Surroundings, Vienna

Kahlenberg stands 484m/1,585ft high. It is, so to speak, Vienna's own "mountain" and virtually the last part of the Vienna Woods to the east. There is a magnificent view from the terrace with its fine Heurige restaurant. Farther off, beyond the city and the Marchfeld, the Little Carpathians and the Schneeberg region. On the summit of the Kahlenberg stands a television tower and the recently restored 22m/72ft- high Stephanie Observatory (125 steps to the top; open Sun., pub. hols. 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.) which was a gift from Crown Princess Stephanie in the 1880s, designed by Fellner and Helmer who were the architects of the Viennese theaters and the Ringstrasse. It was from up here that in 1683 the relieving army of the Polish Prince Sobieski brought aid at the 11th hour to the city of Vienna which was being besieged and almost overrun by the Turks for a second time. The event is commemorated by the Sobieski Chapel in the little Baroque Church of St Joseph. Poets and composers have always had a soft spot for Kahlenberg. The fact that it was once called "Sow Hill", presumably on account of the numbers of wild boar in the dense oak woods, was forgotten long ago. Grillparzer wrote: "If you have seen the land all around from the top of Kahlenberg, you will understand what I have written and what I am".

Heiligenstadt, incorporated in Döbling in 1892, is the oldest and prettiest of the Viennese villages.Its narrow winding streets have helped to keep it free from too much bustle. In the area around Probusgasse and Armbrustergasse it is still possible to see how the place used to look, with its Empire and early 19th C. houses.St Jacob's Church on the Pfarrplatz was built in Romanesque times on Roman foundations; although frequently destroyed, altered and rebuilt, it is still worth seeing.Beethoven stayed in Heiligenstadt on several occasions.

Fields and meadows, vines and woodland are the distinctive features of the March-Donauland to the east of Vienna. Two of the places in this area most deserving of a visit are Carnuntum, worth seeing for its Roman excavations, and Rohrau, Hadyn's birthplace. The visitor who follows the 110km/68mi long route through the Marchfeld described here will be on historic ground. It was here that the Quadi fought against the Romans (first-fourth C.); it was here that battles were fought against the Hungarians in the Middle Ages, against the Turks in the 17th C. and against Napoleon at Aspern and Deutsch-Wagram in the 19th C. We leave Vienna across the Praterstern and the Reichsbrücke, passing the impressive "UNO City". In 6km/4mi the Kagran Bridge crosses the Old Danube, the former main course of the river. In Aspern (5km/3mi) a stone lion outside the parish church is a memorial of the Battle of Aspern (1809), when Archduke Charles inflicted a defeat on Napoleon; the latter, however, succeeded a little later in crossing the Danube at Wagram. South of Aspern extends the Lobau Nature Reserve, a delightful scenic area of grassland, watered by the Old Danube. The route continues through Gross-Enzersdorf (5.5km/3mi), Orth (14km/9mi), which has a castle with four towers, and Eckartsau (9km/5.5mi), with a former imperial hunting lodge, to Stopfenreuth (7km/4mi) where we turn north to the River March which here flows into the Danube. The route now passes through Engelhartstetten (4km/2.5mi) to Schlosshof Castle, built in 1725-29 by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt for Prince Eugene and later enlarged for Maria Theresa, and finally reaches Marchegg (8.5km/5mi) on the March which forms the boundary with the Czech Republic and where the meadows are a nature reserve. The former hunting lodge houses the Hunting Museum of Lower Austria. From here we turn west and return to Vienna via Obersiedenbrunn (15km/9mi) with a Baroque church and a castle, which was rebuilt for Prince Eugene in 1730, and through Markgrafneusiedl (6km/4mi) on the Russbach.

The Lainzer Wildlife Park occupies 24·5sq.km/9.5 sq.mi of unspoiled landscape. Here the Vienna Woods have remained almost untouched, with oaks and beeches, roe deer and red deer, wild boars, moufflons, fallow deer and aurochs. There are six other entrances apart from the Lainzer Tor, but they are not always open.Once the hunting reserve of Emperor Joseph II, it was fenced off with a stone wall 24km/15mi long built between 1782 and 1787 on the orders of Empress Maria Theresa. It has been open to the public since 1921, the property of the city of Vienna since 1937 and a conservation area since 1941. In September a Hunters' Fair is held near St Nicholas' Chapel in honor of St Eustace, patron saint of the hunt. In the park there are 80km/ 50mi of footpaths, refreshment places and shelters, children's playgrounds and the 14m/46ft high Huburtuswarte observation tower on the Kaltenbründlberg (508m/1667ft above sea level). Nature lovers will be interested in the old oak trees on Johannser Kogel, some of which are more than 350 years old. In July and August the Lipizzaner horses of the Spanish Riding School spend their "summer holidays" in the Hermes Villa Park.The Hermesvilla in the park is often opened up for special exhibitions or cultural events.

The little village of Grinzing is first mentioned in records in 1114. It was destroyed by the Turks in 1529 and there was a great fire in 1604. The village was destroyed again by the Turks in 1683, and in 1809 by the French. Individuals may purchase 1 sq.m/1sq.yd of land with a vine and the right to the produce. Prominent owners of Grinzing vines include the Pope, Dalai Lama, Jimmy Carter and Sophia Loren. The old houses and lanes are nestled in gardens. Establishments which are open place branches of spruce over their entrances, and a sign is hung out. The large "Heurige" in Grinzing and the so-called "Nobel Heurige" are for the most part only pseudo-Heurige. They serve hot and cold meals. An evening in one of the gardens surrounded by the wonderful countryside is certainly to be recommended as are walks around nearby Kahlenberg and Leopoldsberg.

The Marchauenn bei Marchegg Nature Reserve is located on the March River, 30mi northeast of Vienna.

In Rohrau is Joseph Haydn's birthplace. House No. 60 has on display the room in which he was born and mementos.

This day trip features beautiful views of the mountains.