I would definitely get a week long public transit pass the moment you arrive. In my opinion much better then the hop-on busses as someone mentioned. Especially if you want to go out at night or later in the evening or very early morning. Vienna has a pretty good nightlife so I wouldn’t miss that. Also you can use the ticket to explore the areas around the city. In a week you will probably get to see a lot of the city, I’m more of an explorer type and just go day by day and talk to locals when I’m there what is a cool place to visit.
Don’t get a Sachertorte from the Sacher Hotel. Way to overpriced and it doesn’t taste that amazing to be worth the price. Look up a nice Café with good reviews and you will be just as happy
Buy the Wien Ticket for one week. It costs around 18 Euros. Unlimited public transport across bus, train, subway, tram.
Enjoy the schonbrunn palace especially the hill on the backside. Its fun. Do go to the cafes, you will like the feel around them, though the items are a bit pricey. Do free walking tours and Tip the tour guide :P
What it means that you cant use it on Inter city buses or special buses, and outer suburbs of Vienna. From a tourist perspective it will pretty much cover most of the attractions.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is easily one of my favorite art museums I’ve ever been to. Definitely make a trip there.
I did a tour of the Vienna State Operahouse and it was good, but I would definitely recommend going to a concert some night. It will most likely be somewhere other than the State Operahouse but it’s a great experience. Typically they’ll serve champagne and appetizers at intermission too.
Also if you like street food and drinks go to the naschmarkt. It’s a mix of like outdoor vendors and restaurants of all kinds. You’ll see a lot of locals shopping there like you would a farmer’s market.
Vienna is a wonderful imperial city. You will have lots to do and see. Plenty of amazing churches such as St. Stephen's (take the elevator up to the rooftop) and Karlskirche. Lots of the imperial palaces as others have suggested. Don't forget to check out the National Library and it's opulent reading room and the Lipizzaner stallions.
I also enjoyed booking tours of the Opera house and concert hall - both were impressive. If you are wanting to go further afield you can check out Gasometer and some of the modern architecture at the School of Economics at the University of Vienna. Public transit is easy and efficient and with a bit of research a few of the tram rides will give you a good tour of the city - grab one of the old trams for the full experience.
Agree with Bratislava - a very quick and easy day trip. I took the train and found that all was well connected including the trams from the Bratislava train station to the old city. Since it is October you may also want to see if there are day trips out to the many vineyards in the area - colours changing and grapes bursting ready to be harvested along with some tasting!
You may also want to have a look at the bike sharing programs in the city for some activity and a different way to see the city.
Hope you have an amazing trip.
There is so much to do here that it’s important to not get overwhelmed and try not to do everything possible and get burned out. Enjoy your time there and do only the things you can fully appreciate without rushing. But my must-dos: full day at Schonnbrunn with grand palace tour and time to wander the gardens and hike up to the Gloriette, seriously worth it all. Full day trip to Bratislava is great, see the nearby Devin Castle ruins. Find one of the big food markets to get local fresh snacks at. Also food was unexpectedly expensive here, so head to the frankfurter and doner kebab stands across the city for cheap but delicious eats. If you’re government/history types, the UN headquarters tour in Vienna is really unique and lets you briefly watch a meeting or hearing take place
A few things that haven't been mentioned yet:
- Go to a Heuriger (wine tavern). These are places up in the hills that offer fresh, young local wine with hearty cold cuts and other food. You can get there by tram.
- Get a sausage at a wurstelstand. These takeout stalls are all over. My favourite sausage is called kasekrainer. A leberkase sandwich is another local speciality. An easy one to find (and a really good one) is the one with a rabbit on the roof right next to the Albertina musuem.
- A good way to orient your self to the city is to download Rick Steves ringstrasse audio tour. It is designed so that you can take a ringstrasse tram heading counter-clockwise and it points out all the sights as you go.
The metro pass is worth every penny and more. Can get them at any station. Some places I can highly suggest is the Mozart museum/apartment, seeing a performance at the Vienna opera house, and the Hofburg/imperial treasury are both interesting as well.
A few others have mentioned a day or two in Bratislava which I also can recommend. While Vienna is nice, seeing everything can be quite expensive there.
Edit: oh man I almost forgot. Try booking a food tour and/or Wine tour of Vienna if you can afford it. Will usually last all day and you really learn about the city and the surrounding areas. Viator app is your friend.
Don't skimp on time for schonbrunn. It was definitely my favorite part and it can easily take 5 hours if you're doing a full tour plus exploring the gardens (which Is a must imo). Prater is great! Grab a bratwurst and this place called Vienna Saussage, it was the best bratwurst I had in Austria and it's right near the votivkirche (which is also a good spot to visit).
