Vienna Vacations and Tour Packages

Overview

Vienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and by far the largest city as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. As the former centre of the Habsburg Court and its various empires, the city still maintains the look of the Imperial capital it once was and the historic city centre is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Vienna's residents are often overly formal with small amounts of courtliness, polite forms of address, and formal dress attire. One of the many paradoxes of this city is that its residents can be equally modern and progressive as they are extremely old-fashioned which will be seen on Austria vacations.

Traditional Vienna is one of the many façades of this city and the historic centre is sometimes compared to an open-air museum. But Vienna is also a dynamic young city, famous for its (electronic) music scene, cult-status underground record stores, a vibrant Monday through Sunday club scene and a multitude of street performers. Vienna is also famous for its coffee culture. "Let's have a coffee" is a very commonly heard phrase because, despite the arrival of Starbucks and Italian-style espresso bars, the Kaffeehauskultur is still the traditional way to drink a cup of coffee, read the newspaper and meet with friends and you can too on Austria vacations.

The city has a very centralized layout radiating from the historic First District (or Inner City) with St. Stephens Cathedral and the Stephansplatz at the centre of a bulls-eye. It is encircled by the Ringstrasse (Ring Road), a grand boulevard constructed along the old city walls which were torn down at the end of the 19th century. Along the Ringstrasse are many famous buildings including the Rathaus (City Hall), the Austrian Parliament, the Hofburg Palace, the Natural History Museum, the Museum of Art History and the State Opera House.

There are many exciting places to visit in Vienna. Some of the most important are the following. The Museum of Fine Arts (The Kunsthistorisches Museum) is world class with works by Raphael, Vermeer, Brueghel, Rubens and Velazquez among many others. St. Stephen’s Cathedral is an absolute must-see. This Gothic Romanesque cathedral sits on the remains of a church built in the early 12th century and in addition to its physical beauty, it has been at the heart of some of the most important events in Austria’s history. As such, St. Stephen’s is one of the few landmarks in Vienna that one can characterize as a genuine symbol of the city.