There is no entrance fee and no gate. You walk in, wander around, and pay only for what you go on.

That makes it an unusually low-commitment attraction: you can spend an hour here for nothing, soak up the noise and the lights, and leave without paying anything.

The rides are individually priced and the prices are not trivial — the giant wheel in particular is priced as an attraction rather than a fairground ride, and the larger thrill rides are similar.

A family riding several things will spend real money. A couple walking through and going on the wheel will not.

Decide before you arrive which category you are in. The recurring complaint in visitor accounts is not that it is expensive but that people did not expect it to be.

The Riesenrad is the symbol of Vienna and the oldest operating Ferris wheel in the world, built at the end of the nineteenth century.

It is not a modern wheel with pods. It carries large wooden cabins, it turns slowly, and a rotation takes a good while.

The view takes in the city, the Danube and the hills beyond, and it is the reason most visitors come.

It is the most expensive ride here and it is worth it once. Vienna passes often include it, which is worth checking if you hold one.

Go at dusk or after dark if you can. The city lit from the cabin is a considerably better experience than the same view in flat afternoon light, and the wheel itself lit up is the photograph.

Around the wheel spreads the Wurstelprater, a permanent funfair of well over two hundred attractions — roller coasters, ghost trains, swing rides, dodgems, arcades, shooting galleries and a great deal of neon.

It is old-fashioned in the best sense, with rides dating across a century, rather than a modern themed park.

Quality varies. Some rides are genuinely good, some are tired, and the older attractions have a particular charm that is part of the appeal.

There are beer gardens and food stands throughout, of variable quality.

Carry some cash. Card acceptance is inconsistent across individual ride operators.

Most visitors never get past the funfair, and the park behind it is enormous — a former imperial hunting ground of woodland, meadows and avenues stretching several kilometres.

The Hauptallee, the main chestnut-lined avenue, runs the length of it and is closed to traffic, making it one of the best places in Vienna to walk, run or cycle.

There is a miniature railway, sports grounds, and a good deal of open green space.

It is entirely free and it is where Viennese people actually go.

If you want an hour of quiet after the noise of the funfair, walk south down the Hauptallee and the fairground disappears within minutes.

Evening. This is emphatically an after-dark attraction — the lights, the wheel lit up, the noise and the atmosphere are all better once it is properly dark.

Daytime is flatter. The rides look their age in sunlight and the crowd is thinner.

The park behind is the reverse: better in daylight, and a good morning or afternoon walk.

So the ideal shape is a walk in the park in the afternoon and the funfair at dusk.

Opening hours vary by ride and by season. Some attractions run year round and many are seasonal, so a winter visit will find a proportion closed.

August is by far the busiest month, with September and October following, and December picking up for the Christmas market held here.

February and January are the quietest, and many rides are closed.

The funfair season runs broadly from spring to autumn, with a reduced winter operation and a Christmas market at the end of the year.

Summer evenings are the peak of what this place offers — warm, light late, and everything open.

If you are visiting in deep winter, expect a fraction of the rides operating and check before making a journey for it.

Praterstern station, served by underground lines and mainline trains, sits at the entrance to the funfair, so the journey from central Vienna takes a few minutes.

That makes it one of the easiest attractions in the city to reach, and the ease is part of why an evening visit is worth it even for an hour.

The park entrances further south are served by other stations along its length.

Driving is possible with parking nearby, but the transport connection is so direct that there is no reason to.

Praterstern itself has a mixed reputation as a station area at night — it is well used and generally fine, but it is not the prettiest part of the arrival.

Beer gardens, sausage stands, sweets and fairground food throughout, plus a couple of larger restaurants.

Quality is variable and the reviews are mixed — some report a good beer garden evening, others found the food and the beer disappointing.

Prices are fairground prices rather than city prices.

The better food is a short walk away in the surrounding district, or back in the centre.

A sensible approach: eat elsewhere, come for the wheel and the lights, and have one drink in a beer garden for the atmosphere rather than the beverage.

An obvious hit, with the obvious caveat about cost.

There is a wide range of rides for different ages, from gentle carousels for small children to serious thrill rides for teenagers, plus arcades and games.

The wheel works for everyone.

The miniature railway in the park is a low-cost addition.

The park itself gives free space to run about when the funfair budget runs out.

Budget in advance and tell children what the limit is before you go in. This is the classic place for a day to become expensive one ride at a time.

The Prater is a busy, well-used public space and is generally trouble-free, but a few notes recur.

Keep an eye on belongings in the crowds, as at any fairground.

Be wary of anyone approaching you with a story or a game — one visitor describes losing a substantial sum in cash to a street operator and having their day ruined by it.

Carry only the cash you intend to spend.

The park behind is quiet and dark at night, so stick to the lit avenues after dark rather than the woodland paths.

Ride safety is regulated and the operators are professional; the older rides look their age but are maintained.

The funfair is on level ground and is broadly navigable in a wheelchair or with a stroller, though it becomes congested on busy evenings.

Individual rides vary enormously in accessibility — ask at each rather than assuming, and the giant wheel’s cabins are large and are the most straightforward.

The park behind is flat, with wide paved avenues, and is one of the more accessible green spaces in Vienna.

Praterstern station has lift access.

Accessible toilets are available in the funfair area.

The reviews divide on money, not on the place.

The expensive version: arrive with a family in the afternoon, go on eight rides at fairground prices, eat fairground food, and leave several hundred euros lighter wondering what happened.

The good version: walk down the Hauptallee in the late afternoon, come back up to the funfair as the light goes, ride the wheel once with the city lit below, have a beer in a garden for the atmosphere, and walk out having spent very little.

It is free to enter, it is five minutes from the centre, and the wheel at night is one of the images people take home from Vienna.