Austria 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...

The Mozart family lived in this house in the heart of Salzburg from 1747-1773, where W.A. Mozart himself was born on 27 January 1756. The house is now a popular museum devoted to Mozart and his family, with interesting memorabilia and letters.

The Hofkirche (Court Church) in Innsbruck is a Gothic church built 1553–1563 by Ferdinand I as a memorial to his grandfather Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459–1519), whose cenotaph within boasts a remarkable collection of German Renaissance sculpture. It also contains the tomb of Andreas Hofer, Tirol's national hero. Although Maximilian's will had directed that he be buried in the castle chapel in Wiener Neustadt, it proved impractical to construct there the large memorial whose plans he had supervised in detail, and Ferdinand I as executor planned construction of a new church and monastery in Innsbruck for a suitable memorial. In the end, however, Maximilian's simple tomb remained in Wiener Neustadt and the Hofkirche serves as a cenotaph.

Ambras Castle is a renaissance style castle that was built on behalf of archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol. Situated in the hills above Innsbruck, the Castle of Ambras is one of the most important sights of the city. Its cultural and historical importance and was the residence of Archduke Ferdinand II from 1563 to 1595. In the lower part of the castle there are two rooms containing arms and armour, on the first floor a valuable art collection and in the upper part of the castle, the bathroom of Ferdinand's wife Philippine Welser. The Spanish hall between the lower and upper part of the castles is a notable example of German Renaissance architecture and is adorned with frescoes on the walls. Interesting things to see are the portrait- and armour-collections, art and curiosity cabinets, the spanish hall and the palace garden. Open 10AM - 5PM April to October: €8. December to...

Bergiselschanze is a ski jumping hill located in Bergisel in Innsbruck, Austria. It is one of the more important venues in the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, annually hosting the third competition of the prestigious Four Hills Tournament. Its first competitions were held in the 1920s using simple wood constructions. The larger hill was first built in 1930 and was rebuilt before the 1964 Winter Olympics for the individual large hill event. Twelve years later, the venue hosted the same event. The hill in its current form was finished in 2003 and was designed by the British Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. Because of its design and prominent location (on Bergisel, south of Innsbruck) it is considered a new city landmark. There is a cafe on top, which offers views of Innsbruck and the surrounding mountains. During sporting events, the jumping tower is not accessible, and a ticket is needed ...

The alpine zoo is Europe's highest situated zoo (727 m), and is specializing in alpine animals. It contains outdoor enclosures, terrariums, aviaries, aquariums (world's biggest collection of alpine fish species) and a barnyard with old farm animal races. The zoo is in hillside situation, so there's a certain altitude difference to cover. Free entrance with the Innsbruck-Card.