Waltzing through Vienna

Vienna is a thoroughly modern city where the past and future of Europe converge. Vienna’s role as the seat of the Hapsburg Empire for centuries can be seen in the wealth of architecture and in the city’s artistic and musical heritage. From its colorful history, Vienna has adopted the best of the new and still preserves its culture and history.

Vienna is divided into 23 Bezirke (districts). The original city that lay within the protective walls comprises the First District of modern Vienna. The demolition of the city walls led to the construction of the Ringstrasse and an impressive parade of buildings along its length. The majority of the tourist attractions lie on and within the Ringstrasse. Districts two to nine are arrayed between the Ringstrasse and the concentric Gürtel (Belt). The other districts lie beyond the Gürtel and extend into the foothills of the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods), where Heurigen (wine taverns) and pretty villages are dotted among the vineyards.

The waltz and Mozart are still very much alive in this city where film, music, the opera, and museums draw hip and sophisticated crowds.

Monumental edifices line the city centre, world-class museums overflow with artefacts, it has a nightlife that begs experiencing, it’s home to incredibly well-trained Lipizzaner horses belonging to the internationally recognised Spanish Riding School, and its boys choir is one of the best anywhere.

The Viennese elevated the coffee house to a cultural institution in Europe and still sets the standard. Friends spend hours in the coffee houses discussing ideas and enjoying pastries first served at the imperial court.

Vienna is a city of music, one that will pleasantly enchant you. Come and discover it for yourself, its history and its treasures… you’ll be glad you did.

Quick Tips:

This is a very expensive city to shop and eat. For good food on a budget, try the many cafés and bistros in the museum quarter, which are frequented by students on limited budgets. The food is authentic, good, and reasonably priced.

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way to get around (when you're feet are sore from all the walking) is definitely public transportation. A single day or multi-day pass is the best value. Vienna's public transport operates on the honor system, and we were never asked to present our passes during our stay.

This modern first-class hotel, with all the conveniences, lies behind an elegant, old facade of an historical building once belonging to the imperial family.

Rudolfsplatz is probably the quietest square in the area, but only a stone's throw from lively areas and good, reasonable restaurants, as well as the city centre, a 10-minute walk away. It is highly convenient for the Metro and trams going around the Ring in either direction and certainly ideal for reaching all parts of Vienna in the shortest time possible. Its location is extremely convenient when travelling to and from the airport.

The rooms, minimalist in design, are warmed by soft yellow walls and honey-coloured wood wainscoting. The beds were delicious, soft and welcoming, with lovely down comforters to snuggle into. Our room had two comfortable chairs, a desk and luggage rack, and plenty of closet space, and there were good reading lights.

There's a quiet lounge on the first floor furnished with rich leather chairs and a sofa. There is free Internet access and tea service 24 hours a day. The tea was excellent. Fax machines are also available for the business traveler.

Each guest is provided with a "gift box" of toiletries upon arrival. The staff is courteous, fluent in English, and promptly attended to our requests.

A bountiful breakfast, which is included in the room rate, is served buffet style, with waiters for to take drink orders and special requests, such as cappuccino. Breakfast includes unlimited champagne, several juice and cereal selections, bacon, prosciutto, sausage, eggs, fresh fruits, cheeses, and pastries. The food is replenished before it runs out.

The hotel has character and was spotlessly clean and well serviced. Overall, the hotel accommodations and breakfast represented a good value for the money, and this was a pleasant place to stay altogether. If this hotel is indicative of the K + K chain of hotels in Europe, it will always be my first choice.

This Italian ice-cream parlor is loved by every Viennese and tourist alike. It is open from 7am until midnight 365 days a year and offers delicious ice-cream creations and pastry for gourmets.

You must go to the counter to place your order, which is prepared and brought to your table. There are no chairs, as you eat standing up at a bar-height table. There's nothing better after a night of shopping or the opera than one of their decadent desserts.

We had awesome chocolate profiteroles in cream and the infamous Sachertorte. Both were excellent and reasonably priced.

For more info, visit the website.

A little hidden cobblestone street leads to this engaging Old World house, which dates back four centuries. We stopped for a late dinner here after shopping on the Mariahilferstraße.

The food was delicious, plentiful, affordable, and very fun.

Der Hofmeister It is also, as it turns out, the former Imperial Stable of Maria-Theresa. The atmosphere is intimate and charming, with stone walls and arched ceilings. I had wienerschneitzel, and my companion had pork goulash with saeurkraut.

We also enjoyed Oster brews and the local apricot schnapps and apple brandy. They were all shocking at the first sip and then like water by the end.

The service is fast by European standards and friendly. The wait staff speaks fluent English and offers an English menu. You're meant to linger over dinner and dessert for hours.

Other offerings include pork, beef, and duck, often garnished with cabbage and, if you're lucky, some dumplings! The bread was hot and delicious, and the desserts (I had strudel) were scrumptious.

