Ring Boulevard

The Ring Boulevard was constructed under the orders of Emperor Franz Joseph I in December of 1857. The Boulevard is four kilometres long and totally circles the old city. Tearing down the old walls had created the space for the construction of the Boulevard. Emperor Joseph had hoped that by destroying the walls the city would fell more as one.

Great planning went into the construction of the Boulevard allowing for shaded avenue and monumental buildings such as parliament, opera house and museums. Although most of the above were built at similar time the architecture varies considerably. The ceremony of inauguration took place in May 1865 and Vienna can proudly say that it has one of the finest boulevards in Europe.

Vienna Opera House - Wiener Staatsoper

The Vienna Opera House is located at the southern end of Karntnerstrasse. The opera house was built by August Von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Null and took eight years to build from 1861 till 1869. The opera house today has a worldwide recognition for its operas and also its Philharmonic Orchestra. If you can include a night at the opera on your visit it will surly be a memory that will live forever with you.

The design of the building is close to that of Italian renaissance. The first opera's ever written and performed were from Italy during the 16th century. Although Vienna has many fantastic sights to visit the Wiener Staatsoper should definitely be one of them.

The Spanish Riding School - Wiener Hofreitschule

The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the oldest and the only classic practicing dressage school in the world today. The school or Institute was founded in 1572 its name comes from the fact that the horses were of Spanish Origin. The Lipizanner is regarded to be the Europe's oldest classic racehorse. The horses are bred in what today is Slovenia formally Yugoslavia in the town of Lipizza. Unknown to a lot of people the famous white horse's are black when they are born and only turn white when reaching maturity.

The horses go through an elaborate training procedure before they are allowed to perform there prancing renaissance ballet to classical music.

The horse's performance is held in the winter riding school a baroque hall that was built especially for them in 1729. The horses perform to the public throughout the year but are given a rest from July-August. Tickets can be sold out months in advance so it is best to check out availability before going.

Vienna's Market- Naschmarkt

There are several markets in Vienna as there are in many major cities in Europe. But Naschmarkt is a Viennese institution that dates back as far as the 16th century. The market has unique feeling to it probably because of its mixture of Austrian and Oriental influences.

You can spend hours browsing here as well as being able to sample foods from several continents, or coffee in its many shops.