Laxenburg, 20 minutes from Vienna by car, centers on the Schlosspark, one of Austria's largest English landscape gardens, and the Franzensburg, a deliberately built romantic-era "medieval" castle on an island, assembled by Emperor Francis I from genuine salvaged medieval elements in the 1830s. The park is free to walk; the Franzensburg has separate admission. Emperor Franz Joseph was born in the Laxenburg palace in 1830. A half-day from Vienna; combines well with Baden bei Wien on a Vienna south day trip.