Vienna, Austria

Vienna is perhaps the most comfortable major European capital for the seasoned traveller - compact, impeccably clean, extraordinarily safe, with a café culture that positively encourages sitting for three hours over a single Melange. The city built by the Habsburgs for the glory of empire now dedicates itself entirely to the pleasure of its visitors.

Best months: May-June and September-October. Viennese spring is glorious. Autumn brings the new opera and concert season. December is a legitimate choice - Vienna's Christmas markets are among Europe's finest. July-August is warm and busy but manageable.

Most major attractions lie within or just outside the Ringstrasse - the city is excellent for walking. The U-Bahn is clean and efficient. Vienna Airport: CAT train to Wien Mitte, 16 minutes, highly recommended.

The 1st district (Innere Stadt) puts you walking distance from the State Opera and Kunsthistorisches Museum. The 7th and 8th districts offer a more local Vienna with excellent restaurants. The Naschmarkt area is excellent for those wanting to be near Vienna's finest market.

Kunsthistorisches Museum: One of the greatest art museums in the world - Velázquez, Vermeer, Bruegel - in a palace that is itself a work of art.
Schönbrunn Palace: The gardens are free and superb. The Grand Tour of the Imperial apartments is extraordinary.
Vienna State Opera standing tickets: €3-10 for world-class opera, available 80 minutes before performance.
The Naschmarkt: 120 stalls of Austrian and international produce. Saturday morning is most vibrant.
Belvedere Palace: Houses Klimt's The Kiss - see it in the gallery designed for its purpose.

Vienna's coffee house tradition (Kaffeehauskultur) is UNESCO-listed - Café Central, Café Hawelka and Café Landtmann are all historic and excellent. The proper Viennese breakfast is one of Europe's great simple pleasures. For dinner: Gasthaus Pöschl (1st) for classical Viennese cooking; Steirereck for Austria's finest contemporary cuisine.

Vienna is exceptionally well-suited to visitors with mobility considerations. The historic centre is largely flat; trams and U-Bahn have excellent accessibility; major museums have lifts throughout. The pace of Viennese life is naturally unhurried - no one will rush you out of a coffee house.

Vienna is consistently rated one of the safest and most liveable cities in the world. Crime affecting tourists is extremely rare. Emergency: 112.

The Michaelergruft beneath the Michaelerkirche is haunting and little-visited - the preserved remains of the Habsburg court, including Mozart's patron.
Prater park's Hauptallee - an enormous chestnut-lined avenue, entirely free, best at dusk.
A Mozart concert at a Baroque church costs €30-45 and is one of Vienna's most authentic pleasures.