traveldk.com

The location on the banks of the Danube is perfect for a romantic summer evening. You can either pick a table or have a candlelight dinner on a boat.

La Scala specializes in Austrian nouvelle cuisine with a clear Mediterranean influence and serves perhaps the best pasta dishes in Austria. Three light, set business lunches are available on weekdays. From Tuesday to Saturday there is live piano music.

This huge area on the western fringe of Vienna contains more than 80 km (50 miles) of walking paths, meadows and playgrounds. The imperial family used the land as hunting grounds from 1557, and the park opened to the public in 1919. Wild boar and deer roam free here.

The Laxenburg palace and its extensive park were established by Empress Maria Theresa in the 18th century.

Austrians are fond of their soups and a traditional three-course Sunday lunch will often start off with a bowl of clear beef broth. This variety, with little liver dumplings, is undoubtedly the king among Austrian soups.

This Baroque palace was the home of composer Franz Lehár in the 1930s, but before that it was home to Emanuel Schikaneder, who wrote the libretto for Mozart’s The Magic Flute . Schikaneder had the interior decorated with frescoes from the opera.

Just next to Kahlenberg is its twin mountain, the Leopoldsberg, that dominates the Danube valley. From the top of the 425-m (1,400-ft) high mountain you get an excellent view of the entire region around Vienna. Leopoldsberg is named after the Babenberg ruler Leopold III (1073–1136) and the ruins of the 13th-century Babenberg castle destroyed by the Turkish troops in 1529 are still visible. An older church on top of the mountain was also destroyed by the Turks and was replaced by a Baroque church in the 18th century.

Named after the Austrian city of Linz, this cake has been popular for nearly 300 years, with recipes being included in cookbooks as early as the 18th century. There are various versions but it is essentially an almond pastry filled with raspberry or redcurrant jam. As decoration, strips of the pastry are arranged in a grid on top of the cake.

Dedicated to the elegant white stallions of the Spanish Riding School, the museum explains the history of the stables from the 16th century to the present. Paintings, uniforms and tackle are on display, and information is given on the horses’ breeding and training. You can also get a glimpse of the Lipizzaner horses through the stable windows (see pp16–17).