Attraction
Schönbrunn Palace
The Habsburgs' 1,441-room summer palace in Hietzing, with state apartments, formal Baroque gardens, the Gloriette and the world's oldest working zoo in its grounds.
Austria packs a great deal into a small, landlocked country in the heart of Europe. Vienna, the capital, is known for its imperial palaces, museums, coffee houses and classical music, while Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart, is famous for its Baroque old town and its summer festival. In the west, Innsbruck sits among the peaks of the Tyrol, and the Alps draw skiers in winter and hikers in summer. The lakeside village of Hallstatt, the vineyards and abbeys of the Wachau valley along the Danube and the city of Graz add further variety. Austria's rail network makes it easy to combine several of these places in one trip, and its food, from schnitzel and strudel to local wines, is a highlight wherever you go.
Attraction
The Habsburgs' 1,441-room summer palace in Hietzing, with state apartments, formal Baroque gardens, the Gloriette and the world's oldest working zoo in its grounds.
Attraction
Vienna's Gothic cathedral on Stephansplatz, with a 136-metre south tower, a patterned tiled roof, catacombs and the Pummerin, the largest bell in Austria.
Attraction
Three linked museums in the Hofburg, the Habsburgs' winter palace: Emperor Franz Joseph's state rooms, a museum on Empress Elisabeth and the court silver and tableware.
Attraction
Vienna's great art museum on the Ring, built to house the Habsburg collections, with the largest group of Bruegel paintings anywhere, the Kunstkammer and Egyptian galleries.
Attraction
Prince Eugene's Baroque summer palace, now a museum of Austrian art holding Klimt's The Kiss, with terraced French gardens running down to the Lower Belvedere.
Attraction
A former Habsburg palace by the State Opera holding one of the world's great print rooms, restored state rooms and a permanent collection from Monet to…
Café
The café of the Hotel Sacher opposite the State Opera, home of the Original Sacher-Torte first created by the 16-year-old Franz Sacher in 1832.
Café
The former imperial and royal court confectioner on the Kohlmarkt, serving cakes, pastries and Kaiserschmarrn since 1786 in rooms close to the Hofburg.
Café
A coffee house of 1880 near the Naschmarkt with its original interior, marble tables, Thonet chairs and billiard tables, seen in the film Before Sunrise.
Café
A dim, picture-lined coffee house off the Graben, run by the Hawelka family for some 80 years and long a meeting place for Vienna's writers and…
Café
An elegant Ringstrasse café open since 1873, next to the Burgtheater and facing City Hall, once frequented by Sigmund Freud, Thomas Mann and Gustav Mahler.
Café
A speciality coffee bar by Schottentor from one of Vienna's leading roasters, which roasts in small batches in its own roastery on Westbahnstraße.
Hotel
A family-owned five-star hotel opened in 1876 behind the State Opera, with 152 individually designed rooms, a boutique spa and the original Café Sacher.
Hotel
A five-star hotel of 36 suites in a 19th-century palace built on Vienna's old city walls, known for its gourmet restaurant and wine cellars of over…
Hotel
An art-filled luxury boutique hotel opposite the MuseumsQuartier, with Vienna's longest hotel pool, a spa and the Veranda brasserie with over 100 champagnes.
Hotel
A boutique hotel in a townhouse in Spittelberg with 62 individually designed rooms and a private collection of contemporary art, founded by Otto Ernst Wiesenthal.
Hotel
A design hotel on the Ringstrasse with 186 rooms and suites, a heated rooftop pool open all year and the Meissl & Schadn schnitzel restaurant on…
Hotel
A playful circus-themed design hotel behind the MuseumsQuartier, with a rooftop bar overlooking the city, an Italian restaurant and Schindelhauer bikes for hire.
Bar
A tiny cocktail bar designed by Adolf Loos in 1908, with mahogany, onyx, marble and mirrored walls that make the room seem far larger than it…
Bar
A bar and restaurant on the 18th floor of the SO/ Vienna tower by the Danube Canal, with sweeping views of the old town and a…
Bar
Vienna's leading jazz club, in a historic basement venue on Riemergasse that has hosted variety, theatre and cinema since the early 20th century.
Bar
A club and concert venue in a former underground tunnel on the Danube Canal, open since 1995 and known for its powerful sound system, live acts…
Bar
A long-established nightclub inside the Volksgarten park on the Ring, open Thursday to Saturday from 23:00 until dawn, with garden areas in the warmer months.
Bar
Vienna's oldest jazz cellar, opened in 1972 beneath the Ruprechtskirche, with live music from 21:00 at least six nights a week across all styles of jazz.
Restaurant
Heinz Reitbauer's three-Michelin-star restaurant in a steel-and-glass pavilion in the Stadtpark, serving creative contemporary cooking built on Austrian produce.
Restaurant
Chef Konstantin Filippou's two-Michelin-star restaurant on the Dominikanerbastei in the old town, with a more relaxed wine bistro, O boufés, at the same address.
Restaurant
A wood-panelled old-town restaurant off Kärntner Straße serving updated Viennese classics, mostly from organic and regional produce, with a cellar of around 30,000 bottles.
Restaurant
The old-town branch of the Plachutta family's restaurants, best known for Tafelspitz, Vienna's traditional boiled beef, served with its broth and classic sauces.
Restaurant
A delicatessen, bar and restaurant on Bognergasse with roots in 1618, known for open sandwiches, hand-carved ham and an Art Nouveau dining room upstairs.
Restaurant
The schnitzel house founded by Johann Figlmüller in 1905 in a passage off Wollzeile, famous for its huge, thin, plate-covering breaded schnitzel and potato salad.
Thing to do
Vienna's best-known food market, a long strip of around 130 stands and small restaurants along the Wienzeile, with a flea market every Saturday morning.
Thing to do
The Habsburg riding school in the Hofburg, where Lipizzaner stallions perform classical dressage in the Baroque Winter Riding School and train in public most mornings.
Thing to do
The 1870 concert building by Theophil Hansen, home of the Vienna Philharmonic, whose gilded Golden Hall hosts the New Year's Concert and has famously fine acoustics.
Thing to do
A 484-metre hill on the edge of the Vienna Woods with a terrace looking over the city and the Danube, reached by bus via Grinzing or…
Thing to do
A traditional Heuriger in Heiligenstadt serving its own wines and a Viennese buffet in the house where Beethoven lived in 1817 while working on his Ninth…
Tour operator
Austria's largest traditional Danube shipping company, running city cruises, evening trips on the Danube Canal and day trips to the Wachau and Bratislava from Vienna.
Tour operator
Vienna's established sightseeing bus operator, with hop-on hop-off routes from the Opera, audio commentary in 19 languages and day trips to the Wachau and Hallstatt.
Tour operator
A walking tour company offering tip-based tours of Vienna's old town twice daily in English from the Albertina, plus paid tours of Schönbrunn, the Hofburg and…
Tour operator
A bike tour and rental company on the Danube Canal running three-hour city bike and e-bike tours, Wachau winery bike days and self-guided Danube trail trips.
Tour operator
A Vienna bike rental and tour company operating since 1996, with a classic three-hour city tour, a green tour to the Danube Island and e-bike wine…
The national railway, ÖBB, links Vienna with Salzburg, Innsbruck, Graz and many smaller towns, and regional buses serve the mountain valleys; a car is useful for remote Alpine areas
Late spring to early autumn is best for cities, lakes and hiking, while December to March is the season for skiing and Christmas markets
Salzburg for its old town and Mozart heritage, Innsbruck and the Tyrol for the Alps, Hallstatt for its lake setting, the Wachau valley for wine and Melk Abbey, and Graz for its old town