So you’ve decided to visit Austria. Great choice! What words does Austria conjure up for you. Waltzing? Mozart? The Sound of Music? Mountains?
If music was one of the things that came to mind, then put Austria–and Vienna in particular–on your must-visit list.
As a life-long devotee of classical music (I’ve played piano since I was five!), I always enjoy visiting both Vienna and Salzburg. I get a thoroughly classical music hit touring the houses of some of my fave composers, enjoying concerts, and checking out the wonderful House of Music in Vienna.
And if you are a museum-goer, you’ll swoon in Vienna, which has some of the largest and most varied museums in Europe. And then there are mountains! Travel west from Vienna to experience mountain vistas in Salzburg and Innsbruck.
Austria Highlights at a Glance
Explore the Tyrol and take a tour to Castle Neuschwanstein just over the border in Germany
Visit Salzburg and commune with Mozart and The Sound of Music
Practical Tips for Travel in Austria
In this post, I cover some of the basics of visiting Austria–when to visit, checking events, transportation, accommodations, and food.
But first, a bit of trivia! Did you know that Vienna has been named themost livable city in the world for the past three years in a row (and several more years before that)? The city earned a rating of 98.4 out of a possible 100. Wow!
Another one of my favorite cities in Europe also made the cut– Copenhagen is #2. My home town of Vancouver is #7 which isn’t too shabby!
A Map of Austria
The map below includes the four places mentioned in my posts about Austria: Vienna (#1), Salzburg (#2), Innsbruck (#3), and tiny little Pinswang (#4) where we stayed on a driving trip through Austria on our way to Italy. Click a number to view links to more posts.
Here’s where I cover some of the basics of visiting Austria–when to visit, checking events, transportation, accommodations, and food.
Decide When to Visit
First off, decide when you want to visit. If you are hoping to enjoy cultural delights such as opera, festivals, and music events including performances by the Vienna Boys Choir, then visit between September and May.
I’ve visited Austria in both May and September and the weather was perfect for touring apart from the occasional day of rain.
Check Events and Exhibitions
Before you visit Austria, check online for exhibitions and performances. Also be on the lookout for local festivals.
Austria is not a large country and it’s easy to travel around. The drive from Vienna to Salzburg takes about three hours, four if you include a few stops.
Trains are also fast and efficient. Consider taking trains between cities (Vienna to Salzburg to Innsbruck) and then either renting a car to tour the countryside or booking a small group guided tour.
A good strategy when visiting Austria is to fly to Vienna, see the city for a few days, and then pick up a car to explore the rest of the country. We did that on one trip and found driving out of Vienna relatively stress-free compared to some other European cities such as Paris and Rome.
Public Transit
As a relatively small country, Austria is easy to explore by train. You can zip from Vienna to Salzburg in about 2 and a half hours. If you don’t want to drive, use the trains to get between the major cities (Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck) and then take day tours.
Small Group Tours
I highly recommend small group tours run by locals as a stress-free way to explore the countryside. If you enjoy driving, then by all means rent a car. But if you’d rather relax and leave the driving to someone else, consider day tours. I’ve sometimes left my car at my hotel and taken a small group tour of a particular region that I’d rather not drive through (e.g., tortuous Alpine roads).
Driving Through Austria
Often, I’ve driven through western Austria when traveling from Germany to Italy, crossing at the Brenner Pass.
On a recent trip, I stopped for the night just across the border in Austria from the town of Fussen, Germany. The town is famous for being close to “Mad Ludwig’s” castle, otherwise known as Neuschwanstein.
I spent the night in the tiny and impossibly charming village of Pinswang nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains. Called the Gutshof zum Schluxen, the 3-star bed-and-breakfast was everything a place in the fabled Austrian Tyrol should be.
The proprietor wore lederhosen, the wine was local, the dinner hearty and very Austrian, and the room with a view over the valley was comfortable and quiet.
If you’re staying in Munich and don’t have a car, see the castles on a guided day trip.
Castle Neuschwanstein in Schwangau Germany just over the border from Austria
Safety in Austria
Austria is a safe country to travel in. I stayed on my own for several days in Vienna. Every evening, I walked around the city and took transit to my apartment and I never felt in danger.
But, as always, be aware of your surroundings and wear your money belt!
I found Austria, and Vienna in particular, expensive. Even the 3-star bed-and-breakfast we stayed at in the Tyrol, the Gutshof zum Schluxen mentioned earlier, cost about €140 for one night.
Expect to pay €250-400 or more for a centrally located, good-quality hotel room in Vienna. When you’re looking for accommodation in Vienna, choose places within the old city walls.
You could opt for a budget hotel on the outskirts but I don’t recommend doing so. You’ll waste too much time commuting through dreary suburbs into the wonderful city center. Spend the money and book a good hotel in the old city.
I made the mistake of being budget conscious to a fault on one trip to Vienna when I booked an apartment about a 40-minute tram ride from the city center. Sure, the place was inexpensive, but the hot water ran out on the second day and it was located in a nondescript neighborhood, kilometers from the action.
Apartments can be a good bet in Vienna, but again, book one in the center of the city. You’ll find excellent ones listed on HomeAway and on Booking.com. Click on the map below to find hotels in Vienna.
Two words describe food in Austria–hearty and filling. If you like wiener schnitzel, you’ll have no trouble getting well fed in Austria. Every menu includes it along with other staples such as tafelspitz, which is boiled beef with root vegetables. The broth is flavorful but when I tried it in Vienna, I can’t say I was impressed.
Homemade Breaded Wiener Schnitzel with Potatoes
For dessert, just try to resist Apple Strudel–layers and layers of flaky pastry, tender apples, powdered sugar–yeah, what’s not to like?
In Vienna, set aside an hour or two to drink coffee and eat a slice of sachertorte in one of the iconic coffee houses. Invented by Franz Sacher in 1832 for Prince Metternich in Vienna, a slice of sachertorte will slide down pretty darned smoothly–chocolate sponge cake, apricot, dark chocolate icing.
Sachertorte puts the ‘ee’ in sweet.
Sachertorte
Apparently, December 5 is National Sachertorte Day in the United States. Who knew?
Conclusion
Have you traveled to Austria? Share your experiences and recommendations with other Artsy Travelers in the Comments below.
Here are more posts to read next to help you plan your Austria trip:
You can easily fill several days visiting Vienna’s world-class museums.
You’ll find museums that cater to just about every artsy interest–from painting to music to theater and much more.
In this post, I describe what I consider the 15 must-see museums for artsy travelers to visit while touring Vienna, one of my favorite European cultural capitals.
So let’s dig into my suggestions for the 15 best museum experiences in Vienna.
As you’ll quickly discover, Vienna really is one of Europe’s best destinations for museum lovers.
The only trouble is that you need to pace yourself. All those long, marble-floored corridors are hard on the knees. Take your time! It’s better to enjoy fewer museums and enjoy yourself than try to see them all and be too exhausted to take in a concert in the evening and enjoy a plate of weiner schnitzel.
Assume you’ll return!
And while Vienna has some of the best museums in the world, it’s also a wonderful place to just sit back and watch the world go by. There’s a reason that Vienna consistently ranks in the top ten of the world’s most livable cities.
Here are my suggestions for 15 museums to visit in Vienna.
National Museums
#1: Kunsthistorisches Museum
Start at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (#1), Vienna’s answer to the Louvre and considered by many to be one of the best museums in all of Vienna.
Located at Maria-Theresien-Platz in the Imperial Palace complex, this fabulous (and HUGE) museum exhibits the art collection of the Habsburg family. They were also known as the House of Austria and for several hundred years ruled a large chunk of Europe.
Skip the line by purchasing your tickets online before you leave. You save time and are guaranteed entry into this marvelous museum.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum includes several collections.
Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna
Egyptian and Near Eastern
You’ll find one of the world’s most important collections of Egyptian antiquities at the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Take a tour of the collection which includes more than 17,000 objects. I always enjoy a good Egyptian museum, and the collection here is first-rate.
Greek and Roman Antiquities
The collection spans 3,000 years. I’m particularly fond of the Greek vases decorated with scenes of Greek life.
Kunstkammer Wien: The Cradle of the Museum
This relatively new area of the museum (opened in 2013) contains over 2,200 fabulous artworks. The Habsburg emperors were busy collectors from the late Middle Ages to the Baroque Age. You’ll find sculptures, clocks, objets d’art, scientific instruments, automatons, and a lot more.
The list goes on. Have a good look. You won’t regret it.
Picture Gallery
The collection in the Picture Gallery is nirvana for the art lover. You’ll find pieces by Pieter Bruegel the Elder that you’ll probably recognize if you like 16th-century Dutch painting and if you’ve ever taken a European art history course.
You’ll also find masterpieces by Caravaggio, Titian, Rubens, and one of my favorites, Arcimboldo, who really had a way with food.
We bought a jigsaw puzzle of one of the Arcimboldo paintings in the marvelous museum gift shop. I do like a good museum giftshop and the one at the Kunsthistorisches has a great selection.
Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Collection of Historical Musical Instruments
I write about the incredible collection of historical musical instruments in Music Lover’s Guide to Vienna. On my solo trip to Vienna, I spent a happy afternoon enjoying the rooms full of pianos and harpsichords and various other instruments. The collection of Renaissance and Baroque instruments is reputed to be the finest in the world.
I was in heaven, particularly because this area of the massive museum was virtually empty. If I’d been so inclined, I could have played one of the pianos, and probably no one would have been the wiser.
Needless to say, I didn’t try. The prospect of even a short stay in a Viennese prison did not appeal, even if it’s likely to be well maintained and serve wiener schnitzel and torte.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum also includes the Coin Collection, an Armory, and lots more, but you get the picture. The museum is worth a good chunk of your day. Alternatively, pace yourself and space your visit across a few days. It depends on your stamina because plenty of museums await you in Vienna’s Museum Quarter.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is open daily except Mondays from 10 am to 6 pm and on Thursdays from 10 am to 9 pm.
The architectural mirror image of the Kunsthistorisches Museum is the Museum of Natural History of Naturhistorisches Museum (#2) opposite it.
