Vienna Things To Do

Austria’s elegant capital city of Vienna comes alive in winter, with high-society balls and classical concerts. Its great art galleries and castle museums are almost empty and prices drop radically after New Year. Wrap up as temperatures fall below freezing, although skies are often sunny.

It would be impossible to pay proper attention to all the odd and wonderful museums contained within the confines of Vienna in a single burst of words. The following are some of the most peculiar, and, possibly, for the right kind of tourist, the most interesting.

Crowned with a palatial octagonal dome, Kunsthistorisches Museum is one of the finest and most important museum buildings constructed in Europe during the 19th century. It’s sandstone façade, marble, stucco, and gold-leaf adornments were commissioned by Emperor Franz Joseph I as part of his expansion of Vienna in 1858.

Cinephiles the world over will stop and take notice upon learning of this privately operated Vienna museum dedicated solely to the celebration of director Carol Reed’s 1949 noir classic, The Third Man.