Hotels near Kahlenberg

Kahlenberg rises 484 metres at the eastern end of the Vienna Woods and gives the long view over the whole city with the Danube running through it. It is where the relief army assembled before the Battle of Vienna in 1683, and the church at the summit, Sankt Josef, commemorates it. The terrace beside the church is free, and the view runs from the Danube Island across to the Alps on a clear day.

The walk down is the point. A marked path drops through the vineyards and beech woods to Nussdorf in about 90 minutes, passing Leopoldsberg and emerging among the Heuriger taverns at the bottom. In October the vines have turned yellow and the woods behind them are copper, and you finish the descent at a tavern door. Boots rather than trainers: the path is steep and gets slick.

Pro Tip: Take the U4 to Heiligenstadt and bus 38A up, then walk down instead of riding back. Start by 1pm in late October: the light goes before 5pm after the clocks change and the wooded sections of the descent are unlit.