Vienna inside the Ring, and two steps beyond it
A flat, dense day: a Jugendstil clock, a baroque library, Klimt's gold, and Otto Wagner's bank, finishing with an amusement park older than most countries' constitutions.
Vienna's centre is compact, flat and stacked: the empire's institutions, then the generation that rebelled against them, standing a few streets apart. This walk takes them in that order, which is also the order they were built in.
Where to start: Just before noon at the Anker Clock, for the reason the clock exists.
The walk, in order
- 1 Anker Clock
Start on Hoher Markt: a Jugendstil clock bridging two buildings, with twelve historical figures crossing it. Half an hour, and the timing is the whole point.
- 2 The State Hall of the Austrian National Library
Ten minutes' walk into the Hofburg and 1726: two hundred thousand old books under a painted dome. An hour, and one of the great rooms in Europe.
- 3 The Spanish Riding School
Next door, the Lipizzaners. Morning training is the affordable way in; performances sell out. Skip it without guilt if horses are not your thing.
- 4 The Albertina
A Habsburg palace above the Ring with one of the largest graphic collections anywhere - and state rooms most visitors walk past on the way to the paintings.
- 5 The Vienna State Opera
Pass it now, return tonight. It changes programme almost nightly and standing tickets go on sale shortly before curtain for the price of a sandwich.
- 6 Karlskirche
Across Karlsplatz: a baroque church behind two carved columns, built as a plague vow. When the dome lift is up, you are eye to eye with the frescoes.
- 7 The Belvedere
Fifteen minutes further and the only real queue of the day - Klimt's Kiss, plus two palaces and a garden between them.
- 8 Austrian Postal Savings Bank
Back towards the Ring for Otto Wagner's 1906 bank: marble panels pinned on with aluminium bolts, a glass-floored hall, and the moment Vienna stopped decorating and started engineering.
- 9 The Prater and the Giant Ferris Wheel
End at the funfair. Entry is free, the 1897 wheel turns slowly, and the view over the city at dusk costs the price of one ticket.
Where to cheat
The Ring tram exists for exactly this walk and circles the whole centre; hop on whenever your feet vote. Belvedere to the Postal Savings Bank is the one stretch worth a tram rather than a trudge.
Honest expectations
This is a lot of interiors, which means a lot of tickets. Pick two of the four museums rather than all of them, or the day turns into queueing with a view of Vienna in between.
More of this country is on the Austria page. Going between towns instead? See the routes. Other cities on foot are on city walks.