VIENNA, AUSTRIA - Once youʼve enjoyed your first taste of Vienna, you might just find yourself coming back time and time again. This is a city that delights those with a more refined palate, and especially those with a sense of style and a passion for history. Taste is subjective of course, but if you seek a feast for the senses, then Vienna is the destination for you. After all, this is a city that isnʼt just fit for a king (or queen), it was built for emperors.
Kings, queens, arch-dukes, and empresses (some of whom, like Prince Eugene of Savoy, Charles VI, and cross-dressing Archduke Ludwig Viktor, were considered part of "our family") have all left their marks on this grand city, which was for centuries the seat of the mighty Habsburg empire. These days thankfully, you donʼt have to be royalty to enjoy the sumptuous riches that are waiting for you in Vienna. Now every visitor can experience a dazzling royal history that is priceless.
As the center of an empire, Vienna has long been a magnet for attracting the best of the best when it comes to art, music, cuisine and tasteful culture. Many of the worldʼs most acclaimed artists, composers, thinkers and performers have made their mark here. Mingle among them as you linger over a famous chocolate cake Sachertorte and newspaper in an historic kaffehaus favored by Sigmund Freud or Gustav Klimt - while a live pianist entertains you.
This is a city with many facets: multi-cultural, multi-lingual, sophisticated and indulgent, sensuous and innovative. Despite such a long and storied history, this is not a city that dwells in the past. It is fresh, creative, original, and gay and lesbian tourists will find as much to do in the nighttime as there is to do in daytime, all over Viennaʼs Rosa-Lila-Villa and on Linke Wienzeile. The thriving cafe culture and excellent restaurants are central to life here, a fact that residents of Vienna take great pride in. In essence, Vienna today continues to define good taste in all of these areas and more.
Vienna hosts a number of world-renowned gay festivals annually, including the Life Ball, a flamboyant AIDS/HIV charity event, the Regenbogen Ball (Rainbow Ball) where gays and lesbians waltz arm-in-arm, Vienna Pride and Rainbow Parade, and the international leather and fetish convention Wien ist Schwarz ("Vienna in black").
In short, Vienna is a city of the finest pedigree. See www.facebook.com/gayfriendlyvienna