The Spanish Riding School in Vienna with its Lipizzan horses ballet can be experienced live in the baroque ambiance of the Imperial Palace. It is the only institution in the world where the classic equestrian skills (haute école) has been preserved and is still practiced in its original form dating back to the 18th century. Many years of training fuse horse and rider into an inseparable unit. Even if you are not a horse lover: this is a truly exceptional experience: the precision of movement of the Lipizzan horses in perfect harmony with their riders and the music is truly something you won’t see elsewhere; with its willingness to devote enormous amounts of time and training for a performance that has no other value other than its praise of beauty makes us reminiscent of former times.

The 25hours hotel chain converted an old student hostel near the MuseumsQuartier into a hip designer hotel. Definitely worth visiting if you like modern design and unusual architecture! The entire hotel is dedicated to the topic of the circus. Not only the rooms, but also the bar, the so-called attic, are furnished with interesting and humorous finds from the circus ring. The view at the bar is fantastic: you see almost all the way to the Natural History museum. You can come here for any chilled occasion, as well as for breakfast on the roof terrace on weekends! And at night, when the city illuminates, the atmosphere raises its level of romance immediately! 

Vienna’s seventh district has been one of the city’s leading creative centers for a number of years now thanks to its quirky stores, bars, workshops and cultural initiatives. Branching out from the area around Neubaugasse, a new hotspot is now emerging around Burggasse and St. Ulrichs-Platz.

Retro fashion store Goldstück Vienna offers 1940s and 1950s-style dresses, blouses and skirts. The shop is just a short walk from Veganista Ice Cream, Vienna’s first ever vegan ice cream parlor. Open all year round, it serves sustainable, fair trade ice cream in a range of conventional and unusual varieties. The Eigensinnig concept store has set up shop in an attractive historic vaulted space, with unplastered walls and concrete floors creating an edgy aesthetic. At the corner of the idyllic St.-Ulrichs-Platz, the vintage store and café Burggasse 24 offers selected hip, second-hand fashion in light-drenched rooms with high ceilings. The charming showroom Die Sellerie offers fine art prints, stationery, home accessories and special gift ideas, developed or personally selected by four graphic designers. Last but not least the Pure Living Bakery serves delicious bagels, sandwiches and cakes in a cozy, shabby chic Environment. 

Back in the 1860s a certain area of the 18th and 19th district was exclusively dedicated to be covered with English cottages or what people of this time imagined they would look like. Later on villas inspired by the French and Italian were raised here. The cottage quarter is a remarkable green neighbourhood, including some parks as well as the main buildings of Boku (university of natural resources and life sciences) and its gardens. Although Vienna in general has quite a well-balanced spreading of social stratums, here you are definitely in a rich neighbourhood.
Many prominent people lived and live here, as for example Austrian author and dramatist Arthur Schnitzler, Austro-Hungarian writer Theodor Herzl, Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán, and today American lyric baritone Thomas Hampson and Austrian artist Arik Brauer. The „cottage-style“ villas often do have impressive red brick façades or are characterized by rural building elements. Most of them were bougeois family houses, errected during the years 1873–74 as an answer to the costly palace like apartment houses. To ensure the high quality of living conditions in the Cottagequarter on a continuing basis, a particular Cottage-Easement was established. The residents committed - and still commit themselves today - to comply with certain structural restrictions.

Therefore, if you take a walk in the Cottagequarter you will note that the architectural styles differ a lot from what Vienna usually looks like in the inner districts. From the magnificent mansion to the dreamy chateau like in a fairy tale, you will always discover something new.

Rather than cite guide books on Vienna, we thought it would be useful to you to have a look at newspapers and magazines, where the Viennese look up and get their latest info on where to hang out. From restaurants and bar openings to events, exhibitions, entertainment and more. We are confident you will find lot of fantastic information – and inspiration! – in the following publications. (Unfortunately, some of them are available in German only, but there are still 20 weeks of time to improve your language skills ;-)):
Falter Best of Vienna Magazine (also online in German only at http://www.falter.at/best-of-vienna/) offers news and events in the rubrics “Food & Drinks”, “Leisure”, “Culture” and “Style”, sectioned into the 23 Vienna districts.
If you are more into art, architecture and design, you should have a look at MAK/ZINE. Published in both German and English by the MAK – Austrian Museumof Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, the magazine is released twice a year and is distributed at airport and railway station kiosks in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, as well as in selected Austrian and international bookstores and at the MAK Design Shop. 
Friday-issue of Austrian daily newspaper “Die Presse” - available at news-stands and small “Trafik” shops everywhere - with its lifestyle- and arts supplement “Schaufenster” (German for shop-window) covers the most important news in the areas fashion, beauty, design, gourmet, travelling and culture; it also contains the programs of cinemas, theaters and concert halls as well as gallery shows of the whole coming week.
The bilingual (German/English) published magazine Camera Austria occupies a special, internationally respected role in the scope of discourse on photography as a contemporary art practice.
Magazine Datum is published on a monthly basis in German language and aims at the Austrian intellectual, providing thoughtful researched articles with background information. Topics covered are Austrian politics, foreign policy, media and culture. In September 2005, Tyler Brûlé elected Datum "best news magazine" in his "Fast Lane Media Awards". 
Finally Austrian most renowned art magazine PARNASS delivers four times a year insight into the fascinating world of art with a heavy focus on the Austrian scene. It introduces important collectors, artists, gallery owners and art dealers and is a perfect introduction into the Austrian art Scene.