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Home Page > Travelogues > Austria > Vienna > Museum Quarter Other Chapters in the Vienna section:
The opening chapter to this travelogue takes you to the places that any packaged tour to Vienna is likely to take you -- to the grand, imposing Imperial buildings of old and modern Vienna. Separately, these structures are extraordinary enough, but put together in a concentrated square-kilometer area, you feel like you are truly on royal ground, walking in the footsteps of mighty kings and emporers. For me, it was an awestriking experience like few others I've had. But what's great about this part of town is not just the beautiful
architecture and scenic parks, but also the impressive set of museums available
for visit (they didn't call this the Museum Quarter for nothing, of
course). You are going to have to
The route I will take you runs from the Vienna Rathaus (in the first photo), through the Museum Quarter, ending at the Imperial Palace. The Rathaus is quite a beautiful structure, surrounded by its own small park with fountains. The front entrance is paved and flanked with memorials to some of Vienna's most prominent residents. The Rathaus is nearby two other important and beautiful structures, the
University building and the National Theater. The theater was undergoing
renovation when I visited Vienna, but when complete it will be absolutely
fabulous. The Theater is at one corner of the beautiful and large
Volksgarten, shown in the second picture with the Rathaus in the distance.
This triangular-shaped park has an open-air gathering area for festivals in one
end, while the other takes visitors to the front entrance of the Imperial Palace
(more later). Like many of Vien Following along the Dr. K. Renner Ring towards Mariahilfer Strasse, you will pass by several more important government buildings. The most impressive and most recently renovated of these is the Austrian Parliament (shown in the third photo). The brilliant white stone and dozens of beautiful statues gave the building a very majestic appearance. Next to the Parliament is the entrance to the Museum Quarter. There is
a huge yellow building (called the Museums Quartier) where
that you can purchase tickets to the museums. A day pass or combination
ticket can cost about
There are two main buildings in the Museum Quarter, one being shown in the
next photo. These buildings face each other with the Maria-Theresien Park
in-between. Available here are the Natural History and National Art
Museums, each of which can readily consume 1-2 hours. I visited the
Natural History Museum, and was amazed at the incredible collection of animals
and fossils. Yes, it covers dinosaurs and the evolution of animals, plus
has a massive exhibit of stuffed animals including nearly every variety of bird,
bear, sheep, monkey, you name it they probably have. It has an aquarium
and fossil plant exhibits, along with a history of the Vienna Zoo (described
briefly in the
Then, a mere few hundred meters away lies the Imperial Palace. The Palace is just plain awesome with its impressive facade, well-manicured entrance park. From the Natural History Museum, you will walk through the Burgtor, which is more than just a hulking concrete gate -- it contains the royal chapel and a number of offices. The roadway will lead you to a huge buggy stand, where a long line of horse drawn carriages await to take you around town. Standing in the middle of it all is the Etzh Karl Denkmal, honoring one of Vienna's former emporers. The grounds of the Imperial Palace (known as the Hofburg) are wonderful to
walk through. Much of the Palace has been restored. The final photo
shows the interior of the courtyard, in the direction of the royal
apartments. On the wall behind me were several old brick plaques and other
artifacts that survived the numerous sieges and wars in which Vienna
participated. A casual walk toward the downtown will take you underneath
the huge Michaelerplatz dome, and out to the
I visited five of the nine or ten museums in the Palace grounds. These included three accessible through the main palace entrance, and two near the Michaelerplatz. For a flat-fee of about 7 Euro, I visited the Arms and Armory Museum, the Museum of Musical Instruments, and a Museum of Ephesian Architecture. The first of these shows the development and history of armor and weapons from medieval times to 19th century -- including European and Asian (particularly Ottoman Empire) arms. The second shows musical instruments of all sorts during the same general period. If you use the audio guide, you will have the opportunity to hear samples of the musical instruments being played. The last of the three was all imported materials and it only marginally interesting to me. The other two were the Silver Exhibit and the Royal Apartments. The former shows you the entire breadth of elaborate and wonderful kitchen and tableware used by the Austrian monarchy, while the latter was similar to the apartment tour in Schonbrunn -- a room-by-room tour of life in luxury. Other musuems that I didn't get to included the Schatzkammer (Royal Treasury), Chapel, and the Spanish Riding School (which is a difficult ticket and open only at limited times). Yes, this part of Vienna is as extraordinary and enjoyable as it is enormous. I would have to say that this part of the city is a virtual requirement for any visitor to see. Other Chapters in the Vienna
section:
Trip Taken 15-16 June 2002 -- Page Last Updated 12 September 2006 -- (C) 2002 Tom Galvin |
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indulge me, as photographs were not
permitted inside any of the museums -- so all I can show you are the pretty
buildings from the outside.
na's smaller public buildings, this
mini-Parthenon structure was being used to house a small art exhibit. It
seemed not to be uncommon that individual artists would rent out a small public
building to exhibit and/or sell their handiwork.
25 Euro when they are available (ordinarily they are not
when any of the major museums are closed). Most of the museums, however,
are only a few Euro each so unless you plan to spend a full day museum hopping,
you are just as well off buying individual tickets at your selected locations.
Michaelerplatz itself. Along
the way, you will find a number of souvenir stands -- but these stands don't
sell ordinary run-of-the-mill T-shirts and caps, these are very classy, offering
the finest porcelain and glass artworks graced by famous composers and Austrian
kings and queens. 
