(3 Maria Treu Gasse. Tel. 01 944 2272) Crêpes galore in a laid-back spot near the Piarist church and monastery. Also serves breakfasts.

  (4 Dr Karl Lueger Ring. Tel. 01 2410 0111) One of the grandees of the Vienna café scene, popular with serious-looking chaps in suits. Serves very reasonable set lunches in an old-school setting.

  (4 Wallnerstrasse . Tel. 01 533 0812) If the sun puts in an appearance, you’ll be hard pushed to find a more delightful lunch spot than the Regina. The Neapolitan owner dishes up authentic pizzas and other Italian classics.

  (9 Karntner Ring . Tel. 01 5158 09100) Ambassadorial style at the Grand Hotel. It recently scooped top marks from the prestigious Gault Millau guide, so you can expect some excellent Austrian cuisine. Jacket and tie are the norm.

  (2 Backerstrasse . Tel. 01 513 1227) A cosy wine bar complete with potty 17th-century carousel organ. Wooden dancing figures emerge to join in the fun as each hour strikes. A perfect den to sample some local vintages.

  (51 Langegasse. Tel. 01 405 9517) Stroke your goatee and sip some Jim Beam at this smooth jazz diamond. One of the top jazz spots in town (www.miles-smiles.at).

  (5 Praterstern. Tel. ) Hipsters head to Fluc where DJs dish up some slinky blips and beats. See the website for news of upcoming events (www.fluc.at, Austrian only).

The Julius Meinl delicatessen, on the Graben, is a one-stop shop that has all the edible presents you could hope for. Imagine a Viennese Fortnum & Mason and you’re on the right lines.

Hidden away, round an unprepossessing corner, the Burggarten is one of the city’s favourite hang-outs (when it’s not tipping down with rain). A former imperial garden, it’s now a public park—and a superlative one at that. The terrace café is an ideal place to recharge your batteries.

Once a village in its own right, Grinzing is the epicentre of Vienna’s heurige culture. The cosy wine taverns offer a quintessential Austrian experience, albeit a tad touristy in peak season.

Tutankhamun and the World of the Pharoahs is one of the finest Egyptian shows to have hit Austrian soil. More than 150 treasures are on display in a sumptuous setting at the Ethnological Museum throughout May.

 – Believe it or not, the Slovak capital is just 50 minutes away, so if you’re curious about seeing a city in transition, Bratislava is your oyster. There are regular trains from the Südbahnhof.

The Imperial palm house at Schönbrunn is one of the largest in the world. But not large enough for one eager palm. A 170-year-old tree was felled last month after it began to bash through the roof.