Remember the film about Mozart and the famous line “It’s nice to be King”? The line rings especially true if you say it overlooking the Burggarten in Vienna. The huge expanse of manicured greens and flora was once the private garden of Franz Josef I. The Austrian monarch was a passionate green thumb, and was known to have puttered about the gardens himself.
Burggarten sprawls alongside Hofburg, the former Imperial Winter Palace - home to Austria’s monarchs for decades. Emperor Franz’s gardening tools have been well-preserved and you can see them on display as part of this tourist destination that was opened to the public in 1919.
Built in 1818, the garden is 38,000 square meters of breathtaking greenery with quiet trails and numerous sculptures of famed Viennese of the day, including Mozart and its builder the Emperor Franz.
The Palmenhouse or Palm Tree House within the grounds has been converted to a delightful little cafe. Here you can have your coffee or tea while soaking up the garden’s beauty, just like the monarchs used to do. Nearby is Schmetterlingshaus or Butterfly House, which holds hundreds of these fluttering creatures of color from over 150 species. It is housed inside an architectural marvel of the period - one of the world’s most magnificent Jugendstil greenhouses.
The Prater
For a different, yet just a lovely park experience in Vienna, check out the Prater. Here, visitors will find over 3,000 acres of gardens, tennis courts, riding stables, and even a 9-hole golf course.
It is also where you can ride the famed ‘Riesenrad’ ferris wheel. Built near the turn of the 20th century, the ride was meant to be the main attraction of the park. It was also created as part of the Golden Jubilee Festival held in 1897 to celebrate the reign of Franz Josef.
The wheel is enormous, able to hold up to a dozen people in a single enclosed basket or cabin as it is more appropriately called here. Destroyed during WWII, the Riesenrad was eventually rebuilt then reopened in 1947. The seat rises far above the park and turns at just over a mile and a half per hour, a very leisurely pace. Some of the wooden cabins actually serve dinner and drinks. It is quite an experience to reach the ride’s summit while sipping champagne and taking in the breathtaking view of Vienna at night.
The park as a whole offers many other delightful experiences. Among the treats are ghost houses for the kids and a Jack the Ripper House that offers a “chilling” walk through a maze in the dark. Lovely restaurants dot the area, so there’s much to do as well as eat.
Other tours and destinations available in Vienna: Check them out:
Your ticket enables you to see the oldest and also one of the most modern zoos of the world, the Schonbrunn Zoo - with Giant Pandas, Koalas, Elephants and much more. Ride on Vienna’s Giant Ferris Wheel, the oldest in the world, the Wiener Riesenrad, with a beautiful view over the city of Vienna.
Travel up a steep ascent from the Danube to Kahlenberg and hike to the Josefskirche, where an inscription commemorates the Polish Relief Army. It’s an easy and relaxing downhill hike from here, ending in one of Vienna’s Heurigen (wine tavern). This tour is seasonal and operates from February to November only.
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