20 Most Beautiful Parks in Vienna [with Map]

Where are the BEST parks in Vienna?

Locals definitely know Stadtpark, Volksgarten and Prater.

There are also many other green alternatives throughout the city.

Here we have compiled a list of the most interesting green spaces in the entire city.

1. Vienna Stadtpark

Vienna Stadtpark, laid out in the English style, opened in August 1862 and was Vienna's first public park. The park is shielded from Ringstrasse by large avenue trees.

In addition to huge meadows, water areas and ornamental shrubs, there are rare trees that are under nature protection, numerous monuments and sculptures - the most famous being the Strauss monument, playgrounds, drinking and ornamental fountains and an old dairy.

The Kursalon building, which extends into the park with its wide terrace, is the scene of popular waltz concerts.

Address: Parkring 1, A – 1010 Vienna

2. Burggarten

Burggarten, which was originally laid out as an imperial private garden, is a public park in the style of English landscape gardens.

The palm house on the edge of Burggarten was commissioned by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1882 and is one of the largest of its kind in the world and houses plants from three climate zones.

Free-flying butterflies can be found in the butterfly house.

There are also numerous monuments, including the Mozart monument.

Address: Josefsplatz 1, A – 1010 Vienna

3. Schönbrunn Palace Park

Schönbrunn Palace Park is open to the public and open all year round. Since 1996 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage along with the castle. The extensive complex is home to numerous fountains, statues and monuments.

Among the paid attractions in Schönbrunn Palace Park are the oldest zoo in the world - Schönbrunn Zoo, the Gloriette built in 1775, the Crown Prince Garden, the Palm House, the Desert House, the Orangery Garden, the maze and a labyrinth.

Address: Schönbrunner Schloßstrasse 47, A – 1130 Vienna

4. Volksgarten

Originally laid out as a private garden for archdukes, this park on Ringstrasse next to the Imperial Palace has been open to the public since 1825, under the name Volksgarten. It has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Center of Vienna since 2001.

Noteworthy are the Theseus Temple, a scaled-down replica of the ancient Athenian Theseion, in front of whose gate stands the bronze sculpture of a young athlete, the nymph fountain and the fountain, as well as the monument to Empress Elisabeth and the marble sculpture by Franz Grillparzer.

Johann Strauss and Josef Lanner have played in the Café Meierei. The romantic scenery with the rose garden is a popular photo motif for wedding couples, the history of the Volksgarten club disco goes back over 180 years.

Address: Burgring, A – 1010 Vienna

5. Augarten

Augarten, whose origins date back to the 17th century, is a public park with the oldest baroque garden in Vienna. In addition to elaborate flower beds, it is known for its rich tree landscape. The seat of the Vienna Boys' Choir, the baroque Augarten Palace, in which morning concerts with the participation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart took place as early as the 18th century, the Film Archive Austria and a retirement home can also be found here.

Also worth seeing is the Augarten porcelain factory, which has had its headquarters here since 1923, and the two high flak towers, historical relics from the Second World War. Play and sports areas as well as a children's pool are further attractions.

Address: Obere Augartenstrasse 1, A - 1020 Vienna

6. Belvedere Palace Garden with Botanical Gardens

The baroque palace gardens of Belvedere Palace, along with the two palaces, are UNESCO World Heritage sites. The main garden lies between Lower and Upper Belvedere and extends over three large terraces. The reflection pond in Upper Belvedere creates an optical doubling of the palace facade.

Symmetrical flower parterres, water basins, landings and stairs as well as trimmed hedges determine the picture. The Belvedere palace gardens include the oldest alpine garden in Europe, the chamber garden, the sculpture garden and the botanical garden. It was founded in 1754 under Maria Theresa, and today the botanical garden includes 12,000 plant species from six continents.

Address: Prinz Eugen-Strasse 27, 1030 Vienna

7. Rathauspark

Rathauspark (City Hall Park) is a green area between the city hall, parliament, university and Burgtheater laid out in the style of an English landscape garden, consisting of two symmetrical parts, each centered around a fountain. The two halves of the park, laid out in 1873, are separated by city hall square, where various events take place throughout the year.

