Vienna, Austria’s capital, is understood for its wealthy historical past, artwork, music and structure. Our Essential Guide to Vienna reveals you all of the issues we actually loved about this spectacular metropolis—and a few recommendations on avoiding among the errors we made right here too!
When I consider Vienna, my creativeness goes to the tall powdered wigs and big bustles of rococo ballgowns twirling to the operatic music of 18th Century courtroom life.
In actuality, Vienna is a busy fashionable metropolis, whose tradition and class goes far past the wealthy halls of its multitude palaces.
Check out our super-quick video sprint by Vienna:
Vienna’s streets create metropolis canyons within the white cliff facades of Baroque and Art Nouveau, their cobbles main you to hidden church buildings or presenting the grandeur of a palace or cathedral. But additionally the banks of the Danube, alleys of vintage retailers and naturally the superb meals.
Bakeries glow with the promise of bread and pastry, whereas busy late-night würstelständs proffer sausages and beer from their huts on the sting of broad plazas.
And there’s all the time extra to seek out.
Museums and galleries, Roman ruins and stylish buying malls, high-quality eating and funky bars, and even one of many world’s oldest amusement parks—Prater Amusement Park dates again to 1766—are all right here on your enjoyment.
Essential Guide to Vienna, Austria
Obviously, this isn’t an exhaustive information, but it surely has the highlights of the issues we skilled once we had been in Vienna final.
We’ve damaged issues down into 5 sections to make the information simpler to navigate. You can click on on every of those headings to go straight to every one.
1. Where to Stay
2. Where to Eat and Drink
3. Things to See and Do
4. Getting Around
5. Top Tips
1. Where to Stay
Packed to its uncovered rafters with old-world attraction, Hotel Graben feels such as you’ve stepped right into a time machine. In a great way.
Rooms are large (for Europe!) with double-height ceilings and massive home windows, the concierge and reception are so pleasant and the adjoining restaurant–Santo Stefano–is busy with guests and locals most evenings.
It’s additionally brilliantly positioned proper off Stephansplatz, the primary plaza of Vienna previous city, and the attractive St Stephen’s Cathedral. This means it’s additionally actually near the town’s U-Bahn subway system.
Also near Stephansplatz, this cool, fashionable resort and its placing spherical home windows gives a recent but subtle place to remain in Vienna.
Across the road is the resort’s bar—a rooftop bar actually, with superb views over the town from the ninth flooring.
Where to Eat and Drink
This cute cafe with out of doors seating does nice espresso within the day and is the right spot for a cheeky glass of wine within the night. Excellent people-watching and surrounded by historic structure.
Literally ‘window cafe’, this hole-in-the-wall cafe turned Insta-famous for its considerably impractical espresso in an ice cream cone fad. Cashing in on this—and the truth that it’s the one espresso place open earlier than 10am—two small flat whites will set you again AU$15. The espresso’s made effectively at the very least.
– L’Osteria Wien Bräunerstraße
Busy Italian-style eatery with wines from Italy (we sneaked a cheeky mezzo litro carafe of Moltepulciano up on the bar) nice for people-watching. The pizzas look formidable.
– Billa Corso Neuer Markt
Not removed from Hotel Graben is a Billa Corso—a ubiquitous Austrian grocery store chain—the place, a bit like Eataly’s grocery store cafes, you should buy your lunch an eat it there. It has out of doors seating too, however better of all it’s open on a Sunday!
Perhaps one of the vital distinctive meals choices in Vienna is Trzesniewski—a sandwich buffet store subsequent to Graben Hotel in Stephansplatz (there are different branches within the metropolis). Going again to 1902, this store sells finger rolls and narrow-cut open sandwiches topped with every kind of substances, all of that are very finely chopped right into a paste. You go in, select your sarnies and go away.
– Le Cru – Comptoir de Champagne
Barely a block again from busy Stephansplatz and within the shadow of the gorgeous domed roof of St Peters Church, Le Cru has a surprisingly native low-key vibe. Specialising in small producers of French Champagne, this little bar gives tasting experiences and takeaways, but in addition has a weekly by-the-glass menu that’s pleasingly inexpensive.
Dark, conspiratorially atmospheric little bar. Great cocktails and vibe with an actual mixture of patrons. Just off Neuer Markt plaza and the Donnerbrunnen fountain, it’s value looking for out this tucked-away bohemian speakeasy for a superb martini or home negroni.
– Billa Corso Hohe Markt rooftop wine bar
A few streets north of Stephansplatz is one other Billa Corso (I advised you they had been ubiquitous) proper reverse the Hotel Topazz Lamee we talked about. This retailer has a wine bar above it. You can select from the wine listing or, amazingly, you should buy the bottle you need within the retailer they usually’ll serve it to you.
– Rochus
Beyond the partitions of the previous city, this pumping native bar and eatery was the right lunch spot for us. Good beer and meals my wienerschnitsel was tasty and satisfying and Christina’s kalbsbutterschnitzel (a veal schnitzel patty) was tasty albeit a tad bizarre.
