From exploring the artwork of world famous artists in numerous museums to learning how to waltz, Vienna has no shortage of fun experiences. Here are a few of our favourite things to do whilst visiting...
Capital of Music
Vienna hosts 15,000 concerts each year, has a 99% attendance rate at the Vienna State Opera, is home to 120 music and theatre venues, as well as the oldest ‘boy band’ in the world, Vienna Boys’ Choir (est. 1498). It is not surprising therefore that Vienna is widely regarded as the World’s Capital of Music, with people from across the globe flocking to enjoy Vienna’s various sounds. The city’s concert halls and stages offer a wide range of music from classical to progressive sounds with end-to-end festivals throughout the year. Opera fans can flock to the State Opera House to see international stars and jazz lovers can find a pulsating jazz scene in buzzing bars, whilst the very best in electronic music can be found in the numerous clubs.
2020 marks the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven's birth and Vienna – the city he chose to call home and where he composed most of his masterpieces – will be offering a variety of celebratory exhibitions, performances and experiences (both virtual and non-virtual) throughout 2020 and 2021. www.wiener-staatsoper.at/en/
Re-opening of the Sigmund Freud Museum
Another 2020 celebration includes the 120th anniversary of Sigmund Freud's ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ and welcomes the re-opening of the Sigmund Freud Museum which has undergone a 14-month full renovation and expansion project. The museum - where Freud practised and lived with his family for 47 years - will take guests on an immersive experience into his multi-layered work, whilst exploring different aspects of his life and the lives of his family. For the first time ever, all the private Freud family rooms will be accessible to the public, including the family apartment and Freud’s “first” practice room located on the upper ground floor. Almost twice its original size, the museum (which is barrier free), creates an authentic experience of the birthplace of psychoanalysis, with an additional Sigmund Freud Museum library (Europe’s largest repository of works on psychoanalysis), a new, fully equipped reading room which doubles up as a state-of-the-art lecture theatre and a collection of conceptual art.
Put on your dancing shoes
Vienna is known for its traditional balls and dances (including the Vienna waltz which originated here) and visitors can get dance-floor ready and learn some classic ballroom dancing at one of Vienna’s most famous dance schools.
Operating for almost 100 years, Elmayer offers a range of classes to choose from. Travellers can learn to dance the Viennese waltz in just under an hour, or take a wedding dance course, which spans 3 weeks. Couples can learn the foxtrot, waltz, cha-cha and boogie-woogie for their special occasion.
Museums – Take Your Pic
Take your pic from the 100+ museums that Vienna has to offer. Vienna's museums show works by world-famous artists such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Albrecht Dürer and Pieter Bruegel, as well as contemporary art by exciting newcomers.
The Leopold Museum is a unique treasure-trove of Viennese art nouveau and of the Expressionist period. As the most-visited museum in the Museums Quartier, it houses the most important and largest Egon Schiele collection in the world as well as masterpieces by Gustav Klimt.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum) was built in 1891 near the Imperial Palace to house the extensive collections of the imperial family. With its vast array of eminent works and the largest Bruegel collection globally, it is considered one of the most eminent museums in the world.
The Albertina is home to the largest and most valuable graphical collections in the world, with works such as Dürer’s “Hare” and Klimt's studies of women. As the largest Habsburg residential palace, the Albertina dominates the southern tip of the Imperial Palace on one of the last remaining fortress walls in Vienna.
New to 2020, the Albertina Modern is Vienna’s new museum for modern and contemporary art. The most important collections of Austrian art after 1945, the Essl Collection and the Jablonka Collection, form the basis of the new art hot-spot.
INSIDERS TIP
Did you know Vienna is the greenest city in the world?!
With 850 parks, over 50% of Vienna is open green spaces. Be sure to visit the Hirschstetten Botanical Gardens during May-October, home to 300,000 spring blooms, 800,000 summer flowers and around 1 million tulip and narcissus bulbs!
Comments