24 hours in Vienna: what to see

The natural starting point is the St. Stephen's Cathedral, with its roof of polychrome tiles arranged in geometric patterns and its south tower over one hundred metres high, which can be climbed for a view over the rooftops of the city centre.

From here, strolling along Graben and Kärntner Straße, the two most elegant pedestrian streets in the historic centre, you reach the Hofburg, the winter residence of the Habsburgs for over six centuries, today home to the National Library and the visitable imperial apartments.

Next to the Hofburg is the Spanish Riding School, where the famous Lipizzani horses are still trained according to Baroque tradition: even just glimpsing the inner courtyard is worth a stop.

For lunch, the Naschmarkt offers stalls of every kind, from food products to international street food, and is the city's most frequented and longest-standing market.

From here, the Belvedere, a complex of two Baroque palaces with terraced gardens that houses The Kiss by Gustav Klimt and one of the country's most important collections of Austrian art.

For those who prefer imperial interiors, Schönbrunn is the Habsburgs' summer residence, with over fourteen hundred rooms and geometric gardens that rise to the Gloriette, on the highest point of the park.

When daylight fades, the area around the State Opera and the Ring is suitable for an evening stroll or a stop in one of the city's historic coffeehouses, where coffee is served with a glass of water according to Viennese tradition.

The Cathedral of St. Stephen, the Hofburg and the Naschmarkt are enough to tell Vienna's imperial soul; the afternoon choice between Belvedere and Schönbrunn adds its more daily one.

The Prater, with its historic panoramic wheel, and the museum neighborhood (MuseumsQuartier) await semmai a second visit. Between the spires of the Cathedral and the halls of the Hofburg you already breathe the imperial atmosphere that made Vienna famous.