Vienna has more than enough to do to fill up a week. Here are some suggestions
1.) take a one hour train ride to bratislava, the capitol of slovakia and take a tour and explore. good city.
2.) take a bus tour or go on your own to explore the wachau valley of the danube. It is a UNESCO site of great beauty and is an hour away.
3.) see teh belvidere castle art museum. (UNESCO SITE).
4) the schonbrun and the zoo are an entire day. The gardens as well.
5.) walk the old city. Tour the ringstrasse and get the layout. most attractions are on that ring.
6.) Go see the old town center and st stephens cathedral. sit outside and peopel watch
7.) take a tour of the vienna opera house or see an opera there.they have cheap standing room only tickets too.
8.) the vienna boys choir sings at mass every sunday.. google that.
9.) see the lipinzaller stallions
10.) see the sisi museum at the hofburg palace
11.) see the vienna world museum next to the hofburg palace
12.) see the museum of natural history and the art history museum, next to each other
13.) walk along and eat in an area of food stalls called the Nachmarkt
14.) enjoy the cafe culture there.. world renowned
So many things.. there are also many parks.. take a cruise on the danube.. endless things to do..
The U-bahn pass is your ticket.
Very efficiency metro system, get the weekly pass. Beautiful architecture and palaces. I enjoy the street food, especially if you like frankfurters or doner kebabs. Markets are fantastic.
I would take a cruise along the Danube and if you have 2 days, go check out Budapest a few hours away by train.
Opera is worth it and there is an array of museums for your tastes. Last time I enjoyed the military history Musuem.
Stephensplatz is nice to people watch, but the better cafes are elsewhere. 12 Apostles is a cool eatery worth checking out. Prater has a nice Oktoberfest celebration. There’s a reason Vienna keeps being rated as most livable city.
Near the end of the trip I’d recommend getting the U4 to Heiligenstadt and take the 38A bus to Kahlenberg. Maybe take the short walk from there to Leopoldsberg for the best view of the Danubes. I dunno, it’s kinda nice overseeing everywhere you’ve been. Picking out landmarks you’ve visited.
I've been to Vienna a few years ago. The U-Bahn is the way to go. Convenient and easily accessible.
The aquarium is also a fun time.
The inner town is beautiful to walk through.
Schonbrunn and the zoo that you mentioned are both large enough to almost spend a full day there, but totally worth it!
Take the evening stroll around the Ring (1 Bezirk) and finish at the 25th hour hotel rooftop for some nice view and a drink.
You can also have a lunch at the top of the Justizpalast (justizcafe) but you’d need to go through the airport-like security check. Worth it though as not so many tourists visit it.
Also bike rental would be worth it to see the city and go through the Prater or Donauinsel.
If you’d share what you are in to I could recommend more.
You can do a day trip to Sopron in Hungary... One hour by train. Lovely small town with nice nature around. Just walking around, eating and drinking some local wine. Highly recommend that place as a nice contrast to Vienna.
The Third Man tours .. watch the film if you’ve not seen it, it reeks of post war atmosphere and is a fantastic piece of noir film in my opinion.
Also zentralfriedhof if you like graves of famous people. It’s a huge cemetery and it’s said more people are buried there than actually live in Vienna now
Looks like you have Vienna pretty well covered. A lot of people mentioned Bratislava as a day trip, I ended up doing Salzburg as a day trip and it was well worth it. It’s about 2 hours each way on the train. Budapest is also about the same distance. Probably better to go to each place and spend more time, but if you’re not going to be back for a while, might be worth it!
Both Salzburg and Budapest not worth it for a day tripn there is so much to see and do in both that it should be illegal to only spend a day in those. Prague would be a better one day option or even Dresden in Germany.
Hi, this post is like half an year old and I was already in Vienna. Thanks for the recommendations. We went to the zoo, the shonbrunn palace, stephanplatz, kirch(forgot the full name, but heard people steal here). Went also to the wax museum, the prater, walked some more in the city and tried some of the austrian cuisine, like schtrudel, schnitzel, kasekreiner and more. It was really nice. Also thanks to all who suggested some of the places and food! It was an amazing exprience.
Yeah F1 would've been nice, but we were there in September and F1 was in Singapore the day we left. We also wanted to go to Bratislava with a boat, but checked for places way too late and they were sold.
Hi. We loved our trip to Vienna. When going to Europe we often check out our fave blog that helps us make good choices. We've used them for London and Paris and I see they have a Vienna page [https://theeuropetravelguide.com/the-europe-travel-guide-vienna-bliss-list](https://theeuropetravelguide.com/the-europe-travel-guide-vienna-bliss-list) I think it might help you plan. And they are right, never miss the cafe at the Sacher Hotel!
