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KunstHausWien
The KunstHausWien (Art House Vienna), with its bulging ceramics, lack of straight lines and colourful tilework, is another of Hundertwasser's inventive creations. It's is something of a paean in honour of Hundertwasser, displaying his paintings, graphics, tapestry, philosophy, ecology and architecture. There are even a couple of films about him. The gallery also puts on quality temporary exhibitions featuring other artists.
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Lainzer Tiergarten
At 25 sq km, the Lainzer Tiergarten (Lainzer Zoo) is the largest (and wildest) of Vienna's city parks. The 'zoo' refers to the plethora of wild boar, deer, woodpeckers and squirrels that freely roam the park, and the famous Lipizzaner horses which summer here. At every day the park's wild animals are fed by park staff; check the notice board at the park's gate for the location.
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Leopold Museum
The museum is named after Rudolf Leopold, a Viennese ophthalmologist who, on buying his first Egon Schiele (1890-1918) for a song as a young student in 1950, began to amass a huge private collection of mainly 19th-century and modernist Austrian artworks. In 1994 he sold the lot - 5266 paintings - to the Austrian government for around €160 million (sold individually, the paintings would have made him around €570 million), and the museum was born.
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Liechtenstein Museum
Until 1938, the Royal family of Liechtenstein resided in Vienna, but after the Anschluss they made a hasty retreat to their small country squeezed between Austria and Switzerland. They didn't, however, manage to take everything with them, and it was only near the end of WWII that they transferred their collection of baroque masterpieces to Vaduz.
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Lipizzaner Museum
An arm of the Spanish Riding School, the Lipizzaner Museum details the history and heritage of the famous white stallions. It also has bits and bobs on the tricks they perform at the nearby school and the stud farm where they're raised. There's English text, but the content is a little thin. Windows allow a view directly into the stables, albeit obscured by glass and fine mesh; otherwise you'll have to do with the views on two large monitors.
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Marionettentheater
This small theatre in the confines of Schloss Schönbrunn puts on marionette performances of the much-loved productions The Magic Flute (2.5 hours) and Aladdin (1.25 hours). The theatre also offers 30-minute shows that may be better suited to children.
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Michaelerkirche
Michaelerkirche is the oldest building on Michaelerplatz (if you discount the Roman ruins as buildings), and dates from the 13th century. Tours of its morbid and slightly disturbing crypt (in German) take you past numerous coffins, some of which have rusted away to reveal their long-deceased occupants in all their deathly splendour, and piles of bones of those who could not afford a proper burial.
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Minopolis
The newest edition to Vienna's attractions for kids, this city theme park offers children the chance to play grown-up for the day. The 6000 sq m park of streets, buildings, shops and cars includes 25 stations providing information and activities on various occupations such as journalist, fire fighter, and doctor. Children are given Eurolinos, the money of Minopolis, to spend or save as they see fit. Children seem to love it.
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Minoritenkirche
The Minoritenkirche (Minorite Church) is a 14th-century church that, like many in Austria, later received a baroque face-lift. If you think the tower looks a little short, you're right on the button: the top was 'shortened' by the Turks in 1529. The most noteworthy piece inside is a mosaic copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper , commissioned by Napoleon.
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Mozarthaus Vienna
Given a thorough polishing for the Mozart anniversary in 2006, Mozarthaus Vienna, the great composer's residence for 2.5 happy and productive years, is now the city's premiere Mozart attraction.
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Mumok
While the dark basalt exterior of the Museum moderner Kunst (MUMOK; Museum of Modern Art)is impressive, as a whole MUMOK fails to please. Many of the exhibition rooms housing Vienna's premiere collection of 20th-century art are cramped and devoid of natural light. The exhibition centres around fluxus, nouveau realism, an extensive pop art collection and photorealism; expressionism, cubism, minimal art and Viennese actionism are also represented.
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Museum Für Angewandte Kunst
The Museum für angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts), better known as the MAK, has an extensive collection of household items better described as art pieces. The building which MAK shares with café Österreicher im MAK is excellent. A High Renaissance construction dating from 1871, it offers some fine features in its own right, especially in its ceilings.
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Museum Für Völkerkunde
The Museum für Völkerkunde (Museum of Ethnology) has wide-ranging collection of exhibits on non-European cultures. Exhibits are divided into nationalities and cover such countries as China, Japan and Korea, and also the Polynesian, Native American and Inuit cultures. The highlight of the museum is the centrepiece of the Central America section, an Aztec feather headdress once worn by Emperor Montezuma.
