#911 Vienna, Austria

Literally and historically the heart of Europe, Vienna is a fantastic place, with palaces, museums, churches, galleries, architectural wonders, and amazing food and nightlife. With one of the lowest price indexes in all of the EU, it's reasonable and easy to visit.

1. The first amazing thing to see is Stephansdom, the enormous gothic church that dominates central Vienna. With it's gorgeous zigzag roof, majestic interior and spooky bone-filled crypt, it awakens every medieval dream and nightmare. The views from it's tower are super.

2. Ruling most of Europe for centuries, the Hapsburgs had their main base here, and the Hofburg palace is just one relic of their glory. The beautiful Belvidere gardens and a majestic timeless palace  buildings that could have fallen out of a fairy tale -- except their ultimate ending was far from happily ever after. The Museums here are never ending!

Heldenplatz - part of the Hofburg complex (Neue Burg)

Roman ruins on Michaelerplatz

3. Hundertwasser, the Austrian architect with fanciful curves, bright colors and a hodge podge of design has his famous Hundertwasser Haus in Vienna and other glorious and colorful designs with flowing rolling lines and divided fragments mixed with greenery.

3. Another of the things I loved about Vienna is the Ringstrasse -- a wide tree lined boulevard encircling the inner city along the lines of the old city walls. Parks!!

So order a coffee, sit on the grass, enjoy some sausages and good beer and enjoy this cultural hub!

Source: Lonely Planet Vienna 4th Edition

Palace and Gardens of Schonbrunn Austria

From the 18th century to 1918, Schonbrunn was the residence of the Habsburg emperors. It was designed by the architects Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Nicolaus Pacassi and is full of outstanding examples of decorative art. Together with its gardens, the site of the world's first zoo in 1752, it is a remarkable Baroque ensemble and a perfect example of Gesamtkunstwerk. The site of the Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn is outstanding as one of the most impressive and well preserved Baroque ensembles of its kind in Europe. Additionally, it is a potent material symbol of the power and influence of the House of Habsburg over a long period of European history, from the end of the 17th to the early 20th century.

Continent: Europe

Country: Austria

Category: Cultural

Criterion: (I)(IV)

Date of Inscription: 1996

Palace Gardens

It is impossible to separate the gardens from the palace, of which they form an organic extension: this is an excellent example of the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, a masterly fusion of many art forms. A small hunting lodge and later summer residence of the Habsburg family was rebuilt after total destruction during the last Turkish attack in 1683. During construction work the project was expanded into an Imperial summer residence of the court.

As such it represents the ascent and the splendour of the Habsburg Empire. At the peak of Habsburg power at the beginning of the 18th century, when imperial Vienna following the Turkish reflected its regained significance in spectacular examples of newly developing Baroque art, Schonbrunn was one of the most important building projects of the capital and residency.

Palace and Gardens of Schonbrunn

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Dimensions and Functions

The ample Baroque gardens with their buildings and statuary testify to the palace's imperial dimensions and functions. The original intention, when they were laid out in the 18th century, was to combine the glorification of the House of Habsburg with homage to nature.

The Orangery on the east side of the main palace building is, at 186 m, the longest in the world. The Great Palm House is an impressive iron-framed structure, 114 m long and divided into three Sections, erected in 1880 using technology developed in England.

Slideshow for this Heritage Site

Browse All UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Austria. The original UNESCO inscription Here!!!

Wachau Cultural Landscape Austria

The Wachau is a stretch of the Danube Valley between Melk and Krems, a landscape of high visual quality. It preserves in an intact and visible form many traces - in terms of architecture, (monasteries, castles, ruins), urban design, (towns and villages), and agricultural use, principally for the cultivation of vines - of its evolution since prehistoric times. The Wachau is an outstanding example of a riverine landscape bordered by mountains in which material evidence of its long historical evolution has survived to a remarkable degree. The architecture, the human settlements, and the agricultural use of the land in the Wachau vividly illustrate a basically medieval landscape which has evolved organically and harmoniously over time.

