Wiener Riesenrad, Vienna, Guida per visitatori e cosa fare nei dintorni

The Wiener Riesenrad is a giant Ferris wheel in the Prater amusement park in Vienna, Austria. Opened in 1897, it is one of the oldest Ferris wheels still turning and has become a symbol of the city, thanks in part to its starring role on film.

The story behind it

The wheel went up in 1897 and quickly became the centrepiece of the Prater, the old fairground and pleasure district on the edge of the city centre. It originally carried 30 cars, and for well over a century it has looked out over the rooftops of Vienna and the spires of its churches.

The wheel came close to disaster in the Second World War. In April 1945 a fire damaged its cars. Rebuilding was costly, so after the war only every second car was replaced, which is why the wheel now carries 15 cabins modelled on the originals. It also became a film star: Orson Welles rides it as the sinister Harry Lime in the post-war classic The Third Man, and it appears again in the 1987 Bond film The Living Daylights.

What to look for

• The slow, steady turn of the wheel itself, which you can watch from the ground for a few minutes before you decide to ride.
• The red wooden cabins, rebuilt after the war to follow the design of the originals, which give the wheel its old-fashioned character.
• The gap pattern where every second car is missing from the original set of 30, a trace of the 1945 fire and the postwar cost of repair.
• The mix of old fairground rides and food stalls around the base, which makes the wheel feel part of the Prater rather than a stand-alone monument.

Tips for your visit

• The wheel stands at Gaudeegasse 1 in the Prater, a short walk from Praterstern, which is well connected by public transport.
• You can go inside the cabins by taking a ride. Check current opening hours and ticket details before you go, as they change through the year.
• Allow time to walk around the surrounding fairground as well as riding. An hour or so covers both comfortably.
• Late afternoon is a good time to ride, when the light softens over the city. Queues are usually shorter on weekday mornings.

See it on a quest

The wheel makes a fine ending to Vienna Prater: Wurstelprater, a self-guided walk through the old fairground quarter. You reach the Riesenrad on foot as one stop of a longer route through the Prater, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot, so you see the details around you rather than just the queue. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever you like, with no guide and no set departure time.