FREE THINGS TO DO IN Vienna

Vienna provides its visitors a glimpse of how the royal life of the country was through the Schloss Schonbrunn palace and its adjacent gardens. Since 1779, when the palace was first opened for local public, has become a major attraction for people all across the world. No wonder it was listed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1996, along with the palace.

If you plan to see how the royalty of the Vienna lived but cannot afford visiting the Schonbrunn Place, the Schloss Schonbrunn Gardens are a great place to visit. Right outside the palace, the gardens are free for all, so you do not have to worry about the expensive entry tickets either. However, it is always a good idea you make your trip when the weather is clear, so you do not end up getting wet in the rain. The Schloss Schonbrunn Gardens also make a great option for wedding day celebrations, giving a grand and royal look to the big day.

The Imperial Palace in Vienna, also known as Hofburg is one of the most essential buildings in the history of Austria. For centuries the Imperial Palace was the head of the Great Habsburg Empire.

Today, the Imperial Palace narrates the history of the times when royals ruled the country of Austria. The Imperial Palace till date preserves the intricate details of the lives of nobles. The Imperial Apartments that were actually the residence of the noblemen has the original furnishings, decoration and other items of daily use, from the 1800s.

While the Sisi Museum displays the silverware collection of the palace. From tableware cutlery to other utensils of silver, gold and porcelain, all of the displayed items show the great artisanship of the creators and the high taste of the royalty.

The Imperial Palace not only displays the wealth of the royalty through huge palaces and the expensive items of daily use, but also represents their love for art. If you wish to spend a day in the life of the royals, the Imperial Palace is a great place to visit.

If you are in the city of Vienna, and wish to see as many landmarks and monuments as you can, but are running out of time, then Ringstrasse is where you should head.

Ringstrasse is basically a 5.3 kilometers long road, stretching through the centre of the city that passes through a number of ancient buildings and monuments that make some of the most significant sights of the city.

Most of the ancient buildings like the Vienna State Opera, the Parliament Building and the Museum of Fine Arts are some of the most notable architectures, listed as the must-visit buildings in Austria.

Rinsgtrasse provides travellers a breathtaking view of the beautiful city of Vienna and gives an opportunity to see how the life in Austria was like in the 19th century during the time of the royalties. The best way to take a tour through the Ringstrasse is by walking or talking a tram.

Stephansdom or St. Stephen’s Cathedral is one of the most significant churches for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna. It is given the status of the mother church and holds the seat of Archbishop of Vienna. Taking its current Gothic and Roman form from the time of the Duke Rudolf IV (1339-1365), it basically stands tall on the remains of two churches, one of them being a parish church. The church is considered the most important religious places in the country and has been a part of all the historic and significant events in the history of Vienna, making it symbolic on national level.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral has been featured in multiple media productions as documentaries, films, television shows and video games. The cathedral also makes its presence known by being engraved on the coins worth 10 cent. It is a place that comes in must to visit list and is rated as one of the top attractions in Vienna.

The Danube Canal or Donaukanal is a tributary of River Danube which is the prime source of water provision in Vienna. Having a length 10.7 miles, it is one of best places to pay a visit for a day full of fun and excitement. The canal borders with the city centre and later merge with Wien River as it moves forward. The canal also joins Prater Park at Simmering which is a great tourist attraction in itself, but to see the canal in its full close up, it is recommended that it is visited in itself.

A walk around the canal is one of the best things that anyone can enjoy. The basking sunrays, the lapping water and the atmosphere make it too tempting to skip. When one is in Vienna, a trip to Danube Canal is a must.

Volksgarten or otherwise known as People’s Park is a beautiful and elegant park that served as the gathering point for aristocrats for a long time. The park is one of its kinds with its amazing layout and aesthetic beauty that made it the centre of aristocracy gatherings. The park is laid out in the classic French manner bearing an astounding rose garden and accompanying flowerbeds that are geometric in nature. The park is home to many decorative fountains that are exquisite in appearance. The park is also embellished with monuments that are extremely captivating for the visitors. With the park being a treat to visit on its own, the best feature about it is the Theseus Temple which has a distinct aura of its own due to its classic Greek style.

Vienna was once enclosed by grand medieval walls and there came a time when those walls were shunned by demolishing them in the 19th century. The purpose was to expand Vienna and demolishing the walls helped in doing so by making large areas open for development. It was time period when a great boom was seen in architectural development in the city and some areas were specified just to create parks in them for public.

Stadtpark is also one of the parks that were created at that time, with it being the most popular and largest one amongst the lot. The park has an English touch to it with English style of landscaping. Formed between the years 1858 to 1862, it was built right outside the grand walls and with the passage of time, monuments and statues were added to it for public interest. The park today is one of the most visited parks in Vienna.

If you are looking for a place to buy some fresh fruits and vegetables from across the world while at Vienna, yet hoping not to splurge all your money over just your shopping tour, then Naschmarkt is probably the place you must pay a visit to.

Being one of the biggest open market of Vienna, Naschmarkt not only provides you with a good shopping getaway, featuring all kinds of fresh and healthy delights at reasonable rates, but it also makes you experience the beautiful culture of Austria.

Moreover, a number of restaurants just near the Naschmarkt, sell a variety of food items just to ensure that you have a snack handy while on your shopping spree.

In case, you feel a little sporty to get better deals through a bazaar, then a flea market is just nearby once you cross Kettenbrückengasse. However, it is open only on Saturday mornings.

If you are at the city of Vienna and are a shopaholic, who loves to bargain, Naschmarkt is the place for you.

Prater is one of the most astounding places to visit in Vienna. It is situated between the Donua canal and Donua River with its most famous attraction being a giant wheel which is historic and is known as Riesenrad. The park is extremely pleasing to the eyes with large meadows and woodlands. Other than that, Prater houses multiple recreational facilities as well such as a large stadium, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a planetarium and racecourses where one can engage in sports and games. The park also houses a trade fair centre which attracts large number of tourists and local residents to the park.

One of the most tantalizing aspects of Prater Park is the amusement park that is home to the famous giant wheel. On weekends the area is thronged with visitors who want to enjoy the amusement park of have a stroll across the gardens.

Austria offers some of the most distinctive tourist attraction places in the world, like the famous cemetery, Zentralfriedhof. Being one of the largest cemeteries in Europe and the largest in Austria, Zentralfriedhof provides a very unique tourist spot for visitors.

The famous Zentralfriedhof cemetery was created in 1874, which is now serving as the place of final abode of three million Austrians. Stretching over 2.4 square kilometers, the Zentralfriedhof cemetery displays the beautiful craftsmanship that the Austrians had always been proud of, through the graves and some prominent statues and columns that you will come across while visiting the cemetery.

Zentralfriedhof is further divided into smaller cemeteries, that include sections for Soviet War graves, Russian Orthodox graves, Napoleonic graves along with cemeteries for Jews and Protestants. The central area of the graveyard is however, makes the biggest attraction, displaying graves of some of the most important people in the history of Austria, including presidents, architects and musicians.