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Unmissable for any visitor interested in busy, colourful markets. Everything from fruit and vegetables to a Saturday flea market (see p109).

The little café amid the bustling Naschmarkt market stalls serves excellent breakfasts all day long and includes all kinds of ethnic cuisines, from Viennese to Turkish.

Designed by Gottfried Semper and Karl von Hasenauer, who also worked on the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Natural History Museum opened in 1889 and was built as a mirror image of its more famous neighbour, the Art History Museum. The fascinating collections of natural history, geology and archaeology have grown out of Emperor Franz Stephan’s 1748 collection of natural curiosities. The museum’s splendid interior was designed to enhance the objects which today mount up to more than 20 million exhibits. The most precious rarities in the museum’s 39 showrooms are the 25,000-year-old sculpture Venus of Willendorf and a “bouquet of jewels” given to Franz Stephan by his wife Maria Theresa. The Vienna Natural History Museum was voted among the world’s top 10 museums in 2001.

Neptune with his trident overlooks cascades flowing into a large pool.

The Neo-Gothic town hall with its spires, stone rosettes in the pointed windows and loggias was built by Friedrich von Schmidt in 1883 to express the inhabitants’ pride in their city at that time. The impressive building has seven arcaded courtyards and 1,575 rooms where the Vienna City Council and the mayor have their offices. All year round various festivals take place on the square in front of the Rathaus, ranging from a Christmas market to a music film festival in summer (see p80). Don’t miss the opportunity to see the building at night, when floodlights spectacularly highlight the façade.

This B&B is located in the pedestrian zone of Graben, right in the middle of the bustling city centre. Its 26 rooms are cosy and fitted with all mod cons. There is also a TV room, and families are welcome.

On the edge of Vienna Woods, the setting is ideal for families. Facilities include playgrounds, a volleyball court, table tennis and a children’s menu. Babysitters available.

Nussdorf’s picturesque location amid hills overgrown with vineyards is complemented by its long narrow streets. The composer Ludwig van Beethoven spent some time in Nussdorf in 1824 when he worked on his Ninth Symphony.

Another of Vienna’s small breweries that sell most of their home brew in the adjoining pub. You can get hearty Viennese cuisine here, too.

A moon-shaped pastry with a walnut or poppy seed filling.