Thursday, August 28th, 2008 We're sorry- there are no hotel specials for Vienna today. Please check Vienna hotels (on the left) for our great, everyday internet rates. Check back from time to time as we update frequently.
Viennais the capital of Austria. Vienna lies in the south eastern corner of Central Europe and is close to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Art and culture have a long tradition in Vienna, in the areas of theatre, opera, classical music and fine arts. Apart from the Burgtheater which, together with its branch, the Akademietheater, is considered one of the best theatres in the German-speaking world, the Volkstheater Wien and the Theater in der Josefstadt also offer high-quality theatre entertainment.
Vienna also offers a great many opportunities for opera lovers: The Staatsoper and the Volksoper offer something for everyone, the latter being especially devoted to the typical Viennese operetta. Concerts of classical music are performed, among others, in the well known Wiener Musikverein, home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and in the Wiener Konzerthaus. Various concert venues offer concerts aimed at visitors, featuring the best known highlights of Viennese music (particularly the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Strauss).
In the Hofburg, the Schatzkammer (treasury) holds the imperial jewels of the Hapsburg dynasty. The Sisi Museum (the museum of Queen Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie of Austria) allows visitors to see the Imperial apartments as well as the silver cabinet. Directly opposite the Hofburg is the Kunsthistorisches Museum that houses many paintings by the old masters and many ancient and classical artifacts.
A number of museums are organised into the Museumsquartier, the former Imperial Stalls which were converted into a complex of museums in the 1990s. This houses the Museum of Modern Art (Ludwig Foundation), the Leopold Museum (which primarily displays works of the Viennese Secession, Viennese Modernism and Austrian Expressionism), and additional halls with changing exhibitions as well as the Tanzquartier. The Liechtenstein Palace presents one of the world's largest private art collections. Additionally there are a multitude of other museums, from the Military History Museum to the Technical Museum, from the Vienna Clock Museum to the Burial Museum. The museums of Vienna's districts are not to be missed as they offer a view into the history of their respective districts.
There are buildings of all architectural styles in Vienna, from the Romanesque Ruprechtskirche to the Baroque Karlskirche, and classicist buildings all the way through to modern architecture. Likewise, Art Nouveau left many architectural traces in Vienna. The Hundertwasserhaus by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, designed to counter the clinical look of modern architecture, is one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions. Another example of unique architecture is the Wotrubakirche by sculptor Fritz Wotruba.
