The former seat of the Habsburg Empire, Vienna pairs grand imperial architecture with a slower, coffeehouse pace of life. Few European capitals fit this much palace, this much music history, and this much cake into one walkable centre.
Why visit Vienna
Schönbrunn Palace, the Habsburgs’ summer residence, rivals Versailles in scale, with 1,441 rooms and formal gardens leading up to the Gloriette monument. In the city centre, St. Stephen’s Cathedral anchors a pedestrian old town dense with imperial architecture, and the Vienna State Opera and Musikverein keep the city’s classical music heritage – Mozart, Beethoven, and Strauss all worked here – very much alive. Vienna’s café culture, meanwhile, is UNESCO-listed in its own right, with centuries-old coffeehouses still serving as the city’s living rooms.
Getting to Vienna by train
Vienna Hauptbahnhof connects directly to Munich, Salzburg, and Prague, each around three to four hours away, and serves as a major gateway into Central and Eastern Europe.
Top things to do in Vienna
- Tour Schönbrunn Palace and its gardens
- Climb or take the elevator up St. Stephen’s Cathedral’s south tower
- Catch a performance at the Vienna State Opera
- Sit down for coffee and cake at a historic Viennese café
- Explore the Museum Quarter, one of the largest cultural districts in the world
- Ride the giant Ferris wheel at the Prater amusement park