A beisl is a sort of down-to-earth gastro pub serving homely meals at cheap costs. Reinthaler’s Beisl off Stephansplatz is ostensibly that, although the workers churn by the perma-queue, forcing diners to share tables solely to face over them for a tip on the finish. The meals’s not dangerous, but it surely’s extra in regards to the expertise I suppose.
– Zum Goldenen Wurstel
Sausage vans are all over the place in Austria, however Zum Goldenen Wurstel, near St Stephens Cathedral, have to be the preferred. Open late, it’s the right place for a snack in your manner residence. You may even seize a beer right here.
Things to See and Do
– Get misplaced
Vienna’s an ideal strolling metropolis. Even throughout the partitions of the previous city, little streets and alleys could have you turning this fashion and that, discovering unusual and great belongings you would most likely miss in case you knew the place you had been going. So let your toes lead you.
Alternatively, there are native guides that may take you on non-public strolling excursions like this which can be superb.
– Stephansplatz and the cathedral tower
The coronary heart of Vienna Old Town, the lengthy, broad thoroughfare of Stephansplatz is filled with life—particularly on a Saturday night time. Climb to the highest of the attractive St Stephens Cathedral tower for panoramic metropolis views.
And be sure you try the looming and considerably disturbing Wiener Pestsäule—the Column of Pestilence. It’s a memorial to the victims of the Black Death that swept by seventeenth Century Europe.
– Antiques retailers south of Stephansplatz
Down the community of little streets and alleys from Stephansplatz—particularly Dorotheergasse previous Hotel Graben—are a whole bunch of fairly little antiques retailers and museums that add one other stage of attraction to this fascinating metropolis.
– Naschmarkt
Vienna’s largest out of doors market, the everlasting stalls of Naschmarkt take up nearly half a kilometre of streets simply outdoors the previous city partitions. Explore scrumptious meals from all over the world and a spread of souvenirs too. The closest metro station is Kettenbruckengasse.
There are additionally meals safaris like this you may e book for the market.
– Hundertwasserhaus
For one thing somewhat left of subject, there’s the weirdness of Hundertwasserhaus on the east of the town close to the canal. Its creator, oddball artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser centered on nonconformity and this constructing reveals that. Wobbly flooring, brightly painted partitions and a wealth of his artwork boggles the eyes, thoughts and senses.
– Museums and palaces
Vienna is full of museums and palaces, however within the southwest of the previous city is the MuseumsQuartier, the place you’ll discover a few of Europe’s most interesting. Nearby, the sprawling Hofburg Palace has the revered Spanish Riding School and a few attention-grabbing Roman ruins on its grounds the place the Habsburg Empire as soon as ran most of Europe for over six centuries.
Getting Around
– Vienna is an excellent strolling metropolis. It’s just about flat till you get to the low mountains method to the north and west, so exploring Vienna on foot is a superb possibility. You also can e book native guides for strolling excursions like this one.
– The underground metro system is complete, environment friendly and simple to navigate. Trains run usually from the airport to the town, by way of Wien Mitte and a switch to Landstrasse Station.
When we arrived by prepare from Germany, we arrived at Wien Hbf and from there it was a fast metro prepare proper to Stephansplatz—one of many two stations throughout the previous city partitions.
– Travelling outdoors the Old Town, your greatest choices are the town trams, which cowl an enormous space across the metropolis.
– To use all of the completely different public transport choices in Vienna, you’ll want a City Card. This was tremendous helpful for the couple of days we had been there and it’s fairly low-cost too. It additionally offers you reductions on a great deal of sights, reveals and leisure.
Top Tips
– Try to not go to Vienna on a Sunday; all the pieces’s shut.
– If you are right here on a Sunday, head to the Heurigen—Austrian wine taverns which can be a part of the wine areas surrounding Vienna.
Just 30min from metropolis on the tram direct to Grinzing north west of Old Town Vienna, you’ll end up within the metropolis’s wine area. Make positive you’ve bought your City Pass so you need to use the general public transport although.
– Best views of the town at no cost
On the northern financial institution of the Danube Canal, on the rooftop of the Sofitel SO is Das Loft. It’s a restaurant and bar, however in case you’re discreet, you may go up and take a look spherical at no cost.
The views out over the town and canal are superb.
If you wish to eat right here, you need to have a reservation or threat being sneered at by the assistance. No, the workers right here are usually not very pleasant I’m afraid.
– How to get low-cost tickets to the opera
Around the aspect of the Vienna State Opera, you’ll discover a surprisingly well-marked door studying ‘Stehplatz’ or Standing Room. To make the opera extra inexpensive for the lots, the State Opera made standing-room tickets accessible you may decide up for as little as €4. Here are extra particulars.
These are simply among the many sights and actions that Vienna has to supply that we loved.
Whether you’re keen on historical past, artwork, music or meals, you’re positive to seek out one thing to fit your pursuits on this stunning European metropolis.
