Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum) potential problem when purchasing tix online..

Hi,

Prima!

I suggest you take the guided tour (in German, of course) of the Wiener Staatsoper....fascinating, revealing, well worth it.

Shelley - There is absolutely no need to buy KHM tickets in advance as the line is always short. Curious why you are still moving ahead with the buffet given all the other options in Vienna.

Fred - The Opera House offers tours in just about every language you can imagine, including English. I would add that the tour I went on last year when family visited was not worth the time or money. No backstage view, nothing interesting at all and it was very hard to hear the guide. My parents had been in a tour years ago and remember a much better experience. Perhaps your experience was also a while ago? I suggest actually attending an Opera instead of touring

The Wiener Staatsoper tours are given in seven languages. That's what I saw in early June.

@ emily: re Buffet: Not going because of the food; It seems to me like it would be sort of a magical ambiance - at night, surrounded by art, in a lovely building, talking about art with people who are also there to talk about the loveliness of Vienna, the magic moment of sitting down to eat, to commune, to drink some wine - - it really called to me. I am fluent in German, but I think I'll probably be talking in English to tourists from Kansas City, or from Tokyo, but they are there to share all these things, too. You live every single day in one of the world's grandest cities, with cathedrals, Beethoven, important art museums, gardens, palaces. I live every single day in a small, hot, dusty town, so imagine how grand I will feel, sitting at the Champagne Art Buffet at the Kunsthistorisches! I'm really excited about it, actually! And when I come home and share this story with my two teenagers, maybe they'll understand why travel is important to me, if not to them. Regarding the food, though - I will be trying out several of your restaurant suggestions!

@Fred - OK, I'll book the Staatsoper tour too. I love feeding off your enthusiasm for Vienna. Although I have been there once before, I can't remember it well. I will really be seeing it with my own eyes this time.

Hi,

You don't need book the Wiener Staatsoper tour, just go there when the door opens to buy a ticket (tell them the language too) at the ticket office. You assemble in the hallway where your language sign is. Everyone is accommodated.

Not only Beethoven in Wien but also Schubert, Mahler, Haydn, Mozart, J. Strauss, jr,

@ Shelley...

When you are in Vienna soaking in the atmosphere, viewing the architecture, taking in the vibes, etc keep in mind the first two lines of this saying Austrians had on Wien vis-a-vis the north Germans and Prussians in the Austro-Prussian dualism. I'll quote here the first two lines, the last two lines are not complimentary to Berlin, so I'll omit them.

"Es gibt nur eine Kaiserstadt,
es gibt nur ein Wien."

Shelley - I would love to hear about the buffet experience. I'd also add that, as most Viennese, I spend my days in the dingy outer districts schlepping my kids to school and myself to work. I've never been to a ball, have been to the Opera twice in 10 years (which is probably twice as many times as most Viennese), and rarely have time to revel in what this city offers.