Things to Do in Vienna, Austria

1. Schönbrunn Palace (Schloss Schönbrunn)

Schloss Schönbrunn

Magnificent Habsburg palace featuring elegant rococo interiors and extensive gardens. Visit imperial apartments, explore the maze, and ascend the Gloriette for views of the city.

Quick facts: Visitors enter through a sunny yellow rococo facade into shining state rooms, where gilded mirrors and frescoed ceilings still tell stories of imperial court life. Beyond the apartments, a historic menagerie, botanical greenhouses, and the world's oldest continuously operating zoo bring together imperial splendor and lively park settings.

Highlights: Step inside the state apartments and try counting the often-mentioned 1,441 rooms while your attention is drawn to Maria Theresa's tiny walnut writing desk, its lacquer worn into pale streaks and faint lavender traces in the wood grain. In the vast Baroque gardens, a menagerie that opened in 1752 still thrives, so you can hear peafowl calls, watch keepers feed red pandas at dawn, and enjoy the charming contrast between strict hedges and lively animal sounds.

2. St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom)

Stephansdom

Gothic towering icon in the heart of Vienna, steeped in centuries of history and striking art. Discover the vaulted nave, climb for rooftop views, and visit the crypt and treasury below.

Quick facts: Sunlight reflects off a dazzling patterned roof of glazed tiles, turning the skyline into a sparkling mosaic when you look up in the square. Climbing the narrow tower stairwell rewards you with a breathtaking panorama, while the interior's ringing bells and vast acoustics create a living soundtrack.

Highlights: Up close, you can see more than 230,000 shiny, multicolored tiles forming a sloping mosaic of a double-headed eagle and Habsburg symbols. They catch the sunlight and flash like a sequined jacket from various angles. Climb the 343 narrow stone steps to the 136.7-meter-high south tower for a wind-blown panorama, and on festival mornings, hear the powerful boom of the over-20-ton Pummerin bell echoing across the city.

3. Hofburg Palace (Imperial Palace)

Imperial Palace

Discover Habsburg authority and lavish imperial lifestyle at the Hofburg Palace. Stroll through grand state rooms, the Sisi Museum, and the richly decorated Imperial Chapel.

Quick facts: Marble corridors echo with the clip-clop of stallions from the Spanish Riding School, and visitors often spot tiny inscriptions left by court servants over centuries. Surprisingly, the complex has over 2,000 rooms and a museum with imperial silver that shines under low, golden light.

Highlights: Walk through over 2,600 rooms and 18 courtyards, where layers of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture overlap, and frescoed ceilings gleam with gold leaf while imperial portraits follow you down the hallways. In the imperial stables, you can see Lipizzaner foals born dark that slowly lighten to snowy gray by about age six, as riders practice the haute école’s pirouettes and caprioles that make the horses appear to dance on their hind legs.

4. Belvedere Palace (Schloss Belvedere)

Schloss Belvedere

Baroque palace showcasing world-class art and expansive gardens. View Klimt's The Kiss, ornate state rooms, and enjoy terraces with city vistas.

Quick facts: Visitors often marvel at the gilded Baroque staircases and terraces, where fountains and neatly trimmed gardens frame views that make every photo look cinematic. Inside, one of the world's most important collections of Klimt paintings, including the golden "The Kiss", draws art lovers close to Secession-era ornamentation and intensity.

Highlights: Imagine walking into a lavish Baroque setting where Prince Eugene of Savoy commissioned Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt between 1714 and 1723 to build two palaces that frame terraces, clipped lime trees, gilded statues, and marble fountains along a long central axis. Inside, the galleries hold the world's largest collection of Gustav Klimt paintings, highlighted by The Kiss from 1908, allowing you to stand inches from the shimmering gold leaf and feel the textured brushwork.

5. Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper)

Wiener Staatsoper

Impressive 19th-century opera house hosting top-tier performances. See spectacular opera and ballet, tour the auditorium, and try affordable standing tickets for an authentic experience.

Quick facts: Golden chandeliers and a horseshoe-shaped auditorium hide a busy schedule, with about 300 performances a year featuring world-class singers, ballets, and orchestras constantly rotating on stage. Locals and visitors can often find surprisingly affordable standing-room tickets, so you might hear beautiful arias up close without paying for a box.

Highlights: The original curtain rose in 1869 to Mozart's Don Giovanni with Emperor Franz Joseph I watching from the royal box. The gilded auditorium still smells of velvet and slightly of old stage wood when you enter. Many nights you can get a standing-room ticket for about €3, packing close with students and retirees as binoculars bob and the orchestra warms up, which feels like sneaking into a private, live soundtrack.

6. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

Imposing imperial palace housing one of Europe’s finest collections of Old Masters and decorative arts. Roam lavish halls to admire Titian, Bruegel, Rubens, and intricate historic rooms.

Quick facts: A soaring marble staircase and jewel-like galleries fill the rooms with warm light, making Old Master paintings and richly detailed applied arts seem theatrically alive. Many visitors are surprised to find both sparkling armor and intimate portrait rooms on the same route, revealing imperial taste for spectacle alongside quiet, everyday details.

