Lainzer Tiergarten: the walled wood and the palace of dreams
A walled imperial hunting wood with wild boar, old oaks, and the villa Franz Joseph built for Sisi. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Lainzer Tor
The main gate, reached by bus from Hietzing. Past it, the city stops dead and an enormous walled wood begins. Check the gate's hours board — the *Tiergarten* opens and closes with the daylight, and you don't want to be locked in.

2. The old oaks
The first stretch in is ancient woodland — oaks and beeches that predate the city's reach out here. Keep to the marked paths; this is a nature reserve, not a park, and the quiet is the point.

3. Hermesvilla
The villa Franz Joseph built for the Empress Elisabeth — Sisi — to keep her closer to Vienna. He called it her *Schloss der Träume*, the palace of dreams; she came rarely. It now houses a *Wien Museum* exhibition. The forecourt and the building are the draw whether or not you go in.

4. The wild boar and deer enclosures
The Tiergarten still keeps wild boar, deer and *Mufflon* (wild sheep), some in viewing enclosures near the centre. Children stall here for ages; so, quietly, do adults. Don't feed them, whatever the temptation.

5. Hubertuswarte
A lookout tower on the *Kaltbründlberg*, the high point of the reserve. Climb the iron stair for a view over the treetops to the city and the *Wienerwald* ridges. The walk's one real ascent, and worth it.

6. Back through the forest to Lainzer Tor
The loop back drops through forest the way you came in, the wall reappearing as you near the gate. Time it against the closing hour posted at the entrance. The bus back to Hietzing waits outside.

Lainzer Tiergarten: the walled wood and the palace of dreams