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Museum Für Volkskunde
Housed in 17th-century Palais Schönborn, this folk-art museum gives a taster of 18th- and 19th-century rural dwelling and is stocked with handcrafted sculptures, paintings and furniture from throughout Austria and its neighbouring countries. Many of the pieces have a religious or rural theme, and telltale floral motifs are everywhere. Temporary exhibitions regularly feature and tours in English take place at Sunday.
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Museum Judenplatz
The main focus of the city's second museum is the excavated remains of a medieval synagogue that once stood on Judenplatz. Built around 1420, it didn't last long: Duke Albrecht V's 'hatred and misconception,' as the museum puts it, led him to order its destruction in 1421. Documents and artefacts dating from 1200 to 1400 are on display. There is a short computer-graphics film on life in Jewish Vienna in the Middle Ages
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Music Mile Vienna
Reminiscent of Hollywood's 'walk of fame,' this trail of marble stars runs from Stephansdom to Theater an der Wien and commemorates some 70 musical geniuses related to Vienna. The stars are embedded in the footpath, often adjacent to where the composer, singer or musician lived or worked, and booklets provide background information on the person. The booklets are available at numerous locations, including the shop at nearby Theater an der Wien.
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Nationalbibliothek
The Nationalbibliothek (National Library), once the imperial library, is now the largest library in Vienna. The main attraction is the Prunksaal (Grand Hall). Commissioned by Charles VI, this baroque hall was the brainchild of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, who died the year the first brick was laid, and finished by his son Joseph in 1735. It holds some 200,000 volumes - its sheer size is breathtaking. Leather-bound tomes line the walls.
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Naturhistorisches Museum
The Naturhistorisches Museum (Museum of Natural History) is the scientific counterpart of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) opposite. As you would expect in a natural history museum, there are exhibits on minerals, meteorites and assorted animal remains in jars. Among other things, there are a staggering 2102 diamonds and 761 other gems, specimens of extinct and rare species and a children's corner.
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Neidhart-Fresken
An unassuming house on Tuchlauben hides quite a remarkable decoration: the oldest extant secular murals in Vienna. The small frescoes, dating from 1398, tell the story of the minstrel Neidhart von Reuental (1180-1240) and life in the Middle Ages, in lively and jolly scenes. The frescoes have lost some colour and are patchy in parts, but are in superb condition considering their age. Neidhart is a municipal museum.
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Neue Burg Museums
Instruments of all shapes and sizes are on display at the Sammlung Alter Musikinstrumente (Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments. The instruments were designed more for show than for playing; horns shaped like serpents and violins with carved faces are some of the elaborate pieces on display. Note the baroque cabinet incorporating a keyboard from the early 17th century (in Saal XI) - it's beautiful, but a strange combination.
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Österreichische Filmmuseum
After a much-needed overhaul that did away with the original arse-numbing seats, the Filmmuseum is now a pleasure to visit. The range of films on show is quite extensive; each month features a retrospective on a group of directors or a certain theme from around the world.
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Palais Epstein
Designed by Parliament's architect Theophil Hansen, Palais Epstein began as home to the prominent Jewish family Epstein before being sold off in 1873 due to financial problems. It later became the infamous Soviet Union headquarters during the 'four men in a jeep' period after WWII. Nicknamed the 'Gateway to Siberia', around 1000 Austrians passed through its doorways on their deportation route.
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Palmenhaus
If you think you're experiencing déjà vu on sighting the Palmenhaus (Palm House), you are: it was built in 1882 by Franz Segenschmid as a replica of the one in London's Kew Gardens. The glorious glass-and-iron construction still houses palms and hothouse plants and is particularly photogenic after a heavy fall of snow. The inside is a veritable jungle of tropical plants from around the world.
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Parliament
With its recent renovation complete, the squat Parliament building opposite the Volksgarten once again strikes a governing pose over the Ringstrasse. Its neoclassical façade and Greek pillars, designed by Theophil Hansen in 1883, are quite striking, but the beautiful Athena Fountain, sculpted by Karl Kundmann, that guards the building steals the show with its gold-tipped spear and regal helm.
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Pasqualati Haus
Beethoven made the 4th floor of this house his residence from 1804 to 1814 (he apparently occupied around 80 places in his 35 years in Vienna) and during that time composed Symphonies 4, 5 and 7 and the opera Fidelio , among other works. His two rooms (plus another two from a neighbouring apartment) have been converted into a museum, lightly filled with photos, articles and a handful of his personal belongings.
