Where We Be
Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral seems
to glow with its own ethereal light at sunset
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"Divinity, Angel, Flag"
outside St. Stephen's
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The Imperial Treasury contains jewel-encrusted crowns, scepters, swords, and relics
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The Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartments (combined into one) are a hugely popular
attraction. Empress Sisi was the Princess Di of her day. (Note: no photos allowed inside.)
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Afterwards we visit the Imperial Crypt, where we pay our respects to Franz Joseph and Sisi
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In the afternoon we check out the Albertina Museum, world-renowned for its Impressionist collection, including this Renoir
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Visitors gather to sample the famous Sacher torte
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Day 2 begins with the Hofburg, the Habsburgs’ former Imperial Palace.
This immense palace now houses the Imperial Treasury and Sisi Museum.
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Magnificent Schonbrunn Palace from the front, as seen first thing in the morning
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A switchbacking path leads to the top of the Gloriette
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Schonbrunn Palace from the back, where the flower gardens bloom
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The view of Schonbrunn Palace from the Gloriette is outstanding
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The Vienna Zoo is conveniently located right next to Schonbrunn -- we end up spending two whole hours here
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Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) was a huge lover of horses, so she's featured prominently at the Carriage Museum
[Note: No photos are allowed inside Schonbrunn Palace]
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The Carriage Museum is also on the premises of Schonbrunn
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In the afternoon we head out to see Belvedere Palace
(the space capsule floating in the pond is an art installation)
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View of the formal gardens from Upper Belvedere
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It houses the largest collection of Klimt paintings in the world, including The Kiss, which is why most people come here
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After dinner we venture out again to the Danube Tower for views of Vienna from on high
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On the way back, we pass this cavernous "ping-pong warehouse" and see this unusual "cube building"
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Our last stop of the day (at 9:30 pm) is the Giant Viennese Ferris Wheel
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The ferris wheel is located in Wurstelprater Amusement Park (as seen from the Danube Tower)
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Vienna Day 1: Schonbrunn + Belvedere
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We discover some new artists (like Emil Nolde, left) and reacquaint ourselves with others (like Picasso, right)
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Blue Cow by Natalia Goncharova (1911)
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The Albertina also boasts State Rooms that once housed Habsburg archdukes and archduchesses
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The first room focuses on Mozart's Requiem, with 1,500 flickering candles
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Mythos Mozart is a multimedia presentation focusing on Mozart’s music and life
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From the gardens you can see the beautifully situated Gloriette (triumphal arch)
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Upper Belvedere (more famous than Lower Belvedere) is an art museum inside a Baroque palace
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Vienna Day 2: Hoffburg + Albertina
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Vienna Day 3: Kunsthistorisches + Opera House
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Sleeping Woman with Flowers by Marc Chagall
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Next we visit St. Stephen's Cathedral. Completed in 1578, it still manages to impress nearly 500 years later.
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Here we pose with various historical, musical, and movie characters -- fun!
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Our third day begins with a visit to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, one of Europe's premier art museums
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Peasant Wedding by Peter Bruegel the Elder (lots of Bruegels here)
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After getting our fill of Rubens, Titians, Vermeers, etc., we visit the Egyptian wing of the museum
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The Egyptian Wing leads into the equally fine Greek & Roman wing
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We finish up in the Kunstkammer wing, filled with gold and other finely wrought objects
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Next we make our way to the Vienna Opera House for our 1 pm guided tour
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We love getting to sit in the front seats looking up at all the red and gold
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The oldest parts of the opera house (not destroyed in WWII) are also quite elegant
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The tour finishes up in Franz Joseph's perfectly situated box seat
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We board the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus, which takes us to Madame Tussauds
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Madame Tussauds (like pretty much everything else on this page) is included in our Vienna Pass
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We finish up at the House of Music, a fun interactive museum where you can conduct your own symphony!
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No visit to Vienna would be complete without
a stop at a Viennese coffee and pastry shop
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It's impossible to see all of what Vienna has to
offer in just three days, but we gave it the old
college try, taking in most of the major sights.
Key to seeing as much as possible is a 72-hour
Vienna pass: €140 per person -- not cheap, but
cheaper than paying for things individually, and
it functions like a line-skipping VIP pass. Equally
important is a 72-hour Vienna travel card (€17)
for unlimited use of the public transit network.
Day 1 of our sightseeing extravaganza began
with Schonbrunn Palace, the undisputed #1
attraction in Vienna, and Belevedere Palace,
featuring Klimt's "The Kiss." Day 2 focused on
Hofburg Palace and the Albertina Museum with
its Impressionist collection. Day 3 standouts
included the Kunsthistorisches Museum and a
guided tour of Vienna's Opera House. Mixed in
with these blockbuster sights were the Vienna
Zoo, St. Stephen's Cathedral, Mozart's House,
Mythos Mozart, Viennese ferris wheel, Madame
Tussauds, Imperial Crypt, Danube Tower, House
of Music, and Hop-On Hop-Off Bus. Our base for
all this exploring was Pension Suzanne, ideally
located close to the Opera House and metro.
Stephansplatz, the heart of the city,
located right next to the cathedral
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Mozart's townhome in Vienna, where he
spent some of his most productive years
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Below the Gloriette is the Neptune Fountain
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Detail of the Neptune Fountain
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The Gloriette's statues are over-the-top rococo
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[Wax figure from Madame Tusssads]
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Peace by Augusto Giacometti (1915)
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Albertina's inlaid floor is a work of art in itself
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Impossibly high cake at a chocolate shop
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St. Peter's church near the Graben (pedestrian street)
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Gotta love seeing yourself in a wig! (CGI at Mythos Mozart)
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Self-Portrait by Rembrandt
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Pension Suzanne (adjacent to Noodle King)
is the perfect base for our explorations
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