Vienna (Wien) is the capital and largest city of Austria, and the Historic City Centre is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
In Vienna one senses the history and a touch of the past, much more intensely than in other cities. Perhaps this feeling is transmitted by the numerous architectural structures or the people themselves. Vienna has maintained its respected position among the leading cities of Europe as a modern, active metropolis with a thriving cultural life. Coffee houses, pastries, New Year’s Concert, the Opera Ball, art nouveau and baroque architecture, along with St. Stephen’s Cathedral , the Prater Amusement Park, the Vienna Boys Choir and the Spanish Riding School, the atmosphere of a “Heuriger” where new wine is served and Viennese melodies can be heard form an impression of Vienna like no other. Tourists are treated as if they were long-lost members of the royal family returning home. This luxurious treatment is one of the reasons that many people enjoy visiting Vienna.
In no other city in the world have so many world-renowned composers and musicians made their home. There are numerous occasions to walk in the footsteps of the masters and see how they lived. In Vienna, musician’s memorials, apartments of famous composers have been turned into museums. You can see the furniture and objects that were owned by the artists, as well as autographs, facsimiles of scores, paintings and photos. The house in which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed “Le Nozze di Figaro” can be found behind St. Stephen’s Cathedral. A large amount of memorabilia is exhibited in the house where Johann Strauss wrote his famous “The Blue Danube” Waltz, his greatest success. You may also want to visit the house where Ludwig van Beethoven lived. Vienna holds a multitude of famous places and many treasures just waiting to be discovered.