History comes alive in Vienna. More than six centuries of Habsburg rule have left their mark in the arts, in music, in architecture. Today, visitors enjoy the world-renowned museums, baroque churches and palaces, and splendid parks that are the legacies of those times. Vienna has retained its traditional beauty and elegance as well as a courtly pace that enhances its physical attractions. A continuous choice of cultural activities, great social events and a knack for the good life are an unbeatable combination for a memorable visit.

The sightseeing "musts" are Schonbrunn Palace, the Imperial Palace, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Imperial Treasuries, St. Stephen's Cathedral, the State Opera, the magnificent buildings along the Ring, the Giant Ferris Wheel in Prater, the wine gardens at the city limits and the Vienna Woods, the wonderful coffee houses and pastry shops.

Vienna is home of some of the greatest art collections in the world. The Habsburgs, avid art collectors, accumulated innumerable masterpieces, most now viewed in Vienna's museums with the Museum of Fine Arts (Kunsthistorisches Museum) offering the largest collection of Bruegels in the world. Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka masterpieces may be seen at the Austrian Gallery at the Upper Belvedere. Josef Hoffmann and Kolo Moser impressive works are shown at the Museum of Applied Arts (Museum fur Angewandte Kunst and the MAK, as it is called in Vienna, remains on the forefront of progressive art. Modern art, ranging from Warhol to Lichtenstein and including many modern Austrian painters, may be seen in the Museum of Modern Art (Museum moderner Kunst), housed in the great halls of the baroque Liechtenstein Palace, and at the Museum of the Twentieth Century. One popular Austrian painter, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, has built his own museum to provide an appropriate setting for his work: since its completion in 1991, his Kunst HausWien with its undulating floors, has become a favorite stop for tourists and Viennese alike.

Viennese musical tradition is also very much alive in Vienna through the year. Concert halls such as the Musikverein and the Concert House (Konzerthaus) put on outstanding performances every night. The State Opera House offers an impressive repertoire that changes every day, from the beginning of September through the end of June. The Volksoper caters mainly to operetta lovers but also to fans of musicals and those who prefer listening to operas in the German language. 

Festivals seem to be the order of the day: they start in January, with "Resonanzen", the festival of early music; in March, the "Haydn Days" pay homage to the composer who preceded Mozart and Beethoven; in April and May, Vienna celebrates the rites of spring with its very own "Spring Festival"; and in May and June, the largest of them all, the Vienna Festival, renowned for its superb international theatrical performances, also hosts numerous musical ensembles and opera companies from all over the world, in addition to staging many Austrian productions. Vienna's Summer of Music has also come into its own with about 150 concerts, some in unusual and interesting places all over the city, from old churches to the arcaded courtyards of Vienna's City Hall (Rathaus).

At the beginning of September, after the summer vacation break, musical life is again in full swing - some highlights during the fall are the "Wien modern" festival and the "Schubertiade", a festival dedicated to performing all of Schubert's numerous works. In December, a Mozart festival concludes the concert season and the city celebrates the end of any given year by performing "Die Fledermaus" this most beloved of all operettas in both opera houses - a fitting prelude to the joyous beginning of the New Year with the famous New Year's Concert, played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and broadcast all over the world.