The 11 Best Attractions in Vienna

Vienna's towering Gothic cathedral and its defining landmark, instantly recognisable from its patterned tiled roof and the 137-metre south tower. Entry to the rear of the nave is free; climbing the towers, visiting the catacombs or the treasury cost extra. It sits at the dead centre of the old city, so you will pass it repeatedly, but go inside early to beat the tour groups.

The Habsburgs' 1,441-room summer palace, a Baroque UNESCO site whose Imperial and Grand Tours reveal the rococo staterooms of Maria Theresa and Franz Joseph. The vast free gardens climb to the Gloriette viewpoint over the city, and the grounds also hold the world's oldest zoo. Book a timed palace ticket online, as same-day slots sell out by midday in summer.

One of the world's foremost opera houses, a neo-Renaissance landmark on the Ringstrasse staging around 350 performances a season. You can take a guided backstage tour by day, snag cheap standing-room tickets for the evening, or watch live opera on a screen outside in season. Book proper seats well ahead, as standing-room queues form hours before curtain.

The sprawling former imperial winter palace, now home to the Sisi Museum, the Imperial Apartments, the Silver Collection, the Spanish Riding School and the Austrian president's offices. It is a complex of grand courtyards you can walk through freely, with ticketed museums inside. Focus your ticket on the Sisi Museum and apartments unless you also want to see the Lipizzaner horses train.

Vienna's vast Central Cemetery - bigger than the old town, with 3 million graves and a jaw-dropping Art Nouveau church. It holds the graves of honor of Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Strauss and a Mozart memorial. Free, open daily (roughly 7:00/8:00-18:00, later in summer). Take tram 71.

A masterpiece of Viennese Baroque with a vast green copper dome flanked by two Trajan-style columns, built in thanks after a 1713 plague. Inside, a lift and viewing platform bring you within touching distance of the ceiling frescoes, a rare close-up. It fronts a reflecting pool on Karlsplatz; the entry fee is worth it mainly for that dome ascent.

The Kapuzinergruft beneath the Kapuzinerkirche on the Neuer Markt is the burial vault of the Habsburg dynasty, containing 149 imperial remains including the elaborate sarcophagi of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Franz Joseph. It is compact, atmospheric, and genuinely moving — a rare place in Vienna where the weight of history feels immediate rather than staged. The final tomb of Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) is here, drawing devoted visitors. Queues are short compared to other imperial sights.

Housed in a Habsburg palace at the edge of the Burggarten, the Albertina holds one of the world's greatest graphic art collections — over a million prints and drawings including Dürer's 'Young Hare' — alongside an outstanding modern art collection with Monet, Picasso, and Klimt. The Habsburg State Rooms on the first floor are often overlooked but are among the most lavishly decorated in Vienna. Temporary exhibitions here are consistently excellent and draw serious art crowds.

The Prater is a vast public park and former imperial hunting ground that contains the iconic 1897 Riesenrad (Giant Ferris Wheel), one of the world's oldest surviving ferris wheels and a symbol of Vienna. The surrounding Wurstelprater amusement park is charmingly old-fashioned and great for families. Beyond the rides, the Hauptallee — a 4.5km chestnut-lined boulevard — is beloved by joggers and cyclists and is completely free. The Riesenrad queue can be long on summer weekends.

The mirror image of the Kunsthistorisches Museum across Maria-Theresien-Platz, this is one of the world's oldest and most complete natural history museums, home to the 29,500-year-old Venus of Willendorf and a jaw-dropping meteorite collection. Locals love it for being less crowded than its art counterpart while offering equally spectacular imperial halls. The dinosaur and mineralogy rooms are genuinely world-class. Wednesday evening openings until 9pm are a quieter time to visit.

A wildly colorful 1985 municipal apartment block by artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser - uneven floors, trees growing from windows, no straight lines. It's a residential building, so you only see the exterior (free, 24/7). For interiors and his art, visit nearby KunstHausWien museum. A quick, photogenic stop.