The Prater and the Riesenrad

The Wiener Riesenrad, the Giant Ferris Wheel, is one of Vienna's most loved landmarks and one of the oldest Ferris wheels still turning anywhere. It was built in 1897 by the English engineer Walter Basset to mark the golden jubilee of Emperor Franz Joseph, at a time when great wheels were the sensation of world fairs, and it has stood at the entrance to the Prater ever since. Burned in the last days of the Second World War, it was rebuilt with fewer cabins, and two years later it became a film star: in The Third Man, Orson Welles as Harry Lime delivers his famous speech about the Borgias and the cuckoo clock in one of its red wooden gondolas. A ride lasts around a quarter of an hour, one slow rotation in a cabin like a small tram carriage, rising to about 65 metres with views across the Prater, the Danube, the skyline of the Donau City towers and back to St Stephens. Tickets are modest, open daily from the morning until late in the evening, and the wheel is at its most magical at dusk and after dark. A small museum in the base tells the story in old cabins. Around the wheel spreads the Wurstelprater, the funfair, which has entertained the Viennese since the eighteenth century, when Emperor Joseph II opened the imperial hunting grounds to the public: entry is free and you pay ride by ride, from vintage carousels and ghost trains to modern roller coasters and drop towers. Beyond the funfair, the Prater is a huge green park, with the Hauptallee, a chestnut-lined avenue of about four and a half kilometres, perfect for walking, running and cycling, meadows, woodland, the miniature Liliputbahn railway and some of the city's classic beer gardens. It is the Viennese way to spend a summer evening.

Riding the wheel well: tickets can be bought on the spot, but booking online skips the ticket queue, which can be long on summer weekends and in the late afternoon. Go around sunset, when the light falls across the city and the lights of the funfair start to glow; in winter, dusk comes early and the views of the illuminated city are equally fine. Private cabins can be booked for special occasions, with dinners and celebrations, and there are guided experiences on the wheel's platforms. The ride is gentle and slow, suitable for nearly everyone, but those with a strong fear of heights should know the cabins sway slightly at the top.

The Wurstelprater and the park: the funfair is open from spring to autumn, with some rides and restaurants operating all year round, and the atmosphere ranges from old-fashioned family fun by day to a lively, sometimes raucous scene on summer nights. Classic Viennese food stands sell sausages, langos and candyfloss, and the Prater's beer gardens are institutions, serving roast pork knuckle and draught beer under the chestnut trees in the warm months. The green Prater stretches far beyond, and the Hauptallee leads all the way to the Lusthaus, a former imperial hunting pavilion turned café, at its far end. Families can ride the Liliputbahn steam and diesel trains through the park.

Getting there: the Riesenrad stands at Riesenradplatz, a few minutes' walk from Praterstern station, served by the U1 and U2 underground lines, S-Bahn trains and trams. From the Old Town it is a ten-minute ride. The Prater is in Leopoldstadt, the district across the Danube Canal, which also has the Augarten park and porcelain manufactory, and the Karmelitermarkt food market. Pair the wheel with a meal in the park, or with the Danube Canal's bars and street art on the way back to the centre.