Lonely Planet Pocket Vienna , livre ebook

Contents

QuickStart Guide

Welcome to Vienna
Top Sights
Local Life
Day Planner
Need to Know
Vienna Neighbourhoods

Explore

Hofburg & Around
Historic Centre
Museum District
Karlsplatz
Schloss Belvedere to the Canal

Best

The Best of Vienna
Essential Vienna
Living History
Coffee Houses
Food
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Architecture
Guided Tours
Activities
For Free
For Kids
Art
Shopping

Survival Guide

Survival Guide
Before You Go
Arriving in Vienna
Getting Around
Essential Information
Language
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to Vienna
With its imperial palaces, baroque streetscapes, chandelier-lit Kaffeehäuser (coffee houses) and wood-panelled Beisln (bistro pubs), Vienna is infused with history. Yet not only does Austria's capital hold on to its traditions, it incorporates them in everything from design, architecture and contemporary art to eco initiatives and culinary innovations. Vienna's past is alive in its present, and, by extension, its future.

Rooftop view of Vienna | Adisa/Getty Images ©
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Vienna Top Sights

Hofburg
Home to the mighty Habsburg Empire for six and a half centuries, today this monumental palace complex harbours magnificent museums and mesmerising attractions including the Spanish Riding School and the Burgkapelle's Vienna Boys’ Choir Sunday Mass. Click here

Oliver Haller/500px ©


Vienna Top Sights
Stephansdom
Gothic architecture reaches its dizzying peak in Vienna's glorious cathedral, which rises in the city's historic heart. Tour the awe-inspiring interior, climb its south tower for radiating views or delve into its skull-and-bone-packed catacombs. Click here

S.Borisov/SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Vienna Top Sights
Kunsthistorisches Museum
A treasure trove of art amassed by the Habsburgs fills Vienna's artistic jewel, the neoclassical Kunsthistorisches Museum. Its pièce de résistance is its Picture Gallery, which is packed with priceless Old Master paintings. Click here

Anton_Ivanov/SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Vienna Top Sights
MuseumsQuartier
Former imperial stables have been transformed into Vienna's MuseumsQuartier. It brings together museums showcasing a wide spectrum of art, innovative performing arts venues and public spaces including courtyards, cafes and bars. Click here

Creativemarc/SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Vienna Top Sights
Naturhistorisches Museum
Sitting opposite the Kunsthistorisches Museum in a matching neoclassical building, the Naturhistorisches Museum time travels through four billion years of fascinating natural history illustrated through meteorites, dinosaurs and prehistoric and zoological displays. Click here

Radu Bercan/SHUTTERSTOCK©


Vienna Top Sights
Staatsoper
A roll-call of composers, including Mozart, Beethoven and Mahler, lived and worked in Vienna, and this City of Music's premier opera house, the lavish neo-Renaissance Staatsoper, is the ultimate place to catch a performance. Click here

Konstantin Tronin/SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Vienna Top Sights
Schloss Belvedere
A baroque masterpiece, Schloss Belvedere lives up to its name 'beautiful view' in its tiered gardens overlooking Vienna's skyline and in the dazzling palace itself, which shelters the world's largest Klimt collection. Click here

Lonely Planet/Getty Images ©


Vienna Top Sights
Prater
Amid the rambling woodlands, meadows and chestnut-shaded avenues of central Vienna's largest park are the Würstelprater's whirling fairground attractions crowned by Vienna's iconic 1897-built Ferris wheel, the Riesenrad. Click here

George Clerk/Getty Images ©


Vienna Top Sights
Schloss Schönbrunn
Painted a sunny 'Schönbrunn Yellow', the Habsburgs' 1441-room summer palace is a Unesco World Heritage-listed wonder with opulent baroque interiors and spectacular formal gardens. Click here

Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H./Koller ©
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Vienna Local Life

Insider tips to help you find the real Vienna With its fairytale palaces and horse-drawn Fiaker carriages, all of Vienna could be a film set. Behind the scenes you'll encounter Viennese locals at design ateliers, backstreet boutiques, hidden venues, hip cafes, canal-side beaches and Schanigärten (pavement terraces).

Other great places to experience the city like a local:
Demel
Dorotheum
Wald & Wiese
Wiener Rosenmanufaktur
Christmas Markets
Naschmarkt
Eis Greissler
Zentralfriedhof
Lingenhel
Schanigärten

An Evening Out on the Town
y Illuminated streetscapes
y Local specialities
Vienna's historic centre overflows by day with workers, shoppers and sightseers but come nightfall, the crowds abate and the area offers a slice of Viennese life, when locals stroll the sepia-lit streets, stopping for a glass of regional wine, hearty Austrian cuisine, and strudel in a classic Kaffeehaus (coffee house).

