Café Central

Austria

　　Coffee-house legend alert: Trotsky came here to play chess, and turn-of-the-century literary greats like Karl Kraus and Hermann Bahr regularly met here for coffee. Its marble pillars, arched ceilings and chandeliers now mostly play host to tourists, and the queues can be tedious, but once in it's a deliciously storied...

Stift Melk

Austria

　　Of the many abbeys in Austria, Stift Melk is the most famous. Possibly Lower Austria's finest, the monastery church dominates the complex with its twin spires and high octagonal dome. The interior is baroque gone barmy, with a riot of chubby cherubs, barley-sugar twirls and polished faux marble. The theatrical...

Eisriesenwelt

Austria

　　Billed as the world’s largest accessible ice caves, Eisriesenwelt is a glittering ice empire spanning 30,000 sq metres and 42km of narrow passages burrowing deep into the heart of the mountains. A tour through these Narnia-esque chambers of blue ice is a unique experience. As you climb up wooden steps...

Dom St Jakob

Innsbruck

　　Innsbruck's 18th-century cathedral is a feast of over-the-top baroque. The Asam brothers from Munich completed much of the sumptuous art and stuccowork, though the Madonna above the high altar is by German painter Lukas Cranach the Elder. You'll have to fork out €1 for photography permission. ...

Volkskunst Museum

Innsbruck

　　The Volkskunst Museum presents a fascinating romp through Tyrolean folk art from hand-carved sleighs and Christmas cribs to carnival masks and cowbells. On the 1st floor is a beautifully restored Gothic Stube (parlour) complete with low ceiling, wood panelling and an antique tiled oven. ...

Bergisel

Innsbruck

　　Rising above Innsbruck like a celestial staircase, this glass-and-steel ski jump was designed by much-lauded Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. It's 455 steps or a two-minute funicular ride to the 50m-high viewing platform, with a breathtaking panorama of the Nordkette range, Inntal and Innsbruck. Tram 1 trundles here from central Innsbruck....

Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum

Innsbruck

　　This treasure trove of Tyrolean history and art moves from Bronze Age artefacts to the original reliefs used to design the Goldenes Dachl. Alongside brooding Dutch masterpieces of the Rembrandt ilk, the gallery displays an astounding collection of Austrian art including Gothic altarpieces, a handful of Klimt and Kokoschka paintings,...

Goldenes Dachl

Innsbruck

　　Innsbruck's golden wonder and most distinctive landmark is this Gothic oriel, built for Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519), lavishly festooned with murals and glittering with 2657 fire-gilt copper tiles. It is most impressive from the exterior, but the museum is worth a look – especially if you have the...

Hofkirche

Innsbruck

　　Innsbruck’s pride and joy is the Gothic Hofkirche, one of Europe’s finest royal court churches. It was commissioned in 1553 by Ferdinand I, who enlisted top artists of the age such as Albrecht Dürer, Alexander Colin and Peter Vischer the Elder. Top billing goes to the empty sarcophagus of Emperor...

Hofburg

Innsbruck

　　Grabbing attention with its pearly white facade and cupolas, the Hofburg was built as a castle for Archduke Sigmund the Rich in the 15th century, expanded by Emperor Maximilian I in the 16th century and given a baroque makeover by Empress Maria Theresia in the 18th century. The centrepiece of...

Schloss Ambras

Innsbruck

　　Picturesquely perched on a hill and set among beautiful gardens, this Renaissance pile was acquired in 1564 by Archduke Ferdinand II, then ruler of Tyrol, who transformed it from a fortress into a palace. Don't miss the centrepiece Spanische Saal (Spanish Hall), the dazzling Armour Collection and the gallery's Velázquez...

Dom

Salzburg

　　Gracefully crowned by a bulbous copper dome and twin spires, the Dom stands out as a masterpiece of baroque art. Bronze portals symbolising faith, hope and charity lead into the cathedral. In the nave, both the intricate stucco and Arsenio Mascagni’s ceiling frescos recounting the Passion of Christ guide the...

Residenzplatz

Salzburg

　　With its horse-drawn carriages, palace and street entertainers, this stately baroque square is the Salzburg of a thousand postcards. Its centrepiece is the Residenzbrunnen, an enormous marble fountain. The plaza is the late 16th-century vision of Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich, who, inspired by Rome, enlisted Italian architect Vincenzo Scamozzi to design...

Mozartplatz

Salzburg

　　On this stately baroque square, Mozart is literally and metaphorically put on a pedestal. The square hums with street entertainers and the clip-clop of horse-drawn carriages. 　　It's flanked on one side by the Salzburg Museum. ...

Schloss Leopoldskron

Salzburg

　　The grand rococo palace of Schloss Leopoldskron is where the lake scene was filmed in The Sound of Music. Its Venetian Room was the blueprint for the Trapps' lavish ballroom, where the children bid their farewells. It's now a plush hotel, but you can admire it from the outside. It's...

