Private Half Day Highlights Tour of Vienna inc Transport
As one of Europe's grandest capitals, Vienna is rich in handsome architecture and cultural relics that reflect the city’s storied history. From the glory of medieval times to the contemporary splendour of the present, Vienna is world-renowned for its dazzling, grandiose historical buildings of stucco, marble, gold leaf and ornate stone. This fascinating Half-Day Highlights Tour will take you to Vienna’s most compelling attractions in a city crowded with glittering gilded palaces, monuments, bronze statues, grand mansions and dome-topped royal buildings. On your private driving tour of Vienna, you will:
- Admire the handsome 12th century soaring spires of St Stephen’s Cathedral and its ornate interior decor
- Relish the elegance of circular Ringstrasse with its ornate buildings and towers
- Marvel at Hofburg Quarter’s grandeur and the Habsburg family’s great dynastic empire
- Be wowed by the stunning neo-Gothic stone-work of The Rathaus, built in 1883
- Absorb the palatial grandeur of forty rooms at Schonbrunn Palace, a Baroque masterpiece, on the one-hour Grand Tour.
The architectural finery of Vienna's historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a bounty of Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque, Art Deco and "Jugendstil" architecture under the gaze of the 370-foot steeple of St. Stephen's Cathedral. The seat of Vienna’s Archbishop, and one of Austria’s most important Gothic structures, St. Stephen's colourful roof tiles - laid to create the Royal and Imperial double-headed eagle and Vienna coat of arms - is much loved symbol of the city. Designed by well-respected architect Emil von Förster, elegant Ringstrasse is a joy to drive, circling the historic centre where there were once medieval fortifications. Cobbled streets and handsome boulevards surround Vienna’s Hofburg Quarter, the seat of the Austrial Empire and the Imperial Court with churches and grand gardens part of this most-elegant neighbourhood. A small fortress that was expanded over more than seven centuries into the sprawling, gilded, luxurious domicile of Austria’s great rulers. On the Half-Day Highlights Tour we will see Hofburg Palace - the elaborate regal centre-piece of the Hofburg Complex and a monument to imperial power and opulence that represents 600 years of sovereignty by dynastic family, The Haspbergs.
The Rathaus, a 130-year-old neo-Gothic building notable for its towers and ornate stone-work is the prelude to our final stop, Schonbrunn Palace - a palatial Baroque architectural masterpiece, created as an imperial hunting lodge for Crown Prince Joseph. Granted access to forty lavish rooms, from galleries, state rooms and ceremonial suites to private bedrooms, our exploration of Schonbrunn Palace will span three centuries of history. This UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site is alluring in both scale and sheer beauty and provides a fitting finale to the Half-Day Highlights Tour.
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