The writer Adalbert Stifter summed up his impressions of the Vienna Woods 150 years ago in much the same words he might use today: “It is as if you were in the wilderness, not one or two miles from one of the liveliest capitals in the world.” The heavily wooded region west of Vienna has always been an excursion destination for the Viennese: They love to hike and daydream there, to take curative waters, get a taste of culture or take a sip of wine.