Vienna Attractions

Schönbrunn Palace, entered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996, is a popular tourist attraction in Austria situated close to the city centre of Vienna. Schönbrunn is a fantastic palace experience due to the Habsburg summer palace also found here. Many tourists compare its grandeur to that of the Palace of Versailles in France. The palace gardens and zoo alone are worth a lengthy visit. The palace has also seen its fair share of excitement over the years, including a meeting between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khruschchev at the height of the Cold War. The Palace Park offers a lot of attractions, such as the Privy Garden, a Maze and Labyrinth, and the top-of-the-hill Gloriette with its Panorama Terrace. There are two possible tours available without a guide (though guides are available): the Imperial Tour showing 22 rooms and the Grand Tour showing 40 rooms. ...

The Hofburg Palace is a huge palace complex that grew into a large series of buildings over the years and was the imperial residence of the Habsburg emperors until 1918. What began as a medieval castle (whose chapel is the only original element of that building to survive) was expanded and redecorated as the Habsburgs’ power increased correspondingly. The Palace Stables and Amalia’s Wing were added in the sixteenth century. The Imperial Chancery Wing, Court Library, and Spanish Riding School was added in the eighteenth. In the last century, St Michael’s Wing was tacked on and around 1900 the New Palace was completed. The contents of each separate building contain so many treasures that the time spent moving from one to another is like opening box after box of fabulous jewels – it's difficult to know when to stop. The Imperial Palace now houses th...

The Riesenrad Ferris Wheel (also known as the Wiener Riesenrad) is a Ferris wheel at the entrance of the Prater amusement park in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Austria's capital Vienna. It is now one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions, and symbolizes the district as well as the city for many people. The Riesenrad was one of the earliest Ferris wheels, erected in 1897 to celebrate Emperor Franz Josef I's golden Jubilee, and has an overall height of 64.75 meters(212.4 ft). The wheel originally had 30 gondolas, but was severely damaged in the World War II, and when it was rebuilt, only 15 gondolas were replaced. The spokes are steel cables, in tension, and the wheel is driven by a circumferential cable which leaves the wheel and passes through the drive mechanism under the base.

The extensive Belvedere complex consists of two magnificent Baroque palaces the Upper and Lower Belvedere, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a stunning Baroque park landscape in the 3rd district of Vienna, SE of the city centre. It houses the Belvedere museum. The grounds are set on a gentle gradient and include decorative tiered fountains and cascades, Baroque sculptures, and majestic wrought iron gates. The Baroque palace complex was built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Belvedere was built during a period of much construction in Vienna, which at the time was both the imperial capital and home to the ruling dynasty.

Museum of Fine Arts (Kunsthistorisches Museum) in Vienna, housed in its festive palatial building on Ringstraße, is one of the premier museums of fine arts and decorative arts in the world. The term Kunsthistorisches Museum applies to both the institution and the main building. Like the Louvre (Paris, France), serious art fans tend to devote more than a day to its treasures. Widely regarded as the best Austrian Museum, it contains a world-class exhibit of the Habsburgs' art collection, including Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Bosch, and Brueghel. The Museum has an excellent collection of ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art. The coin & medals collection is also exhaustive in its scope. The Museum cafe is a bit pricey, but good, and in a beautiful setting. Like the Louvre, hand-held photography is permitted to help store and recall the numerous mind-boggling beautif...