Vienna – A city full of arts

Vienna is the capital of Austria and the 10th largest city of the European Union (by population). It is situated in the east of Austria and quite close to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Since 2001 the city centre is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and it was ranked first for quality of life by an Economist Intelligence Unit study and it is the city I am studying and living at. So I would like to tell you a bit more about this wonderful city. Maybe it is worth a visit during your next vacation.

Vienna isn’t just a beautiful city with a very high quality of life, beautiful houses and castles but it is also a city in which you can experience a lot of arts and culture. There are many big and small theatres, opera houses and museums. Let me introduce some of them:

The most famous theatre in Vienna is the “Burgtheater”. It is well known in all German speaking countries. There you can see a wide range of old and modern plays. Other very popular theatres are for example the “Theater in der Josefstadt” or the “Volkstheater”. There are many, many more theatres including Vienna's “English Theatre” where you can see plays in English. If you prefer comedy (in German language) you can visit a lot of comedy clubs (called cabarets) like the “Theater am Alsergrund”, “Kulisse” or “Niedermair”.

One of my favourite places in the city is the “Museumsqartier” which is a big complex of buildings with some nice open air yards where you can see a lot people of all ages but especially young people. They typically sit around chatting, reading or learning in one of the many restaurants and cafes but also on the public settees, around a fountain or on the special furniture called “Enzi” which is some kind of plastic couch. The buildings house many different museums but also some little shops. It’s a very unique atmosphere there, especially in summer when there are many events like open air concerts or readings. Of course there are many more museums in Vienna like the famous “Belvedere” or the “Albertina” which are both art museums, technical museums, museums for natural science and many more.

Do you like music? Then you will love the big range of music events in Vienna. There are events for all kinds of music like Rock, Pop, Jazz, Hip Hop, Musical, Opera and many, many more. If you want to hear classical music, visit one (or more) of the opera houses like “Staatsoper” or “Volksoper”. At the “Theater an der Wien” you can see a lot of different musicals. If you prefer live bands you can watch them in one of the big halls like “Stadthalle” or “Gasometer” or you can go to one of the small music cafes like “Café Carina”, “Café Concerto” or “Tunnel” where you can see live bands nearly every day and (often) for free.

And if you have had enough arts and culture, visit one of the big shopping centres or the big shopping streets like “Kärtnerstraße” or “Mariahilfer Straße” or relax in one of the famous Viennese cafés!