Vienna in Pictures: 27 Free Photos and a Short City Guide

Vienna in 27 free photos: St Stephen’s Cathedral and the streets of the old centre, the imperial buildings of the Hofburg and the Ringstrasse, the palaces of Schönbrunn and the Belvedere, Art Nouveau and Hundertwasser, and the giant wheel in the Prater. Each set of photos has a short note on the place.

Vienna at a glance

• The city: capital of Austria and for centuries of the Habsburg empire, which left it a city of palaces, museums, coffee houses and music.
• Getting there: Vienna airport is 16 minutes from the centre on the CAT express train, or a little longer on the cheaper S-Bahn; trains arrive at the Hauptbahnhof.
• Getting around: U-Bahn and trams; trams 1 and 2 run round the Ringstrasse past most of the grand buildings.
• Money: euro. A day or week pass for public transport is good value.

How to download: click a photo to see it large, then use Download. The originals are about 1200 × 800 pixels: right for blog posts, slides, social media, school projects and video call backgrounds.

The Hofburg, the Ringstrasse and the palaces

The Hofburg was the Habsburgs’ winter palace; the Ringstrasse, laid out in the 1860s where the city walls stood, is lined with the Parliament, the City Hall, the Burgtheater, the State Opera and the big museums. Schönbrunn, the summer palace, has gardens climbing to the Gloriette and a great glass Palm House; the Belvedere holds Klimt’s The Kiss.

St Stephen’s Cathedral and the old centre

St Stephen’s Cathedral, with its patterned tiled roof and 136-metre south tower, is the centre of Vienna. Around it are the shopping streets of the Graben, with its Baroque plague column, and the Kärntner Strasse, the Mozarthaus where Mozart lived when he wrote The Marriage of Figaro, and the golden statue of Johann Strauss in the Stadtpark.

Art Nouveau, Hundertwasser and modern Vienna

Around 1900 Vienna led the Art Nouveau movement: the Secession with its golden dome of laurel leaves and Otto Wagner’s station pavilions on the Karlsplatz. The colourful Hundertwasser House came in 1985. Across the Danube are the UNO City and the Danube Tower, and in the Prater the giant wheel of 1897.

Tips for a first visit

• Ride tram 1 or 2 round the Ringstrasse for a cheap tour of the grand buildings.
• Book Schönbrunn online and go early; the gardens and the Gloriette are free.
• Standing tickets at the State Opera cost a few euros and go on sale on the day of the performance.
• Sit in a coffee house as long as you like: a coffee buys you the table and the newspapers.

More about Vienna

Think of Vienna and think of music! The capital city of Austria, standing on both banks of the winding River Danube, was the birthplace of Schubert and Johann Strauss; you can see a gilded statue of Strauss in City Park. Beethoven lived in Vienna for a time, and Mozart, Haydn, Brahms and Mahler all worked and performed there. In the present day the world famous Vienna Boys’ Choir, the Vienna Philharmonic and the State Opera House keep the musical tradition alive. It is claimed that there are 15,000 classical music performances in Vienna each year, attended by 10,000 people a night.

Perhaps one of the most convenient and cheap ways to hear live music is to visit one of the numerous coffee shops that offer classical music as an added attraction. On the other hand, if you do not want to pay 10 to 240 euros for an opera ticket (and by the way 10 euro seats may have limited or no view!), you could take a guided tour in the daytime, including standing on the famous stage.

Vienna has warm summers and cold winters, with snow possible from December to March; Spring and Autumn are mild. But there is no need to restrict your visit to the summer months: from mid November Vienna is full of Christmas markets in romantic squares – I counted at least 9, selling traditional food, crafts and Christmas gifts.

The 12th century St Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom) is well worth a visit at any time of year. A mix of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, it opens from 06.00 to 20.00, and there are guided tours every day.

One of the world’s great art collections is to be found in the Kunsthistoriches Museum on Ringstrasse. It displays many famous old masters, including a large number of valuable Flemish paintings. The museum, which also houses Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, among other treasures, opens 10.00 – 18.00 (except Mondays), entrance fee 12 euros.

Many of the interesting sights for tourists lie in the old town, also called the ‘inner town’ (Innere Stadt). These streets are rich in Baroque architecture, and the Ringstrasse, which follows the old city walls, is lined with magnificent 19th century buildings. In the street called Graben you can see one of Vienna’s best-known landmarks, the elaborate plague monument celebrating the end of the last big plague in 1679. For something different, try the Hoher Markt clock, also in the inner town. Every hour on the hour a different golden historic figure appears as music plays. If you can be there at noon you will see all 12 figures lined up in a row.

The Imperial Palace (Hofburg) was the centre of the Habsburg Empire for centuries. You can visit the imperial apartments, and gain an insight into the lives of the Empress and her children in the Sisi Museum. (Open every day including public holidays.) The Crown Jewels are also on view, but you will need to allow for more than one visit to see everything.

In 2012 a worldwide survey ranked Vienna 2nd out of 140 world cities as a great place to live. (In case you are wondering, the No. 1 city was Melbourne.) 5 million tourists a year visit the World Capital of Music, and it is the number one destination for conferences and international conventions. Surely so many people can’t be wrong?

More free photos

• Salzburg pictures
• Graz pictures
• Prague pictures
• Munich pictures
• Berlin pictures
• Free church pictures
• Danube pictures
• Budapest pictures
• Austria pictures
• Europe pictures

Questions about these Vienna photos

Can I use these Vienna pictures for free?

Yes, for personal and commercial projects. All we ask is a link back to BigFoto.com; the box at the top of the page has a credit link you can copy.

What is the best view over Vienna?

The south tower of St Stephen’s Cathedral (343 steps), the Gloriette above Schönbrunn, the giant wheel in the Prater and the Danube Tower.