Find Luxury Hotels in Vienna

• The Belvedere, Prinz Eugen-Straße 27 (Take tram D, stop Belvedere), ? +43/ (0)1/ 79 557 0 (info@belvedere.at), [6]. Open daily from 10AM until 6PM. Intended as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy, the Belvedere was located outside the city walls. Its two palace segments, the Upper and Lower Belvedere, later became the permanent home of the Austrian Gallery. The Oberes Belvedere (Upper) contains recent Austrian and international art from the past two centuries. Viennese art from the early twentieth century is well-represented in the permanent collection "Vienna around 1900 and the Art of the Classical Modern."

• The New Palace (Neue Hofburg). The New Palace is the newest and largest section of the Imperial Palace. It contains the Ethnological Museum and three branches of the Museum of Fine Arts. The Ephesus Museum contains classical art from Asia Minor, the Collection of Historical Musical Instruments is self-explanatory, but the jewel of the New Palace is the Collection of Arms. This collection, second largest in the world, houses an immense and exhaustive representation of weaponry from past centuries.

• Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury). Located in the Neue Hofburg, the Schatzkammer (also known as the Secular and Ecclesiastical Treasures) is the best part of the Hofburg, and an absolute must on any tour of Vienna. Second only to a tour of the Kunsthistorisches Museum itself, of which the Schatzkammer is officially a part, there are 20 rooms of priceless treasures that give a fairly accurate feel for Habsburg court life over the centuries.

• Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts), €10. Picture Gallery daily except Monday 10 am-6 pm, Thursday 10 am- 9 pm, U2: Babenbergerstrasse, U3: Volkstheater, tram D, J, 1, 2, bus 57A: Burgring Maria-Theresien-Platz (entrance), phone 525 24 0. One of the world's great art museums, in a palace that's a work of art itself. Like the Louvre, serious art fans may wish to devote more than a day to its treasures. The mother of all Austrian museums - there is no other word to describe the Kunsthistorisches other than mind boggling. It’s at the very least a full day’s worth of sightseeing, if you intend to go through it thoroughly and attempt ponder the importance of each major work. The better approach here is to break up sections of the museum and visit them over a series of days, or if that’s not an option, pick one section and concentrate on it alone. The Picture Gallery is kept open until 9 pm on Thursdays. Beginning with another section of the museum, it’s possible to have a lunch or light dinner in the café and then continue through the Picture Gallery until closing time. 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.

• The Imperial Furniture Collection - Vienna Furniture Museum Andreasgasse 7, 1070 Wien, phone: +43-1-524 33 57-0. Opening Hours: Tue – Sun 10 am – 6 pm. The museum is wheelchair-accessible. The museum with the largest furniture collection worldwide is considered as an insider's tip and is located just off bustling Mariahilfer Strasse. So you can go shopping and to the museum. Take the orange underground line U3 (alight at Zieglergasse, take the Andreasgasse exit). The items on display include used furniture by all the Austrian emperors since Charles VI (the father of Maria Theresa), furniture by the Thonet Brothers to Jugendstil, the Viennese Modernist movement and contemporary Austrian architects and designers such as E.A. Plischke, Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Luigi Blau and Franz West. Besides the permanent furniture collection the museum also hosts two to three temporary special exhibitions on furniture design and photography each year. Information on the current special exhibitions can be found at www.hofmobiliendepot.at (exhibitions). You can purchase a single ticket or a combined ticket "Sisi Ticket" which in addition to the museum allows you to visit Schönbrunn Palace, the Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum and the Imperial Silver Collection in the Hofburg. Take U3, stop Zieglergasse.

• MAK - Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art Stubenring 5, 1st District, phone: +43-1-711 36-0, open: Tuesday 10 am-to midnight (MAK - NITE(c)), Wednesday-Sunday 10 am-6 pm. closed on Monday. Free admission on Saturday. MAK Design Shop. Permanent Collection. Study Collection. Exhibitions of contemporary art, design, architecture. How to go there? Subway U3, Tram 1, 2, bus 1A, 74A to Stubentor, and U4 to Landstrasser Hauptstrasse, City Airport Train from the airport to Bahnhof Wien

• Wiener Metropol [41] is a beautiful little theatre in the heart of "Hernals", mostly frequented by Viennese themselves.

• The Naschmarkt right at the U4 subway station "Kettenbrueckengasse" is the biggest of Vienna's 22 market places and provides a unique blend of typical Vienna contumely and orientalic flair. Stroll through the market and be part of the amazing ambiente. If you like to cook, you will find all spices you can possibly imagine at the Naschmarkt. The side of the Secession tends to be more touristy and thus expensive, than the side of the "Kettenbrueckengasse". Remember that it is illegal to export antiquities outside of Austria, even if you legally buy them at a market. A part of the Naschmarkt are the small nice restaurants with fresh Italien, Japanese, Greek and Turkish food, and in summer they have nice open-air gardens.