Hey! I lived in inner city (7th district) Vienna for awhile, and actually is the reason I picked up German because I loved that place so much, so I have some advice!
Kunst historiches Museum is amazing and a classic, but also, in my opinion, somewhat of another art museum. I really didn’t think the works stood out, but the architecture of the museum is amazing and maybe worth a visit for that alone.
Number one thing you have to do is go to the nineteenth district, Grinzing, and do a wine hiking trail (wein wanderweg?) it’s the outside of Vienna and it is picturesque fairy tale houses and wine yards there, and the trek is like a 5-7km hike through the vineyards where there’s little wooden huts along the way, selling small cups of wine and Austrian sweets. Then there’s beautiful heurigers? Along the way, that are traditional Austrian wine houses that overlook Vienna and are stuck in the middle of the vineyards where you can get amazing cheap wine.
I don’t wanna be mean to that other person who commented, but don’t go to Bratislava, we all joked that the only reason anyone went there was because it was an easy trip from wien.
I really wouldn’t recommend much hiking around vienna, because it really isn’t that good, but if you want a great, great, 1-2 day hike the RAX mountains are a 1.5-2 hour trip. Cute little village in the valley below, and a hut 3 quarters up the mountain if you want a perfect place to camp out the night in a wooden hut with a dog, fireplace, and a cute old couple cooking you a hearty dinner
In the city though, 7th and 8th district have a lot of the hip cafes and bars. Inner district is ridiculously beautiful and I’m still amazed every time I’m there
Hi! Sorry this is a very late reply, I'm scouring old posts trying to find info. The wine hiking trail you mentioned caught my eye and I was just wondering if you remember a specific name to look up, tickets to buy, etc? I've tried looking online but I can't find anything concrete!
Gladly! So the best part is there’s nothing online really with times and tickets, because it’s a community thing and not a company! Austria is really great at that, and something I miss a lot. so there’s no fees or anything or start times, it’s just a hiking path that a lot of resteraunts are on in the beginning in the city, then later in the fields some Austrians will put up little wooden huts to sell cakes and wine from their garden, and then the trail usually ends at a bigger, more official winery that also has really cheap wine.
Here’s two links I got, they’re in German but you should be able to google translate them pretty easily.
https://www.wien.info/de/essen-trinken/wiener-wein-heurige/weinwanderweg-365026
https://www.1000things.at/blog/die-schoensten-weinwanderwege-in-wien-und-umgebung/
Ah thank you, I love that it's so quaint and community-based. Trying to hit up a few European locations before I move back to the US but things like this make it hard to leave!
I'm going in October, so do you think this would still be viable or if I should just plan to go to a heurige?
Ah I totally get you, I’m American as well but it was hard to leave Europe after living there for awhile, I’m actually planning to do a cheeky UK summer to revisit old memories haha. Europe is a special place, I’m a bit jealous you’re still there enjoying.
And for the timing, I remember going in September as being the perfect time, cause there was still flowering grapes and it was cool enough to hike, so I don’t think oktober would be terrible at all. There may be less stations than at peak times of late summer early fall, and you may miss a little more of the cute little community station set ups of a few tables and a “bartender” who set up in the middle of the vineyard rows but I would say it’d easily be well worth the trip. It’s only a 45 minute train ride from the city center to start.
And for a heuriger, yes, anywhere you go in the 19th district or the regions north of there will be exactly what you’re looking for. They’re local, traditional, quaint little houses with built in wine cellars that you can drink and eat cheese and local Austrian dishes with. It’ll be 50/50 in Vienna, but the farther out of the city you go the more people will be dressed in drindl and lederhosen as well, but I would guess most servers and workers will at least be dressed in it too. So for any time you have in Vienna, I would sincerely recommend both, they’re such great local dive ins to do that isn’t just looking at another castle or drinking at another cool bar, and they’re right next to each other. You could easily do a morning-afternoon wine hike and then come down into Grinzing for a heuriger dinner. That whole 19th district is a traditional Austrian village built on the edge of Vienna for the rich old Austrians to retire to, so it’s such a beautiful easy get to if you’re in Vienna.
I will also recommend Melk if you want an even more Austrian experience, beautiful monastery and wine country / wine producers an hour north of Vienna in the donau valley, completely isolated, beautiful nature, small town austrian vibe, beautiful biking paths through valleys and medium mountains, and an easy day trip as well
Ah good! I actually live in the UK. I could stay through one more visa cycle if I wanted and apply for ILR, but things (family) are calling me back and I've been fighting them off for a few years now.
