One of the world’s most elegant cities, Vienna is filled with charming, historic squares and coffee houses bustling with a bourgeoisie enjoying life’s pleasures.

It is an affluent and friendly city obsessed with history, music and food. At the slightest suggestion of sunshine, its well-dressed and well-heeled residents descend on the outdoor cafes dispensing pure cholesterol in the form of tempting tortes and strudels. Such delights – and the atmospheric city’s seemingly endless string of palaces, museums and great public buildings – draw more than eight million visitors each year.

Once the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, Vienna specialises in indulgence. Doormen in splendid uniforms stand guard outside grand hotels that inhabit historic buildings and cater to a wealthy clientele. Accommodation at the legendary Hotel Sacher or Grand Hotel Wien, for example, averages $600 a night per room, even more for suites – out of reach for many travellers.  However, if you know the ropes, you can experience the full grandeur of Vienna on a reasonable budget.

Book yourself into one of the city’s ‘pensions’. They offer the space and elegance of a 17th- or 18th-century building for a fraction of what you’d pay at the Sacher or the Imperial. Most pensions have a   breakfast room and, often, a sitting room with internet access. (They won’t have other hotel facilities such as restaurants and bars, but this just gives you a good excuse to explore the city.)

The pick of them is the Pension Nossek,  in a building where Mozart lived in 1781-82, right on The Graben, one of the city’s most historic thoroughfares – with a lift so quaintly ancient, you could almost imagine the maestro himself using it. Mont Blanc and Cartier are next door, Armani just around the corner. It’s one short block to the Hofburg Palace and the  Spanish Riding School, and not much farther to the famous Albertina and other museums. A two-room suite with bathroom costs about $230 a night, including a good buffet breakfast. A double room with facilities is about $190.

Just around the corner is the Pension Pertschy, set in a streetscape of wonderful antique shops. Tariffs start at $175 for a double room in the low season.

To get around the city, buy a Vienna Card (about $30) at the airport or train station as soon as you arrive. The card, also available at hotels and tourist offices, entitles you to a discount on the train or express bus from the airport to the city, plus free travel by underground metro, bus and tram for three days.

The Vienna Card also provides discounts on entry to major attractions such as the Schönbrunn, Belvedere and Hofburg palaces, and most museums and theatres. Be discerning when it comes to the discounts offered for many shops and restaurants, however – they are little more than a marketing ploy.

Allow plenty of time for the Schönbrunn, which is easily reached by metro. Set in vast grounds, with more than 1400 rooms, the palace is Vienna’s main tourist attraction and requires at least half a day to navigate. It’s a window into the enormous power and opulence of the Hapsburgs’ Austro-Hungarian Empire, which lasted until 1918. So sumptuous is the palace, guides will tell you, that during World War II Hitler had one rosewood- and gold-panelled room dismantled lest the Allies bomb this priceless treasure (which they did, but to limited effect).

In addition to ticket discounts, another smart trick is to know on which days some attractions are free of charge. Entry to the permanent exhibitions of the Wien Museum and a dozen other municipal museums and monuments is free on Sundays (go to www.wienmuseum.at),
while admission to the MAK design museum is free on Saturdays.

If you happen to be in Vienna in June, watch out for the Danube Island Festival, an open-air weekend of rock concerts attracting millions of young people with free live performances and fireworks.

Vienna is also perfect for window shopping – another lovely way to while away your time in this city without breaking the bank. If you adore antiques, be sure  to visit the Palais Dorotheum, home to one of Europe’s great auction houses. A magnificent neo-baroque building in its own right, it boasts floors of fine furniture, paintings, clocks, glassware and silverware dating back centuries.

For a walking tour, make your way from the MAK museum through the Stadtpark to Karlsplatz square. Along the way you’ll take in statues of Schubert, Beethoven and Strauss, the Kursalon ballrooms, perhaps a craft market outside the Wien Museum, and the baroque Karlskirche church. It’s then a short step to the Naschmarkt, a street market of fresh and exotic foods. This is a great place for a late lunch after a strenuous walk, and possibly the first time you’ll pull out your wallet all day.

The Viennese love food – lots of it – and the city seems to give visitors an appetite, too. By day the cafes are jam-packed with patrons drinking coffee or beer, eating cake or scoffing huge gelato concoctions. At night, tastes run to hearty pork steaks, sauerkraut and potatoes. Restaurants tend to be expensive in the city centre but it’s still possible to find affordable places like Reinthaler’s Beisl in Dorotheergasse,
just off The Graben, where they serve mountains of real Austrian fare. Another option is the Rosenberg Markt cafeteria near the Staatsoper. Prices are well and (honestly) displayed outside restaurants and there’s no pressure to tip.

Another must-do in Vienna is attending a concert or opera. There are any number of venues – the Musikverein, Burgtheater and Konzerthaus, for starters – but the one to go for is the Staatsoper (State Opera House). It will invariably be booked out when you get there, so secure your tickets well in advance at www.staatsoper.at.

If you have more than a few days, take advantage of one- and half-day bus tours to the Vienna Woods, Salzburg or Bratislava, even Prague and Budapest. Vienna may no longer be the capital of an empire, but it’s still a vital hub of European life. 

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