Imperial Palace (Hofburg)

This huge, sprawling complex—home to the Hapsburg royal family until 1918—includes an embarrassment of riches, like the Treasury and Museum of Ethnology, the Spanish Riding School, Imperial Court Chapel and National Library. There are also the Imperial Apartments and Sissi Museum. Depending on whom you ask, the Hofburg also technically encompasses the Kunsthistorische and Naturhistorische museums, though they are located across the Ring boulevard (near the MuseumsQuartier).

A great insider tip is to visit the Hofburg on Sunday morning: start the day at the Imperial Court Chapel, where the Vienna Boys’ Choir performs at 9:15 a.m. Mass lets out right before the performance of the Spanish Riding School at 11 a.m., so you can watch the horses and costumed riders crossing the road between the stables and the riding school. Then, if you’re in the mood for more classical music, there are free concerts at 11 a.m., mostly of classical liturgical works of Mozart, Schubert, Haydn et al, in the Augustinerkirche, one of the most beautiful churches in Vienna.