Kahlenberg

The Kahlenberg rises to about four hundred and eighty metres at the eastern end of the Vienna Woods, directly over the Danube and the city, and its place in history is fixed: on 12 September 1683 the relief army under Jan III Sobieski of Poland assembled on and around this ridge, mass was said in the chapel of St Joseph on the summit, and the attack downhill broke the Ottoman siege of Vienna. The chapel is now in the care of a Polish order and is full of memorials to that day. Beside it are a terrace, a restaurant and a transmitter mast, and the view runs over the whole city, the Danube, the Marchfeld and, on a clear day, the Slovak border hills. Vineyards run down the slopes towards Nussdorf and Grinzing, walked on the Stadtwanderweg paths.

What you actually see

• The 1683 assembly ground - where the relief army formed before the descent.
• St Joseph's chapel - Polish-run, full of memorials to the relief of Vienna.
• A view over the whole city - the Danube, the Marchfeld and beyond.
• Vineyard slopes - running down to Nussdorf and Grinzing with marked paths.

When to go

All year; clear winter days give the longest view. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Haze often cuts the view badly. The summit is a car park, restaurant and mast rather than a wild hilltop. Weekend buses are crowded. The neighbouring Leopoldsberg has the better outlook.

Nearby

Leopoldsberg is the next summit; Grinzing and Nussdorf are below.