Overview

Vienna, Vienna!

It is often said that a true Viennese waltz requires two simultaneous movements – moving the body only waist downwards and keeping the upper half ramrod straight. Complicated as that might sound, it reflects everything about Vienna - right from the dance to the city’s culture, its history and the delicious duality of ‘here and now’ and ‘old world charm’ in its everyday life. There are two ‘Viennas’ you see when you travel to the cultural capital of Europe – one is a twentieth century city with all the trappings of urban modernity and the other is a traditional city that is seeped in its storied history and rich heritage. Not many cities in the world can boast of both these characteristics and it is this heady mix that makes tourists from all over the globe travel to Vienna year after year.

Vienna is a tourist’s delight with its beautiful museums, architectural heritage, and the Hapsburg legacy visible in Hofburg as well as buildings and art galleries across the city. There is so much to do and see in Vienna that one visit can only perhaps, scratch the surface. If you see the Opera one time you would have missed half of Hofburg or a couple of museums in Museumsquartier. There would always be one little café tucked away in the old city that you didn’t go to and one more hour that you could have spent boating in the Danube.

There would always be a reason to come back to Vienna, but for your first visit, here is all that defines Vienna…read on!

Vienna through the centuries

Adjudged the fourth best place to live in the world by the Mercer’s Overall quality of life survey in 2006 and accredited UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vienna or Wien, is one of the most intriguing cities in Europe.

Ruins of Vindobona at Michaelerplatz

Once the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, Vienna or Vindobona was founded around 500 BC and was originally a Celtic settlement. However, the Danube Valley area is supposed to have been inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of the Celts as evidenced in the Venus of Willendorf – a fertility statuette discovered during the construction of Wachau Railway in 1906. The statuette which is nearly 25,000 years old is on display at the Vienna Natural History Museum, one of the most visited places in the city.

Before becoming the seat of power of the Babenberg Dynasty during the middle ages, Vienna helped the Roman Empire guard against Germanic tribes attacking its flanks from the North. The Roman camp of Vindobona was installed around AD 9 and occupied the area which is known today as the Innere Stadt, bordered by Graben, Tiefer Graben, Ruprechtskirche and Rotenturmstrasse. The Babenberg Family ruled Vienna as dukes from 976- 1248 AD before the rise of the House of Habsburg.

In 1440 AD Vienna became the home of the Habsburg Dynasty eventually growing to the status of the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and a cultural hub for fine arts. The confrontations with the Ottoman armies during the 16th and 17th centuries introduced the city to coffee, an inclusion that will later become the foundation of Vienna’s famous Café Culture.

When in 1804, Vienna became the capital of the Austrian Empire; the city had already seen a spate of rulers from originating from different cultures and the new city reflected this amalgamation in its architecture, arts as well as religion and politics. This multi-layered Vienna, as we know it today, is the destination tourists flock to looking for aesthetic satisfaction. That most want to return over and over again is evidence enough that they find what they come looking for.

Chasing the Blue Danube

The best time to be there

Situated on the banks of the famous river Danube, Vienna is a tourist’s delight. The delight lessens dramatically if you don’t time your visit well for if the January tourist finds himself fighting the chill, the ones who thought summer months of July and August would be safer find themselves poorer for having second guessed the climate! So, the best time to go to Vienna is June or September. That perhaps limits the tourist season but many tourists still brave the elements and go to this beautiful city when they can.

However, playing it by the weather has its benefits as the peak months allow you to see the Lipizzaners and the Boy’s Choir and a whole host of other events. But then, this is Vienna and not a month goes by without an event being the central motif here so despite the vagaries of the weather, people go to Vienna the year round.

Still, it would help to know what you are letting yourself in for in a particular month. If nothing, you would at least pack right. So, if you are planning your trip from January to May, expect the temperatures to be anywhere between -5 and +10 degrees. It can get colder during the early months of the year and you must take appropriate sartorial measures. You would encounter the hottest days in June and July when the temperatures soar to 25 degrees or more and swim wear would be sorely missed if not packed. Although, Austrians are by and large conservative in their everyday dealings, they have contrastingly liberal attitudes towards public nudity. So, maybe, don’t pack a swim suit; you could do without it!