The Best of Things to Do in Vienna

Sip on Delicious Coffee
The Kaffeehaus is a mainstay of Viennese culture and a wonderful place for relaxing, meeting up with old friends, or even for catching up on your reading. A good, old-fashioned Kaffeehaus will not only serve you delicious coffee to sip on but will expect you to linger, reading your newspaper or chatting with other customers. Most Kaffeehauses offer an excellent selection of coffees and the quality is top notch.

Sample Sacher Torte and other Treats
Once you have finished drowning yourself in the sinful delights of the Sacher Torte, look around and you will realize that the Viennese have a serious case of the sweet tooth. There are tiny little tea rooms tucked away in all sorts of nooks and crannies around the city serving up irresistible little cakes and other treats just waiting to lure you into a sugary orgy. Forget the calories for once and lose yourself in the sweet joys of these rich cakes.

Visit the Opera in Vienna

While it is possible to tour the Staatsoper during the day, it is best viewed in the evening to enjoy it in its full glory. Famous as Vienna is for its operatic traditions, and with an excellent repertoire of operas and ballets staged for 300 days in a year, a visit to the Opera is an absolute must thing to do in Vienna. The visit may be cheaper than you think for standing area tickets are available for €5 or less when purchased last minute.

Tour the Schonbrunn Zoo

While other tourists are kept busy at the palaces and museums, break with tradition and head to the Viennese Zoo. The Tiergarten is reputed to be the oldest zoo in the world and houses an incredible host of animals.

Stroll through some Excellent Gardens
As thought the palace gardens were not enough, Vienna is home to a number other lavish parks, including the Prater, the Stadtpark and several little Beserlparks. Several of the parks and coffee houses offer free live music so you could spend your time relaxing to some soothing symphonies.

Seek Entertainment at the Prater

The Prater is an expansive theme park housed in the Leopoldstadt district. Though options for entertainment are plentiful, a memorable thing to do here is ride the giant Ferris wheel christened Riesenrad late in the evening. Go as near to closing time as you can for you may be lucky enough to catch a view of the city at dusk.

Visit with Sigmund Freud

In the furor of discovering all the great musicians who have called this city home, visitors sometimes forget that the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, also lived in Vienna for several years. The museum dedicated to him is housed in the very offices where he treated his patients and holds exhibits containing several of his personal mementos, books and documents, and presents an excellent documentary of his life.