Baden bei Wien is a Biedermeier spa town 26 kilometers south of Vienna, reachable in about 50 minutes on a direct tram from the Vienna Opera. Beethoven spent several summers here writing; the imperial family used it as a secondary summer court. The sulfur thermal baths, the 19th-century Kurpark with its rose garden, and the casino give the town a layered identity that goes beyond day-trip material. The Biedermeier streetscapes, the architectural style of early 19th-century bourgeois Vienna, are among the best-preserved anywhere. A natural complement to Vienna, or a quieter alternative base for travelers who find the capital overwhelming.
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Baden bei Wien
Beethoven spent a dozen summers in Baden bei Wien and wrote parts of his Ninth Symphony here, which says something about how the Viennese creative class has long treated this spa town.