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In Vienna, the coffee house isn’t just a hangout: it’s an institution. Lingering over a newspaper with a pastry and a strong espresso drink is, according to UNESCO, officially a Viennese cultural pastime. Walk off your slice of Sachertorte with a self-guided tour of the city’s stunning traditional, Secessionist, and modern architecture, such as the Imperial Palace, the State Opera House, the Kirche am Steinhof, or the Kunsthistorisches Museum, an exercise in ornate geometry.
Restaurants in Vienna
1. St. Stephen's Cathedral
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 23,708 reviews
Austria's most prominent national symbol, this magnificent cathedral is known for its intricately tiled roof and its nearly 500-foot-tall South Tower, which provides amazing views of the entire city.
Reviewed By Gangers_and_ash
The cathedral is beautiful - very grand and ornate with beautiful mouldings and gothic architecture. The detail in the carvings was extraordinary and the paintings were very beautiful. There are certain parts of the cathedral which are blocked off (the entire mid and front section) which does make the back part quite cramped with lots of people taking photographs. Be patient and you will get your turn! I’d recommend the catacombs tour (6 Euros each) - it was very interesting and the tour guide was extremely knowledgable, offering the tour in both German and English.
2. Natural History Museum (Naturhistorisches Museum)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 4,921 reviews
The highlights of this natural history museum include a significant collection of dinosaur skeletons and meteorites in addition to a large display of insects from around the world.
Reviewed By luciabQ3391WN - Bratislava, Slovakia
The museum has a huge collection ranging from minerals and gems (one of the greatest collections I have ever seen) to insects, meteorites and animals! A big advantage is a restaurant on the 1st floor where you can enjoy a nice lunch or cake surrounded by these beautiful walls. Really worth the money (12EUR entry fee for adults)
3. The Hofburg
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 12,521 reviews
For centuries the Vienna Hofburg was the centre of the Habsburg empire. Today the palace houses three museums which afford historically authentic insights into the traditions and everyday life of the imperial court: The Imperial Apartments with their original furnishings and decoration, the Sisi Museum with its sensitive staging of the empress' life, and the Imperial Silver Collection which contains a comprehensive range of tableware and other utensils used at the imperial court.
Reviewed By GoalieMarty - Ottawa, Canada
We took the Hofburg Vienna ticket which includes the Silver Collection, the Sisi Museum, and the Imperial Apartments with an included audio guide. We bought our tickets on the spot and did not even wait one minute in line. Not sure if it's always like that though. The visit starts with the Silver Collection. Lots and lots of everything you can possibly find on a table. For me, it was nice to see but I got a little bored at the end because I found there was too much and it gets somewhat overwhelming. The audio guide is also a bit dry in my opinion. "Exhibit 24: This silverware collection was designed by Italian master Giovanni Macaroni in 1829 for the visit of King Stradivarius IV who spent 2 weeks at the palace with his court, and bla-bla-bla ...". You get the idea. If you want to save time, I would suggest you skip the dishes. Or at least, don't listen to everything in the audio guide. The visit continues with the Sisi Museum which I found really interesting because it's about her life and all the people in it. Really well made and really well presented. The audio guide is also much more interesting this time around. The Imperial Apartments, the last third of the visit, are truly magnificent. You can feel the opulence and the wealth of this family. The audio guide is again very informative. Both the museum and the apartments are worth spending a little more time in there to take it all in. Overall, we really enjoyed our visit of the Imperial Palace. We also visited Schönbrunn Palace and based on our experience, I would recommend the following. If you want to visit both, start with the Imperial Palace first as Schönbrunn is even more grandiose. If you only have time for one, I would recommend Schönbrunn.
4. MAK - Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 561 reviews
Discover the fascinating era of “VIENNA 1900” in the grand museum building on Vienna’s Ringstraße with art nouveau masterpieces of the Wiener Werkstätte by Gustav Klimt, Josef Hoffmann, or Koloman Moser. Inaugurated in 1871, the building by Heinrich von Ferstel is one of the grandest works of architecture on Vienna’s Ringstraße. Today the MAK, originally founded as the “Imperial Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry”, accommodates a unique collection of precious art and craftwork from the fields of furniture, glass, porcelain, silver, and textiles from the middle ages to today. With more than 1 million objects and printed works it is one of the most important museums of its kind in the world. The spacious exhibition rooms were designed by contemporary artists and show selected highlights of the MAK Collection as well as temporary exhibitions in the field of design, art and architecture.
