Top of every Prater wish list is the Riesenrad – at least for anyone of an age to recall Orson Welles' cuckoo clock speech in British film noir The Third Man (1949), set in a shadowy postwar Vienna. Built in 1897 by Englishman Walter B Basset, the Ferris wheel rises to 65m and takes about 20 minutes to rotate its 430-tonne weight one complete circle – giving you ample time to snap some fantastic shots of the city spread out at your feet.

This unmissable icon also achieved celluloid fame in the James Bond flick The Living Daylights, and Before Sunrise, directed by Richard Linklater.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Madame Tussauds Vienna

0.04 MILES

This waxwork wonderland in the Würstelprater is a stage for a host of sculpted celebrities – Nicole Kidman, Michael Jackson and Johnny Depp star among…

2. Pratermuseum

0.07 MILES

Sharing the same building as the Planetarium, this municipal museum traces the history of the Würstelprater and its woodland neighbour. For all the life…

3. Planetarium

0.07 MILES

Austria's biggest planetarium is galaxies away from being its biggest draw. Vienna’s extraterrestrial and interstellar viewfinder is located on the edge…

4. Würstelprater

0.08 MILES

No matter your age, you are forever 10 years old with money burning a hole in your pocket at the Würstelprater. Come summer, this funfair throngs with…

5. Prater

0.08 MILES

Spread across 60 sq km, central Vienna's biggest park comprises woodlands of poplar and chestnut, meadows and tree-lined boulevards, as well as children's…

6. Johann Strauss Residence

0.4 MILES

Strauss the Younger called Praterstrasse 54 home from 1863 to 1878 and composed the waltz, ‘The Blue Danube’, under its high ceilings. Inside you’ll find…

7. KunstHausWien

0.43 MILES

The KunstHausWien, with its bulging ceramics, wonky surfaces, checkerboard facade, technicolor mosaic tilework and rooftop sprouting plants and trees,…

8. Hundertwasser Village

0.63 MILES

Created from an old Michelin factory, Hundertwasser Village bears the inimitable hallmark of the wacky Austrian artist of the same name. It contains…