The Wienerschnitzel here is first-class and almost as large as the plate it's served on. I'll definitely eat here again on my next trip to Vienna.

This traditional Viennese bistro is frequented by students from the university, so the prices are reasonable and the portions are large.

Hot and cold snacks are served all day into the evening, and full lunches are served midday. They serve everything from schnitzel and dumplings to various sausages and sauerkraut, and even have pizza and french fries.

Passing by the pastry case on the way in, I was tempted to order dessert first, but my better sense kicked in and we decided to share a dish to leave room for dessert at the end of the meal.

We shared a large platter of bratwurst, knockwurst, and a few other wursts I can't recall the names of. The dish was accompanied by a large mound of sauerkraut and dumplings, which were quite good.

Finally, it was time for dessert. We couldn't decide on one, so we tried several. The Sachertorte was incredible, and the profiteroles were filled with chocolate and smothered in whipped cream. Of course, we had to sample the berry strudel, which was flakey and oozing a sweet gooey filling of raspberries and huckleberries.

Between us, we shared one very large entrée, two beers, a cappuccino, and three desserts for under $15. It was a true delight for a gastronome on a tight budget!

It is the most recognizable landmark in the city, and the square is the main gathering place for locals and tourists alike. This is where Mozart was married and where his funeral was held. There's a saying that if you're looking for someone in Vienna, get a coffee and find a table at one of the outdoor cafés in Stephansplatz. Eventually, the person you're looking for will walk by.

St. Stephen's Cathedral is one of Vienna’s most famous sights. It defines the city centre and has been the heart of Vienna for centuries. It was built in 1147 AD. Duke Rudolf IV of Habsburg ordered the complete restructuring of the church in Gothic style. In 1359, he laid the cornerstone of the nave with its two aisles. The South Tower was completed in 1433.

The cathedral has two very impressive features: the gigantic roof and the tall, lean tower (1,367m). The Hochturm, or South Tower, at 450 feet, or 137m, is roughly the height of a 45-story office building, yet it was built more than 600 years ago, half a millennium before the invention of the modern skyscraper.

The north tower has an elevator and stairs; the Hochturm requires a climb of 246 feet (75m) up a spiral staircase to the observation platform. The views from the top are worth the ascent, and you'll also be able to see the colorful rooftop of glazed tiles (see photo) at close range.

Inside the cathedral are many art treasures, like the tomb of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1754), the Altarpiece of Wiener Neustadt, the pulpit by Anton Pilgram (1514-15), the sepulcher of Emperor Frederik III by Niclas Gerhaert (1467-1513), the watchman’s lookout, a self portrait of the sculptor, and the Gothic winged altar.

Take the guided tour below ground and you'll see the usual assortment of sarcophagi holding the bones of dead rulers, archbishops, and other personages. Somewhat stranger are the bronze containers where kidneys, livers, etc., of Habsburg emperors were interred in what might be called an undertaker's waste dump. Finally, you'll explore the catacombs where the bones of more than 15,000 Viennese have been stacked like kindling since the 1700s.

The cathedral was severely damaged in a fire caused by an Allied bombing in 1945, but it's impossible for the untrained eye to distinguish restoration work from the original.

Our visit was a little disappointing, as the tower was closed for renovation and cloaked in tarps full of advertisements.

We visited in the evening, and the organ music was loud and vibrant. We recognized the music... Was it Mozart? Strauss? No, it was the theme song from "Star Wars!"

Vienna Opera House is situated in the first district of Vienna at the southern end of the Kärntnerstrasse. August von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll built the State Opera House from 1861 to 1869.

The Vienna State Opera House was opened in 1869 with a gala performance of Mozart’s "Don Giovanni." Since that time, it has been one of world’s leading and most famous opera houses. Great musicians have held the post of director, among them Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Lorin Maazel, and many others.

The Opera House was almost totally destroyed in the World War II, but soon after was reconstructed following the original plans (it was reopened in 1955).

We had seats in one of the many well-appointed boxes for an excellent performance of "Der Rosenkavalier" by Strauss. Our box even had a dressing area with a mirror to fix your lipstick at intermission! Each concert-goer is provided with a real-time digital translator in multiple languages.

If you enjoy classical music of any kind, a night at the State Opera is one of the most impressive events any visitor to Vienna can experience.

If you can't get tickets for a performance (all but standing room sells out months in advance), by all means, book an afternoon tour of the Opera House. The architecture and artwork are well worth the time and price. I suggest purchasing your tickets through a reseller rather than directly from the Staatsoper website. I ordered mine 6 months in advance, gave them all of my credit-card information, and received a confirmation. I thought things were set until a week before the performance, when they sent an email telling me that they had no tickets available. Interestingly enough, I was able to buy them at a reseller at a much higher premium, although the seats were not nearly as good as the ones I had reserved.

The Vienna State Opera House is equipped with air-conditioning.

Melk’s magnificent Benedictine Abbey, one of Europe’s largest baroque monasteries, might well be mistaken for a palace.

