Promenade in Vienna
FreeCosts nothing to visit.
The Donaukanal (Danube Canal) is the narrow arm of the Danube that runs through the center of Vienna, lined with street art, beach bars, pop-up restaurants, and cycling paths. Free. In summer, the canal banks transform into Vienna’s most relaxed outdoor scene. Budget travelers walk or cycle along the canal from Schwedenplatz to Nussdorf and discover a side of Vienna that has nothing to do with the imperial facades.
Practical
Nearby
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
The Belvedere Gardens are a free baroque terraced garden connecting the Upper and Lower Belvedere palaces. The symmetrical layout, the reflecting pools, and the views south toward the Alps on a clear day make this one of Vienna's most satisfying free outdoor experiences.
The Upper Belvedere houses Austria's most famous painting: Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. Entry is paid.
The Hofburg is the sprawling former imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty, the family that ruled Austria for six centuries, sitting between the Ringstrasse and Heldenplatz in central Vienna.
There is a panoramic lift inside the Karlskirche that takes you up to stand face-to-face with the dome frescoes at 3,048 meters, the closest most people ever get to Baroque (an art style of gold, white stucco, and ceiling paintings designed to make the roof disappear) ceiling painting in Europe.
One of the world's largest cultural complexes, built into the former imperial stables. Contains the Leopold Museum (Schiele, Klimt), MUMOK (contemporary art), Kunsthalle Wien, and the Architecture Center. The inner courtyards are a public living room, filled with the signature Enzis furniture in summer. Not one museum but a campus.
The Naschmarkt sits on top of the Wien River, which was paved over in a concrete channel around 1900 to make room for it. That buried river is one of the most Viennese facts I know: practical, layered, slightly unhinged.
Working out what Vienna costs?
The whole of Vienna