Vienna 'green' capital between imperial gardens and urban beaches

The elegance of the imperial palaces, the music, the museums and the historic cafés: Vienna's virtues are well known, but what makes it a perfect summer travel destination is also its 'green' soul, with more than half a million trees and the gem of the Donau-Auen National Park with the Lobau area, one of Europe's last unspoilt river forests. The Austrian capital is one of the 'greenest' cities in the world and this virtue can be experienced by strolling through the elegant parks along the Ringstrasse, the baroque gardens of the Belvedere and Schönbrunn or the wide open spaces of the Prater, a former hunting reserve opened to the public by Emperor Joseph II in 1766 that still preserves stretches of wild forest. In the summer months, the attraction for many (locals and tourists alike) is the 21-kilometre-long Danube Island, where one can swim, rent boats, go cycling and enjoy outdoor sports. Equally popular is the Wienerwald, the Vienna Woods, declared a Biosphere Reserve, where hiking trails, forests and views of the urban vineyards surrounding the city alternate. If parks are destinations to be planned, so too can be more hidden gardens, often belonging to museums, historic villas or cultural institutions. This is the case of the Gartenpalais Liechtenstein, in the ninth district, a stone's throw from Sigmund Freud's house-museum, with its open spaces that open to the public in summer (from 7 to 30 July) for music festivals and summer shows. Or the Geymüllerschlössel, a Biedermeier-style villa in the elegant 18th district and a branch of the MAK (Museum für Angewandte Kunst), complete with contemporary art installations in the park and the Salon Plafond restaurant and cocktail bar. Among the more singular and urban-chic places, the Badeschiff, a bathing boat moored in the Danube Canal, with a swimming pool on deck and a lounge bar overlooking the water, certainly deserves a mention. Those who don't want to miss out on a good drink can stop off at one of the Heurigen, the traditional taverns, scattered among the vineyards (such as Wieninger am Nussberg or Hans & Fritz), to one of the many panoramic terraces in the centre, such as Aurora in the new Sonnwendviertel district or the classic Chez Bernard in the sixth district.