Vienna is well known for its imperial history, Habsburg architecture, world class music, charming cafes, more than 100 museums and stunning sights. Weeks could be spent strolling the city and delving in Viennese culture and life.
Major tourist attractions include the imperial palaces of the Hofburg and Schönbrunn – approximately 7 million people visited these former homes of Habsburg royals in 2010. The world’s oldest zoo, the Sissi Museum, the royal jewelry collection, the Habsburg tombs, and the Spanish Riding School are all located at these palaces. Set aside 3 days to fully enjoy the splendor of Schönbrunn and the Hofburg. Schloß Belvedere, the former home of Prince Eugen who won dozens of battles for the Habsburg Empire and secured their supremacy in Southeast Europe, is also a must see in Vienna. Klimt’s “The Kiss” is the crowning glory of this palace turned museum.
Other highlights include the Burgtheater, the Vienna State Opera, the Vienna State Library, the Albertina, the amusement park Prater and its 1897 ferris wheel, the Ringstrasse and the Vienna Boys' Choir, just to mention a few.
Feels like home strongly recommends to explore Vienna by public transportation, bike or foot.
If you want to discover Vienna differently by segway or bike we strongly recommend our partners "City Segway Tours" or "Pedal Power":
Article by www.segway-vienna.at
Imagine cruising effortlessly through the beautiful parks and around historic buildings while receiving a great orientation, informative historical and current-day information, heaps of unique and fascinating stories, fantastic photo ops and superb personal service from your guide. The Segway is the first of its kind-a self-balancing, personal transportation device that's designed to operate in any pedestrian environment. It's new, it's cool and a ton of fun!
Our 3 hour tours are limited to 8-10 persons with one guide so you can count on a great, intimate experience. Discover what it's like to be a Vienna celebrity as everyone, and we mean everyone, turns to watch us glide by!
Article by www.pedalpower.at
Vienna’s extensive net of bike paths gets you to the sights easily. PEDAL POWER’s fleet of modern and well-maintained Austrian-made touring bicycles makes pedaling a pleasure. You can pick them up yourselves or have us deliver them to your hotel. The bicycles come with a tour map and tour suggestions to assist you as you ride around Vienna.
Find all info about those partners on their websites.
you will find numerous great walking tours totally free of charge! Below we added 2.
"Ancient History"
Challenge: 1 (Sandal)
Circuit: Old town including Josefsplatz,
Ballgasse, Stephansplatz and Schwedenplatz
Length: 3.51km
Start point: Michaelerplatz (1010 Vienna)
Coordinates: 48°12'28.60"N, 16°22'1.16"E
Public transport: U3 > Herrengasse station
(5mins by foot to the starting point)
ROUTE DESCRIPTION
Urbs explore everything. This time it's the old town, the vibrant and powerful beating heart of Vienna. Teaming life flows through the arteries of the city and the multilingual soundscape, accompanied by the sound of horses hooves, gently penetrates into even the smallest side streets. A dash of mysticism flows through the forecourts and courtyards of historic buildings, ancient history sticks to the imposing walls and a whiff of past centuries flows through the heart's chambers. Until eventually it escapes through the valves at the Ring to be distributed to the surrounding organs, and there slowly evaporates.
This route penetrates deep into the old heart of Vienna, and with a bit of imagination past events and legends can almost be experienced. To achieve this effect it's a good idea to take a book of legends in your back pack, and dive in at the onset of dusk or when it's foggy.
ROUTE
At Michaelerplatz not only are there excavations, which allow a glimpse into the city's Roman past, but there is also the inconspicuous looking Michaelerkirche church. Appearances can be deceptive however, because beneath its arches you can find Vienna's creepiest crypt. The constant temperature beneath the earth here has mummified some of the corpses, and left them looking the visitors in the eye from their open tombs.
We carry on along Reitschulgasse to Josefsplatz. Here, step through the portals of the Augustinerkirche church, past the pyramid-shaped Canova monument – watch out for the gate to his tomb, in the realm of the dead – to Loretokapelle, which was moved underground in 1784. The door itself – painted with skulls – hints that the Viennese Brotherhood of the Dead were once based right here where you are standing. The adjoining ‘Herzerlgruft’ [Heart's Crypt] contains urns with 56 of the Hapsburg family's hearts inside. Back out in front of the church, we carry on along Augustinerstraße via Lobkowitzplatz into Gluckgasse, where you can find Kaisergruft at the end. If you haven't had enough of being underground, you can find the magnificent sarcophaguses that hold the mortal remains of the Habsburg's (without hearts and entrails). This most ostentatious of mausoleums is, surprise surprise, the tomb of Maria Theresia. Now we pass Neuer Markt – and turn into Donnergasse, then cross Kärntner Straße, to arrive in Himmelpfortgasse. Turning left here takes us to Rauhensteingasse.
Number 10 was once a building that bore the name, ‘Malefiz-Spitzbubenhaus’. Unfortunately nothing remains of it, and a temple to consumerism has taken its place. What irony, when you think that one of Vienna's grimmest prisons once stood here. Now we go left into Ballgasse, one of the most characteristic of old town side streets, where a mystical charm can still be felt in the walls. This is also true of the delightful courtyards of 7 and 16 Singergasse, and 3 Blutgasse (with balconies), which can be reached via Franziskanerplatz. From Blutgasse we now turn left into Domgasse, and go straight through the passage to Stephansplatz, and through a side door into the Cathedral. Too many legends to count surround this building.
