Between the talks and networking, try these lunch spots, museums and sights you should visit while attending the Pioneers Festival 2017.
First mentioned in 1279, the Hofburg was originally a castle and part of the city’s fortifications. With 16 wings, over 2,600 rooms, the former seat of imperial power and winter residence of the Habsburgs is a city unto itself. With the demise of the empire in 1918 freeing up much of the space in and around the palace, government offices and cultural institutions moved in, granting new purpose to the complex and fully integrating it into the fabric of Vienna city life.
And there’s lots to see, a legacy of over six centuries of arts patronage, such as the Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury) of crown jewels and imperial regalia and the magnificent National Library with over seven million books, some dating to the 4th century. There are two lovely churches, the intimate Hofburg Kapelle, home of the Vienna Boys Choir, and the 14th century Augustinerkirche, site of the weddings of the future Empress Maria Theresia and later of Franz Josef I with the legendary “Sissi” – where every
week full masses by Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn or Haydn are performed by a full choir and orchestra.
Then just next door is the Albertina, a major collection of drawings and prints by old masters as well as impressionist and early 
20th century art, and underneath, the Austrian Film Museum, with regular screenings and retrospectives from their massive archive. If you feel the need for lunch to go, the all-hours Wurstelstand Bitzinger on the corner of Albertina serves up juicy sausages for hungry denizens of the night. Try the Käsekrainer. You can also check out Miss Maki at Neuer Markt, a fresh take on sushi with seasonal Austrian ingredients; or enjoy some homemade Bohemian-Austrian classics at Meinl To Go. Across the Burgring from Heldenplatz are the twin museums KHM and NHM, housing notable works and artefacts of the imperial art and natural history collections.
Stable Art
On across the square, the former court stables were repurposed in 2001 as the irresistible Museumsquartier, a huge high-culture playground with a focus on contemporary developments. Check out the Leopold Museum, which houses the world’s largest Schiele 
collection; and Subotron, a shrine/store dedicated to “antique” video games and geek culture. Beside offering quirky collector’s items like Mexican lucha libre masks, Tetris-block ice trays and vintage games and gizmos, they also regularly host events on digital gaming theory and practice.
No Sleep till Gumpendorf
Then on across Mariahilfer Straße, Vienna’s popular shopping mile, numerous bars, cafés and restaurants beckon. Top Kino, an arthouse cinema, bar and café, is a popular hangout for alternative food and films, and If Dogs Run Free
serves antique cocktail recipes in a trendy environment. Right next door, Café Phil caters to off-beat literati and cinephiles with vintage furniture and shelves of film-related books for browsing and sale space. Across the street, the iconic Café Sperl radiates old world charm, featured in films like David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method and Richard Linklater’s classic romantic chestnut Before Sunrise.
The emperor’s backyard
Heading back, restaurant Burgring 1 is popular with both hipsters and the business crowd, offering contemporary Austrian classics in a stripped down, bare-brick environment. Toward the opera, Said the Butcher to the Cow turns hipster appeal up to eleven, serving artisanal cheesecake, burgers and gin tonics amid irony-laden historical photos.
Crossing to the Burggarten, the palace’s formally private lawns are now swarmed by student and citizen soaking in the warmth. Its centerpiece is the Palmenhaus, an art noveau glass house where imperials used to unwind. Now a classy restaurant and broad terrace from which to see and be seen, the adjoining tropical butterfly garden has about 500 beauties, fluttering free amid the greenery.
On the other side of the palace complex is the Volksgarten (people’s garden), with a magnificent rose garden, a faux Greek temple and a large memorial to the ever-popular Empress Elisabeth if you’re in the mood for a picknick.
Points of Interest near Hofburg
Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury)
1., Hofburg, Schweizerhof,
daily ex. Tuesdays, 09:00-17:30
(01) 525 24-0
Albertina
1., Albertinaplatz 1,
daily 10:00-18:00, Wednesdays 10:00-21:00
(01) 534 83-0
Volksgarten (Park)
1010 Wien
open 24 hours
Subotron
7., Museumplatz 1,
Wednesday-Saturday 13:00-18:00
(01) 470 22 44
Top Kino
6., Rahlgasse 1
Monday-Wednesday 11:00-02:00, Thursday-Saturday 11:00-04:00, Sundays 10:30-00:00
(01) 208 30 300
Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM)/ Naturhistorisches Museum (NHM)
1., Maria-Theresien-Platz (both)
NHM daily ex. Tuesdays, 09:00-18:30, Wednesdays 09:00-21:00
(01)521 77-0
KHM Tuesday-Sunday 10:00-18:00, Thursdays 10:00-21:00
(01)525 24-0
Lunch & Dinner
Café Sperl
6., Gumpendorferstraße 11
Monday-Saturday 07:00-23:00 Sundays 11:00-20:00
(01) 586 4158
Burgring 1
1., Burgring 1
Monday-Thursday 11:00-01:00, Fridays 11:00-02:00, Saturdays 09:00-02:00, Sundays 09:00-18:00
(01) 581 1393
Said the Butcher to the Cow
1., Opernring 11
Tuesdays & Wednesdays 17:00-01:00 & Thursday-Saturday 17:00-02:00
(01) 535 6969
Palmenhaus
1., Burggarten 1
Monday-Friday 10:00-00:00, Saturdays 09:00-00:00, Sundays 09:00-23:00
(01) 533 1033
Lunch to Go
Miss Maki
1., Neuer Markt 8a
Monday-Friday 11:00-19:00
0664 4258091
Meinl to Go
1., Graben 19
Monday-Friday 08:00-19:30, Saturday 09:00-18:00
(0)1 532 33 34 6200
Würstelstand Bitzinger
1., Albertinaplatz
Monday-Saturday 08:00-05:00, Sunday 08:00-04:00
0664 88622428
This guide is based on our Hofburg Grätzl guide from May 2016.
