Vienna

Vienna moves at the pace of a waltz — deliberate, elegant, and more complex than it first appears. The Ringstrasse encircles the old city in a boulevard of imperial excess: the Hofburg Palace, the Staatsoper, the Kunsthistorisches Museum with its Vermeer and Bruegel collections, the Parliament building modeled on a Greek temple. Everything here was designed to impress, and it still does.

But Vienna’s soul lives in its coffeehouses — Café Central, Café Sperl, Café Hawelka — where the tradition of sitting with a mélange and a newspaper for hours is so deeply embedded that UNESCO recognized it as intangible cultural heritage. The MuseumsQuartier packs contemporary art into former imperial stables. The Naschmarkt runs for a kilometer with food stalls, spice shops, and restaurants reflecting the city’s position at the crossroads of Central Europe. At night, the Staatsoper performs world-class opera at standing-room prices that would be laughable in any other capital.

When to go: April through June for gardens in bloom and outdoor concerts. December for Christmas markets and Advent atmosphere. January for the Ball Season.