Vienna

Vienna was the capital of an empire for centuries, and it has never quite forgotten. The grandeur is everywhere, in the boulevards, the opera house, the gilded palaces ringing the old town. But the real soul of the city is quieter than all that. It lives in the coffee houses, where a single cup buys you a marble table and an afternoon, and in the wine taverns on the city’s green edge. Vienna rewards the unhurried, so plan to do less and savour more.

Where to stay

The first district, the historic core inside the Ringstrasse, puts the cathedral, the opera and the best of the museums within walking distance. It is grand, central and not cheap. For better value with the same convenience, look just outside the Ring in the fourth district around Naschmarkt, or the seventh district, Neubau, a creative quarter of small shops, galleries and good neighbourhood restaurants.

Whatever you choose, you will rely on the tram and U-Bahn, which are clean, frequent and easy. Vienna is compact enough to walk much of the centre, but the public transport here is a pleasure in its own right, and a day pass is a small price for the freedom.

Eat and drink

The dish everyone knows is the Wiener schnitzel, a veal cutlet pounded thin, breaded and fried golden, served with a wedge of lemon and a potato salad. Have it once in a proper old restaurant and judge the rest of your life against it.

The deeper Viennese tradition, though, is coffee. The Kaffeehaus is a protected cultural institution, and the etiquette is simple: order a melange, the local cappuccino, take the newspaper on its wooden rack, and stay as long as you like. No one will hurry you. Pair it with a slice of Sachertorte, the dense chocolate cake with apricot jam, and you have the city in two bites.

In the warmer months, take the tram to the edge of town and find a Heuriger, the rustic wine taverns of the Grinzing hills, where growers serve their own young wine straight from the barrel alongside cold cuts and bread. It is Vienna at its most relaxed.

Do not miss

Tour Schonbrunn Palace and its gardens, the summer residence of the Habsburgs, and climb to the Gloriette for the view back over the city. Walk the Ringstrasse past the parliament, the city hall and the museums, ideally on foot or by tram number one, which loops the whole circle.

Step inside St Stephen’s Cathedral in the heart of the old town, then lose an afternoon in the Kunsthistorisches Museum among Bruegels and Vermeers. And if you can get a standing ticket at the State Opera for a few euros, take it. Even from the back, hearing one of the world’s great orchestras in that gilded hall is the kind of memory a weekend is for.