"History alive! Shopping nonstop!" a Vienna Travel Page by PetraG

The Habsburg emperors once ruled a huge empire from Vienna. The city is still dominated by the castles and places of the imperial seat: every year hundreds of thousands come to marvel at Schönbrunn, the magnificent imperial summer residence. Visit the Imperial Coach Collection, the Palm House and the Butterfly House. Admire Belvedere Palace, the magnificent state rooms in the Hofburg, and the imperial crown in the Treasury. Emperor Franz Joseph ordered the demolition of the city walls 130 years ago. In their place the Ringstraße was built - the showplace of the monarchy. Bordered by such important buildings as the State Opera, the Museums of Fine Arts and Natural History, Parliament, City Hall and Vienna University. Imperial delights for eyes and ears have been offered for centuries by the Spanish Riding School`s Lipizzaners. And the Vienna Boys`Choir.
The world capital of music. It provided a golden monument for its "Waltz King" Johann Strauss the genius of three-four time. An inspired musician in a long line of great composers: Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, Mahler and Schönberg all worked here. A city with splendid concert halls, such as the Golden Hall in the Musikverein, from which the Philharmonic`s New Year`s Day concert is broadcast annually. Stars from all over the world love to appear here: in the State Opera; the Volksoper; the Konzerthaus. And at festivals like the Vienna Festival, the Klangbogen concerts during the Musical Summer, the Jazz Festval and the Haydn, Mozart and Schubert festivals.
This is a great route through the city Center to get an idea how Franz Josef and Elisabeth (Sissy) and all the other Habsburgs lived:
Start at the St. Stephen's cathedral, go down the Kaerntnerstrasse. In the middle, go right to Neuer Markt. There you'll find the Kapuziner church with all the graves of the dead cesars and other aristocrats in it's cellar. Go right till you reach the Hofburg. go through it, pass the National library and the Burggarten. Then you'll reach the 2 Museums (of Nature and of Technology).
Go right along the Ringstrasse, pass the parliament, the city hall and the university. Then go left to Votiv-church.

Here you can spend a whole day easily. The castle was former residence of cesar Franz Josef. You can walk through the beautiful huge park, do a guided tour through the castle and see how the aristocrates lived, visit the uncountable museums, the labyrinth, have a great view over the city from the Gloriette or admire all the animals in the zoo. Everything is fantastic to visit, but everything costs extra, so maybe you should decide what you really want to see....

Many people regard the Vienna Prater as just another fun-fair. But it´s much more than that: it´s a Viennese institution, like the coffee houses or the Heuriger (wine taverns). Its landmark, and one of Vienna´s too, is the 65 metre high Giant Ferris Wheel. It towers over the 200 booths in the Prater, the ghost train, go-karts and grotto railways, the merry-go-rounds and fruit-machine halls, throwing and shooting galleries.
The Prater has something to offer for the whole family: take a ride with the children on the fairy-tale railway, the children´s dodgems and the scenic railway. Plummet down the extra-long slides, laugh yourselves crooked, bent, fat or thin in the hall of mirrors, savour the romantic nostalgia of an old merry-go-round or the great variety on offer from the Prater caterers: from pickled gherkins to boiled beef.

The wonders of the heavens await you in the Planetarium. And in the Prater Museum you can re-live the greatest moments of this fun-fair. Incidentally: each booth in the Vienna Prater is an independent enterprise - which is why you don´t have to pay an admission charge to enter the Prater, and also why the various attractions in the Prater don´t have uniform opening times.

Opening times for most of the attractions in the Prater are from the beginning of March to the end of October - from morning to midnight. Some attractions (ghost trains and grotto railways, dodgems, cafes and restaurants) are open throughout the year. The Giant Ferris Wheel is open from February to November and around New Year´s Eve, guided tours in the Planetarium (near the Giant Ferris Wheel) take place on Sunday at 3pm and 5pm, the Prater Museum (in the Planetarium) is open Tues.-Fri. 9am-12 noon and 1pm-4.30pm, Sat., Sun. and public holidays 2pm-6.30pm.