Continent: Europe

Country: Austria

Category: Cultural

Criterion: (II)(IV)

Date of Inscription: 2000

Outstanding Landscape

The Wachau, a stretch of the Danube valley between Melk and Krems, is an outstanding example of a riverine landscape bordered by mountains in which material evidence of its long historical evolution has survived to a remarkable degree. The architecture, the human settlements, and the agricultural use of the land in the Wachau vividly illustrate a basically medieval landscape which has evolved organically and harmoniously over time.

The Wachau is a landscape of high visual quality which preserves in an intact and visible form many traces - in the form of architecture (monasteries, castles, ruins) urban design (towns and villages) and agricultural use, principally for the cultivation of vines - of its evolution since prehistory.

Cultivation is going on

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Fantastic Surroundings

The natural forest cover by man began in the Neolithic period, although radical changes in the landscape did not take place until around 800, when the Bavarian and Salzburg monasteries began to cultivate the slopes of the Wachau, creating the present-day landscape pattern of vine terraces. In the centuries that followed, the acreage under cultivation fluctuated, under the influence of changes of climate and the wine market and acute labour shortages and the resultant wage increases in the 17th century.

In the 18th century, hillside viticulture was actively promoted in ecologically optimal regions. The areas released in this way were given over to pasture, with the ensuing economic consequences: some enterprises had to close down whereas others were enlarged. It was at this time that viticulture was finally abandoned in the upper stretches of the Wachau.

Slideshow for this Heritage Site

Browse All UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Austria. The original UNESCO inscription Here!!!

Semmering Railway Austria

The Semmering Railway, built over 41 km of high mountains between 1848 and 1854, is one of the greatest feats of civil engineering from this pioneering phase of railway building. The high standard of the tunnels, viaducts and other works has ensured the continuous use of the line up to the present day. It runs through a spectacular mountain landscape and there are many fine buildings designed for leisure activities along the way, built when the area was opened up due to the advent of the railway. The Semmering Railway represents an outstanding technological solution to a major physical problem in the construction of early railways.

Continent: Europe

Country: Austria

Category: Cultural

Criterion: (II)(IV)

Date of Inscription: 1998

Outstanding Cultural Landscape

With the construction of the Semmering Railway, areas of great natural beauty became more easily accessible and as a result these were developed for residential and recreational use, creating a new form of cultural landscape. The Semmering Railway represents an outstanding technological solution to a major physical problem in the construction of early railways. The railway, built over 41 km of high mountains between 1848 and 1854, is one of the greatest feats of civil engineering from this pioneering phase of railway building.

The high standard of the tunnels, viaducts and other works has ensured the continuous use of the line to the present day. Furthermore, with its construction, areas of great natural beauty became more easily accessible and as a result these were developed for residential and recreational use, creating a new form of cultural landscape.

Semmering Railway Austria

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Prehistoric Times Transpotation

The transport route from the valley of the Murz to the Vienna Depression has been used since prehistoric times. In the middle Ages it was considered to be one of the few secure Alpine crossings. Transport was possible using pack animals and wagons drawn by oxen, and it had become one of the most important international land routes from Venice by the 12th century.

However, the Semmering had lost much of its trade by the 15th century owing to the opening up of the Brenner and Radstatter Trauem routes further south. In 1728 the Emperor Karl Vl ordered it to be improved as both a commercial and a military road, joining Austria with Trieste rather than Venice.

Slideshow for this Heritage Site

Browse All UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Austria. The original UNESCO inscription Here!!!

Europabrücke Bridge or Europe Bridge

Europabrücke Bridge or Europe Bridge is a famous bridge in Europe. This bridge is located south of Innsbruck, Tirol, Austria, and this bridge has a height of 777 meters (2549 feet) long which covers 657 meters (2156 feet). Built between 1959 and 1963, and the bridge was once the highest bridge in Europe, standing 190 meters (620 feet) high above the ground. But then by the Millau Viaduct diakalah take on 14 December 2004.

