"Stately and imperial Vienna" a Vienna Travel Page by dinhyen

Vienna was the seat of the Habsburg dynasty that ruled much of Europe for hundreds of years. Fittingly, the predominant architectural style in Vienna is imposing and grandiose, and perhaps a little on the austere side.

Vienna is very popular with tourists. In Heldenplatz, there are literally hundreds of horse-drawn carriages awaiting the loads of tourists that tour buses disgorge in front of the Hofburg palace. As you can imagine, the stench from so many horses can be a bit overwhelming. By contrast, Prague has perhaps half a dozen carriages at most.

The tour of the Imperial apartments in Hofburg Palace is disappointingly short, unless you're really curious about the personal lives of Kaiser Franz Jozef and Kaiserin Sissi. Furthermore you cannot take any photos! The Imperial Museum in Innsbruck is much more satisfying, and you can take all the photos that you want.

Schoenbrunn is perhaps the only other European palace that can claim (almost) equal footing with Versailles. I prefer the vast tracts of luxuriant green space surrounding this palace to Versailles'.

Example of heroic architecture found in the government district of Vienna.