I have a soft spot for natural history museums, and Vienna’s is excellent, easily on par with the Natural History Museums in London, New York, and Washington.
The big draw is the squat statue of the wonderfully fecund Venus of Willendorf. She’s a clay figurine just 11.1 centimeters tall, reputed to have been made between 24,000 and 22,000 BCE, which is a long time ago on any calendar.
Although little is known about how or why she was made, you have to think her purpose had something to do with fertility.
I mean, seriously! Look at her!
Because she lacks defined facial features, some philosophers and archeologists view the Venus of Willendorf as representative of a universal mother.
Well, I certainly took to her. She’s displayed in a special, atmospherically lit case that will probably be surrounded by other museum-goers.
Wait your turn and then spend a few minutes contemplating universal motherhood and also thinking about the people who made this exquisite figure.
How had they used her? Had she been cherished? I like to think so.
Animal Displays
One of the museum’s many highlights being the massive second floor containing several high-ceilinged, ornate rooms stuffed to the ceiling with stuffed animals.
When we walked into the reptile room on our family trip, I had to sprint through it with my eyes closed.
Stuffed snakes in glass cages slithered every which way through the massive room. And I don’t mean the cute plush variety of stuffed snakes.
Oh no. I’m talking about very real, very menacing, very snakey snakes. Ugh!
Fortunately, the other rooms made up for the trauma of the reptile room. The Vienna Museum of Natural History gets top marks for taxidermy.
Museums in the Museum Quarter
Vienna’s Museum Quarter (MQ) (#3) in central Vienna is truly a remarkable cultural area. Housing over sixty cultural institutions, the MQ is one of the largest districts for contemporary art and culture in the world.
You’ll find museums and events devoted to art, architecture, music, fashion, theater, children’s culture, literature, dance, street art, photography, even gaming culture.
This is the place to be if you love the arts.
Highlights of the MQ directly related to visual art include viewing modern art at the Leopold Museum, MUMOK – the Museum of Modern Art and Kunsthalle Wien, and visiting the remarkable Kunst Haus Wien–Vienna’s first ecological museum.
The MQ is always open and entry is free. Relax in the various courtyards and engage in some serious people watching.
Hanging out in the Museum Quarter in Vienna
For more information about what’s on, including special events, check the MQ website and the websites for the individual museums. The range and breadth of cultural activities truly is breathtaking!
Here are four of the major art museums in the MQ.
#4: Leopold Museum
The Leopold Museum (#4) exhibits the world’s most important collection of paintings and works on paper by Egon Schiele.
Along with Gustav Klimt, Schiele is one of the best-known Austrian artists of the 20th century.
Egon Schiele, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
#5: MUMOK – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien
MUMOK (#5) is the largest museum of modern and contemporary art in central Europe (and that’s saying something!).
You’ll find an amazing collection that features works of classical modernism (my favorite) by artists such as Picasso, Mondrian, and Magritte to mention only a few, along with pop art, Fluxus, minimal art, and concept art, as well as Vienna Actionism and contemporary art.
MUMOK in the Museum Quarter in Vienna
#6: Kunsthalle Wien
The Kunsthalle Wien (#6) fcouses on temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. I confess I’m not generally a fan of contemporary art, but if you are, check the website for current exhibitions.
#7: Kunst Haus Wien
Vienna’s first ecological museum, the Kunst Haus Wien (#7), features contemporary art with a focus on photography. You have to check out the building–it’s remarkable with colorful tiles, uneven floors, and irregular structures.
The museum also houses the Museum Hundertwasser which displays the largest permanent collection of works by Friedensreich Hundertwasser who designed the building for the Kunst Haus Wien and is also one of Austria’s most famous artists and visionaries.
Here’s an option for purchasing tickets to the Kunst Haus Wien:
The Meeting Place at the MuseumsQuartier (MQ) is one of the largest cultural quarters in the world. You’ll need another day to tour the MQ and also hang out in its public spaces.
Other Top Museums in Vienna
#8: Belvedere Palace
You can’t visit Vienna and not visit the Belvedere Palace (#8)! It’s the home of the world’s largest collection of Klimt’s paintings, including his masterpiece, The Kiss, and the iconic Judith I.
You’ll also find an excellent 19th-century collection that includes work by Monet and van Gogh.
Gustav Klimt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The baroque Belvedere Palace itself is worth visiting to see its magnificent ornamental gardens and the stunning views of Vienna.
Here’s an option for visiting the Belvedere that includes a private guided tour:
The Albertina Museum (#9) is located not far from the Vienna Opera House, and contains the world’s most important graphic collections along with works of art by Monet, Renoir, Chagall, Miro, Magritte, Munch, Picasso, and more.
You can also visit the Albertina – Modern a few blocks away, which is Vienna’s new museum of modern art.
#10: Theater Museum Vienna
I always go out of my way to visit a museum dedicated to theater. My third novel, The Muse of Fire, is set in the theater.
The collection at the Theater Museum (#10) in Vienna includes over 1,000 stage models, 600 costumes, and a lot of props that bring the history of theater in Austria to life. So much to see!
#11: Jewish Museum
Billed as the world’s first Jewish Museum, the Jewish Museum Vienna is the place to learn about Vienna’s Jewish life from the Middle Ages to the present (#11).
The permanent collection showcasing the Jewish community in medieval Vienna is particularly compelling. For two hundred years beginning in the thirteenth century, Vienna was a center of Jewish knowledge and learning. In 1420/21, the members of this first Jewish community were expelled and murdered by order of Duke Albert V. The recent discovery of the remains of the destroyed medieval synagogue drew attention to Vienna’s hitherto largely ignored medieval history.
#12: MAK – Museum of Applied Arts
The MAK Museum (#12) is a “museum for arts and the everyday world.” Its extensive collection focuses on the applied arts and the interface of design, architecture, and contemporary arts.
MAK showcases a special exhibition called « Vienna 1900 » with some of the most illustrious art nouveau designers.
MAK’s permanent collection includes one of the world’s finest collection of lace and glassware, particularly Venetian glass (I’m a sucker for Venetian glass). You’ll also find a collection of textiles and carpets, and lots more.
#13: Wien Museum
I thoroughly enjoyed touring the Wien Museum with its displays showcasing the history and culture of Vienna over the centuries. The museum’s permanent exhibition is called “Vienna. My History” and provides the visitor with a chronological tour of the city — from the first settlement to the present day.
When I was visiting Vienna to research A Woman of Note, I spent a long time in the Wien Museum getting a feel for what life was like in Vienna in the early 19th century.
I found the scale model of Vienna as it looked when it was still enclosed by a wall particularly interesting. In the 19th century, the wall was demolished and replaced with the Ring Road.
Music Museums in Vienna
Vienna is the City of Music and home to an impressive number of the world’s most famous composers–Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Strauss, and Mahler.
And several more composers stopped by to perform, including Chopin, Liszt, Schumann (Robert and Clara), and Brahms.
#14: Pascqualati House
A highlight of my solo trip to Vienna was visiting Pasqualati House (#13) where Beethoven lived and worked for a while. He changed apartments a lot, apparently.
Another good choice of Beethoven lovers (and who isn’t?!) is the Beethoven Museum.
Me in front of Vienna’s Pasqualati House, one of the places where Beethoven lived
#15: The House of Music
Also known as the House of Sound (#14), this celebration of music–particularly classical music (my favorite)–is spine-tinglingly awesome! I could sepnd days here exploring five floors of first-rate, music-themed exhibits.
Try your hand at conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and find out it’s not as easy as it looks!
#16: Mozarthaus Museum
Mozart lived in several houses in the city during his short and tumultuous life. The only one that survives is the Mozarthaus Museum (#15) at Domgasse #5, where he lived from 1784 to 1787.
The museum sprawls over 1,000 square meters on six levels and is a place of pilgrimage for Mozart lovers. Here’s an option for purchasing tickets.
If you enjoy touring museums and have two or more days in Vienna, consider purchasing a Vienna PASS.
You’ll be able to skip the line to popular attractions, get in free to more than 60 attractions, including the Belvedere Palace and St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and ride the hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus. It’s a pretty good deal and it saves you time.
Another option is the Vienna City Card.
Another less expensive option is the Vienna Flexi PASS that allows you to customize your itinerary.
Visit Vienna and Salzburg to enjoy some of Europe’s quintessentially artsy travel opportunities.
Concerts, world-class museums, and incredible art await. If you’re a classical music fan (Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, oh my!), you’ll be in 7th heaven.
Find out why I recommend travel to Vienna and Salzburg in this post!
I first visited Austria on a skiing holiday in 1975 and fondly remember the friendliness of the people and the gorgeous Tyrolean scenery in the ski resort town of Sölden.
Since then, I’ve spent most of my Austria sightseeing time in Salzburg and Vienna (my particular favorite). In fact, my second novel A Woman of Note about a female composer in the 1830s is set in Vienna.
Artsy Sightseeing in Salzburg
When I first visited Salzburg with my family in the early 2000s, I drove them crazy (short drive) with my constant references to my favorite musical of all time–The Sound of Music.
Yes, I know. It’s sentimental and over-the-top, but I loved it when I first saw it in the theater as a child and I still watch it every few Christmases. Those songs just don’t get old.
I threatened to embarrass my family by breaking into song at strategic locations.
To their relief, I never did, but I was rather surprised to discover that The Sound of Music was not always popular in Salzburg. I could find only a small pamphlet about the movie in the gift shop at the castle–the Hohensalzburg Fortress shown below.
The Hohensalzburg Fortress looms above the rooftops of the Baroque historical district.
All that has changed. You can find information about shooting locations and you can take Sound of Music tours.
According to the website, more than 300,000 fans visit Salzburg every year to walk in the footsteps of the von Trapp family in the original shooting locations.
I loved wandering around Salzburg. It’s a stunningly beautiful small city dominated by the Hohensalzburg Fortress.
Apparently, the fortress is the largest preserved castle in central Europe and has become the symbol of Salzburg as the City of Mozart.
You can visit the Fortress year round. Tour the Fortress Museum to view historical exhibits about courtly life, the Marionette Museum, and the Altes Zeughaus which has interactive displays focused on the development of cannons, armaments and firearms (not really artsy, but interesting nonetheless!).
