I get asked by some people for my own recommendations for what to see in the city, considering I spend hundreds of hours walking the streets to give you this site. So, here are my top 5 things to do in Vienna…

Wander around the centre

But, hey, Vienna’s a historic city. Almost every few strides produces a palace, monument, church, or an edifice featuring the kind of expensive looking deco façade that you don’t get in present times.

The historic quarter is snug and fairly even terrain, thus pleasant to ramble about on. Let your legs guide you about the pavements and streets pedestrianised by.

Here is my proposed self-guided walking tour route for the centre, starting at the Staatsoper opera house and lasting around 90 minutes (excluding photo breaks, ice cream, reading, additional ice cream etc.). It finishes at the gothic Stephansdom cathedral.

Do take a stroll along small side alleys and back streets on the way out of town to avoid any crowds and see those added architectural treats most people rushing from A to B will miss.

And if a guided walking tour is more to your liking, I have some recommendations for you.

The Kunstkammer

The Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) holds more artistic treasures than you can shake a valuable Bruegel at (they have a few of those, by the way). From Rembrandts to Roman treasure.

But the real enchantment resides in the Kunstkammer section: where the curiosity and marvels gathered by the different Habsburgs through the ages live.

Things in there steal your breath away.

For instance, see magnificent bronze statues by Giambologna, wood carvings of biblical scenes the length and width of a key fob, 16th-century mechanical boats, golden pepper and salt shakers that cost millions, and so much more.

Volksgarten Rose Garden

Envision row upon row of various types all combined together to produce a burst of color to the background of 19th-century imperial extravagance.

That is the rose garden in the Volksgarten park.

Make sure to go early when there’s no one about. And go in late spring and summer, when the roses are in bloom. Otherwise all you see is a small park.

A small patch on Heldenplatz

It’s difficult to escape the modern world, but here’s something worth a shot…

Walk to Heldenplatz square and position yourself in front of the Neue Burg building just off the road which goes away from the Burgtor gates to walk over the square. Then turn around 360°.

You may need to shift your stance a bit and keep looking up to steer clear of any cars. But you should be able to see a panorama almost unchanged since the late 19th century.

I enjoy doing that every time.

Of course, a scaffolding or construction crane may ruin the view. But you can close your eyes and use your imagination.

If luck is on your side, there will be a horse-drawn carriage passing by to provide some aural realism to proceedings.

The Military History Museum

I do enjoy looking at things which provide an instant link to the past (see suggestion 10). And the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum provides many such exhibits.

If we go back into history, we could identify one or two events which changed the world’s path drastically.

One of them is the assassination of the Austrian Archduke, Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo on June 28th, 1914. The event directly caused World War I and everything that ensued.

The museum has the car Franz Ferdinand was riding in when he was assassinated, with bullet holes in it. And the uniforms he wore, too…still stained. I let out a loud expletive when I first laid eyes on them.

Oddly enough, very few people ever comment on that display, even though it’s incredibly historically significant.