A traveller's guide to Vienna

If you're feeling organised – and flush – book a table at Heinz Reitbauer's two-Michelin-starred Steirereck in Stadtpark at least three months in advance. Reitbauer has transformed this once humble restaurant into a beacon of high gastronomy and it’s crept up the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list to number 15. If you struggle to get a table – which you might – try the more casual, but no less exciting, Meierei downstairs.

The Viennese coffee house, like the English pub, is an institution deeply ingrained into the very fabric of life. Vienna's already slow pace of life hobbles to a halt inside these grand spaces of brass, marble and golden light. There are dozens of types of coffee on offer – many piled high with whipped cream – but locals stick to mokka (espresso) or melange (cappuccino) and while away the hours with a good book. Café Sperl, Café Central and Café Mozart are some of the classics.

For something with a little more punch, the best cocktails can be found at Loos American Bar. It’s a temple of chic, where the decor has changed little since the days when Sigmund Freud and Egon Schiele drank here and classic mixes are made with care. The subterranean Barfly’s Club is just as atmospheric but has moved with the times when it comes to drinks – the smart bar staff will guide you through the novel-sized menu of 480 cocktails. No capital city in the world produces as much wine as Vienna, which has 700 hectares of vineyards within its limits and Wein & Co will offer the perfect introduction to the surprisingly good red and white.

It's only recently that sophisticated Vienna built a clubbing scene worth hunting out, meaning things still feel very underground. Most venues are small and change their music policy throughout the week, meaning there isn't one seminal house club, for example.

However, if you're into electronic music the area around Prater – a large park close to the Danube – is where you'll find Fluc, housed in a former underpass, and Pratersauna in, you’ve guessed it, a closed-down sauna. Head down the tow path and you’ll see the queue for Grelle Forelle – a mysterious spot that doesn’t allow photography inside and invites some top international talent to its DJ booth.

Live music isn't just found in the opera houses and concert halls in Vienna. Although, you really should pack your tux and take in some Mozart. Touring bands stop off at WUK, where the musical spectrum is broad, and Arena, a former slaughterhouse that embraces all aspects of Vienna's counterculture.

For horns, piano and crooners, Porgy & Bess channels 1920s New York and Albertina Passage is like walking onto the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey – but with jazz.

While strolling around the city centre you'll be surrounded by so much history that it's quite refreshing to head back to a modern hotel at the end of the day. With its mirrored façade reflecting the spire of St Stephen's Cathedral, Do & Co Hotel ticks that box. The views over the historic centre from the sushi restaurant and indulgently decorated bedrooms give the hotel a brilliant sense of place.

Its panache is matched by the Sir Terence Conran-designed Hotel Das Trieste, an old coach station transformed into a calming, minimalist bolthole. From the hand-crafted Wittmann furniture to the bespoke artwork, attention to detail is astonishing.

For a slice of old Vienna, check into the Palais Coburg, which was built in 1845 but lay as a ruin until it was restored in 2003. The suites are spectacular showpieces of neoclassical opulence and all have fully-equipped kitchenettes with a complimentary stash of champagne, wine and beer.

The old-world charm hits even greater heights at the luxurious Hotel Sacher behind the Vienna State Opera House. You'd struggle to find a more regal place to stay in the whole of Europe and it's home to so many important, expensive antiques that it feels as much like a museum as it does a hotel.