Part of the fun of a visit to Salzburg is riding the funicular from the Festungsgasse. Admission is included with the Salzburg card.
Go early to beat the crowds (always good advice with popular tourist attractions in Europe).
Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg
Mozart in Salzburg
One big reason people visit Salzburg is to worship at the feet of Mozart.
Evidence of Salzburg’s love affair with its most famous son is everywhere.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg on January 27, 1756 and died on December 5, 1791 in Vienna at the age of 35. Mozart wrote over 600 works, including symphonies, concertos, chamber music, operas, and choral music.
Ask anyone to name a great composer and chances are if they don’t say Beethoven or Bach, they’ll say Mozart.
Salzburg styles itself as the City of Mozart.
If you like Mozart-themed chocolates and other souvenirs, you’ve come to the right place. And if you don’t get them in Salzburg, you’ll also find them in Vienna.
Mozart is everywhere in Salzburg.
The big Mozart attraction is Mozart’s House at No. 9 Getreidegasse in the heart of Salzburg’s old city. Tour the house to see items of everyday life from the period, memorabilia that documents Mozart’s life in Salzburg, and several historical instruments.
To get the lay of the land quickly, consider signing up for a tour of the city that includes Mozart’s house. This tour also includes a tour of the Mirabell Gardens.
For me, attending concerts in Austria has two benefits.
First, I get to hear awesome music played by local orchestras, often in the concert halls where the music was first performed. I get goosebumps listening to a concert of Mozart’s music just steps from the house in which he was born.
Second, concerts that are part of local festivals are generally tourist-free. Plenty of tourists attend the special Strauss/Mozart concerts put on for the bus tour groups.
These tourist concerts are great, don’t get me wrong. But if you want to be one of the few people in the audience who isn’t a local, check out the many musical festivals and concerts that attract a primarily Austrian crowd.
On the other hand, this strategy can backfire if you don’t do as the Austrians do. Let me explain!
A Tourist Faux Pas at a Concert in Salzburg
One year, we snagged tickets to a concert at the International Mozarteum Foundation building (Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum) in Salzburg. The concert was called Sturm und Drang (Storm and Struggle) and featured piano pieces by Liszt.
Anticipating a fiery afternoon of pyrotechnic piano playing, we happily entered the ornate concert room and took our seats.
Within minutes, we became acutely aware that we stood out like stupid-tourist sore thumbs. Although the day was searingly hot, every single person in the audience wore formal dress.
The men were decked out either in tuxedos complete with cummerbunds or in full dress uniforms, medals sparkling.
The women shimmered in long evening dresses and dripped with pearls and diamonds as they swished into their seats.
Gregg wore ratty, paint-daubed shorts and a T-shirt, Julia wore pink shorts and a grubby T-shirt (hey, we were on holiday–who does laundry?), and I wore my decidedly hippy-dippy, no-crease travel dress.
We looked like country bumpkins.
We also seriously miscalculated the appeal of the program. The music was by Liszt all right, but most of the program consisted of delicate, gossamer settings of Schubert’s lieder. The music was beautiful, no doubt about it, but it was also really, really, really slow.
After fifteen minutes of trying desparately to look entranced, I wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball under my chair and snooze away the afternoon hidden from the disapproving gaze of all those well-dressed Austrians.
And as for twelve-year-old Julia, who, despite our best efforts at the time, was not much of a classical music fan, sitting still in the oppressive heat was agony.
We left at the interval.
That said, don’t let our experience put you off investigating concerts while you’re traveling, especially in Austria where music concerts are as common as lunch.
Vienna is one of Europe’s loveliest cities. It’s small enough to be easily walkable, at least in the charming city center. And there’s a lot to see, particularly if you enjoy art and music.
Vienna has been ranked by consulting firm Mercer as the most livable city in the world for ten years running.
Quick side note: My home town of Vancouver, Canada was recently ranked number 3 in the same survey. I think we have Vienna beat for scenery and recreation, but Vienna is head and shoulders above Vancouver when it comes to world-class museums and cultural events. And Vienna’s laid-back ambience, historic coffee houses and slabs of sachertorte are also features that Vancouver can’t compete with.
I pre-purchased my transportation tickets and was very glad I did because I never did figure out how to pay for the trams. Fortunately, I had my city card so if I was stopped (I never was), I was legit.
A smooth train whisks you from the airport to the center of Vienna in just 16 minutes. You can then catch public transit from the U. Look for the blue U signs at the entrances to the subway stations.
Sign for the U train–the subway in Vienna
On both my trips to Vienna, I spent a lot of time walking around the cobbled streets and people-watching. Stephansplatz in the center of Vienna is the perfect place to hang out and watch the action.
Cityscape image of Vienna, Austria with St. Michael’s Square at sunrise
Music is a major reason to visit Vienna. My Music Lover’s Guide to Vienna provides a great deal of information about enjoying music in Vienna. You’ll also find plenty of other arts-related sightseeing opportunities in Vienna.
Museums in Vienna
Vienna has an amazing number of first-rate museums. In fact, it has an entire Museum Quarter. If you are a museum-goer, you might not emerge for days.
Consider purchasing a Vienna PASS. You can use it to skip the line at popular attractions, get free admission to over 60 attractions including the Belvedere Palace and St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and ride the hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus. It’s a pretty good deal and saves you time.
A less expensive option is the Vienna Flexi PASS that allows you to customize your itinerary. Check exactly which attractions they offer to calculate if they’ll save you money.
Be sure to enjoy a concert or two while in Vienna. You can purchase tickets from Mozart-costumed touts in Stephansplatz for the tourist shows, or go online and find local concerts.
Also check the web for music festivals and concerts being presented during your time in Austria. Every time I’ve visited Austria, I’ve found a classical music festival–or two–to attend.
You can also look for performances by the state opera, the Vienna Boys’ Choir, and the Vienna Philharmonic. If music is your thing, visit Vienna during the season–from about October to May.
Here are some options:
Tours and Tickets in Vienna
Here are some other options for sightseeing in Vienna.
Vienna is an expensive city. Expect to pay €250-400 or more for a centrally located, good-quality hotel room in Vienna. When you’re looking for accommodation in Vienna, choose places within the old city walls.
You could opt for a budget hotel on the outskirts but I don’t recommend doing so. You’ll waste too much time commuting through dreary suburbs into the wonderful city center. Spend the money and book a good hotel in the old city.
I made the mistake of being budget conscious to a fault on one trip to Vienna when I booked an apartment about a 40-minute tram ride from the city center. Sure, the place was inexpensive, but the hot water ran out on the second day and it was located in a nondescript neighborhood, kilometers from the action.
Apartments can be a good bet in Vienna, but again, book one in the center of the city. You’ll find excellent ones listed on HomeAway and on Booking.com. Click on the map below to find places to stay in Vienna.
Have you traveled to Vienna and Salzburg? Share your experiences and recommendations with other Artsy Travelers in the Comments below. Here are some more post about Vienna & Austria
Read novels set in Austria to get you excited about your trip or, even better, to read while you’re there. Numerous authors have been inspired to set novels in Austria, particularly novels inspired by Austria’s rich cultural heritage.
Each of the novels listed in this post relates in some way to the arts–from Klimt to Mozart to Beethoven. The rich cultural life of Vienna has inspired many authors (including me!).
Many are set in the late 18th century when Mozart, Hadyn, and Beethoven walked the streets of Vienna, or at the end of the 19th century starring such luminaries as Klimt and Mahler.
Set in Vienna a century ago, this tale of Alma Mahler, wife of the composer Gustav Mahler and a composer herself, is part cautionary tale, part triumph of the feminist spirit.
In the dazzling glitter of Vienna at the turn of the last century, Adele Bloch-Bauer—young, beautiful, brilliant, and Jewish—meets painter Gustav Klimt and begins a passionate affair.
Photography illuminates this simple tale of a lonely man searching for his lover; a complex study of obsessions, set in Austria and spanning two centuries.
In 18th-century Vienna, Mozart’s estranged sister, Nannerl, stumbles into a world of ambition, conspiracy, and immortal music while trying to discover the truth about her brother’s death.
The great composer himself is cast as an amateur sleuth in 18th-century Vienna in this first in a series of Joseph Haydn mysteries. If you love this one, you’ll be glad to know there are two more!
In Book 2 of the Joseph Haydn mystery series, Kapellmeister Joseph Haydn receives a curious a message from Kaspar, an impoverished violinist with an ailing wife, asking Haydn to evaluate a collection of scores reputed to be the lost operas of Monteverdi. But before he can examine the works, Kaspar is murdered—beaten and left to die in front of a wine tavern.
In Book 3 of the Joseph Haydn mystery series, Hadyn receives an unexpected invitation from wily King Frederick. Worse still, the invitation appears to stir up suspicion in the highest quarters in Vienna—so much so that a mysterious cloaked lady visits Haydn’s Music Room and issues a thinly veiled threat.
A stirring and romantic historical novel about 19th-century Vienna and the tragedy and dynamic passion that inspired Beethoven to write his beloved Moonlight Sonata.
When an English quartet, the Maggiore, undertakes a challenging work of Beethoven’s, violinist Michael Holme is overwhelmed by memories of mastering the piece as a student in Vienna. That’s also where he met Julia McNicholl, a pianist whose beauty was as mesmerizing as her musical genius and whom Michael loved with an intensity he never found again.
When the assistant manager of a hardware store in rural New Jersey shows up at the offices of Cubbage & Wakeham, an elite New York auction house, with a worn musical manuscript he hopes to sell for a small (or perhaps hefty) fortune, he is greeted with subdued snickers—not surprisingly. The title page of the document reads, “William Tell: A Dramatic Symphony” and is signed “Ludwig van Beethoven.”
Christopher Alt, piano maker, is the best in Vienna, probably in all of Austria and possibly the world. His piano keys have given life to melodies by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and many others. On his deathbed, he leaves a will specifying that his descendants, if they are to get their inheritance, must live together in the family home. Over successive generations of the Alt family, history itself passes through the doors, down the halls, and into the private rooms of the Alts’ building.
