from Vienna and Surroundings
Many people know the feeling: going for an excursion into nature is a lot like being newly in love. Everything delights you, from the wide, open landscape to the most unassuming wildflower.
And what season is more beautiful for this than autumn? It’s a time that nature seems to have created especially for painters. (The photos are mostly from recent trips, but some are from previous years.)
We spend most of this season in Vienna, taking day trips and always coming back inspired.
Vienna itself offers so much in this regard. Even just driving to the city’s outer districts, you have a huge selection of picturesque destinations.
The drive through the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald) is an experience in itself. Vienna is surrounded by forest on three sides. This doesn’t just mean good air, but also endless hiking opportunities and lovely places to visit.
Laxenburg
When we are shorter on time, we often drive to Laxenburg. The palace park is like a walk-in chronicle of the Habsburg dynasty and was a true favorite of the imperial family.
Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) spent their honeymoon here, and Sisi used the endless avenues of the vast park for her legendary, hours-long rides.
A special highlight is the “Green Pavilion” (Grünes Lusthaus), also known as the “Temple of Diana.” It was commissioned by Empress Maria Theresia in 1753.
This pavilion served the imperial family as an exclusive spot for artistic pleasures, such as private concerts. Maria Theresia’s husband, Emperor Franz I. Stephan, is also said to have enjoyed holding his card games here after dinner.
The Vienna Woods are not just the city’s “green lung,” but also a place full of imperial history and inspiration. The Lainzer Tiergarten, a part of this biosphere reserve, was once the private hunting ground of the Habsburgs.
It was right here that Emperor Franz Joseph had the “Hermesvilla” built for Empress Sisi. It was a “Palace of Dreams” in the middle of the woods, which she often used as an escape from the rigid etiquette of the court.
Wienerwald Area
The Kaltenleutgeben valley was once a famous “summer resort” for Viennese society escaping the city heat. Today, it’s an ideal gateway to the Föhrenberge Nature Park.
From here or the neighboring village of Sulz, you can hike through the black pine forests that give the park its name and lend the landscape an almost southern flair.
This area is particularly lovely in autumn, when the beech trees turn color among the dark pines, and you can walk on paths where 19th-century spa guests once sought relief.
Wachau Valley
Further out, the Wachau Valley is basically the epitome of the golden autumn. This is when the grape harvest fills the steep stone terraces with life, and the leaves above the Danube turn into brilliant shades of gold and red. [1]
A hike on the World Heritage Trail (Welterbesteig), past medieval ruins like Dürnstein or Aggstein, offers spectacular views of the river. It’s the perfect time to stop in one of the old wine-growing villages and taste the young wine at a local Heurigen.
Even if not everyone knows the Wachau, most people know the story of King Richard the Lionheart.
After returning from the Third Crusade, the king was captured in 1192 on the orders of Duke Leopold V and imprisoned in the castle high above the town of Dürnstein.
According to legend, it was his loyal minstrel, Blondel, who found him by singing. The enormous ransom England paid for his release is said to have laid the foundation for Vienna’s city walls. Today, the castle ruin remains a powerful symbol of this dramatic story.
Melk
Melk Abbey, a Baroque masterpiece by architect Jakob Prandtauer, forms the western end of the Wachau Valley, standing like a golden crown above the entrance to the Wachau. Its vast abbey library is a world-famous symbol of Enlightenment splendor and served as a direct inspiration for Umberto Eco’s novel “The Name of the Rose.” Melk’s magnificent library is the ultimate image everyone associates with the mysterious, labyrinthine library from the story.
When we have more time and want to stay overnight, we often drive to the north of Austria. The Waldviertel has its own unique charm. Since I’ve spent a lot of time there in the past, it holds a special place in my heart.
Border Towns
Just across the border, there are many picturesque towns in Bohemia and Moravia. One place we have visited often and always love is Český Krumlov.
It’s not just a breathtaking UNESCO World Heritage site, but also a fateful, longed-for destination for Egon Schiele.
It was his mother’s hometown, and Schiele himself moved there in 1911 with his partner Wally Neuzil to escape what he felt was a restrictive Vienna.
During this time, he painted some of his most famous, almost melancholic townscapes, like the “Town on the Blue River.”
This intense creative phase ended abruptly, however, when his unconventional lifestyle and his radical nude drawings shocked the town’s conservative citizens, forcing him and Wally to leave.
Afterword
I am deeply grateful to live in such a beautiful part of the world. While the high quality of life is exceptional—from the high-altitude spring water in Vienna’s taps to the availability of organic food in every place mentioned—what truly brings me joy is something deeper.
It is the magnificent landscape in every season, the profound historical significance, and the constant artistic relevance of this region. And so, I always find something to photograph or simply file away in my visual memory.
footnotes:
[1] I’ve always wondered why winegrowers plant roses in their vineyards. Well, the reason is that roses are more likely to be affected by powdery mildew, and when that happens, growers know they need to take action.
[2] It has become something of a running gag: when foreign friends first communicate with us back home, they tell us that we flush our toilets with spring water here.
Related Article: Lang Lang in Vienna
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