Why Europe's unsung culture capital should be your next city break

Plenty of spectacular culture is within easy reach in this spectacular Austrian capital. Here's our expert guide on where to go, what to see and why now is the time to visit.

Go now

Vienna, Europe’s most underrated cultural capital, is marking the centenaries of the deaths of two of its great artists – Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele – and its finest architect, the modernist Otto Wagner. Exhibitions have just opened: Klimt and co in the Lower Belvedere Palace (until Aug 26, belvedere.at/en), Wagner in the Wien Museum (until Oct 7, wienmuseum.at/en), and Schiele in the Leopold Museum (until Nov 4, leopoldmuseum.org/en). BA (ba.com), easyJet (easyjet.com), flybe (flybe.com) and Austrian Airlines (austrian.com) offer links from the UK.

Vienna City Central

Stay here

The Imperial Hotel (1) (telegraph.co.uk/tt-imperialvienna) was originally built in 1863 as one of the palaces lining the new Ringstrasse for Prince von Württemberg. Doubles from ￡281. Tucked away near the Naschmarkt, Hotel Beethoven (2) (telegraph.co.uk/tt-hotelbeethoven) is a good-value four-star. Doubles from ￡138.

Walk here

Start at the Vienna Hbf station (3) and head north-west towards the Belvedere Palace (4). You now have an easy walk down through the fountains and formal gardens, with wonderful views of the city. It takes in the key central sites: jink left to pass the Lower Belvedere and Schwarzenberg palaces and you can then cross the Ringstrasse (5) and head into the old town to finish at the great 14th-century Stephansdom (6) cathedral. 

See this

The Kunsthistorisches Museum (7), which houses much of the Habsburg Emperors’ astonishing collection of paintings, rivals the Prado, the National Gallery, the Hermitage and the Louvre, yet it gets barely a 10th as many visitors. Enjoy art in peace. (khm.at/en; €15/￡13).

Try this

Tour the Ringstrasse by tram. Avoid the yellow tourist version and combine public trams numbers 1 and 2 for a tour of the city. Five tickets €12 (wienerlinien.at).

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Shop here

The historic old town – within the Ringstrasse – is a warren of small independent and local shops, so browse at your leisure, and don’t miss Meinl am Graben (8), arguably Vienna’s best delicatessen and wine shop, and the perfect place to buy local delicacies (meinlamgraben.at).

Drink here

Adolf Loos, a pioneer of modern architecture in Vienna, designed the tiny Loos Bar (9) in 1903 after visiting the US. Arguably Europe’s first American bar, it’s still going strong. Martini cocktail, €12 (loosbar.at).

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Eat here

Zum Schwarzen Kameel (10) (The Black Camel) has been a Viennese institution since 1902 and still has a Belle époque air. Traditional meats and stews predominate: saddle of venison is €33, veal goulash €23.50. Excellent choice of Austrian wines (kameel.at).

Off the map

Otto Wagner’s clean-lined, virgin-white St Leopold’s, on the western outskirts, was the first modernist church in Europe. Limited opening – at weekends only (vienna.info).