The Devil was there at the construction of the north tower (still incomplete), and grimacing demonic water spouts grin from the facade. Inside, we find the stairs down to the catacombs on the left – this ‘city of the dead’ under Stephansdom, where you can still see holes for throwing people into the plague pits, among other things. In the northern tower you encounter the ‘Zahnwehhergott’ who you can pray to, to heal your toothache, and nearby in the Katharinenkapelle, the ‘Dienstbotenmuttergottes’ who is said to have saved a maid from damnation.
The ‘Hündlein Ohnefurcht’ [Dog Leash of Fearlessness] is also very interesting. It is located high up in the pulpit, and helped children conquer their fear and keep evil at bay. Out through the main entrance (a really big door) there are two horizontal bars – the Ellen [cubits] – that were used to check the amounts of purchases, and there is ‘05’ scratched in the wall to the left – the sign of the Austrian resistance to the Nazis. Another interesting feature at Stephansplatz is the legendary Stock im Eisen [Staff in Iron], a medieval tree into which hundreds of nails have been pounded for good luck, and the Vergilius Chapel, an underground crypt, which can be seen from inside the underground station. From there you can reach Rotenturmstraße, then Lichtensteg via Hohe Markt (in the middle ages, one of the city's most important markets and also a place of execution by hanging and pillory) under the Anchor Clock and through to Judengasse and on to Ruprechtskirche.
This is the oldest church in Vienna, erected around the year 800 on the site of the Roman city of Vindobona. Inside, it's very bare, but is very atmospheric, after all its walls are the oldest in the city to still be in use. Now back into Seitenstettengasse, then right onto Rabensteig.
There is something special about this corner, because it once lay right on the Danube, and because of a gentle bend in the river, dead bodies would regularly wash up and get tangled in the sheets of the local washer women. Now we carry on to the left into Fleischmarkt, then via Köllnerhofgasse and Sonnenfelsgasse into Schönlaternengasse. Here at number 7 we find the Basiliskenhaus of local legend. Turn right into Fleischmarkt at the end of the street and we are already at Griechenbeisl, one of Vienna's oldest restaurants, with the Lieber Augustin, a famous street performer and plague victim, in the basement ;-) And finally down the narrow Griechengasse to Schwedenplatz and now it's time to emerge from the past.
LOCAL TIPS
Michaelergruft guided tours
Monday to Friday, 11, 2, 3 and 4 o'clock
Saturday, 3 and 4 o'clock 1010 Wien, Habsburgergasse 12
Herzgruft
Opening times:
Sundays and holidays after masses see
www.augustinerkirche.at
1010 Wien, Augustinerstraße 3
Kaisergruft
Opening times:
Daily from 10am to 6pm (closed on 1st and 2nd November) 1010 Wien, Tegetthoffstraße 2
Ruprechtskirche
Opening times:
Monday – Thursday 10am to 12am Monday,
Wednesday, Friday, 3pm to 5pm
1010 Wien, Seitenstettengasse 5
"Silent Voices"
Challenge: 1 (sandal)
Circuit: gate 3 [Tor 3] via Park der Ruhe+Kraft, noble graves and the old Jewish cemetery
Length: 5.07km
Start point: Zentralfriedhof [Central Cemetery] gate 3
Coordinates: 48° 9'8.37"N, 16°26'53.17"E
Public transport: 6, 71 > Zentralfriedhof, Tor 3 stop (stop is right at entrance)
ROUTE DESCRIPTION
Morbid mood, despite the bright sunshine – what could be healthier for an urb, than getting straight on the 6, and going to the end of the line, Vienna's biggest cemetery. Slightly unhinged by all the screaming at Vienna's many open-air swimming places, I decided that silence would be just what the doctor ordered, and my first objective was the Park der Ruhe und Kraft [The Recreation and Power Gardens]. Which are very interesting, if you are into magic, and on top of that a marvellous place to get some sun or chill out in the shade.
Another treat was that I was accompanied along the whole way by black-bellied hamsters, which regard Zentralfriedhof as more of good place to live, rather than a resting place. And they are right. The further along the route you go, the more curious the graves become, especially where the nobles are buried.
The people buried here are a real cross section of Viennese ‘society’. The most beautiful part is however the old Jewish cemetery. Overgrown, weather beaten and fallen grave stones have an enigmatic aura, even in day light. Woooooooooo ;-) At dusk, this morbid atmosphere reaches perfection. Let's urb!
ROUTE
Through gate 3 of Zentralfriedhof, and straight ahead to just before the first intersection – here on the right, you will find the inconspicuous entrance to the Park der Ruhe und Kraft. After taking a look, we go back to the park entrance, and follow the deserted paths further to the start of group 40 (the rich and famous, including Falco).
On the path between group 35b and 41b, turn right and keep straight ahead, past the memorial, the Borromäus-Kirche church and the graves of the nobility (a detour among them is well worth the time) until you have arrived among the graves of the old Jewish cemetery. Here it's a good idea to just roam around, as some of the most beautiful gave stones are to be found among the undergrowth.
As long as you keep going north west, it is hard to get lost. Between group 5 and 8, the path leads past the Anatomie (graves of people who have left their bodies to medical science), and the old arcades, keep straight on back to the Park der Ruhe und Kraft.
AREA TIPS
Zentralfriedhof
Opening times:
May to August: 7am to 8pm March,
April and September: 7am to 6pm
November to April: 8am to 5pm
Detailed information on the graves of the nobility
The book, "Wiener Zentralfriedhof Ehrengräber"
is available to order for ten euros
http://www.friedhoefewien.at
Friedhofskirche Borromäus
Opening times:
March to October: 9am to 5pm
November to February: 9am to 4pm
Schloß Concordia (old stonemasons' building)
Schnitzel, with style!
1110 Vienna, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 283
Download cemetery plans for every Viennese district
http://www.friedhoefewien.at
Find more tours on www.wildurb.at
Useful links:
Gallery:
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