← Vienna · All sections

06 / 12

06

Culture, design & architecture

Choose what to see — don’t try to see everything

Do not overpack museum days: fewer stops and more outdoor breaks.

History & culture

St. Stephen’s Cathedral

The Gothic heart of the city with its patterned tile roof; climb the south tower for views.

The winter palace: Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum and Silver Collection under one ticket.

Schönbrunn Palace

The Habsburg summer palace; book a timed tour and pair it with the courtyard market.

Baroque palaces with Klimt’s The Kiss in the Upper Belvedere; the Christmas market sits out front.

Kunsthistorisches Museum

Bruegel, Vermeer and Velázquez under a magnificent dome; take cake in the domed café.

State Hall, Austrian National Library

A Baroque library hall of frescoes and leather spines; a quiet hour in the Hofburg.

A domed Baroque church with twin columns facing Karlsplatz and its art market.

The city’s own story in a renewed building on Karlsplatz; permanent collection is free.

Art & design

Monet to Picasso in a Habsburg palace, plus strong temporary shows.

The world’s largest Schiele collection and Vienna 1900 design, in MuseumsQuartier.

Applied arts and design, from Biedermeier chairs to the Wiener Werkstätte.

Modern and contemporary art in a dark basalt cube at MuseumsQuartier.

Olbrich’s 1898 gilded-dome temple to new art; Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze is inside.

Kunst Haus Wien

Hundertwasser’s museum of wavy floors and colour, near his famous housing block.

Architecture walk

Ringstrasse

Walk or ride tram 1 or 2 past the Opera, Parliament, Rathaus and Burgtheater, all built in the 1860s–80s.

Otto Wagner: Postsparkasse

Aluminium rivets and a glass banking hall; an early modern landmark.

Check interior access

Otto Wagner: Majolikahaus

Flowered tile façades on the Linke Wienzeile above the Naschmarkt; view from the street.

Otto Wagner: Karlsplatz pavilions

Green-and-gold Stadtbahn pavilions on Karlsplatz; admire the exterior in winter.

Otto Wagner: Kirche am Steinhof

A gilded Jugendstil church on a hill in the west.

Limited opening; check before going

Adolf Loos: Looshaus

The plain façade that scandalised Michaelerplatz in 1911.

Adolf Loos: American Bar

A tiny, mirrored 1908 bar off Kärntner Strasse; look in from the door.

Hundertwasserhaus

Wavy lines, colourful façades and trees on the balconies. Residents live here; view from outside.

Modern architecture

Hans Hollein’s curved glass façade reflecting Stephansdom; a lesson in contrast.

Zaha Hadid’s Library and Learning Center leads a campus of contemporary buildings beside the Prater.

Spittelau incinerator

A working waste-to-energy plant dressed by Hundertwasser with a golden ball.

A kilometre-long icon of “Red Vienna” social housing; the Waschsalon museum tells its story.

Check museum hours

Dominique Perrault’s pleated tower, Austria’s tallest, by the Danube.

Evenings

Staatsoper standing places

Musikverein

Konzerthaus

Volksoper operetta

Theater an der Wien

Vienna Boys Choir Sunday Mass

Advent concerts in churches

Opera standing places are sold on the day at low prices; check the Staatsoper site for current rules. Book Musikverein and Schönbrunn tours early in December, and leave coats at the cloakroom.

WundrPath · City guides

Guides · Saved · Privacy