Palace in Vienna
Paid entryThere is an entry charge.
The Hofburg is the former imperial palace of the Habsburgs, a sprawling complex in the center of Vienna housing the Spanish Riding School, the Imperial Apartments, the Sisi Museum, and the Austrian National Library. The exterior courtyards, Heldenplatz (Heroes’ Square), and the surrounding gardens are free. Budget travelers walk through the courtyards, admire the architecture, and choose one paid section if the budget allows. The National Library State Hall (modest fee) is one of the most beautiful library rooms in the world.
Practical
On foot
Free and low-cost routes that stop at Hofburg.
The Ringstrasse Walk is a self-guided loop around Vienna's grand boulevard, built in the 1860s on the site of the demolished city walls. Free. A 5.3-kilometer circuit passing the Opera House, Hofburg Palace, Parliament, Rathaus, Burgtheater, University, and Votivkirche.
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 arm of the Danube that runs through Vienna's inner city, lined with street art, beach bars, restaurants, and summer pop-up venues. The Donaukanal has become Vienna's summer social center since the 2010s. The Strandbar Herrmann and Tel Aviv Beach are institutions. The street art murals along the canal walls change regularly.
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