The world’s largest collection of angsty Schieles hang out in the Leopold Museum, while the MUMOK presents an outstanding array of 20th-century art - from pop art to shock-horror Viennese Actionism. In the born-again imperial stables, the MuseumsQuartier moves to a more contemporary beat, its monolithic galleries, cafes and open-air courtyards sprinkled with colour-changing Enzo lounge chairs. The Albertina, showing a peerless graphic art collection in a Habsburg palace, and the neoclassical Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History), with its outstanding stash of old masters of the Raphael and Pieter Bruegel the Elder calibre, are just the tip of the iceberg. This is a city where you can drift into a gallery for an hour and end up spending the entire day. You could never see all the art in Vienna in a lifetime, so pick wisely. The Mirror Room is where a six-year-old Mozart wowed Empress Maria Theresa with his first public performance. Or tour the Unesco world heritage, 1,441-room Schönbrunn Palace and its regal folly- and fountain-filled gardens. If one palace simply isn’t enough, jump on the U-Bahn for a quick ride to Prince Eugene of Savoy’s pad: the exuberantly baroque Belvedere Palace, with its Klimt masterpieces - including The Kiss - and Versailles-inspired formal gardens. Time it right and you can also see Lipizzaner stallions prance around the Spanish Riding School and hear the cherubic Vienna Boys’ Choir sing Sunday mass at the Burgkapelle. Get an early start and pre-book to skip the queues at the big one: the Hofburg (Imperial Palace), for a look at the glittering state apartments and crown jewels. Ruling the roost for more than 600 years, the Habsburgs had the golden touch when it came to collecting palaces and art galleries to rival the world’s finest. If you’re feeling sprightly, race up the south tower’s 343 steps for a fabulous view over Vienna to the wooded hills beyond. Rising above it all is St Stephen’s Cathedral, a gothic knockout with its filigree spires and chevron-tiled roof. This is Vienna’s beating heart, with its decorous baroque streets, parks and palaces. If it’s your first visit to Vienna, you won’t be able to resist the pomp and ceremony of the Innere Stadt (1st District). Main photo: Schonbrunn palace in Vienna (Alamy)Ī film set of a city that aims to impress rather than endear It’s this ability to waltz between past and present, urban and outdoors that places Vienna firmly at the top of the charts time and again when it comes to the world’s greenest and most liveable, loveable cities. Dive into under-the-radar neighbourhoods, linger in backstreet cafés, feel the summer vibes on Danube Island, nose around farmers’ markets or hook onto socially minded tours and you’ll discover a far more progressive side to the city. The Vienna of classical music and Habsburg razzmatazz is surprisingly edgy when you deviate from the usual tourist trail. But as with all good fairy-tales, there’s a twist. Wandering Vienna’s historic heart, the Innere Stadt, the 21st century can feel like a distant dream. Nowhere can touch the Austrian capital for all-out grandeur, but as such it can seem standoffish - a film set of a city that aims to impress rather than endear. Vienna is the kind of city a fanciful child might draw: a whirl of insanely lavish palaces, folly-filled parks, horse-drawn carriages clip-clopping along stately boulevards, and gilded, chandelier-lit concert halls and coffee houses as opulent as can be. This article contains links from which we may earn revenue.
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