10 Things to Do Off the Beaten Track in Vienna

The Narrenturm is a former insane asylum that today is an unusual and quirky museum dedicated to the science of 'pathological anatomy', with bizarre and macabre human body exhibits. The building's name translates to Fools' Tower, and it was among the very first asylums ever built. Here you can see such bizarre exhibits as graphical wax recreations of untreated social diseases, syphilitic skulls, a narwhal tusk, and taxidermied monkeys, as well as the skeleton of a person with hydrocephalus.

Because of the graphic nature of this museum and its exhibits, it's neither for the faint of heart nor very young children. It's 20 minutes north-west of Vienna.

The Museum of Art Fakes is a small art museum that has no original artwork but is entirely made up of some of the most convincing fakes in history. Here you can see paintings and other works that look exactly like those created by Rembrandt, Matisse, Klimt and other masters of their craft but are actually forgeries and counterfeits, sometimes made for profit, and sometimes just to prove the forger could do it. The museum celebrates the artistry in forgery and distinguishes stylistic forgery, replication forgery and legitimate copies.

This fascinating museum even showcases forgeries that have themselves become valuable. It's right in the heart of Vienna's city centre.

Jubiläumswarte, or the Jubilee Tower, is an observation mail in Ottakring whose location dates to 1898 and offers astounding panoramic views of the surrounding green forests and hills. The original wooden tower is long gone, first replaced by a steel one, then in 1956 by the concrete one that stands today. Reaching the tower requires a hike, and climbing the tower requires ascending 31 meters into the sky. Be sure to bring water and snacks, because there aren't any restaurants or shops in the immediate vicinity.

Though the walk can be a bit long, it's not overly strenuous, and it can be great for a family bonding trip or a romantic getaway. It's about 35 minutes west of the city centre.

The Hundertwasserhaus is a large apartment building in the heart of the city centre that's famed as an explosion of shape and color with gloriously mismatched design and decor. People flock here from all over to see this building with its bizarre look that was designed for free by famous architect Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser in the early 1980s. Even more interesting, the building was designed specifically to stop the construction of another building in its place that the architect found distasteful.

After capturing a few photos of this building, just steps away you can visit an art museum filled with Hundertwasser's other works. It's right on the waterfront, so you can enjoy a walk along the river while here.

The Austrian National Library is a vast library full of books from the latest bestsellers to unique and ancient tomes, all housed in a stunning baroque building. This building was originally the court library of the Habsburg dynasty, and it's one of the largest and most important libraries in the world, housing more than 2.5 million volumes with a collection dating to the 14th century. The original construction took place in the 18th century, and it was completed in 1726.

Be sure to stop and check out the dual Venetian globes representing the Earth and sky, and watch out for the hidden passages behind the bookcases. The library is 12 minutes west of the Vienna city centre.

The Globe Museum offers a chance to see hundreds of uniquely handcrafted representations of the world we share, made by artisans from all across history. The collection includes not just world globes, but also celestial globes that showcase the heavens as well as the Earth. This is among the only museums of its type in the world, with everything from folding fabric globes to tiny globes that fit in the palm of your hand and globes the size of a full-sized human being, all handmade.

The museum also contains a collection of brass tellurions, mechanical devices meant to demonstrate the movement of the Earth and moon in relation to the sun. It's only 12 minutes west of the city centre.

The Cemetery of the Nameless is both beautiful and macabre, a resting place for John and Jane Does whose bodies have been fished out of the Danube. The cemetery was opened in 1840 and expanded in 1900. A small, modernist chapel was added in 1935. The older part of the cemetery is abandoned and overgrown, making for haunting photo opportunities, but the newer part surrounded by a small wall is still cared for. The last nameless body was buried here in 1940. Most graves are decorated with black iron crosses and silver crucifixes.

This cemetery is located in Simmering at the junction of the Danube and Donaukanal. It's a hidden gem about 20 minutes south-east of the city centre.

The Kaisergruft, or the Habsburg Imperial Crypt, is the final resting place for over 140 members of the famed Habsburg family from 1430 to 1740. The Habsburg dynasty was one of the most important imperial dynasties in history, ruling over a great swath of Europe from the 15th century to the end of World War I. The crypt is filled with intricate sarcophagi as well as elegant silver urns and reliquaries. The interred bodies here include 12 emperors and 18 empresses as well as more than 100 other important members of the family.

A visit here is quite literally a walk into history. It's right in the heart of the city centre.

The Vienna Clock Museum is housed in one of the oldest houses in Vienna and offers a look at nearly 1,000 clocks dating back hundreds of years. One of the clocks is an astronomical clock built in 1679 by an Augustinian friar that is precisely calibrated all the way up to the year 9999. It's an engineering marvel with golden gears, more than 30 dials and readings, and a 20,000-year revolution. The exhibits here are arranged in chronological order and cover everything from pocket watches to tower clocks, sundials, Japanese pillar clocks, cuckoo clocks, grandfather clocks and even a clock organ.

This museum is a stunning walk through time–literally. It's in the heart of the city centre.

The Kriminalmuseum is a bizarre and macabre museum dedicated to historical murders throughout the history of Vienna in all their disturbing and morbid fascination. Here you can see exhibits full of bloody gloves, medieval torture devices, skulls, death masks, rusty headsman's axes and depictions of murder and death. This museum follows the history of crime, punishment and murder dating back to the Middle Ages. It's housed in a building that dates to 1685, and it's spread over 20 rooms.

Besides the morbid, you can also see counterfeit money, lock picks and exhibits on brothels and police investigation. It's not for kids or the faint of heart. The museum is only 12 minutes north of the city centre.