The Ringstraße: the grand boulevard
The opera, two museums, the parliament and the town hall, with the tram for company. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Staatsoper
Start at the *Staatsoper* (the State Opera) where the *Ring* really begins. Don't queue for a ticket on the spot unless you mean it — just walk the building's flank and pick up the boulevard. The standing-room tickets, if you want one later, go on sale the same evening.

2. Maria-Theresien-Platz
The twin museums — *Kunsthistorisches* and *Naturhistorisches* — face each other across the square with the empress seated between them. Pick one if you have an afternoon; both are too much. The art-history museum's stairwell alone is worth the ticket.

3. Parlament
The *Parlament* (the parliament) is the Greek temple on the boulevard, the Pallas Athene fountain out front. Reopened after a long restoration; the dome and the chamber are visitable on a tour, but the facade from the *Ring* is the free show.

4. Rathaus
The neo-Gothic *Rathaus* (the town hall) sits behind its own park, the *Rathausplatz*, which is forever hosting something — a film festival in summer, the ice rink and Christmas market in winter. Walk into the square; the spire is best from directly below.

5. Burgtheater
Across the *Ring* from the *Rathaus*, the *Burgtheater* (the court theatre) closes the pairing — two grand facades staring each other down across the boulevard. The Klimt ceilings inside are seen on a guided tour; the curved wings are the thing from outside.

6. Universität & Votivkirche
End on the university's heavy Renaissance block and, just beyond it, the *Votivkirche* (the twin-spired neo-Gothic church) on its own green. Schottentor and the U2 are right here when you're done.

The Ringstraße: the grand boulevard