Want more novels set in Austria? You’ll find many more on Art In Fiction, the website I created to showcase novels inspired by the arts.
Guidebooks About Austria
My favorite travel writer, Rick Steves, of course has produced an excellent guidebook on Austria. Rick’s suggestions are pretty much always on the mark. I also enjoy Lonely Planet books for their comprehensive accommodation guides, particularly for budget places.
Tours Around Austria
Vienna is one of my favorite culture capitals in Europe, but after you’ve explored Vienna, make sure you set aside time to visit more places in Austria. This day trip from Vienna takes you to much-photographed Halstatt, the Melk Abbey overlooking the Danube River, and enchanting Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart and the setting for The Sound of Music. A perfect Artsy Traveler day out!
Have you read a novel set in Austria, particularly an arts-inspired one? Do you have a favorite guidebook? Share your recommendations with other Artsy Travelers in the Comments below.
Check out these posts that provide suggestions for what to read in other European countries:
One of the great joys of traveling in Europe as an Artsy Traveler is discovering amazing single-artist museums.
By single-artist museum, I mean a museum established to showcase the art of a specific artist, even if the museum also hosts exhibitions by other artists.
In this post, I recommend lesser known single-artist museums in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and Spain.
Map of Europe Showing Museum Locations
The number assigned to each museum in this post corresponds to the number on the map below. For example #1, the Ernst Fuchs Museum is in Vienna (#1 on the map below).
Start in Austria with one of Europe’s weirdest single-artist museums!
If you’re in the mood for quirky and wonderful, then make your way to the Ernst Fuchs Museum in the Wien Hütteldorf, the 14th district of Vienna. You can drive there from central Vienna in about 25 minutes or hop on a bus.
Ernst Fuchs (1930-2015) was an extraordinarily prolific artist who created works infused with eroticism and myth. In the sixties, Fuchs became a style icon and designed architecture, furniture, tapestries, and jewelry. He was a founder of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism and was celebrated internationally.
History of the Ernst Fuchs Museum
Fuchs’s work is displayed in the fabulously restored Wagner House, designed and built in 1888 as a summer house by the renowned Jugendstil architect Otto Wagner. The place is, quite simply, spectacular. Inspired by Palladio, Wagner designed the house in the style of a Roman villa.
Back in the day, the design attracted international attention. The press wrote: “A strange allure is evoked by this peculiar villa . . .Completely deviating from the usual appearance of similar buildings, the frontal view of the house that sits on the flank of a hill only shows a large open hall between two side wings.”
Fuchs bought the villa in 1972 when it was derelict and scheduled for demolition. In two years, he restored the house to its original architectural glory and for many years used the house as his private studio. In 1988, the centenary of the building of the original villa, the Ernst Fuchs Museum opened.
Work of Ernst Fuchs
Fuchs’s work combines the fantastic with elements of the visionary and spiritual, all infused with a healthy dollop of sixties psychedelic and a lot of naked bodies.
You’ll find eroticism everywhere. Even if you’re not a big fan of the work, you will appreciate its complexity and awesome technique. You come away with a new appreciation for the heights made possible by the human imagination.
Although I wasn’t hugely taken by the overly florid and fantastical artworks, I loved the unique architecture, whimsical design elements, gorgeous mosaics, and above all, stunning stained-glass windows.
Images of Ernst Fuchs Museum
I highly recommend a visit to this unique museum that also includes beautifully landscaped gardens. Here are photographs of some of the rooms in the Ernst Fuchs Museum. Source: Ernst Fuchs official website.
Adolf Boehm Salon at the Ernst Fuchs Museum
Grand Salon at the Ernst Fuchs Museum
Roman Bath at the Ernst Fuchs Museum
Explore Ernst Fuchs Museum in 3D
This fantastic website allows you to walk through the museum and use your mouse to zoom in on every painting and design element. It’s one of the best virtual tours I’ve come across.
Visitor Information
The Ernst Fuchs Museum is located at Hüttelbergstraße 26, 1140 Wien and is from from Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm. Tickets cost €11 for adults and €6 for students and seniors or €8 with the Wiencard. For more information, see the Ernst Fuchs Museum website.
Where to Stay in Vienna
If your budget allows (and Vienna is not an inexpensive city), stay as close to the center as you can afford. Here are some hotels in the center of Vienna with +9 ratings on booking.com that offer good value:
Located in the charming town of Albi in southwest France, the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec is a total treat. If you’re in the area, put it on your list and leave yourself lots of time to tour the extensive collections.
Who is Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec?
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) was a leading French artist famous for capturing the personalities of his subjects in loose, free-flowing lines. Born into a wealthy family in Albi, Toulouse-Lautrec’s interest in art flourished following accidents to his legs in his childhood that incapacitated him and resulted in permanent damage.
In the mid-1880s in Paris, Toulouse-Lautrec began his lifelong association with the bohemian life of the cafés, cabarets, entertainers, and artists in Montmartre.
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec Source: Wikipedia
History of the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec
The Musée Toulouse-Lautrec is housed in the Bishop’s Palace (Palais de la Berbie) next door to Albi Cathedral (also worth a visit). The original palace was built in the 13th-century as a fortress to house the bishops of Albi. The original medieval architecture has been maintained with high, thick walls, and a central courtyard.
Palais de la Berbie in Albi, France (Albi Cathedral to the left)
From the Renaissance to the 18th century, the fortress was transformed into a pleasure palace that included sumptuous state rooms and landscaped formal gardens which you can still visit today.
Overlooking the gardens at the Palais de la Berbie that houses the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi, France
When we visited the museum soon after it opened in the morning, we practically had the place to ourselves.
And it’s huge! Room after room feature the world’s largest public collection of Lautrec’s paintings, lithographs, drawings, and posters. The collection is laid out in chronological order, starting with Toulouse-Lautrec’s early work and leading to the massive posters for which he is most famous.
In addition to exhibiting Toulouse-Lautrec’s work, the museum includes a large collection of art from the early 20th century. You’ll also view a fine collection of art from earlier periods, displayed in the sumptuously restored palace rooms.
A visit to the museum includes access to the palace’s classical gardens and panoramic views over the Tarn River.
View over the Tarn River in Albi, France
Work of Toulouse-Lautrec
I was fascinated with the looseness of Toulouse-Lautrec’s work. He uses freely handled lines and colors to convey the idea of movement and to infuse his subjects with personality. You can imagine meeting the same people on the streets of Paris today.
Here are two of the works you’ll see in the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec. Both pictures are taken from the website of the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec.
You’ll likely recognize several of the posters that were used to advertise the Moulin Rouge and other popular entertainment venues in late-19th-century Paris.
Moulin Rouge: La Goulue (1981) by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec Photo: Wikipedia
Ambassadeurs – Aristide Bruant (1892) by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec Photo: Wikipedia
Visitor Information
Tickets for adults cost €10 and €5 for students. The address for the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec is Palais de la Berbie, Place Sainte-Cécile. Find the cathedral and you’ll find the adjacent palace. Hours vary depending on the time of year, but for most of the year, the museum is open from 10 am to noon and 2 pm to 6 pm. From June 21 to September 30, the museum is open from 9 am to 6 pm.
Both the cathedral and the palace are built from bricks that glow pink in the setting sun.
Albi Cathedral in the setting sun
Where to Stay in Albi
I chose a delightful place called La Cabane Albigeoise that was across the river from Albi but within easy walking distance. The place consists of just one stand-alone cabin on gorgeous grounds overlooking the river.
#3: Musée National Fernand Léger in Biot, France
If you’re staying in the Côte d’Azur, put a visit to this museum on your list of must-sees. As the only museum in the world dedicated to the work of Fernand Léger, this purpose-built museum is truly delightful. You’ll see a fabulous collection of Léger’s paintings, sculptures, drawings, ceramics, and tapestries.
Musée National Fernand Léger Photo Credit: Hans G. Oberlack, Creative Commons
Who is Fernand Léger?
Fernand Léger (1881-1955) was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker known for his bright and colorful work–a personal form of cubism known as “tubism”. He often depicted industrial subjects and objects of the consumer age–an art ‘first’–and is considered the forerunner of the pop art movement.
Léger was born in Argentan in Normandy. I recently read that his childhood home is being turned into a museum. That will definitely be on our itinerary the next time we travel in northern France. Check out the article.
In 1955, not long before his death, Léger purchased a villa on the property upon which the museum now stands. Supervised by his widow, construction of the museum began in 1957 with the museum opening to great fanfare in 1960.
The museum exhibits Léger’s work in chronological order, beginning with his realist early work and progressing to his “tubism” period prior to World War I with its emphasis on cylindrical forms and then to his “mechanical period” that was heavily influenced by his war experiences. The collection includes over 450 pieces.
In addition to the collection inside the museum, you’ll want to linger awhile on the grounds to enjoy Léger’s massive sculptures and especially to view the huge murals that cover the outside of the museum.
If you’re traveling with children, the Léger Museum is an excellent stop.
We first visited the museum when Julia was nine years old. She loved it! I think her appreciation for modern art stems partially from that visit. Mind you, growing up surrounded by her dad’s work also likely played a role!
Work of Fernand Léger
Léger’s work is bright, bold, and beautiful. It’s impossible, I think, to tour this museum and not enjoy yourself. The more you study his work, the more you appreciate it.
Here are two works by Léger. Regrettably, I did not take pictures when I visited the museum, so these photos are from the WikiArt website.
“Contrast of Forms” (1918) by Fernand Léger Source: WikiArt
“The Man with the Cane” (1920) by Fernand Léger Source: WikiArt
Visitor Information
Visit the museum every day except Tuesdays, December 25, January 1, and May 1. From November to April, the museum is open from 10 am to 5 pm, and May to October from 10 am to 6 pm. Tickets cost €7.50. Admission is free on the first Sunday of the month. The museum is located at Chemin du Val de Pome, very close to Biot, a small village in the hills above the Côte d’Azur. If you’re traveling by car, you will find it easily. While you’re in the area, don’t miss several other wonderful museums showcasing the work of other 20th-century modern artists.
