Five ideas for guided tours in Vienna

• The Museum District

  This pedestrian area in the heart of the city is home to numerous museums, as well as bookshops, restaurants and cafés. The main attractions are the Leopold Museum offering 5000 exhibits, including a large collection of Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. It is located in a large white cube shaped building and is frequently visited with a Vienna local guide . from The Museum of Modern Art (MUMOK, Museum für Moderne Kunst), which is located in a black cube, and the Kunsthalle Wien, which is located in a baroque complex, allow us to admire works of modern art, such as Expressionism, Dadaism and Surrealism. The Architekturzentrum Wien is, as its name suggests, architecturally oriented.

• Spanish Riding School of Vienna

  The 450-year-old riding school of Vienna is between Michaelerplatz and Josefsplatz. Don’t miss out on this very famous training ground. Above all go and watch the squires at work in the morning on their magnificent stallions lipizzans, thoroughbreds from Slovenia who are characterized by a black color at birth which turns to a very light grey. The place is enchanting; it is a magnificent covered riding arena with impressive chandeliers, balconies, frescoes, etc. The horses’ stallions are all in the same color…

• The Hofburg Palace

  The imperial palace of the Hofburg where the habsburg dynasty lived is in itself the symbol of Austrian heritage. The dynasty lived here for more than seven centuries, from the first emperor (Rudolf I in 1273) to the last (Charles I in 1918). Its vastness and diversity can be explained by this great longevity, each emperor having wanted to bring his personal touch to it. Over the centuries, new sections have been added. The complex is very imposing, with 2700 rooms in 18 buildings. Even today, the palace still houses the offices of the president and many museums… Don’t miss the museum of the famous Empress Sissi, wife of Emperor Franz Josef.

• The Naschmarkt

  The most diversified market of Vienna is open from Monday to Saturday. You will find more than a hundred stalls of fruits and vegetables, fish, cheese, meat. The Naschmarkt thus offers a huge culinary choice. It’s a place where you come to shop, but also where you come to taste the gastronomy of all countries, have a drink and even listen to music when the DJs take their seats. At weekends, it’s a huge flea market.

• Viennese coffee house

  A place of tranquillity, refinement and tradition, Viennese cafés are places to go when visiting the Austrian capital. The Kaffeehaus have an old-fashioned atmosphere which makes them so charming. As soon as you walk through the door of these timeless places, you will admire the small marble tables, the velvet armchairs, the big mirrors… Of course, take your time and enjoy their tasty homemade coffees and pastries. Among the most famous are the Café Central, with its inner courtyard and its magnificent architecture, a historical place where the great writers used to meet, the Café Landtmann, opened in 1873, it was “the largest coffee establishment” in Vienna . The Café Frauenhuber, the oldest, where Mozart was already playing music.