The first documentary reference to the name Melk dates from the year 831. It was, in all probability, at this time that a castle was built on the cliff-top site of the present-day abbey.

Since the 12th century, a school has been connected with the monastery, and valuable manuscripts have been collected and created in the library. In the course of the monastery’s history, members of the Melk monastic community have achieved significant success in the fields of natural science and the arts.

The imperial rooms are currently home to the most modern abbey museum in Austria. The topic of the exhibition is "The Path from Yesterday to Today - Melk Abbey in its Past and Present."

I'd thoroughly recommend the guided tour, which includes the history associated with all of the art and exhibits.

During a visit to the abbey, in addition to the imperial rooms, one can see the Marble Hall and library and masterworks of baroque room design with famous frescoes by Paul Troger, as well as the terrace, with a wonderful view of the Danube scenery and the western facade of the abbey church.

You can also enjoy an authentic Austrian lunch at the Abbey restaurant. Ask to be seated downstairs, which has a nicer, quieter atmosphere.

With its abruptly rising hills, nestling baroque villages, and ancient monuments, this fascinating stretch of landscape along the Danube has recently been declared a World Heritage Site.

The hard work of many centuries has transformed the steep hillsides along the Danube into terraced vineyards, with their lovingly restored houses at the foot of these slopes. The villages of Spitz, Weißenkirchen, Joching, or Loiben breathe an atmosphere of centuries of life with wine.

With its medieval ruin and the spire of its church rising far into the landscape, the small town of Dürnstein has a special place among the architectural gems of the area. I believe this is where the 37,000-year-old statue of Venus was found.

The entire area literally blooms during the apricot blossom in spring. This may be the time when the Wachau is at its most beautiful, though some prefer the symphony of colours in the vineyards in autumn.

Although the Danube was anything but blue during our trip in early spring, we are told by the locals that the river is indeed a deep blue when it hasn't rained in the Alps for at least 10 consecutive days.

The trip cost about 60€, but was well worth it. The boat was comfortable and appointed with large tables inside and tables and benches on the upper deck, which was a great spot for taking photos.

Lunch is available on the boat, but I suggest waiting to eat lunch at the Benedictine Abbey Restaurant in Melk.

Whatever the season, a boat trip along the Danube is always the best way to take in sights and atmosphere and to see the famous vineyards and medieval villages along the way.

Tours can be booked directly from the website provided above or through your hotel.

The best and most-established flea market in the city is located just behind the Kettenbrückengasse subway station. As we step out of the U4 subway at Naschmarkt, we are immediately greeted by the potent fragrance of exotic foods and the lively hustle-and-bustle of Vienna's historic outdoor market. Everyone knows Vienna for its operas and waltzes, its coffee houses and castles, and the Prater amusement park, but this is the multicultural Vienna of everyday.

This centuries-old marketplace is built over the Danube and combines the typical Viennese sales spiel with the atmosphere of an oriental bazaar. Here we can barter, badger, and bargain to our heart’s content while sampling everything from bratwurst, to calamari and sushi, to kebab.

With a splendid mix of antiques, leather, foods, souvenirs, photography, records, and jewelery stalls, keen bargain hunters are sure to make a purchase (although there's an awful lot of junk sold here).

A melting pot of cultures, you'll hear Russians, Croatians, Chinese and Romanian gypsies all eagerly flogging their wares. It’s a must-visit.

The Naschmarkt is there Monday through Saturday, but the flea market is only there on Saturdays. Wow. You can find EVERYTHING, from old Glenn Campbell albums to oil paintings. It's not for the weak, as it's very crowded, with lots of people pushing and shoving, and you might have to really dig through some piles of junk, but it's worth it! Happy hunting!!

Most tourists want to visit the Prater and ride the giant Ferris wheel (Riesenrad) to follow in the footsteps of the famous movie "The Third Man." My travelling companion, however, had an urgent need to ride the giant Ferris wheel because of its brief appearance in the James Bond Movie "The Living Daylights."

We rode the underground to the Viennese park known as the Prater. From the subway exit, the walk is about 2 blocks. The park is actually fun for people of all ages with its nostalgic merry-go-round, modern roller coaster, puppet shows, and some 250 other rides and attractions. The park also boasts restaurants, cafés, and a biergarten.

Surrounding the amusement park is a lush, green park full of trees and winding paths on which to jog or take a leisurely stroll and relax.

The Riesenrad, or giant Ferris wheel, is unique in that is has very large, bright-red cars, each the size of a small freight car. It also moves very slowly, so is suitable for even the most timid adventurer. The panoramic views of all of Vienna are spectacular! Make sure you have your camera with you. The walls of the cars include large photos depicting the history of the Riesenrad (which is about 100 years old) and the Prater Park.

Be sure not to miss the Prater Museum at the entrance to the giant Ferris wheel. There are scale models of the park at various points in history.

The park certainly lives up to its motto, "Have fun and enjoy yourself!"