Two other single-artist museums—the Marc Chagall National Museum in Nice and the Musée National Pablo Picasso in Vallauris— are, like the Léger Museum, part of the network of French National museums in the Alpes-Maritimes department dedicated to 20th-century artists.
Where to Stay in Biot
Biot is a small town in the midst of many towns that make up the French Riviera. You can homebase in a nearby town such as Cannes, Nice, or Antibes and if you have a car, easily tootle around the various museums that make this area of France a true Artsy Traveler haven.
On the outskirts of Aix-en-Provence (one of my favorite towns in the south of France), you’ll find the impressive and undervisited Fondation Vasarely. The museum showcases the massive artworks of Victor Vasarely, a Hungarian-French artist (1906-1997) considered the grandfather and leader of the op art movement.
Fondation Vasarely near Aix-en-Provence, France
Who is Victor Vasarely?
Victor Vasarely (1906-1997) was a French-Hungarian artist who used colorful geometric shapes to create compelling 3D optical illusions.
After settling in Paris in 1930, Vasarely experimented with Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism in the 1940s, then developed his hallmark checkerboard paintings.
Victor Vasarely Source: Wikipedia
History of the Fondation Vasarely
The Fondation Vasarely was opened in 1976 by French president Georges Pompidou.
Each of the seven hexagonal galleries contains six monumental works of art. On our most recent trip there in 2018, some of the artworks were in need of restoration, which is a shame.
Help support the continuation of this stunning museum by paying it a visit when you’re in the area.
Visiting here is like walking through posters from the swinging sixties, which is hardly surprising since the 3D optical illusions that characterize Vasarely’s work have graced the dorm rooms of students for decades.
Work of Victor Vasarely
Here are some of the massive pieces you’ll see at the Fondation Vasarely.
Visitor Information
Located at 1, Avenue Marcel Pagnol on the outskirts of Aix-en-Provence, the distinctive museum is easy to find. Admission is €9 for adults. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm.
Where to Stay in Aix-en-Provence
You can choose stay stay in Aix-en-Provence itself and enjoy strolling the famous Cours Mirabeau, or choose a place a little ways out of town in the charming Provencal countryside. The Bastide de Damien fits the bill for a country choice.
#5: Max Ernst Museum near Cologne, Germany
The stylish Max Ernst Museum is located in Brühl, about a twenty-minute drive from Cologne on the way to Bonn. For Gregg, a visit there on a recent trip to the area was akin to a pilgrimage. Gregg has been a fan of surrealist Max Ernst for decades—pretty much since he first became an artist himself.
Gregg outside the Max Ernst Museum in Brühl near Cologne, Germany
Who is Max Ernst?
Max Ernst (1891-1976) was born in Germany and became a naturalised American in 1948 and a French citizen in 1958. He was a painter, sculptor, graphic artist, collagist, and poet, a pioneer of the Dada movement, and a member of the surrealist group.
Towards the end of his life, Max Ernst, along with his wife, noted painter Dorothea Tanning, moved to the charming village of Seillans in the Var region of Provence. We spent two weeks in Seillans in July 2019 where Gregg had an exhibition in a space close to where Ernst and Tanning lived.
The museum features a marvelous collection of Ernst’s work displayed in a thoughtfully renovated space. A modern glass pavilion is integrated into the horseshoe floor plan of the late-classicist Brühler Pavillon, a popular ballroom and social venue that was erected in 1844 and that Max Ernst himself visited in his youth.
Stylishly renovated Max Ernst Museum in Brühl, Germany Photo: Max Ernst Museum Website
You’ll find an extensive collection of paintings, drawings, frottages, collages, and sculptures spanning over 70 years of Ernst’s influential career, including his time in Brühl and Bonn, his Dadaist activities in the Rhineland, his contributions to the Surrealist movement in France, his exile in the United States during WWII, and finally his return to Europe in 1953.
I especially loved the sculptures on the grounds of the museum.
Work of Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a fabulously prolific artist with work that is detailed and complex and wholly distinctive. Here’s a selection of some of my favorite works by Max Ernst. Pictures are all from the max-ernst.com website.
The museum is located at Comesstraße 42 / Max-Ernst-Allee 1, 50321 Brühl and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. At present (May, 2020), admission to the museum is free. For current information, check the museum website.
Where to Stay in Cologne
I recommend the Hotel Drei Kronen which is very close the Rhine right in the center of Cologne within walking distance of pretty much everything you’d want to see, including the marvelous cathedral.
#6: René Magritte Museum in Brussels, Belgium
The full name of the museum is the René Magritte Museum – Museum of Abstract Art, a double museum dedicated to Surrealism and Abstraction. Now that’s a double bill I can get behind.
On a recent short visit to Brussels, we made a beeline for the Magritte Museum and were not disappointed. As one of the most iconic figures in the surrealist movement, René Magritte deserves his own museum, and this one is first rate.
Who is René Magritte?
René Magritte (1898-1967) was a Belgian artist and probably one of the best-known surrealists after Salvador Dali. Back in the 1970s, I had a poster of his iconic painting of a massive dove called “The Large Family” on the wall of my student dorm–and I was not the only one.
In the 1920s, Magritte moved to Paris from Belgium and became involved with André Breton and the Surrealist group, of which he was a leading member. He exhibited in 1929 with several of the leading surrealists of the time, including Salvador Dalí, Jean Arp, de Chirico, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Picabia, Picasso, and Yves Tanguy.
In 1930, Magritte returned to Brussels and continued painting there until his death. His imagery has heavily influenced pop, minimalist, and conceptual art.
The museum is relatively new, opened in 1999 shortly after Magritte’s one hundredth birthday. It’s built inside a house that Magritte lived in with his wife and includes an adjoining building that was renovated to showcase 250 masterpieces of Belgian abstract art.
You’ll tour the reconstruction of Magritte’s apartment on the ground floor and then view artworks from a collection that includes over 400 archive documents, photos, and objects, as well as 30 original works. You won’t see some of his most famous works, but you will get a good overview of Magritte’s development.
We loved it!
Work of René Magritte
Magritte’s work is endlessly fascinating–both for its meticulous technique and for its subject matter. Bowler hats, floating rocks, figures that are half animal/half people, and strange juxtapositions of everyday logic. When you tour the museum, you never know what you’re going to see around the next dimly lit corner.
Take your time and enjoy! Here are some of Magritte’s the works from the collection. Photos are all from the Magritte Museum pages on the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium website (Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique)
L’empire des lumières by René Magritte Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Bruxelles / photo : J. Geleyns – Art PhotographyLe Domaine d’Arnheim (1962) by René Magritte – Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Bruxelles / photo : J. Geleyns – Art Photography
La magie noire (1945) by René Magritte Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Bruxelles / photo : J. Geleyns – Art PhotographyGolconde (1953) by René Magritte – Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Bruxelles / photo : J. Geleyns – Art Photography
Visitor Information
Located at Place Royale, Koningsplein 1 in Brussels, admission to the museum is €10 for adults, €8 for seniors, and €3 for students. Opening hours are Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and weekends from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. Check the website for up-to-date information.
Where to Stay in Brussels
If you’re driving, I recommend the stylish Thon Hotel Bristol Stephanie on the Avenue Louise, just steps from Louise Metro. I stayed there one rainy night in October and wished I could have stayed much longer!
#7: Museo Sorolla in Madrid by Guest Poster Liz Reding
This description of the Sorolla Museum is written by guest poster Liz Reding. She and her husband visited in March, 2020, days before the museum closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liz Reding: My husband and I have been admirers of the paintings of Joaquín Sorolla for many years, so on our recent trip to Madrid, a visit to the Museo Sorolla was top of our list.
Who is Joaquín Sorolla?
Born in Valencia, Spain, JoaquínSorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) received his art education in Madrid, Rome, and Paris and was a contemporary of Picasso, Matisse, John Singer Sargent, and Andreas Zorn. He and his wife, Clotilde, had three children.
He painted portraits, landscapes, and monumental works depicting social and historical themes.
The Museo Sorolla is located in the home that Sorolla shared with his family, and is considered one of the best-preserved artist houses in Europe. The collection of more than 1,200 pieces is displayed along with the house’s original furniture and objects.
The house is surrounded by a delightful garden, a real oasis from the rumble of the cars and buses just outside the gate.
Garden at the Museo Sorolla in Madrid, Spain Photo Credit: Liz Reding
By urban standards, this museum is relatively small, but packed with dozens of gorgeous paintings, as well as sculptures, sketches, photographs, water colors, and writings.
One noteworthy feature of this museum is that all the works are expertly hung and well lit. Most of the viewing rooms have deep colors that enhance the paintings with light-diffusing devices, such as a window shade or ceiling tapestry. What a pleasure!
Interior of the Museo Sorolla in Madrid, Spain Photo Credit: Liz Reding
Work of Joaquín Sorolla
Sorolla’s wife and children are featured in a significant number of Sorolla’s paintings, and his love and admiration for them clearly shows. In addition, Sorolla painted many portraits of important people, including U. S. President Taft, and is known for his masterful handling of light, as evidenced by his many beach-scene paintings.
Here are two of Sorolla’s works exhibited at the Museo Sorolla.
Painting by Joaquín Sorolla at the Museo Sorolla, Madrid Photo credit: Liz Reding
Painting by Joaquín Sorolla at the Museo Sorolla, Madrid Photo credit: Liz Reding
Visitor Information
Located at Paseo General Martínez Campos, 37, the Museo Sorolla is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 am to 8:00 pm and on Sundays and holidays from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Tickets cost €3.
Where to Stay in Madrid
I highly recommend the Apartosuites Jardines de Sabatini, particularly if you are driving because it’s just on the edge of the traffic limited zone but still within walking distance of just about everywhere you’ll want to go in Madrid.
Other Single-Artist Museums in Europe
I wish I could say that I’ve visited all the single-artist museums that I’d like to in Europe, but not yet!
Here are just some of the museums I look forward to visiting in the next few years. If you’ve been to any of them, add a comment to let other Artsy Travelers know what you think!