The bridge is also notable for including into the bebeapa highest bridge which is often used for Bungee Jumping.

Tiergarten Schönbrunn

 

Tiergarten Schönbrunn or Vienna Zoo is a zoo located on the grounds of the famous Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. Founded as an imperial menagerie in 1752, it is the oldest zoo in the world. Today Tiergarten Schönbrunn is considered and regards itself as a scientifically administered zoo which sees its main purpose as a centre for species conservation and general nature conservation as well as in the fulfillment of the education mandate given to it by the legislation. The still preserved buildings of the baroque era, which have been complemented in the last years by elements of modern zoo architecture, convey still a good impression of the 18th century menagerie-buildings after the Versailles model.

Tiergarten Schönbrunn is one of the few zoos worldwide to house giant pandas. The zoo's pandas are named Yang Yang (F), Long Hui (M), Fu Long (M), and Fu Hu (M). Fu Long's birth on 23 August 2007 was the first natural insemination panda birth in Europe. Fu Hu was born exactly 3 years later, and he was also conceived via natural mating.

Since its privatization in 1992, it has been led by Helmut Pechlaner, also president of WWF Austria, who managed to modernize most parts of the zoo and sustain its financial situation. Nowadays, the zoo is managed by Dagmar Schratter.

Vienna Zoo - Zoo Oldest inword

Vienna Zoo (in local language: Tiergarten Schönbrunn) is a zoo located in the area of ​​Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. Vienna Zoo was founded by the local Empire in 1752, and became the oldest zoo in the world today. Even the Vienna Zoo, now a Best Zoos in Europe today.

In 1779 before the zoo opened to the public. And Emperor Franz Joseph II, successor I continue raising animals, and expeditions to the Americas and Africa to be able to add to the collection at the Zoo

Even in the beginning of World War I, this zoo has reached 712 species and 3500 specimens. And after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the war, the zoo became the responsibility of the Republic of Austria. Because state-run, then the state to renovate and expand the zoo area. Even now there are many new buildings, including the Rainforest House, Desert House, the Aquarium and Terrarium House, and Polarium.

Here are 4 Areas of Outstanding in the Vienna Zoo visited a lot of tourists, and at the same four areas that make the Vienna Zoo was asked as the Best European Zoos.

1. Regenwaldhaus - Artificial Rain Forest Area

This area opened in 2002. Rain forest home is a giant glass enclosure inside merembuat circumstances such as forest complete with artificial lightning storm. So here visitors can walk around inside like in the rainforest, with free-living birds, bats and other animals.

2. Terrarium House - Tunnel Aquarium

The tunnel aquarium terrarium is where we can see a large variety of coral, anemones are full of brightly colored fish and coral. Visitors will be treated to fish species richness and beauty of coral reefs are diverse.

3. Polarium - Cold Pole Area

Polarium Area is an area specially designed for species that need cold air (such as penguins, polar bears, walruses, etc.). In Polarium is often also held events and entertainment circus animals in it. so visitors entertained by the attraction of the penguins and polar bears.

4. Wüstenhaus - Desert Area

This area is designed in such a way as to resemble a desert. Visitors who enter into it so it can be treated to a variety of typical desert botany and also a variety of typical desert animals (mostly lizards and camels).

Dachstein Sky Walk

Called the "Balcony mountains alpina", Dachstein Sky Walk exposed at an altitude of 2700 meters above sea level and on the rocks as high as 250 m. The vertical Hunerkogel A 360-degree view show the visitors Republic Koruna Slovenia in the south to the north. Skywalk is much higher than the platform at Niagara Falls or the falls in Iguazu, Brazil.

This place is perfect for those of you who want to test your nerve and courage.