Hi,
I am going on a business trip to Vienna, and would like to make the most of it.
So far, I am planning to visit Schonbrunn Palace, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Belvedere Palace Museum etc. and a few other similar historical places. Could you also suggest some good scenic places nearby Vienna? Also, where would I get the best view of Danube in the city?
What are your historical interests? I found a few unexpected treasures on my trip there last week:
All of these sites, taken together, will give you an appreciation of Vienna's long history--it was a Celtic settlement before the Romans even got there. It seems like every time they go to renovate a building or dig a foundation, they find evidence of the past. All those pretty, fluffy, Rococo and Baroque and Biedermeier and Jugendstil buildings are on medieval foundations, if not even older ones.
Personally I am meh on palaces and royalty. They make me angry. I'm a lot more interested in the everyday lives of regular people. You'll see the biases of the Hapsburgs in the Kunsthistoriches Museum (which I still wholeheartedly recommend.) Take an extra hour and visit the stone age area of the Naturhistoriches Museum opposite the Kunsthistorichesmuseum for a rare peek into the lives of humans in Europe tens of thousands of years ago. It's rare to see artifacts like these in America; you really have to go to Europe to see them.
The Belvedere has a great exhibit on Klimt and Schiele, which gave me a new appreciation for them. But there's a piece sort of missing: right now, most of Richard Gerstl's work is in New York at the Neue Galerie. If you can, stop in and see that museum on your way to Vienna. The Belvedere also has an exhibit right now on Klimt's classical inspirations, but if you go see that, be sure to go to the Secession either right before or right after, because the Eroica frescoes are a pivotal part of that exhibit (so much so that they've created a partial replica at the Belvedere.)
Your initial choices for in town are fine , here are two places to consider . For a view of the city - Kahlenberg viewpoint - https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kahlenberg/@48.2776103,16.3287453,15z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x476d0f36669be9a3:0xc117b477bd70b288!2sKahlenberg!3b1!8m2!3d48.2763433!4d16.333285!3m4!1s0x476d0f36669be9a3:0xc117b477bd70b288!8m2!3d48.2763433!4d16.333285 This place , just north of the city is spectacular and an easy access - Klosterneuberg Abbey - https://www.google.com/maps/place/Klosterneuburg,+Austria/@48.2990037,16.2112207,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x476d0f1ee8c5976b:0x42256f8b4135baf1!8m2!3d48.3098656!4d16.323772 If you are interested , I can provide details .
Good choice.....Kahlenberg, where the decisive battle (thanks to the Poles) took place that ended the Turkish siege of Vienna and their second attempt to capture the city.
Other viewpoints are:
Danube Tower (with rotating cafeteria and restaurant, as well as a bungee jumping platform)
http://www.donauturm.at/en/
DC Tower 1, rooftop restaurant and lounge on Austria's tallest building
http://www.57melia.com/
Viewing points in general
https://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/excursions/view-points
Pretty nice view of the city and the Danube from the top of the Riesenrad (ferris wheel in the Prater), but certainly the view from the Kahlenberg is best.
Thanks a lot for your replies, friends!
Astorienne, thanks for your detailed insights. Among historical places, I love anything that gives me an ancient vibe and helps me travel back in time. Ancient ruins, old castles & forts are my favorites. I like Museums too, but might get overdosed with them at times. :)
Thanks for all the suggestion on viewpoints, everyone! Definitely interested in Klosterneuberg Abbey, if that gives me a good view of the serene Danube!
The thing you're missing is that, in Vienna, the ruins lie within the city. Don't let the pretty wedding-cake buildings of today's Vienna fool you. The Neidhart Frescoes show how all today's buildings sit on Medieval or older foundations and carry the traces in their walls. The Romermuseum will let you literally peek beneath the existing city and see the layers of history underneath by examining the ruined foundations of two Roman-era houses, one story below ground level. Likewise, at Michaelerplatz you look down to see three layers of old foundations from ~500 ACE, the Medival era, and the 18th or 19th c, all just beneath existing street level. And the Virgilkapelle hints at the many other lost spaces, still existing below the surface.
This is something I did not expect to see in pretty, polished Vienna either... but it's there. Ancient bones.
If you are interested in ancient ruins you might consider visting Carnuntum, a Roman town from the first century:
https://www.carnuntum.at/en?set_language=en
Unlike many I am not much of an art museum kind of guy. I am more a military history and natural history. type. Vienna has a very good military history museum with an excellent exhibit about WW 1. It includes the car the Arch Duke was riding in when he was killed. It was kind of cool that my wife and I visited the museum in September of 2014, 100 hundred years after the start of the war.
The natural history is also very good. But one of its high points is its very nice restaurant on an upper floor. Far superior to the snack bars at typical American museums.
Sorry , you have misinterpreted my response - Kahlenberg is your spectacular viewpoint , Klosterneuberg Abbey is not for the view , but a fascinating and very beautiful day quite near Central Vienna - look here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klosterneuburg_Monastery
"...more of a military history ...type." There are more Austrain war/military history sights in Vienna than only the Military/Army History Museum...the Memorial am .Deutschmeisterplatz, Soldiers' Memorial on WW1 and 2 to the side of the Hofburg Nationalbibliothek, Schwarzenberg Platz, the Soviet War Memorial, Flaktürme, Zentralfriedhof for WW1 and 2 cemeteries, statues of Prinz Eugen and the Archduke Charles, Maria Theresien Platz, the Landwehr/ Soldiers Memorial to 1809 across from Westbahnhof, and , of course, Kahlenberg where the decisive battle took place, which freed the city from a siege.
I liked the collections at the Albertina best (Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism) . . . and right in the center of town. I wanted to do a day trip to Melk, but hit a heat wave and had to skip it. At the Schonbrunn, allow enough time for the gardens.
