Vienna's skyline is best appreciated from above. We spent three evenings on the city's finest rooftop terraces to bring you this definitive guide.
Vienna's skyline is not dramatic in the way of New York or Hong Kong. It is a skyline of domes and spires, of baroque towers and modernist additions, of a city that has been building carefully for centuries. From above, it is extraordinary.
We spent three evenings on the city's finest rooftop terraces, arriving at different times to understand how each space changes with the light. What we found were five very different experiences of the same city.
The rooftop of the 25hours Hotel Beim MuseumsQuartier offers the most theatrical view — the Natural History Museum and the Kunsthistorisches Museum facing each other across the Maria-Theresien-Platz, with the Rathaus visible in the distance.
The terrace at the Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom is more intimate, with the cathedral close enough that you can see the detail of the Gothic stonework. In the evening, when the floodlights come on, it is one of the most beautiful views in the city.
The remaining three rooftops are less well-known but no less rewarding. One is accessible only to hotel guests. Another requires a reservation weeks in advance. The third is, technically, not a rooftop at all — but the view is better than most.
"The best rooftop in Vienna is not the tallest — it's the one that makes you feel most connected to the city below. We found several that do."
— Marcus Havel, AVIVIS Editor
