The Vienna Woods -- romanticized in operetta, literature, and the famous Strauss waltz -- stretch all the way from Vienna's city limits to the foothills of the Alps to the south. You can hike through the woods along marked paths or take a leisurely drive, stopping off at country towns to sample the wine and the local cuisine, which is usually hearty, filling, and reasonably priced. The Viennese and a horde of foreign tourists, principally German, usually descend on the local wine taverns and cellars on weekends -- we advise you to make any summer visit on a weekday. The best time of year to go is in September and October, when the grapes are harvested from the terraced hills.