Jazzit

Salzburg

　　Hosts regular concerts, with performances ranging from tango to electro, as well as workshops and club nights. Don’t miss the free Tuesday-night jam sessions in the adjacent Jazzit bar. It’s 600m north of the Mirabellgarten along Elisabethstrasse. ...

Bärenwirt

Salzburg

　　Sizzling and stirring since 1663, Bärenwirt is Austrian through and through. Go for hearty Bierbraten (beer roast) with dumplings, locally caught trout or organic wild-boar bratwurst. A tiled oven warms the woody, hunting-lodge-style interior in winter, while the river-facing terrace is a summer crowd-puller. The restaurant is 500m north of...

Augustiner Bräustübl

Salzburg

　　Who says monks can’t enjoy themselves? Since 1621, this cheery, monastery-run brewery has served potent home brews in beer steins, in the vaulted hall and beneath the chestnut trees of the 1000-seat beer garden. Get your tankard filled at the foyer pump and visit the snack stands for hearty, beer-swigging...

Salzburger Marionettentheater

Salzburg

　　The red curtain goes up on a miniature stage at this marionette theatre, a lavish stucco, cherub and chandelier-lit affair founded in 1913. The repertoire star is The Sound of Music, with a life-sized Mother Superior and a marionette-packed finale. Other enchanting productions include Mozart's The Magic Flute and Tchaikovsky's...

Steingasse

Salzburg

　　On the right bank of the Salzach River, this narrow, cobbled lane was, incredibly, the main trade route to Italy in medieval times. Look out for the 13th-century Steintor gate and the house of Joseph Mohr, who wrote the lyrics to the all-time classic Christmas carol ‘Silent Night’, composed by...

Stift Nonnberg

Salzburg

　　A short climb up the Nonnbergstiege staircase from Kaigasse or along Festungsgasse brings you to this Benedictine convent, founded 1300 years ago and made famous as the nunnery in The Sound of Music. You can visit the beautiful rib-vaulted church, but the rest of the convent is off limits. Take...

Schlosskonzerte

Salzburg

　　A fantasy of coloured marble, stucco and frescos, the baroque Marmorsaal (Marble Hall) at Schloss Mirabell is the exquisite setting for these chamber-music concerts. Internationally renowned soloists and ensembles perform works by Mozart and other well-known composers such as Haydn and Chopin. Tickets are available on the 1st floor of...

Museum der Moderne

Salzburg

　　Straddling Mönchsberg’s cliffs, this contemporary glass-and-marble oblong of a gallery stands in stark contrast to the fortress, and shows first-rate temporary exhibitions of 20th- and 21st-century art. The works of German expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka have previously been featured. There’s a free guided tour of...

Erzabtei St Peter

Salzburg

　　A Frankish missionary named Rupert founded this abbey-church and monastery in around 700, making it the oldest in the German-speaking world. Though a vaulted Romanesque portal remains, today’s church is overwhelmingly baroque, with rococo stucco, statues – including one of archangel Michael shoving a crucifix through the throat of a...

Untersberg

Salzburg

　　Rising above Salzburg and straddling the German border is the rugged 1853m peak of Untersberg. Spectacular views of the city, the Rositten Valley and the Tyrolean, Salzburg and Bavarian alpine ranges unfold from the summit. The mountain is a magnet for local skiers in winter, and hikers, climbers and paragliders...

Schloss Mirabell

Salzburg

　　Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich built this splendid palace in 1606 to impress his beloved mistress, Salome Alt. It must have done the trick because she went on to bear the archbishop some 15 children (sources disagree on the exact number – poor Wolf was presumably too distracted by spiritual matters to...

Salzburg Museum

Salzburg

　　Housed in the baroque Neue Residenz palace, this flagship museum takes you on a fascinating romp through Salzburg past and present. Ornate rooms showcase everything from Roman excavations to royal portraits. There are free guided tours at 6pm every Thursday. 　　A visit starts beneath the courtyard in the strikingly illuminated...

Residenz

Salzburg

　　The crowning glory of Salzburg's DomQuartier, the Residenz is where the prince-archbishops held court until Salzburg became part of the Habsburg Empire in the 19th century. An audio-guide tour takes in the exuberant state rooms, lavishly adorned with tapestries, stucco and frescos by Johann Michael Rottmayr. The 3rd floor is...

Festung Hohensalzburg

Salzburg

　　Salzburg's most visible icon is this mighty, 900-year-old clifftop fortress, one of the biggest and best preserved in Europe. It's easy to spend half a day up here, roaming the ramparts for far-reaching views over the city's spires, the Salzach River and the mountains. The fortress is a steep 15-minute...

Schloss Hellbrunn

Salzburg

　　A prince-archbishop with a wicked sense of humour, Markus Sittikus, built Schloss Hellbrunn in the early 17th century as a summer palace and an escape from his functions at the Residenz. The Italianate villa became a beloved retreat for rulers of state, who flocked here to eat, drink and make...

