Vienna Favorite Tips by DesertRat

tour Schönbrunn Palace. This... Schönbrunn Review

Favorite thing: tour Schönbrunn Palace. This stunning building was meant to rival Versailles in splendor -- and in many ways it succeeded.

<b>Photo: The Imperial dining room inside Schönbrunn.</b>

Schönbrunn Review

Fondest memory: I first visited Vienna as a callow youth in 1967 with friends from the University of Salzburg, where I was studying. I remember picnicking in a corner of the park surrounding Schönbrunn Palace on a blustery fall day with the wind blowing dead leaves into our food, all the while on the look-out for groundskeepers because we were neither supposed to be on the grass nor eating food brought in.

<b>Photo: Schönbrunn Palace, Maria Theresa's superb country estate on the outskirts of town -- or at least they were the outskirts in the 18th Century!</b>

get your bearings by climbing... Stephansdom Review

Favorite thing: get your bearings by climbing -- or taking the elevator (lift) -- to the top of St. Stephen's Cathedral, the geographic and spiritual center of Vienna. Located on Stefansplatz, it is impossible to miss. And the view is unforgettable.

<b>Photo: St. Stephen's Cathedral and its ugly, post-modern neighbor on Stefansplatz</b>