Sports and leisure activities Vienna

Vienna is a European capital city surrounded by vineyards. A few women are beginning to make their mark in this male-dominated world. Jutta Ambrositsch is one of the great faces of this feminization. In 2004, she left graphic design to take charge of a 4-hectare vineyard. Her wines feature on the menus of a number of local restaurants. She also opens her vineyard 10 weekends a year with a wine bar: Buschenschank in Residence.

This school is especially dedicated to tourists. Not ready to go ballroom dancing? You don't want to make a fool of yourself! It's time to (re)start waltzing. Before taking part in a Viennese ball, just open the door of this dance school, where a few lessons will suffice to master (more or less) the waltz, but also the polka, and where you'll be informed of the ball season's program, the instructions to follow and the blunders to avoid...

To cook a Viennese schnitzel the old-fashioned way, head for the temple of the Wiener Schnitzel, the restaurant of the Grand Hotel Ferdinand on the Ring: the Meissl & Schadn. Procedure: hammer the meat, coat with flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs, then fry in hot oil. The result is a golden, crispy cutlet, but tender on the inside... Pack a schnitzel hammer in your suitcase to repeat the feat at home.

Want to know all about chocolate? Head for the Heindl Chocolate Museum. A popular spot for chocolate lovers, it's the perfect opportunity to take a trip into the magical world of chocolate. The museum takes you behind the scenes of the chocolate factory, from cocoa cultivation and processing to the production of Sissi palets and Mozart chocolate balls. Chocolate film, chocolate fountains, a glimpse into the production process. The museum also organizes workshops, children's birthday parties and a wide range of other events.

It is Austria's largest climbing gym with an area of 1,200 m² and an average height of 16 m for indoor climbing, whether you are a beginner, a sports climber or an experienced climber. You will evolve on 2,300 m² of varied elements to climb with all levels of difficulty. Equipment (shoes, harnesses and helmets) can be rented on site. The site also offers courses and workshops, a vast sanitary infrastructure and a bar-café.

The Vienna Planetarium has the most modern star projector in the world, which presents the night sky with remarkable realism during a wide variety of astronomical shows. It is located opposite the Urania Observatory which occupies a beautiful Art Nouveau style building. This domed observatory is open to the public for daytime observations of the Sun, or in the evening the Moon and planets for a fun introduction to astronomy.

There are no cliffs in Vienna, so grab your climbing shoes and go climbing indoors. The Edelweiss Center offers a large climbing gym, ideal for perfecting your technique and fine-tuning your training before heading to the Austrian mountains. This is where top athletes come to train, with warm-up and ab workouts. Austrian climbers who live in Vienna are regulars here. Children come here to learn how to climb and young people enjoy meeting up.

The Austrian capital is home to a number of golf clubs that are open to non-members, including City & Country Golf, Golf Club Wienerberg, a 9-hole course popular with beginners, Golf Club Wien-Süssenbrunn, an 18-hole course 15 minutes from the center where competitions are held regularly, City Golf Vienna, a relaxed club, and Golf Club Marco Polo, a 9-hole course 15 minutes north of Vienna with a wide variety of courses. The Golf Club Wien Freudenau, meanwhile, is located in the middle of the green Prater, close to the city center.