Highlights: Peek into the restored Renaissance Kunstkammer where Benvenuto Cellini's gold-and-ivory Saliera, dated 1543, sits under a single spotlight beside tiny automata and micro-carved gems. The metal's warm gleam contrasts with the cool glass cases. Around the corner you can get close to Pieter Bruegel the Elder's 'Hunters in the Snow', tracing little painted foxes and village smoke with your eyes and hearing wooden floors creak like an old story being told aloud.

7. MuseumsQuartier (MQ)

MQ

Premier museums and vibrant courtyards combined in a cultural hub. Discover modern and classic art, enjoy coffee on a sunny terrace, and attend pop-up events.

Quick facts: A maze of pastel courtyards and airy galleries buzzes with street performers, pop-up cafés, and one of Europe’s most vibrant contemporary art scenes. Visitors relax on oversized beanbag loungers on warm afternoons, while hundreds of exhibitions, film screenings, and experimental performances keep the complex lively all year round.

Highlights: A large complex of museums and creative spaces opened in 2001 covers over 60,000 square meters, where locals lounge on oversized colorful chairs and sip coffee from courtyard cafés as DJs play late into the night. You can wander from the Leopold Museum's famous Egon Schiele paintings to MUMOK's Pop Art icons like Warhol and Picasso, then enjoy free outdoor film screenings and spontaneous contemporary dance on warm stone terraces.

8. Prater & Giant Ferris Wheel (Wiener Riesenrad)

Wiener Riesenrad

Famous Vienna landmark offering panoramic city views. Ride century-old wooden gondolas for skyline and Danube views.

Quick facts: Nighttime rides offer visitors sparkling views and slow-moving gondolas, perfect for enjoying skyline sights while photographers capture the golden glow. Each circuit lasts about ten minutes, and the wooden cabins have appeared in several films, giving each ride a surprising burst of cinematic nostalgia amid the gentle creak and breeze.

Highlights: Perched 64.75 meters above the park, the 15 timber-clad gondolas have been turning slowly since 1897, built to celebrate Emperor Franz Joseph I's golden jubilee. Their wooden benches still softly creak underfoot. Couples often rent private cabins for candlelit proposals, while film fans point out the exact seat where the Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten confrontation was filmed in Carol Reed's 1949 noir The Third Man.

9. Naschmarkt

Vibrant open-air market blending Viennese stalls with global flavors. Wander colorful aisles, taste street food, and shop antiques and spices.

Quick facts: A kaleidoscope of stalls fills the air with spices, cured meats, and fresh produce. Hundreds of vendors fill narrow aisles and haggle with regular customers. Hungry visitors sample small plates at busy counters, discovering local classics alongside international street food in a lively, communal setting.

Highlights: On Saturday mornings, roughly 120 stalls explode into a carnival of color and scent, with at least five carts grilling squeaky halloumi and vendors calling out in a dozen languages as smoked paprika, lemon, and fresh basil fill the stone-paved aisles. Near the old market gate, a modest glass-roofed stall serves apricot jam from 250-gram jars and offers a spoonful to curious passersby, while regulars tip a euro for a tiny shot of pear schnapps after making a good deal.

10. Hundertwasserhaus

Vivid, curving architecture in central Vienna, Hundertwasserhaus transforms an apartment building into a work of living art. Explore uneven floors, rooftop gardens, and striking mosaics.

Quick facts: Winding, colorful facades and undulating, plant-covered roofs make the building feel like a fairytale village squeezed into a city block. Around 250 trees and shrubs spill from its terraces. Visitors often notice the intentionally uneven, bumpy floors and playful mosaics underfoot, details meant to slow you down and invite you to linger rather than rush by.

Highlights: About 250 trees and shrubs burst from balconies and rooftops, their trunks tucked into planters and terraces because Friedensreich Hundertwasser insisted residents include greenery in the facade's riot of colored tiles. Inside, deliberately wavy, uneven floors make you feel like you are walking on a small boat, and a quirky tenant tradition of hand-painting window frames means each window is a different color and pattern.

11. Duomo di Milano

A stunning masterpiece with incredible rooftop views. Admire intricate gothic sculptures and sweeping cityscapes from the top.

Quick facts: This majestic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete, featuring a blend of Gothic and Renaissance styles. Over 3,400 statues decorate its exterior, making it one of the most intricately adorned churches worldwide.

Highlights: Climb to the rooftop and walk among towering spires and delicate pinnacles for panoramic city views and close-ups of detailed statues. At sunset, the marble glows pink, creating a magical atmosphere rarely seen elsewhere.

12. Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Enter a dazzling realm of luxury and history. Enjoy stunning architecture and lively cafes beneath a magnificent glass dome.

Quick facts: An iconic shopping arcade topped with a magnificent glass dome houses luxury boutiques and historic cafes. A floor mosaic of zodiac signs is said to bring good luck if you spin on the bull's testicles.

Highlights: The glass and iron roof rises 50 meters high, flooding the space with light that plays over intricate mosaics below. You can enjoy an espresso in a café while admiring the elegant 19th-century architecture blending Milanese grandeur with Parisian style.