Reviewed By SusanWms - Santa Fe, United States
This museum has a magnificent collection of objects from the mid-19th century forward (when the school was founded). The collections are mainly organized typologically/chronologically, e.g. chairs, tables, glass table wares, porcelain, silver, textiles, etc., but there was a major interpretive exhibit running while we were there—“Vienna 1900.” Vienna was a hotbed of reformist ideas about decorative and applied eta—resulting in the Wiener Werkstadt and the Vienna Secessionist movement. Labels are clear and each gallery has a booklet with English translations of object labels. We spent three hour happily perusing the collections and then retreated to the excellent gift shop featuring a well-curated assortment of well-designed goods.
5. Stadtpark
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,458 reviews
This bucolic city park, the highlight of which is a gilded statue of musician Johann Strauss in its center, was established in 1862.
Reviewed By macedonboy - Glasgow, United Kingdom
The Stadtpark is a large public park that’s divided into two sections by the River Vienna. The river has been engineered into what looks a little like a canal with elegant bridges over the river. Scattered throughout the park are statues of famous Viennese artists, writers, and composers, including Hans Canon, Emil Jakob Schindler, Johann Strauss Jr, Franz Schubert, and Anton Bruckner. The most famous of which is probably the golden statue of Johann Strauss Jr. There’s also a small lake where there’s a colony of ducks. The park is a lovely green area and a great place for a stroll.
6. Wiener Staatsoper
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 8,016 reviews
Vienna's internationally renowned opera offers nearly 300 performances each year.
Reviewed By amandaleenj - Highlands, United States
I am so glad I heard about the Standing Room Tickets for the State Opera in Vienna! €3-€4 for a world class opera is definitely a must do! A few tips: 1-There is a side entrance for the Standing Room Tickets (on the opposite side of the Opera House from the big outdoor screen). Make sure you go in the building unless the line is already out the door. 2-The ticket window opens 80 minutes before curtain, but I was told to get there a full 2 hours before. When I arrived, I was towards the front of the line inside, but there were maybe 50 people in front of me. 3-Dress appropriately! I saw quite a few people turned away for wearing shorts (both men and women) and ripped jeans. Those were the two offenses I heard repeated over and over, so I am not sure if there are any others. 4-Bring something to do in line! I was traveling solo and was so happy to have a book with me. 5-Bring a scarf or something to tie around the railing to secure your place.
7. Graben and Kohlmarkt
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,155 reviews
Reviewed By ParvizM2013 - San Diego, United States
As part of our Vienna city center walk, we spent some time on beautiful Graben Street. It is a must see in Vienna. You see very nice and old buildings with amazing architecture. There are lots of very nice cafes, restaurants, and high end designer shops on Graben street. As expected, the Graben street was very busy and crowded with tourists. There is a lot to see when you are there. You are within few minutes of walking distance to attractions such as Hofburg Palace, Sisi Museum and Kaiser apartments, Stephan Platz, St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom), Albertina Platz, Vienna State Opera, and the amazing golden Plague Column (Pestsaule). It was a very peasant walk and spent a few hours over there. Go to Graben street and have fun!
8. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 9,709 reviews
Experience one of the world's foremost museums! Let yourself be enchanted by works spanning five millennia, from Ancient Egypt to the modern era. Experience unique major works by Dürer, Raphael, Titian and Velázquez as well as the world's largest collection of Bruegel paintings, all in a magnificent setting. The Kunstkammer Vienna, featuring the famous Saliera by Benvenuto Cellini, is a veritable universe of art and beauty guaranteed to transform any visit into an unforgettable experience. Included in the ticket are the collections at the Neue Burg on the opposite side of Vienna's Ringstrasse. Here you will see the instruments used by the great composers and be transported back to chivalrous times when knights held sway and tourneys and hunting shaped courtly life.