• Vienna Boys Choir (Wiener Sängerknaben), [42]. Vienna Boys Choir was founded at the pleasure of the Habsburgs. 20 July 1498 Emperor Maximilian I decided to hire six singing boys, the first permanent boys choir attached to the court. He also made arrangements for their education – fringe benefits that are difficult to get from a modern employer. The choir served the monarchy until its demise at the beginning of the first World War. The last Imperial Chaplain, Monsignor Josef Schnitt reestablished the Boys Choir as the "Vienna Boys Choir" in 1924 as a private institution. To earn money, the Choir began to perform outside the Imperial Chapel. Even though they are a not-for-profit organization, the rising costs of educating the choristers from a very young age as well as providing music and all the other variables required made establishing the Verein Wiener Sängerknaben necessary

• River and Canal tours

In the summer it's just wonderful to hang out in Museumsquartier in the evenings. The big yard is filled with large fiberglass sofas you can use for free. Optionally you can buy drinks at the open air bars there. Just ask for a glass you can take away so you can use the sofas. During the day a visit to Burggarten is highly recommended if you are looking for a more alternative young crowd. Buy something to eat and drink at a supermarket and join the others on the grass.

In July and August there's an opera film festival on the Rathausplatz. Each day - weather permitting - you can watch an opera on a huge open-air screen. On another part of the Square there are plenty of food stalls (maybe a little overpriced) who offer Viennese as well as international food. On pleasant summer evenings the atmosphere can be quite relaxing.

There are also a lot of other open-air-filmfestivals in summer, e.g. at the Augarten, the Vienna Turf Krieau, the Prater and Schloss Neugebäude.

Also in the summer there is the ImPulsTanz Festival [43] for contemporary dance & performance. But if you are interested in dance workshops they also are the right choice for you.

There are many parks to visit an enjoy throughout the city. The Wiener Tiergarten (not the Lainzer Tiergarten at Schönbrunn) has several 2-10 km hiking trails, as well as a variety of wildlife. You can see the animals get fed at 2:00 pm every day. Ask any park attendant where the location is.

• Football has a long and vivid history in Vienna. Until about 40 years ago, Austrian football was dominated by a large number of Viennese clubs. Since then, their strenght has faded, reflecting the overall decline of Austrian football compared to other European football.

Today only two Viennese clubs are left in the Austrian top football division: Rapid Vienna and Austria Magna.

Rapid have won the Austrian league 31 times, this is more than any other club. They are known as the people's club, having working class roots and regularly attracting fairly big crowds of around 15.000. Home fixtures are played at the Gerhard-Hanappi-Stadion in the 14th district, right next to the subway station "Hütteldorf" (U4).

Season usually starts in late July and ends in May, with a break in winter from early December until late February (due to cold weather). Tickets are available at the stadium, at various tobacco shops (Trafik) around town and also on the internet at www.skrapid.at[44] (no English section available!). Ticket prices for league matches range from € 18 to € 26. Ladies, students and children will receive considerable discounts. For a schedule of fixtures in English go to www.soccerassociation.com[45], click "Austria" and "Bundesliga".

A relatively new addition to the local snack culture is Döner Kebap, sandwiches of Turkish origin with roasted meat, salad and yogurt sauce. Places that sell kebap often sell take-away pizza too. Some conservatives are afraid that kebap will gain more popularity than sausages, and perhaps they are right.

Good kebaps can be bought at the Naschmarkt; the lower end of the Naschmarkt (furthest away from Karlsplatz or city centre) is cheaper than the upper end. Another good place to find snacks (especialy whilegoing out) is "Schwedenplatz".

By far the cheapest way to get a fast food meal in Austria (and probably the only meal available for under 1 euro) is buying an Austrian sandwich (bread roll + ham/cheese + gherkin) from a supermarket. Most supermarkets will prepare sandwiches to take away at the deli counter (Feinkostabteilung) for no extra charge. You only pay for the bread and the ham. There is usually a large selection of meat products, cheese and bread rolls available. You point at the combination you want and then pay at the check out till. Freshness and quality are normally better than at a sandwich stand on the street.

You can buy excellent ice cream at a number of places, maybe the most popular is the Eissalon am Schwedenplatz where you can choose from a lot of different flavours, but it's always crowded and you often have to stand in a queue for a few minutes to get your ice cream. Another, maybe less crowded, but nevertheless excellent address is Perizzolo in Tuchlauben. Another Famous Place for Ice Cream is Tichy on the Reumannplatz (10th District), which is famous for its Eismarillenknödel, small dumplings of vanilla ice cream with an apricot core.

There is also Zanoni & Zanoni located Am Lugeck, just down Rotenturmstrasse from the Stephansdom. You should also try Bortolotti at Mariahilfer Straße 22 and 94. (The latter not open during winter!) - ask particularily for the Campari-Orange Icecream or look for other exotic stuff.

• Vegetasia - Wien Landstrasse, Ungargasse 57, ? 01/ 713 8 33 2, [47]. Open daily 11:30AM - 3PM & 5:30PM - 11PM. Chain of vegan restaurants. Serves a huge variety of Chinese Buddhist vegetarian food (most of it vegan).

• Vegetasia - Wien Neubau, Kaiserstrasse 45, ? 01/ 523 1 091, [48]. Open daily 11:30AM - 3PM & 5:30PM - 11PM. Chain of vegan restaurants.Much the same as the other.

• Cafe Restaurant Kent (Eat like the locals - eat Turkish!), Brunnengasse 67, A-1160 Wien. At first approach this looks like a greasy kebab joint strictly for Turks... but struggle past the first room and you will find a large garden and huge restaurant serving moderately priced food with an infinite supply of free Turkish bread! Good for veggies and meat eaters alike. Also try the turkish breakfast. Expect to pay under 10€.

• Kolar, Laudongasse 8, 1080 Wien., [49]. Nice Pubs/Beisls. They have a tasty "Fladenbrot".

• Maschu Maschu 1,