Sights in Vienna

Vienna keeps its headline sights close together, so three days is enough to see the city properly. The 18 attractions below are the ones worth building a day around, and nearly all sit minutes from a U-Bahn (metro) stop. Names stay German here, as they appear on signs and tickets.

Day one: the Innere Stadt. Start at Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), where 343 steps climb the south tower, 136.4 meters or about 448 feet. The entrance area is free, the rest is ticketed, and a visit runs 60 to 90 minutes. Ten minutes away, the Hofburg (Imperial Palace) holds the Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum and Imperial Treasury: two hours, or four with the regalia. End at the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera), where standing-room tickets start around 15 euros, sold at the Operngasse entrance about 80 minutes before curtain, cash only.

Day two: palaces and paintings. Give the morning to Schloss Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn Palace), the Habsburg summer residence, where 40 of its 1,441 rooms are open. Palace plus park takes at least three hours, a full day with the Gloriette and Tiergarten Schönbrunn, the world's oldest zoo. In the afternoon pick Schloss Belvedere for Klimt's "The Kiss", about 90 minutes, or the Kunsthistorisches Museum for the world's largest Bruegel collection; it closes Mondays.

Day three: the everyday city. The Naschmarkt is quietest on weekday mornings, adds a flea market on Saturdays and shuts on Sundays. A short ride away, the Prater has been turning its Riesenrad (Giant Ferris Wheel) since 1897; one rotation takes about 15 minutes. Add the Hundertwasserhaus, a 20-minute photo stop because the building is lived in, and the free courtyards of the MuseumsQuartier.

What to book ahead. Schönbrunn and the Hofburg use timed-entry tickets, worth reserving in summer, along with big shows at the Albertina. Performances at the Spanische Hofreitschule (Spanish Riding School) sell out weeks early and pause over the summer, when the Lipizzaner stallions leave town. Seats at the Musikverein are easiest outside the New Year's Concert, allocated by lottery a year ahead.

Free, and easy to reach. Much of Vienna costs nothing: the Schönbrunn palace park, the Donauinsel (Danube Island), the Zentralfriedhof and its graves of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Falco, and the lookout on the Kahlenberg. Transit reaches all of it: U1 and U3 for the cathedral, U4 for Schönbrunn, U1 and U2 for the Prater, bus 38A for the Kahlenberg.