Gloriette

Vienna

　　From 1772 to 1780 Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf added some of the final touches to the Schloss Schönbrunn palace park under the instructions of Joseph II. The stately Gloriette building, its crowning glory, was added in 1775. The view, looking back towards the palace with Vienna shimmering in the distance, ranks...

Zentralfriedhof

Vienna

　　The cemetery has three gates: the first is opposite Schloss Concordia and leads to the old Jewish graves; the second, the main gate, directs you to the tombs of honour and the cemetery’s church, Dr Karl Lueger Kirche; the third is closer to the Protestant and new Jewish graves. The...

Schloss Schönbrunn Gardens

Vienna

　　Within the sprawling, partially forested Schlosspark, the beautifully tended formal gardens of the palace, arranged in the French style, are a symphony of colour in summer and a combination of greys and browns in winter; all seasons are appealing in their own right. The grounds, which were opened to the...

Leopold Museum

Vienna

　　Vienna has ophthalmologist Rudolf Leopold to thank for this splendid museum within the MuseumsQuartier. Leopold was a young student in 1950 when he bought his first Egon Schiele for a snip, and went on to amass a staggering private collection of 5266 paintings, mainly 19th-century and modernist Austrian artworks. In...

Hermesvilla

Vienna

　　Part of the Lainzer Tiergarten and surrounded by towering trees, the Hermesvilla was built by Karl von Hasenauer between 1882 and 1886 in late Romantic style. The palatial villa was a gift for Empress Elisabeth from Franz Joseph I, commissioned in the hope that she may be more inclined to...

Lainzer Tiergarten

Vienna

　　At 25 sq km, the Lainzer ‘Zoo’ is the largest (and wildest) of Vienna’s city parks. The former hunting ground of Ferdinand I, over 80% of it is covered in woodland. Take in the view from Hubertus-Warte, a six-storey-high viewing platform on top of Kaltbründlberg (508m above sea level) or...

Staatsoper

Vienna

　　The glorious Staatsoper is Vienna's premier opera and classical-music venue. Productions are lavish, formal affairs, where people dress up accordingly. In the interval, wander the foyer and refreshment rooms to fully appreciate the gold-and-crystal interior. Opera is not performed here in July and August (though tours still take place). Tickets...

Stephansdom Katakomben

Vienna

　　The area on Stephansplatz around the cathedral was originally a graveyard – making it the dead centre of Vienna in a very literal sense. But with plague and influenza epidemics striking Europe in the 1730s, Karl VI ordered the graveyard be closed and henceforth Vienna buried its dead beneath Stephansdom...

Belvedere 21

Vienna

　　The modernist, glass-and-steel Austria Pavilion, designed by Karl Schwanzer for Expo 58 in Brussels, has been reborn as Belvedere 21, with exhibitions devoted to 20th- and 21st-century art, predominantly with an Austrian focus. Adolf Krischanitz left his clean aesthetic imprint on the light-filled, open-plan gallery, which sits just south of...

Summer Stage

Vienna

　　This Viennese summer favourite has sprawling, riverside terrace spaces for drinking, with food trucks and a glassed-in area for when the weather turns. ...

Graben

Vienna

　　Today Vienna's most elegant shopping street, Graben began life as a ditch dug by the Romans to protect Vinodoba. In 1192 Leopold V filled in the ditch and built a defensive city wall that ended at Freyung, financed by the ransom paid by arch-rival Richard the Lionheart – at that...

Naturhistorisches Museum

Vienna

　　Four billion years of natural history are covered at Vienna's Naturhistorisches Museum. Among its minerals, fossils and dinosaur bones are exceptional finds like the teeny 25,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf and a meteorite collection of 1100 pieces. Audio guides cost €5. 　　The late-19th-century building, with its elaborately stuccoed, frescoed halls and...

Musikverein

Vienna

　　The opulent Musikverein holds the proud title of the best acoustics of any concert hall in Austria, which the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra embraces. The lavish interior can be visited by 45-minute guided tour (in English; adult/child €8.50/5) at 1pm Tuesday to Saturday. Smaller-scale performances are held in the Brahms Saal....

Naschmarkt

Vienna

　　Vienna’s famous market and eating strip began life as a farmers market in the 18th century, when the fruit market on Freyung was moved here. Interestingly, a law passed in 1793 said that fruit and vegetables arriving in town by cart had to be sold on Naschmarkt, while anything brought...

Stadtpark

Vienna

　　Opened in 1862, the Stadtpark is a tranquil pocket of greenery, with winding paths and willow-tree-rimmed duck ponds. It's great for strolling or relaxing in the sun and a favourite lunchtime escape for Innere Stadt workers. The park spans the Wien River, which empties into the Danube Canal. 　　The most...