Fodor's Expert Review Prater

In 1766, to the dismay of the aristocracy, Emperor Josef II decreed that the vast expanse of imperial parklands known as the Prater would henceforth be open to the public. East of the inner city between the Danube Canal and the Danube proper, the Prater is a public park to this day, notable for its long promenade (the Hauptallee, more than 4½ km [3 miles] in length); the traditional amusement-park rides; a planetarium; and a small but interesting museum devoted to the Prater's long history. If you look carefully, you can discover a handful of children's rides dating from the '20s and '30s that survived the fire that consumed most of the Volksprater in 1945.

At the amusement park there are 250 rides, many of which will make thrill-ride enthusiasts happy, and on hot days, there is a water park to splash around in. For little ones, there is an interactive ride featuring polar bears and penguins. Madame Tussauds is also on-site if you want a photo with famous Austrian native sons and daughters (Arnold Schwarzenegger comes to mind). The best-known attraction is the 200-foot Ferris wheel that figured so prominently in the 1949 film The Third Man. It was one of three built in Europe at the end of the 19th century (the others were in England and France, but have long since been dismantled); the wheel was badly damaged during World War II, but restored shortly thereafter. Its progress is slow and stately (a revolution takes 10 minutes), and the views from its cars are magnificent, particularly toward dusk.