Fondation Jean Dubuffet
Located in Périgny-sur-Yerres in the department of Val-de-Marne, the Dubuffet Foundation includes paintings and massive outdoor sculptures by Jean Dubuffet. Many years ago, we went there only to find it closed, but we did manage to peek through the fence! It looked amazing!
Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, Switzerland
I’m a big fan of the work of Paul Klee and have his museum on my list for the next time we drive through Switzerland. Check the website for details.
Franz Marc Museum in Kochel, Germany
A modern extension has extended the exhibition space of this beautifully-situated museum, It overlooks a lake near the little town of Kochel in Bavaria, about an hour west of Munich. Franz Marc’s colorful work makes me smile. Check the website for details.
Conclusion
Have you visited any of the museums listed in this post? If so, let Artsy Traveler readers know what you think.
To keep reading about art in Europe, check out these posts:
Are you traveling to Vienna? I wrote this post during my solo trip to Vienna while researching A Woman of Note, my novel about a woman composer in 1830s Vienna. This post chronicles Day 1.
Getting To Vienna
Flying Austrian Airlines from Vancouver to Vienna
Viennese waltzes (what else?) play over the sound system as I board my Austrian Airlines flight from Vancouver to Vienna. Cheerful red pillows and black blankets edged in red and white gingham sit demurely on each seat. The attendants wear red literally from top to toe—red neckerchiefs, red dresses, red stockings, red shoes, red fingernails.
Most of the passengers speak German and look like extras from The Sound of Music. OK – cultural stereotyping, but seriously, I have the distinct feeling they are minutes away from breaking into the chorus of Edelweiss. I may join them, Edelweiss being one of my favorites.
A montage of Austrian fun plays on everyone’s screens. Skiers whizzing down snow-covered mountains under achingly blue skies morph into hundreds of dancing couples. Girls in white dresses (where have I heard that line before?) swoon in the arms of men in black tuxes who sturdily waltz them around an enormous Baroque ballroom.
Did you know that the waltz became popular during the 1830s, the time in which I set A Woman of Note? The Viennese bourgeois were hungry for innocent pleasures in a Vienna that was, essentially, a police state. In 1830, you kept your mouth shut, and you waltzed. I’m hopeful that things have changed a bit.
On the screens, blonde, bikini-clad girls play beach volleyball (really? in Austria?), the Danube sparkles in the sun, and more sunny-looking blonde people cavort in front of big white buildings, intercut with generic Austrian flora and fauna.
After two movies, a few TV shows, surprisingly good food, and a short nap, I begin my travels in Vienna.
Arriving in Vienna
Vienna’s sleek airport is small and efficiently laid out. I sail through passport control and board the City Airport Train (CAT) for the sixteen-minute trip into Vienna. If you’re traveling to Vienna, consider the CAT for getting into the city. It’s much faster and cheaper than a taxi.
The train rides smoothly. I can type on my laptop as easily as if I were working at my desk at home. We pass the usual hideous sprawl that infects the outskirts of every European city–huge cylinders, rust-streaked girders, junk yards, railway tracks, electrical pylons.
I hope to not see these suburbs again until I return to the airport. On my first trip to Vienna with the family, I booked a hotel on the outskirts, and things did not go well. You can read about that misadventure in Robbie Bubble, an extract from Pastel & Pen: Travels in Europe that I wrote and Gregg illustrated.
I leave the CAT at the central station and hop onto the U train – Vienna’s efficient subway system. I bought my combo CAT ticket and three-day transit pass online before leaving home, so I won’t need to buy transit tickets for the next three days.
All I have is a printout with the dates that the pass is valid, which doesn’t feel very official. However, the guy on the CAT train scans it with his phone, and all is well.
I emerge from the U station to find a wide and busy street surrounded by large, white buildings that I will see a lot of during the next forty minutes. Armed only with a printout of a Google map and a phone with a dead battery, I turn left. It’s as good a direction as any. After walking for 15 minutes, I turn back and walk the other way for another 15 minutes, only to conclude that no, I was right the first time.
Sighing, I spin my brand new, four-wheeled suitcase (it’s a keeper) full circle and trudge back the way I came, barely registering in my post-flight fog that I’m passing the imposing Kunsthistorisches museum squatting in 19th-century splendor across from the equally imposing Natural History museum.
Finally, I ask a passing jogger for directions. She speaks English (score!) and tells me that my apartment is just across the street. Phew. I set off with renewed resolve and minutes later meet my HomeAway host.
Tip: When you travel, make sure your phone is always charged so you can use it to navigate. If you still get lost, grab a taxi. Spending the extra money is well worth it to avoid sore feet before you’ve even had a chance to enjoy yourself.
Settling into a Vienna Apartment
If you travel to Vienna and stay in a HomeAway place, you can pretend to be an honorary Viennese and live sort of like the locals do. My host leads me through several thick doors and up old, dark stairs, gives me a lesson in the complicated use of three different keys, then finally ushers me into an apartment that looks like, well, an apartment.
Instead of a tiny hotel room with mini bar and wrapped soaps, I have a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom that look like the kind of place I might actually want to live in. In other words, it’s pretty cool.
I’ve chosen this HomeAway home-away-from-home for my Vienna trip because it’s a 15-minute walk from the old town, the price is outstanding (about $113USD/night), and it has a piano.
I know! A piano! When does that happen? Minutes after arriving and saying goodbye to my host, I sit down to play.
Romantic swooning ensues, despite clunky action and doubtful tuning. I play the Schubert Impromptu mentioned in A Woman of Note and get a bit of a buzz imagining Schubert himself playing the piece only a few blocks and about 185 years away.
I am in Vienna, playing Schubert! Yes!
Exploring Vienna
The apartment overlooks a courtyard containing a little hole-in-the-wall café called the Kandinsky Café. I get a coffee and a bun from the friendly proprietor who knows all about Vancouver.
Ah! Mountains, very beautiful, the Olympics.
An injection of caffeine, a bout of Schubert, and an hour’s rest shake off the worst of the jet lag. I set off for the Wien Museum in the Karlsplatz—two subway stops away.
First Lunch in Vienna
My first requirement is lunch. I’d planned to eat at the museum café, but it’s closed—the café, not the museum. I hike another half mile back across the Ring Road.
Men smoking hookahs fill the first café, so I make a graceful exit and walk next door to join a jolly-looking crowd sitting at tables lining the street. Here’s a transcription of my notes:
I eat my first meal in Vienna outdoors. The choices are mostly hearty, but I resist the lure of wiener schnitzel and opt for a salad and beer. My first taste of Austrian blonde beer – oh yeah. It cuts the dust of the 10,000 mile trip. The salad arrives—it looks good with lots of chicken and avocado pieces. The chicken is flavorful and tender, but the salad dressing has soaked the greens to sogginess. I am defeated with still half a bowl left to eat. At least I’ve lost that awful achy, empty, lightheaded feeling that comes from almost no sleep and widely spaced meals.
After lunch, I finish my beer and again take up my pen to wax lyrical.
The first few hours of a European trip are a strange mix of sensory stimulation. The new noises and smells, the incessant traffic, and voices talking in German accentuate my aloneness. I don’t mind – I love the anonymity of solitary travel. I am here in Vienna to do a job. My hope is that something will jump out at me, will give me the key to A Woman of Note. So far, wide boulevards choked with 21st-century traffic, prosperous people, and rides on the metro have yielded nothing. The Vienna of today is very far from the Vienna of 1827. I need to get into the old town where, hopefully, something will resonate.
Sidenote: My trip to Vienna did indeed inspire me to finish A Woman of Note, thereby proving, if I needed proof, the wisdom of traveling to the locations where I set my novels.
I pay for lunch and set off for the Wien Museum to view old maps and examples of furniture and paintings from the era of A Woman of Note.
After ten minutes of fast walking, I am again lost. I’m quickly discovering that navigating Vienna is not a waltz in the park. The streets angle all over the place, and a few steps along a street at the wrong angle take me many long blocks from where I thought I was just a few minutes earlier.
Vienna, Austria, 25th August 2016 – Stephansplatz plaza with old gothic buildings and tourists
Finally, after many long trudges and increasingly hot feet, I emerge into the square containing the museum.
Total fluke.
Wien Museum
The Wien Museum is not as exciting as I’d hoped, but I do enjoy a few scale models of how Vienna looked back in the day. The museum focuses on the “new Vienna” – the post-1850s version following the demolition of the medieval outer wall and the building of the famous Ringstrasse.
In 1827, when A Woman of Note opens, a wall still enclosed Vienna. A population of 290,000 people sounds like a lot, but I was surprised to discover that during the same period, Paris had 860,000 inhabitants and London 1,340,000. Vienna was not a big city, which works well with my plot since a central motivator of at least one character is to go to Paris.
After the museum, I head back over the Ringstrasse into the old town. By this time, I’m starting to get seriously tired! But as a seasoned traveler, I persevere – walking, walking, walking.
Tip: In Vienna, avoid the Ringstrasse (Ring Road) area with its big roads and heavy traffic and spend more time walking in the old town. It’s magical.
Strolling in the Old Town of Vienna
The old town teems with tourists and locals strolling along its many pedestrian streets. I walk to the Stephansplatz where the massive St. Stephen’s cathedral looms whitely. During my trip in 2000, the cathedral was black with soot, so I guess it’s had a bath.
St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna
I find a music store (as in, sheet music). The obliging attendant unearths books of piano music by Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Maria Theresia von Paradis, a contemporary of Mozart. I discuss both Clara and Fanny in my post Women in the Performing Arts in 19th-century Europe on my Art In Fiction website.
Living Local in Vienna
Buying Groceries
At a grocery store near my apartment, I load up on yogurt, crackers, cheese, and a nice bottle of Austrian rosé. I love European grocery stores. They are inevitably tiny because they’re usually shoehorned into an old building. In the mornings, older people with string bags crowd the aisles, and in the late afternoons, smartly dressed office workers stock up for their evening meals.
I enjoy the challenge of deciphering German labels and searching out things like crackers, which are hard to find in European stores and never the same as the crackers at home. I’m not sure why. The cheese cooler has no Canadian cheddar (funny that!) but instead brims with mild-looking white cheeses.
