If you are interested in architecture, than the Austrian capital is a city not to be missed. The former imperial capital has plenty of impressive palaces, museums hosted in historic buildings, monumental churches, elegant public squares with statues and private buildings from all periods. The historic center is overwhelming with beautiful buildings at every corner, all renovated. Modern additions were limited to minimum, but all that was needed, like a subway connection, is not absent. The business center with its skyscrapers and glass office buildings has its separate area in the city, over the Danube.
Among the most important architectural monuments there are: the Schonbrunn Palace, with its vast and splendid gardens that even includes city’s zoo. The Hofburg Palace, the winter residence of the Habsburgs is right in the center and surpasses Sconbrunn in elegance. Right next to it, over the Ringstrasse, there are two museum buildings that could as well be mistaken with imperial palaces – the Museum of Natural Arts and the Museum of Art History – having between them the Maria Theresa Square, with its statues and sculpted trees.
The town hall, or Rathaus, as the locals call it, couldn’t be an ordinary building. It has a romantic look that brings back to life the old Gothic, but is refreshed by the pots of red flowers that hang on every window.
As the city is also nation’s capital, in Vienna there is also the grandiose Austrian Parliament building.
The city is famous for its Gothic churches, the most important being St Stephen’s cathedral, which is considered the absolute center of the city. It is probably surpassed in artistic details by the Votive church, and there are many other interesting places of worship like St Augustin, the personal recollection place of the ruling family or the Franciscan church, with its mosaic replica of Da Vinci’s Last Supper.
When you feel like trying something else besides history, the entertaining possibilities in Vienna are numerous: from a spectacular equestrian performance by the Spanish Riding School, a night at the Opera or a thrilling ride in Prater, the theme park.