Eight oversized marble figures of well-known personalities line the park, in addition there are numerous monuments in the park, among them the composers Johann Strauss the Father and Josef Lanner. Worth mentioning is the magnificent stock of trees, some foreign trees are specially marked, among them a Japanese cord tree and a ginko.

Address: Rathauspark, A - 1010 Vienna

8. Türkenschanz Park

Türkenschanz Park is known for its rare trees and plants and for its numerous waterfalls and fountains as well as ponds and streams, including the mountain lake, the forest pond, the spa park pond and a floodplain landscape near Lehrteich.

The Yunus Emre Fountain is an ornamental fountain that was presented in 1991 by the then Turkish ambassador as a sign of friendship between Vienna and Turkey. The Paulinenwarte observation tower offers a magnificent view of Vienna and the Vienna Forrest. Among the monuments, the Adalbert-Stifter Monument is worth mentioning. In addition to running and hiking trails, numerous sports facilities are available.

Address: Hasenauerstrasse Türkenschanzpark, A - 1180 Vienna

9. Sigmund Freud Park (Votivpark)

Votivpark in the western part of the inner city of Vienna lies between the university and Votive Church. The green areas around and in front of Votive Church were laid out around 1870 after the church was built. In 1984 the green areas around the church in Votivpark, the green areas towards the ring road were named after Sigmund Freud, where there are free sun loungers.

The EU circle of trees as a symbol for lively dialogue was planted in 1997 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the European Union and, in the course of the EU enlargement in 2004, a granite table and ten seats for the ten new members were added. Due to its proximity to the university, the park is particularly popular with students.

Address: Rooseveltplatz 8, A - 1090 Vienna

10. Prater

The Green Prater, an extensive forest and meadow area that was once an imperial hunting ground and was opened to the public by Emperor Joseph II, has been under landscape protection since 1978 and is used as an excursion and recreation area. 
The chestnut blossom is a main attraction of Green Prater, numerous bodies of water, including Mauthnerwasser and Krebsenwasser are protected as natural monuments, as are some trees and groups of trees. There is a very large number of sports facilities scattered all over Green Prater, and the Zeiss Planetarium is also located here.

Wurstel Prater is the nationally known amusement park, simply called Prater for short. It is located with the landmark, the Vienna Ferris Wheel, in the northwestern part of the Prater recreation area. Over 250 attractions and rides await you here. The traditional Schweizerhaus restaurant with an integrated beer garden offers typical Austrian cuisine.

Address: Prater, A – 1020 Vienna

11. Wienerberg Recreation Area

The Wienerberg recreation area is located in the district of Favoriten in the south of Vienna on the site of a former brick factory. The recreation area is fully designated as a landscape conservation area. Its rich fauna and flora offers a new habitat for endangered animal species such as the European pond turtle and the large copper butterfly. In and around the artificial Wienerbergteich pond with its large reed population, songbirds find nesting sites. The characteristic dry grassland of the area counts as a natural monument.

Scattered over the area are several small ponds and lakes, Wienerberg pond is used as a natural bathing spot. The 14-kilometer-long network of paths invites you to run, cycle, walk and walk, and if you want, you can play football or street ball.

Address: Wienerberg recreation area, A - 1100 Vienna

12. Lainz Zoo

Lainz Zoo is located in the west of Vienna and in the eastern Vienna Forrest. It has been open to the public since 1919. It was originally created in 1561 by Ferdinand I of Austria as a fenced hunting ground for his family.

Today Lainz Zoo is a nature reserve with nature and forest educational trails, an enclosure with ancient cattle, various lookout points, meadows for picnics, a lookout tower, forest playgrounds and Nikolai chapel. Hermesvilla, Empress Elisabeth's "Castle of Dreams", which hosts various exhibitions, is particularly worth seeing.

Address: Lainzer Tiergarten, 1130 Vienna

13. Vienna Central Cemetery

A rather unusual sight is the Central Cemetery, which opened in 1874 and is one of the largest cemeteries in the world. 
In addition to its spaciousness, it is particularly known for its Art Nouveau buildings, including Lueger Memorial Church, and the graves of numerous historical figures who are buried there in honorary graves. These include the world-famous composers Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven, and also Frank Werfel and Curd Jürgens.