Rathausplatz Christkindlmarkt | Posztos/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Neubau's Design Scene
y Vienna-designed fashion
y Handmade homewares
The red-hot Viennese design scene is making its mark in art, accessories, fashion, furniture and homewares, and Neubau, adjoining the Museum District, is ground zero for the city's creatives and artisans. Scores of workshops and showrooms have set up here, along with a slew of vintage shops, bars and cafes.

Epicure Tour of the Freihausviertel
y Regional produce
y Artisan products
Vienna's most vibrant market, the heady Naschmarkt, isn't the only foodie game in this neighbourhood. Fanning out from the Naschmarkt, the streets and laneways are crammed with bakeries, patisseries, chocolatiers, purveyors of farm-fresh produce and producers of local delicacies. Linger over a coffee, cake or glass of Sekt (sparkling wine).

Naschmarkt | Jorg Hackemann/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Green Escape
y Idyllic parks
y Canal-side strolling
Thanks to progressive planning laws, green spaces comprise over 50% of the city – one of the key reasons Vienna regularly tops international quality of living surveys. Some of the loveliest local parks and gardens, including the city's botanic gardens, are here, along with lush, grassy stretches along the canal.
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Vienna Day Planner

Day One
M Start your day at Vienna's heart, the Stephansdom . Be awed by the cathedral's cavernous interior, Gothic stone pulpit and baroque high altar. For a bird's-eye view of Vienna, climb the cathedral's south tower to the viewing platform. Or delve below ground into its ossuary, the Katakomben (catacombs). Spend the rest of the morning strolling the atmospheric narrow streets around the cathedral.
R After delicious deli food and a glass of wine at the cafe/wine bar adjoining Meinl's Restaurant , make your way along Graben and Kohlmarkt to the Hofburg , where one of the ultimate pleasures is simply to wander through and soak up the grandeur of this Habsburg architectural masterpiece. Narrow it down to one or two of the museums here, such as the Kaiserappartements .
N Dine on adventurous international 'journey menus' at Blue Mustard then head into the cobblestoned Spittelberg district to enduring favourites such as old-school brewery Siebensternbräu and hip new bars like the Brickmakers Pub & Kitchen for craft beers and ciders or Le Troquet for cocktails.


Day Two
M Enjoy one of the city's best breakfasts at Figar before making your way to the Kunsthistorisches Museum , where you can plan on spending at least a whole morning in the thrall of its Old Masters.
R For lunch, duck behind the MuseumsQuartier to hidden Glacis Beisl for fortifying classics such as schnitzels. The afternoon is a good time to change artistic direction and explore at least one of the museums in the MuseumsQuartier. The light, bright Leopold Museum has splendid Austrian art. MUMOK makes a complete contrast, with contemporary, often controversial works. The MuseumsQuartier has plenty of bars if you need a break, such as the laid-back Kantine .
N Motto am Fluss has a hip lounge ambience on the Danube Canal. After dining, explore the Innere Stadt's streets and bar scene in the evening in the centre, sipping Austrian wines at Vinothek W-Einkehr and hitting architectural treasures such as Zwölf Apostelkeller .


Day Three
M Divide your morning between Schloss Belvedere's magnificently landscaped French-style formal gardens and its galleries. The Unteres Belvedere (Lower Belvedere) has baroque state apartments and ceremonial rooms, and hosts some superb temporary exhibitions in its orangery, while a walk through Oberes Belvedere (Upper Belvedere) takes you through a who's who of Austrian art.
R Refuel on goulash at Meierei im Stadtpark . Then visit two of the outstanding museums in this neighbourhood, the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum , covering 400 years of Austro-European military history, and the Museum für Angewandte Kunst (MAK), showcasing applied arts and crafts.
N Cross the canal to the Prater , Vienna's playground of woods, meadows and sideshow attractions at the Würstelprater . The highlight here is the 19th-century Riesenrad Ferris wheel, famed for its role in 1949 film The Third Man , the James Bond instalment The Living Daylights and art-house favourite Before Sunrise .


Day Four
M Take an eye-popping tour of baroque extravaganza Schloss Schönbrunn and stroll the French formal gardens , detouring to the Gloriette , with breathtaking views of the palace and city skyline beyond.
R Browse the Naschmarkt for picnic supplies or stop at one of its sit-down eateries. Then continue to another baroque jewel, the Karlskirche , and ride the lift (elevator) into the dome for an up-close view of its stunning fresco by Johann Michael Rottmayr. Take a break at one of the many cafe terraces overlooking the market. Then head to Secession to see seminal works by members of the Vienna Secession including Klimt's 34m-long Beethoven Frieze .
N Neo- Beisl Silberwirt is a brilliant spot for innovatively prepared local and/or