Vienna Things to Do Tips by Joe_Puntoni

This cathedral stands in the 1. district of Vienna, and is one of her most famous landmarks, with over 2.000.000 visitors a year. Construction took place over the last 700 years, but was first started in 1137. In the 14th century St. Stephan began construction of the main building. In 1433 the high tower was completed. At the end of the second world war, looters set fire to some nearby shops and the wind spread the fire to the North Tower. The church was restored by 1952 and this is how you will see it today. For €4 you can go to the top of the North Tower and see Vienna. For the same price, you can also take a tour of the catacombs, where you can see some of the Hapsburgs coffins, their intestines in urns, and walls of bones from victims of the Plauge.

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Directions: U-bahn station Stephansplatz

This is the Hapsburgs' Imperial Palace. The construction first began in 1279, and this remained the home of the Kaisers until 1918. Currently it is the residence of the Chancellor, so tours of Hofburg are not permitted. It is great to just walk around and marvel at the archtecture of the buildings if you dont have time or desire to go into the many museums. I found the Schatzkammer most interesting, as it has the crowns, sceptres, and robes of the Hapsburgs, as well as religious artifacts made of precious metals. You can also see the Imperial Apartments and the Hapsburg Silver collection in another part of the complex. Other museums here include: Lipizzaner Museum, Burgskapelle, and the Nationalbibliothek.

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Die Albertina was opened on 14.March 2003, and houses changing international art exhibitions. You will see posters throughout the city with the current featured artists and works. Alternatively, there are the Habsburgs' Staterooms, which are really rather boring, and not worth going to see unless you go for the art exhibition as well (the cost to see the state rooms are included in the price to see the exhibition).

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Directions: Near U-bahn/bus/tram station Karlsplatz/Oper. Sits right across the street from the tourist office.
Website: http://www.albertina.at/

Das Rathaus is a beautiful building sitting in the 1. District. Guided tours are available, and there are some exhibitions throughout the year on the first floor.

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Directions: U-bahn 2 station Rathaus

This is Austria's Parliment building, which was built between 1873 and 1883. It sits across from the Volksgarten, and is a beautiful archtictural work with guided tours are available when the parliment is not in session.

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Directions: U-bahn 2 or 3 station Volkstheater

The Hapsburgs' Palace was started in 1637, but took its current form in 1740. You can take tours of the inside of the palace, as well as the zoo, palmery, and imperial coach collection. You are able to walk around the gardens (which are larger than Monoco) for free, but have to pay if you want to go through the maze.

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Directions: U-bahn 4 to Schönbrunn

Schloss Belvedere was built from the plan of Prince Eugene of Savoy, and consists of 2 complexes, Upper Belvedere (1722) and Lower Belvedere (1716). Upper Belvedere is in the photo, and was intended more for display than Lower Belvedere which served as living quarters during the summer. Today the palaces house the museum of midevil art and baroque museum, as well as changing exhibitions.

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Directions: U-bahn 1,2 to Karlsplatz; U-bahn 4 to Stadtpark

The Freyung is a square with a triangular shape, and the the most striking thing about it is the Austriabrunnen (Austria Fountain). The fountain has the theme of four rivers ( the Danube, the Elbe, the Po, and Vistula) that formerly flowed through the Austrian Empire. Rumour has it that Allma von Goethe, the granddaughter of the poet, was the model for the figure on the fountain. The Schottenkirche also lays on the Feryung and was founded by Irish monks in the 13. century.

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Address: U-bahn station Schottentor

Since the erection of the Shoah Memorial and the establishment of a museum about medieval Jewry, Judenplatz has become a singular place of remembrance. There are also excavations of the medieval synagogue here, which can be accessed through the museum in the Misrachi House (Judenplatz 8). It contains documentation of the first Jewish settlements in the Middle Ages, which date back as far as the eleventh century, and of the first major expulsion of Jews in the years 1420-21, the so-called "Vienna Geserah." The Jewish community was completely annihilated at that time - an anti-Jewish relief on the building at Judenplatz 2 ("Zum großen Jordan") serves as a reminder of this event. Austria's Catholic cardinal Schönborn arranged for a memorial tablet to be placed on the house at Judenplatz 6, as a reminder of the anti-Jewish role of the Catholic church; in April 2001, the Jewish Community placed another memorial tablet, this one devoted to those who helped Jews during the Nazi era on the so-called Misrachi House at Judenplatz 8.

Mozart also lived in a house on this square (Judenplatz 3-4) in 1789, and this is where he composed the clarinet quintet (K.581) and the opera Così fan tutte. The square also has a statue of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, who was an outstanding representative of the Germany Enlightment.

The square also holds Der Österreichische Verfassungsgerichtshof and Der Verwaltungsgerichtshof, 2 major courts for the Austrian law system.

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The MuseumsQuartier Wien first opened in 2001. It features almost 50 different facilities for contemporary art and culture and is one of the ten largest cultural complexes in the world, attracting 2.7 million visitors each year.

Fine art from the late 19th century to the present is presented in three institutions: The Leopold Museum shows the formerly private collection of Rudolf Leopold, covering the breadth of Austrian art of the 19th and 20th centuries on five floors of exhibition space. Important focuses are the presentation of art from Vienna around 1900 with works by Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Richard Gerstl, and Oskar Kokoschka and the world’s most important Egon Schiele collection.

The Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (MUMOK) emphasizes Pop Art and Photorealism, Fluxus and Nouveau Réalisme, and Viennese Actionism as the highlights of socially conscious, reality-based, and performative art of the 20th century.

Kunsthalle Wien was founded in 1993 as Vienna’s exhibition hall for contemporary art. It offers changing exhibits throughout the year.

Visitors interested in architecture can get an overview of Austrian architecture at the Architekturzentrum Wien. On Sundays, the Az W also offers regular tours to selected architectural sites.

quartier21
In addition to the renowned museums and exhibition halls, the MQ features an area dedicated to present-day art called quartier21. Covering about 6,000 square meters of space, it is home to 38 different independent and autonomous art and culture initiatives. The spectrum ranges from art publishers, editorial offices, associations, and festival offices to an on-demand music store for legal music downloads from the Internet, an Internet radio station, a record store, fashion and design shops, and an exhibition space for art universities that shows work by students and graduates.

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Website: http://www.mqw.at/