Address: Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, 1110 Vienna

14. Kurpark Oberlaa and Japanese Gardens

Kurpark Oberlaa is a park on the south-east slope of Laaer Berg in the 10th district of Vienna. The park contains various themed areas, including an allergy garden that provides information about allergy-causing plants, a baroque fountain garden, a flower labyrinth, a film city with an opera-air cinema, a love garden and a perennial garden. A spacious playground and a 1800 m2 skate land are further attractions.

The Japanese Garden was built on the occasion of the Vienna International Garden Show in 1974. The asymmetrical, decentralized arrangement typical of Japanese gardens prevails in Takasaki Park. The main elements are stone, moss, water and tree.

In the petting zoo you will find goats, sheep, geese, chickens and peacocks, among others. The low fence also allows small children to touch the animals.

Address: Laaer-Berg-Strasse, A - 1100 Vienna

15. Donaupark

Donaupark is one of the largest parks in the city. In the course of the "Vienna International Garden Show 1964" it was transformed from a former rubbish dump into a park.

Today you can find here numerous attractions, children's playgrounds with sandpits, swings, slides, climbing combinations, ball courts for basketball, gaming tables with chess boards and skate parks. Worth seeing is Danube Tower, which offers a 360° view over Vienna, the House of Korean Culture and  Irissee. The 3.4 km long Danube Park Train runs through the park in about 20 minutes.

Address: Wallenberggasse, Am Donaupark, A - 1220 Vienna

16. Danube Island

The 21-kilometer-long Danube Island is a popular local recreation area and at the same time part of Vienna's flood protection system. Danube Island was artificially created from 1972 to 1988 and offers space for cyclists, joggers and nature lovers. A Family bathing area, water playground, wild water canal, trampoline facility and climbing park are other attractions.

A steel cross, 40 meters high and weighing 56 tons, stands in Pope's Meadow. The Danube Island Festival takes place on the island every year.

Address: Donauinsel, A – 1220 Vienna

17. Lobau

With 2,300 hectares, Lobau, the "water forest" in the east of Vienna, makes up almost a quarter of the total area of the Donau-Auen National Park, one of the last intact floodplain landscapes in Europe to be protected as a national park.

Over 800 plants, 30 species of mammals and 100 species of breeding birds, 8 species of reptiles, 13 species of amphibians and 60 species of fish can be found in Lobau. If you want, you can go on a hiking trip, take part in an adventure hike or take a trip on the national park boat. Some waters are even approved for swimming.

Address: Dechantweg 8, A - 1220 Vienna

18. Schweizergarten

Originally laid out as an English landscape garden and named after Archduchess Maria Josef, the park was renamed the Schweizergarten in thanks for the donations from the Swiss after the First World War. Large ponds with rock formations and fountains, an alpine plant garden, a rose garden with water features and numerous exotic trees characterize the garden.

The 21er-Haus is a steel construction that was relocated to Swiss Park after the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels and today hosts international art exhibitions. Among the monuments in the park, the Chopin monument "La Note Bleue" and the State Foundation Monument, a silver-metallic column commemorating the founding of the 2nd Republic of Austria in 1945, are particularly worth mentioning.

Address: Landgutgasse 1, A - 1100 Vienna

19. Kahlenberg

The 484 meter high Kahlenberg, which is part of the Vienna Forrest, promises a magnificent view of the whole of Vienna. Many wineries and wine taverns are in the area. In the vineyards on the outskirts of Vienna you can drink the wine directly at the winery and enjoy the view. The so-called Heurige, light and drinkable wines from the current vintage, which may only be called that until November 11 of the same year, are also served here.

Thanks to the public swimming pool, which is located directly on Kahlenberg, you can enjoy bathing fun and a wonderful panorama when the weather is nice.

Address: Kahlenberg, A – 1190 Vienna

20. Alte Donau

Alte Donau is an arm of the Danube with calm waters. Today it is considered a local recreation area and bathing area. The numerous outdoor pools, including the well-known Gänsehäufel, have excellent water quality.

More than 40 restaurants are mostly located directly on the water. Rowing, electric and pedal boats can be hired. Some rowing clubs and clubs use the Old Danube for training purposes. In summer, rowing regattas such as the Vienna Nightrow are held on the Old Danube.

Address: Alte Donau, A - 1220 Vienna

(link to map)