And the yogurt! The individual yogurts taste spectacular, with flavors like coconut, mango, and coffee. I have a sneaking suspicion they taste so good because they are full-fat. Fortunately, the ingredients are listed in German, so I can’t check.
I arrive back at the apartment and post on Facebook about my burning stump feet while rolling them over a tub of frozen yogurt. One needs to improvise while on vacation.
After a wee sleep and a nice interlude at the piano, I saunter into the balmy night air in search of dinner. I’m looking, of course, for a typical Austrian restaurant.
First Dinner in Vienna
Two of the restaurants I pass are empty (not a good sign), and two others serve Asian food which I can get at home.
The restaurant I finally choose is comfortably full and noisy and Italian, with wiener schnitzel nowhere to be found. Oh well. On many a European sojourn, from Stockholm to Milan, I’ve almost always eaten good meals at Italian restaurants.
I order my favorite, gnocchi in gorgonzola – another indulgence best kept to once every few years. Accompanied by an Austrian white wine, the gnocchi comfortably fills me up.
I also have a ringside seat to drama among the waitstaff. One of the waiters—the one who does not look Italian and I don’t think is—takes the wrong order to the table next to mine. Two other waiters, who both look very Italian and are probably related, chastise the poor fellow roundly and volubly.
For the rest of my meal, the poor guy is relegated to washing and drying wine glasses at the bar. The look of resentment on his face transcends language. Every so often one of the other waiters wanders by and says something to him, which only serves to deepen his scowl. The whole scenario looks like a good start for a Viennese murder mystery. Maybe I should consider switching genres.
By the time I make it back to the apartment via two heavy doors, a keyed elevator, and a staircase that looks like it dates from the 18th century, I’m too tired to do anything but pass out.
But sleep comes surprisingly slowly, thanks to a noisy group of young people in the courtyard five floors below. Their conversation sounds like they’re in my bedroom. If only I understood German, I could be well entertained. As it is, I just want to know how to yell “shut up” in German. Fortunately, another tenant does, and finally the kids move on.
If you love music, you owe it to yourself to plan a trip to Vienna in Austria. For over 250 years, this great city has celebrated and enjoyed its reputation as the City of Music. And no wonder!
Many of Europe’s greatest composers, including Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Strauss, lived and worked in Vienna. When you visit Vienna today, you’ll see evidence everywhere of the city’s illustrious musical past.
In this post, I describe options for enjoying music in Vienna, including music museums, composers’ houses, and concerts.
Hang out in the central square (Stephansplatz) near the imposing St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and within minutes, a young person dressed in 18th-century garb will hand you a flyer advertising the music concerts on offer.
Go for a walk in any park and you’ll soon be snapping selfies in front of statues of composers.
Saint Stephansplatz in Central Vienna
In the evening, wander the cobbled streets in the center of the city and you’ll hear snatches of melodies from chamber music and full orchestras wafting into the soft air from concert venues specializing in tourist-oriented programs usually dominated by the music of Mozart and Strauss.
A Map of Musical Vienna
The map below shows the location of all the music sites mentioned in this post. Vienna is a very walkable city. You can easily stroll between most of the sites in central Vienna and still have energy left to enjoy a coffee, a slice of torte, and a spot of people watching.
I recommend starting at the House of Music (#1) and venturing out from there to visit the museums dedicated to your fave composers, and then spend the evening enjoying a concert.
Vienna is chock-a-block with excellent museums. I’m a bit of a museum fan girl, so for me, this city ranks as one of Europe’s top museum cities. You could easily spend a week here and not run out of world-class museums to visit.
In this post, I focus on two of my favorite music museums: the House of Music and the Musical Instrument Museum, which is part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
House of Music
Make time for a visit to the House of Music, (#1 on the map above) also known as Vienna’s Museum of Sound or Haus der Musik.
Housed in the historical palace of Archduke Karl in the old city center, this museum is a must-see for everyone. And it is absolute heaven for music lovers.
On a recent trip, I spent half a day there enjoying its five floors (yes, five!) of installations and displays celebrating music and sound. Trust me, you won’t want to miss this place.
Highlights of the House of Music
Here are some highlights at the House of Music.
Virtostage
This is a multimedia and interactive production. When you move in front of the screen, you become part of the 15-minute opera “zeitperlen”. Members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra recorded the music with vocals by opera star Natalia Ushakova. Technically and musically, the production is a remarkable achievement.
NAMADEUS
Namadeus is an installation created after Mozart’s musical game KV 516f. Included are the interactive Waltz Dice Game and an interactive application called Facing Mozart that lets you bring the composer’s portrait to life by controlling his head movements and facial expressions. Hours of fun!
Virtual Conductor
This installation allows you to “conduct” a video projection of the orchestra that responds to your conducting commands. If you conduct poorly, the musicians respond with criticism, so you need to keep time correctly!
Sound installations
These installations use state-of-the-art technology, including opportunities to visualize sound as waves, swirls, and grids.
Exhibits at the House of Music
The museum includes gloriously comprehensive exhibits of composers including Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Strauss, and Mahler. I spent at least an hour in this section. Plenty of life-size figures and original musical instruments bring the subjects to life.
I especially enjoyed the Haydn portion of the exhibition.
During his long life, Papa Haydn exerted enormous influence on classical music. He even counted Beethoven and Mozart among his many pupils.
Haydn had a complicated relationship with Beethoven who criticized his teacher by saying “I never learned anything from Haydn” and then dedicated his set of three Piano Sonatas Opus 2 to Haydn. (reference: Beethoven and Haydn: their relationship)
The House of Music is located at Seilerstätte 30 in Vienna and you can get a discount with the Vienna City Card. The museum is open daily from 10 am to 10 pm.
You can also purchase tickets through GetYourGuide. If you love music, you really can’t miss the House of Music, aka Haus der Musik!
I always enjoy touring a good musical instrument museum, and this one is first-rate. Housed in the Hofburg Palace and part of the masive Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Musical Instrument Museum (#2 on the map above) exhibits five centuries of historical musical instruments. Its collection of Renaissance and Baroque instruments is considered one of the most important in the world.
You’ll see a particularly awesome collection of clavichords and Viennese fortepianos. A highlight for me was seeing pianos that had been played by Mozart, Liszt, Mahler, and Clara Schumann, who is the inspiration for my second novel, A Woman of Note.
Harpsicord made in 1745, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente
The museum also includes replicas of historical instruments that visitors may play, and regularly holds concerts at which master interpreters of their professions play the original instruments.
The Musical Instrument Museum is located at Heldenplatz and is open daily except Wednesday from 10 am to 6 pm.
Composer Houses
Many of the apartments lived in by famous composers have been converted into museums. Download a map of Musician Walks from the excellent Wien Info website.
Here is information (in alphabetical order) about the museums dedicated to individual composers including Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Schönberg, Schubert, and Strauss. Some of them are celebrated in more than one museum.
You can visit the six apartments of Beethoven, Strauss, Schubert, and Haydn with a special combination ticket from the Wien Museum website. Note that most of the museums close on Mondays.
Ludwig von Beethoven
Beethoven House
I’ve made two pilgrimages to the Pasqualati House (#3 on the map above), one of the many houses in which the great composer lived. Built in the 18th century adjacent to the city walls, the house is named after its owner (Pasqualati). Beethoven lived for eight years, off and on, in the 4th floor apartment at the top of a series of old stone staircases.
During my second visit to the apartment, I was writing A Woman of Note about a woman composer in 1830s Vienna. The novel starts with the funeral of Beethoven, and his influence is felt by the characters throughout the novel. As I mounted the old staircase to Beethoven’s apartment, I imagined my characters mounting similar staircases in buildings of the same vintage.
When I visited, the apartment was virtually bare of furniture and contained little in the way of exhibits. Two listening desks are set up for listening to various Beethoven pieces on headphones.
I indulged myself with the second movement of Symphony No. 7 for a while. I was the only visitor, so it was just me and the Maestro’s soaring melodies and the temptation to burst into tears.
Musical tourism doesn’t get any better.
In front of Pasqualati House in Vienna
Beethoven Museum
Want more Beethoven? Visit the Beethoven Museum (#4).
In 2017, the original 40-square-meter apartment at Probusgasse 6 in Heiligenstadt in the 19th district where Beethoven lived was extended to create a spacious, 14-room museum. Here you’ll find exhibits chronicling the history of the house, Beethoven’s move from Bonn to Vienna, his stay in Heiligenstadt, and many more related to the maestro.
Pasqualati House (or Pasqualatihaus) is located at Mölker Bastei 8 in Vienna and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays. The Beethoven Museum is located at Probusgasse 6 and is also open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays.
Joseph Haydn
Haydnhaus
Managed by the Wien Museum (as are most of the composer houses), Haydnhaus (#5) is the location where Joseph Haydn spent the last twelve years of his life and where he died on May 31, 1809. The museum includes the rooms of his flat on the first floor, recently restored so that the rooms are divided in the same way they were when he lived there.
Haydn was extremely famous during his lifetime, and exhibits at the museum reflect the esteem in which he was held both then and now.
The museum also has a room dedicated to Brahms.
Haydnhaus is located at Haydngasse 19 and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozarthaus Museum
Mozart lived in several houses in the city during his short and tumultuous life. The only one that survives is the Mozarthaus Museum (#6) at Domgasse #5, where he lived from 1784 to 1787.
Occupying 1,000 square meters on six levels, this museum is the premier pilgrimage site for Mozart fans.
And seriously, who isn’t a Mozart fan?
The museum immerses you in the great composer’s world. Exhibits celebrate his remarkable genius and creativity and feature his family, friends, and foes in the heady world of late-Baroque Vienna. Get tickets here.
Mozarthaus is located in St. Stephansplatz at Domgasse 5 and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm except for public holidays.
Arnold Schönberg
Arnold Schönberg Center
Established in 1998, the Arnold Schönberg Center (#7) celebrates and life and work of one of the 20th century’s most notable composers (and also a painter, teacher, theoretician, and innovator). If you’re a music history buff, you’ll know that Schönberg is associated with the method of composing with the 12-tone scale.