Reviewed By Ina5555 - Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine
The museum was the main goal of my Vienna visit, but I never expected it to be such an excellent introduction into the city and palaces sculptures' motifs as well, underscoring how much power was assigned back then to the art as a means of ideological visual education. Having spent 1,5 days in the museum I have made plenty of personal discoveries and enjoyed new for me artworks (e.g. unexpected parallel to the modern popular mass culture is a 1524 'Arya Stark' self-portrait bearing uncanny resemblance, in fact Parmigianino's enchanting masterpiece). The discoveries haven't stopped after the museum visit ended, because the next day during sightseeing I realized I recognize many of the city and its palaces sculptures' motifs and whatever I used to know about the big name old masters the most influential of them in Vienna must be Luca Giordano's The Fall of the Rebel Angels, whenever I saw its impressive replicated Laocoon-like convulsion-wriggled figures conveying the ideals of Counter-Reformation to the empire subjects on the city streets. Just walking the city you can recognize in the city sculptures' many familiar motifs, not only Biblical but antique as well (Hercules lifting Antaeus, Amazons, etc). Practicalities of the museum visit: the air-conditioning wasn't felt at all in the big inner rooms with Roman numerals, I slightly felt it in the small outer rooms with Arabic numerals (as of 14th and 15th of July). Six or seven rooms were entirely closed for reconstruction during my two-day visit. For lockers you need either a 1 or 2 euro coin, but there's a manned storage facility as well. Backpacks have to be left in a locker, normal shoulder bags are OK. Photo of the permanent exhibition without a flash is allowed. Temporary exhibition: Yan van Eyck "Als Ich Can". Probably I somehow unfortunately missed it. In the room dedicated to the special exhibition (0.5 floor, the same floor as the Kunstkammer, Egyptian and Antique collections - beware indeed almost no English translations of the exhibits, an audio guide cannot make up for all of them; the Egyptian rooms maintain specific humidity level) I saw only few works by the painter, and few works by his contemporaries like Rogier van der Weyden. The museum building (as well as the whole square) is a stunning art object in its own right, specifically built to showcase the Habsburg art treasuries, its highlights are covered by audio guide, including Klimt, Munkacsy contributions. Seeing the interiors I couldn't help but felt as the Mask film protagonist having to recover my awestruck jaw from the floor. Really a mind-boggling shrine of a high art which symbols and messages are probably half-obscure nowadays.
9. Albertina
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6,819 reviews
Situated in the very heart of Vienna's City center, the Albertina houses one of the most important art collections of the world. Founded in 1776, the Museum today owns masterpieces by Da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Duerer, Rembrandt etc. These collections are presented in temporary exhibitions. The Batliner Collection "From Monet to Picasso" is permanentely on display and shows the most important works by artists from the age of modernism. The Habsburg Historic Staterooms of the Albertina give an air of Imperial glamour.
Reviewed By iioannis2 - Limassol City, Cyprus
Let yourself be attracted and inspired by classical and modern art of famous painters like Picasso and Rubens, as well as admiring memorable vividness painting scenes of the A' World War and medieval personalities, along with modern pieces of painting of abstract art. You will also enter at luxurious furnished coloured rooms taking you back at classical eras and rooms decorated with Greek status like the 9 muses and Apollon (usually their names are written in Greeks). I was impressed that most of the visitors are young people even if the ticket could be considered a bit expensive. But the cost deserves for those who look for such cultural exhibitions. When an exhibit (eg a painting) impresses you, read the small label in the wall next to it and then let your imagination be absorbed looking at the painting, enjoying it as an excellent creation and experiencing in your though what it represents. This is the best place for this purpose!
10. State Hall of the Austrian National Library
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,776 reviews
What comes to mind when you think of a library hall? Enter the State Hall of the Austrian National Library and your expectations are guaranteed to be exceeded. The State Hall – built in the 18th century as part of the former Court Library – is a breathtaking 80 metres long and 20 metres high. An intricately decorated dome and numerous frescos provide an imperial flair. This baroque jewel is home to over 200,000 tomes. Four magnificent Venetian globes, each with a diameter of over one metre, provide the finishing touch to the heart of the Austrian National Library.
Reviewed By Whiskydram - Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Well worth a visit, a bit different from the few book shelves I have at home. Some fascinating early books on display, some hundreds of years old among the first to be printed, incredible condition and amazing how only a few years earlier all books were handwritten. Also fantastic early maps. If you have the slightest interest in history this is a must.
