – the stalls are heaped high, and shoppers are invited to sample the wares.

A large golden sphere of laurel, consisting of 3,000 gilded leaves and 700 berries, marks the city’s most important Art Nouveau building. In 1898, commissioned by the members of the Secession, Joseph Maria Olbrich designed this exhibition building as a deliberate counterpoint to the eclectic historical styles of the Ringstrasse. However, this new vocabulary of form, with austere geometry and cube-like shapes, was not well received by contemporaries. It was called a “temple for tree frogs”, its dome insultingly described as a “golden heap of cabbage” despite its leitmotif above the entrance: “To the age, its art. To art, its freedom.” One of its finest features is the famous Beethoven Frieze on the lower floor, a work by Gustav Klimt for the artists’ exhibition in 1902 that was conceived as an act of homage to the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. 34 metres long and two metres high, the frieze is a visual interpretation of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, telling of the suffering of humankind and the victory of the arts and of love.

SHOPPING – WHERE TO GO

Austria’s leading shopping street is MARIAHILFERSTRASSE between the MuseumsQuartier and Westbahnhof with its mixture of small shops, big department stores and the branches of well-known fashion chains. The second major shopping street is high-class Kärntner Strasse, which leads from the opera house to St Stephen’s Cathedral. It is dominated by the flagship stores of international fashion labels interspersed with branches of lower-price fashion chains. In this street too, thanks to its vicinity to the imperial residence, suppliers to the court are found – for example Glashaus J. & L. Lobmeyr and the court confectioner Gerstner, as well as Hotel Sacher.

Together with Graben and Kohlmarkt, Kärntner Strasse forms the so-called “golden U” in the city centre. These pedestrian zones are the most elegant streets for strolling through the city. The fine townhouses on GRABEN are occupied by exclusive boutiques and numerous companies that were once official “k. u. k.” (royal and imperial) court suppliers, for example the Augarten porcelain manufactory and the court perfumer Nägele & Strubell.

Find more information in our travel guide  “3 Days in Vienna”.

From the cour d’honneur you have a view of the magnificent Baroque palace in its characteristic colour, known as Schönbrunn yellow. 40 of its 1441 rooms can be visited on the grand tour, which leads to the apartments of Franz Joseph and Sisi in the west wing, the festive and state rooms in the central wing, and the opulent living quarters of Maria Theresia in the east wing, whose superb whit and-gold decoration with crystal mirrors makes them a typical example of showcase Rococo interiors. Each room can tell its own stories of private and historical events, and demonstrates the spirit of different periods.

As soon as you enter this museum and ascend the impressive stairs past Canova’s masterly sculptural group of Theseus to reach the domed hall, and admire the paintings of Hans Makart in the lunettes and those of Ernst and Gustav Klimt in the spandrels, you realise that this building is filled with artistic treasures.

With exhibits from seven millennia, major works by Rubens, Rembrandt, Raphael, Vermeer, Velázquez, Titian and Dürer, and the world’s largest Brueghel collection, the Kunsthistorisches Museum is one of the world’s foremost art museums. Here you can see Egyptian sphinxes as well as the famous Gemma Augustea from antiquity, Raphael´s Madonna of the Meadow and Brueghel’s Tower of Babel.