Vienna is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austria's nine federal states. Situated on both sides of the river Danube, Vienna is 40 kilometers from the Slovakian border. It is the largest city and the cultural and political center of Austria.
The city of Vienna stands imperiously in the Danube Valley, with the rolling hills of the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald) going beyond the suburbs in the north and west. The Danube River divides the city into two unequal halves, with the old city centre and most tourist sights on the south side of the river. The Danube Canal (Donaukanal) branches off from the main river and winds its course south, forming one of the borders of the historic centre, known as the Innere Stadt. The rest of the old centre is encircled by the Ringstrasse, or Ring, a series of broad roads with sturdy public buildings. The city's principal landmark is the distinctively slender spire of Stephansdom in the heart of the Innere Stadt. The majority of hotels, pensions, restaurants and bars are in the Innere Stadt and west of the centre between the Gürtel and the Ringstrasse.
Vienna was the showpiece of the Habsburg dynasty. Monumental buildings line the city centre, world-class museums are filled with treasures, white stallions prance their way down mirrored halls, and famous orchestras and angelic choirboys perform in lavish concert halls.
This is the city that nurtured the works of Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Brahms and Mahler, among others. This heritage has an almost physical presence, and music is still a driving force in today's city of Vienna. In Himmelwiese a plaque marks the spot where "the secret of dreams" was revealed to Sigmund Freud.
Vienna has plenty of simple pleasures too - walks in the woods, splashing on the river, indulgent evenings in its renowned wine taverns. Vienna's also the world's largest wine-growing city with over two and a half square miles of vineyards within its boundaries. A visit to one of the Heurigen, rustic wine taverns located among the vineyards, is the perfect end to a hard day of sightseeing. If you can't find something to please you in this generous, opulent, open-armed city, you're ready for the grave.