Free Walking Tour of Vienna

Gather at Helmut-Zilk-Platz, steps from the soaring gothic spire of St Stephen's Cathedral, and walk straight into eight hundred years of Habsburg history. Over two hours your local guide traces the narrow lanes of the Graben and Kohlmarkt into Michaelerplatz, where the Hofburg Palace's monumental gate opens onto the winter residence of an empire that once ruled from Madrid to Transylvania.

You'll pass the Spanish Riding School's Lipizzaner stables, cross Heldenplatz beneath its bronze generals, and trace part of the Ringstrasse, the grand boulevard that replaced the old city walls with opera houses, museums and parliament buildings built to broadcast imperial ambition. It's the essential first walk for anyone new to Vienna's historic center.