Augarten

The Augarten in the 2nd district is the park the Viennese go to when they want to escape the tourist circuit, and it is full of surprises. It began as an imperial hunting ground in the early seventeenth century, was laid out as a formal garden later that century, and in 1775 Emperor Joseph II opened it to everyone, with an inscription over the gate dedicating it as a place of recreation for all people from one who esteems them; entry is still free. Covering around 52 hectares, it keeps its Baroque bones: long, straight avenues lined with clipped chestnut and lime trees radiating across lawns and woodland, with the geometry best appreciated on foot. Music runs through its history. In the garden pavilion, Mozart gave morning concerts in the 1780s and Beethoven later performed here too, and today the Baroque Palais Augarten is home to the school and boarding house of the Vienna Boys Choir, whose modern concert hall, MuTh, stands at the southern tip of the park. Beside the old palace building is the Augarten porcelain manufactory, one of the oldest porcelain makers in Europe, founded in 1718, with a museum, a shop and guided tours of the workshops where pieces are still made and painted by hand. Then there is the unexpected: two enormous concrete flak towers built during the Second World War, part of Vienna's air defence, which could shelter thousands of people and were too massive to demolish afterwards. Today they stand empty, brooding over the treetops, a stark reminder of the twentieth century in the middle of an eighteenth-century garden. Around them, the park is used the way locals use it: playgrounds, an outdoor family pool, dog zones, runners on the avenues, picnics on the grass and, in summer, an open-air cinema run by the Austrian film archive.

How to visit: the main entrance is on Obere Augartenstrasse in the 2nd district, a short walk across the Danube Canal from the old town, or by tram to the park's edges. The park is open every day from early morning until dusk, with seasonal hours. Allow an hour for a walk through the avenues, longer if you visit the porcelain museum or join a manufactory tour, which runs on several weekday mornings, needs advance registration and is usually in German with English on request. The porcelain museum and shop are open Monday to Saturday and closed on Sundays.

Making a day of it: there are two good places to eat in the park, a restaurant with a garden terrace overlooking the formal paths and a relaxed tavern-style spot for regional food, Viennese wine and coffee. Combine the park with a concert by the Vienna Boys Choir at MuTh if dates match, or with a wander through the neighbouring Leopoldstadt district, home to the Karmelitermarkt, a lively local food market with cafes and stalls. In summer, check the open-air cinema programme for films under the trees.

Who it suits: families, thanks to playgrounds, a pool and open space; couples who want a quiet, local walk; music lovers drawn by the Mozart story and the Boys Choir; and history buffs, for whom the contrast between the Baroque avenues and the wartime flak towers is unforgettable. It is not manicured like Schonbrunn, and that is precisely its charm: a real neighbourhood park with a remarkable past. Come with no agenda, follow one of the long avenues to its end, and you will see a side of Vienna that most visitors, busy queuing at the palaces, never discover.