The museum includes exhibitions about Schönberg’s life, a gallery of his paintings, a replica of his study in Los Angeles, the city in which he died in 1951, and lots of concerts, lectures, and other events aimed at helping people understand and enjoy Schönberg’s music.
The Arnold Schönberg Center is located at St. Stephansplatz at Schwarzenbergplatz 6 and is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm except for holidays.
Franz Schubert
I’m very fond of Schubert, who makes a cameo appears in A Woman of Note and who, like Mozart, died very young (he was just 31). He managed to compose an amazing amount of music in his short lifetime, much of it lived in poverty. Two museums in Vienna are devoted to Schubert.
Schubert Geburtshaus
The Schubert Geburtshaus (#8) is the house where he was born on January 31, 1797. He came from a large family that shared one room and a kitchen with an open fire. The exhibits include a pair of spectacles that belonged to Schubert and has apparently become quite an object of veneration for his fans.
Schubert Sterbewohnung
Schubert died at the Schubert Sterbewohnung (#9) on November 19, 1828. Although he lived in the small apartment for only a few weeks, he composed several works including the song “The Shepherd on the Rock.” Exhibits document the last weeks of his life, his death, and his funeral.
Schubert Geburtshaus is located at Nußdorfer Straße 54 and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays and Schubert Sterbewohnung is located at Kettenbrückengasse 6 and is open Tuesday to Sunday from to 10 am to pm and 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays.
Johann Strauss
Johann Strauss Wohnung
The Johann Strauss Wohnung museum (#10) is the apartment where the composer wrote “The Blue Danube” waltz which has become Austria’s unofficial national anthem. The museum includes his instruments along with furniture and paintings from his life, and references to the other musical members of the Strauss dynasty.
Strauss Museum
This new museum (it opened in 2015) is dedicated to the lives and work of the composers in the Strauss family, It’s a must-see for Strauss fans. Find pictures and documents from the period and listen to music at the various audio stations arranged in 15 themed areas. Here’s a detailed post about the museum on the Visiting Vienna website.
Johann Strauss Wohnung is located at Praterstraße 54 and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am 1 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays. The Strauss Museum is to remain closed through 2021 and will reopen in 2022 at a new location.
Vienna Concerts
You can’t walk far without seeing ads for music concerts, particularly those organized for tourists and, as mentioned earlier, mostly featuring music by Mozart and Strauss (and occasionally Beethoven, Schubert, and Haydn). Check the current concert listings.
If you’re lucky, you might get to catch a performance by the Vienna Boys Choir, an opera at the opera house, or a performance by the Vienna Philharmonic (Wiener Philharmoniker). Following are descriptions of two concerts I enjoyed during a recent trip.
The Sala Terrena (#11) is a small concert hall next to a monastery in the centre of Vienna. Mozart lived in the building for about two months when he first came to the city as a young man. The room is frescoed from floor to ceiling with a cacophony of Italian Baroque splendor. You’ll see lots of fruit, cherubs, roses, urns, and even a leopard.
I chose the Sala Terrena concert rather than one of the flashier tourist concerts because Schubert was on the programme. Schubert makes a guest appearance in A Woman of Note, so I owed it to my imagination to hear his music played at least once in his home town.
Alas, ‘twas not to be. The programme was changed to include the American Quartet by Dvorak and some Hadyn string quartets. Fortunately, the performances were fantastic, so I had no complaints.
Concert Experience
Four musicians dressed in 18th-century garb (someone in this city must do a roaring trade in producing period costumes) entered the tiny salon and settled in to play. Unfortunately, as so often happens when I attend an evening concert soon after landing in Europe, jet lag hit me with a vengeance. I was seated in the front row, directly in the line of sight of the first violinist.
Despite my best efforts, my eyelids drooped, and my head started that awful bobbing thing that happens when you desperately fight falling asleep. What if I pitched face-first into the violinist’s lap? She might not appreciate the interruption.
In my defense, I defy any jet-lagged music lover to sit through an adagio without succumbing to the temptation to close one’s eyes and drift. In the intermission, I chatted with a young woman from Japan who was studying art in Florence. I love how traveling can connect you with people, including local artists and artisans, from all over the world.
The concert was a success, and I drifted out into the heaving mass of tourists and locals thronging the Stephansplatz. If I hadn’t been alone, I would have hung around for awhile to enjoy a slice of strudel and a glass of wine in the shadow of the floodlit cathedral. Instead, I let the atmosphere wash over me for about ten minutes and then caught the tram back to my apartment.
You can book tickets to a concert at the Sala Terrena below. The title says the Mozarthaus, but the concerts are the ones held in the Sala Terrena that I attended. Highly recommended!
While I was in Vienna, I was determined to see a “real” concert. By real, I mean a concert that does not feature costumed musicians and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But I wanted to attend a concert with local people.
Fortunately, I discovered that the five-day Schloss Laudon festival—a yearly classical music event held in the salon at the Schloss Laudon (#12), also known as the Water Palace about an hour outside of the city —was on during my visit.
Getting to Schloss Laudon
With e-ticket in hand, I boarded the metro for a ride to the last stop. For forty minutes, the bus wound through a maze of suburban streets toward what I hoped would be the palace.
I had absolutely no clue where I was and what I’d do if I was on the wrong bus (I didn’t have a Smartphone with GPS at the time). What if there was no concert at the end of the ride and no bus back? I’d be stranded miles from nowhere with only 60 euros in my wallet and a pathological fear of incurring data roaming charges on my phone because on that trip I hadn’t had the foresight to buy a European SIM card.
Update note: Thank goodness you can now conveniently buy an eSIM card for traveling anywhere in Europe!
Fortunately, I heard a couple on the bus mention Schloss Laudon, and minutes later the bus stopped and they got off.
I followed.
Exploring Schloss Laudon
The Schloss Laudon and its stylishly landscaped grounds were exquisite. I was extremely early for the concert but fortunately not for the bar. I sipped a glass of wine while wandering the sylvan pathways and making friends with the swans.
At Schloss Laudon for a concert
Experiencing the Concert at Schloss Laudon
The concert featured a trio – piano, violin, and cello—in the large salon in the Schloss Laudon. A Schloss is basically a palace or a castle, and this place certainly qualified. The salon was frescoed floor to ceiling with exotic animals (tigers, rhinos, elephants, etc.) and exotic scenes of idealized, vaguely New World native-looking people in turbans. Evidently, historical accuracy was not a priority.
I snagged a seat in the second row, in direct line of sight of the keyboard. As a pianist myself, I always like to get as close to the keyboard as possible so I can watch the performer’s hands.
Almost everyone around me was dressed to the nines. Most of the men wore suits and ties, and the women wore cocktail dresses and lots of jewelry and perfume. I might as well have had a neon sign on my head – turista. But whatever.
No one paid any attention to me—not even a wee smile of musical comradeship. I felt a tad isolated, but what could I expect? Solitary travel can sometimes be a bit, ah, solitary.
A drawback of sitting in the second row quickly became apparent. The large spotlight caught me in its glare, and soon I was sweating. The heat would have been tolerable if indeed there had been music to listen to. However, to my dismay, the festival director and an expert on the modern composer featured on the program both shuffled to the front and faced the audience.
The Pre-Concert Talk
Festival-Director Guy talked for about five minutes–a bearable length of time to listen to German and pretend to understand. Then, Composer-Expert Guy took over and talked for at least thirty minutes.
He stood directly in front of me, even making eye contact occasionally, so I had to look as if I was hanging on his every German syllable. I caught a few words—Mexico, Nazis, Anschluss, Franco. I snuck a peek at the concert notes–in German, of course and managed to decipher that the composer of the modern piece had left Vienna in 1938 and settled in Mexico by way of Spain.
That was not a whole lot of information to get from a thirty-minute lecture.
Haydn & Tchaikovsky
Finally, the three musicians entered and performed an early Beethoven piano trio in the style of Haydn. The heat, the somnolence engendered by Composer-Expert Guy’s talk, and those darned slow movements marred my enjoyment of the piece.
Again, I experienced more than a few head bobs along with the terror that someone might notice. What if I snored or drooled? After the Beethoven came the modern composer’s piece, which was actually pretty good in a dissonant, modern music kind of way.
At the break, I thought about giving in to jet lag and catching the bus back to the metro. I even walked out to the bus stop and checked the times. Then I came to my senses and trudged back into the palace for the second half—the piano trio by Tchaikovsky.
Holy Russian romantic! It was stunning—no danger of head-bobbing for this one. I cheerfully bought the CD.
Exploring Vienna
Here are some GetYourGuide tours in Vienna.
Vienna Walking Tours
GuruWalk lists pay-what-you-please walking tours that connect tourists with tour guides all around the world. Check out their tours of Vienna!
Concerts at Schoenbrunn Palace
For a wonderful classical music experience that throws in a world-class palace for good measure, consider going to a concert at Schoenbrunn Palace. The repertoire leans heavily to Strauss and Mozart with performances by opera singers. If you take a tour, you’ll often also get dinner and drinks, along with priority entrance to the palace.
Here are some GetYourGuide tours that will take you to concerts at Schoenbrunn Palace.
Vienna is not an inexpensive city, but if you can swing it, stay as close to the center as you can afford.
On my first trip to Vienna, I made the mistake of staying waaaaay out in the suburbs in a cheap apartment. Well, let’s just say that it was a disaster! After two days of cramped quarters, cold water showers, bland suburbs that could be anywhere, and long commutes into Vienna, we moved to a hotel close to the action. The extra money was well worth it.
Vienna, the City of Music, is a must-see for the artsy traveler who loves classical music. You can’t help but swoon when you walk into your favorite composer’s house, or when you hear a Strauss waltz played in the city where it was composed, or explore the awesome exhibits at the House of Music.
And when you want a break from music (why?!), Vienna has some of the best art museums in the world, including the Belvedere where you’ll see Klimt’s The Kiss and the always amazing Kunsthistorisches Museum.
For more information about what to see and do in Vienna and Austria, check out these posts
Have you visited any of the music sites in Vienna described in this post? Share your thoughts about music and Vienna with other artsy travelers in the Comments section below.