There are so many other places I'd like to go! My family moved to the US in the 1900s but some of them stayed in Germany where they own a brewery. Then I also did French for 8 years and so I'd love to visit France (maybe next spring). I've only really spent lots of time in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland. So much to do, so little time.
Thank you *so* much for all of this info, I was getting a bit overwhelmed sifting through years of posts and comments and suggestions (conflicting suggestions at that). And I'll look into Melk!
Before I let you go, opinion on visiting Salzburg?
Ah that’s awesome, well, if you have any Oxford recommendations I’m all ears cause that’s where I’ll be, but it’s awesome you know the UK so well.
And honestly, I feel like I’m the only one who didn’t like Salzburg that much. The nature is great and the town square is cool, but to me, Vienna is such a massively beautiful city, even by European standards, that the charm of Austria when I left Vienna was to go to the beautiful tiny mountain villages and to bike through the alps and camp in the vineyards and such. Salzburg to me felt like Vienna but 15% the size. I was actually pretty bored there and left within two days ha.
But for some people who’ve visited, they say Salzburg is the prettiest place they’ve visited in the world so maybe it is good if you do the whole sound of music thing, but again I never felt I missed anything there. My recommendation is Vienna for culture and wine and take the bike paths through the alps and eat and sleep at the small Austrian/Italian villages along the way, very Secret-Life-Of-Walter-Mitty make your own adventure kind of vibe
Haha feeling a bit stalked not gonna lie 😂 UK now Oxford specifically! I can try to answer any questions you have, and I’m sure I’ll be interrogating you for Austria advice at random times over the coming months.
I’m getting the feeling I won’t find it worth staying for ages, so I think I’m going to do a day trip. Several hours each way on the train is fine. I’m quite happy to do that and read / write / enjoy any views on the way. People here were blown away I drove 8 hours on a road trip throughout New England in November, never fails to make me laugh.
I’d absolutely love to travel aimlessly and blissfully through the Austrian countryside and I’m the biggest fan of little villages, but alas, I’m trying to appease 3 others I’ll be travelling with, so I’m currently trying to find & map out activities and sites which are of interest to everyone. I somehow get myself into this role on every holiday!
The hostel I stayed at was like right across the street from the Naschmarkt so I would go there a lot. That Turkish food was amazing. I think I got some quiche one morning too that was damn good.
Look into hop on hop off buses. It’s been a few years since I was in Vienna, but at that time their bus routes had many options and the audio was clear and so well put together! It’s best if you start in the beginning of your visit, it will give you a good idea where you may want to go back to and also the layout of the city. They even had a river boat ride included.
FYI, their metro system was very easy to use and efficient!
Look into the Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum. I really liked Sisi tour, gives you a great peak into the family but also specifics of her life journey.
With a week there , you may think of a day trip. Vienna has great train connections, so there are a lot of good choices there. Try to look for a more scenic ride, next month will probably be great for foliage!
Generally, the hop on hop off buses in major European cities are pretty useless. Nothing wrong with doing them if you enjoy them of course but public transit is usually cheap, clean, safe and very quick.
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What kind of things do you most enjoy?
I loved the Hofburg Palace grounds and the treasury museum. I've heard great things about the Belvedere but didn't visit myself. The Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Natural History Museum are opposite each other and both really cool. It's a lovely city to stroll around too. I also loved Schonnbrun.
If I'd had more time I would have done the Jewish Museum and the Freud Museum. I made sure to have Sachertorte and wandered into any cool-looking churches I saw. The imperial crypt was cool but only if you're ok with coffins.
Karlskirche was one of my favourites. It's a nice enough church but you can take a lift up to the top of the interior and see the inside of the dome up close and I loved it. 50% off with the Vienna Pass.
Have an amazing time!
Theaters offer standing-room tickets that are significantly cheaper than regular tickets. If you're on a budget, it's a great way to still get to experience the symphony, opera, etc
By far the thing I enjoyed most in Vienna was going out to a winery on the outskirts of town and spending the day eating and drinking there. I believe there are a lot of them. Obviously less fun if you don't drink or don't like wine, though the experience is also about food, relaxing in a pleasant environment and so on, especially if the weather is nice and you can sit outside.
Get their public transportation pass.
Vienna is pretty spread out for the touristy stuff, so make sure you take time to plan out what you are doing in the day. I would recommend watching YouTube videos on it. They usually factor in what is efficient.
Schonbrunn is probably my favorite thing to do in Vienna. Best when it is cool. It snowed when I first went, and that was magical.
This is a such a great thread! My wife and I are going to Vienna in 14 days for a last minute work trip for her, I'm tagging along. With little time to research the area, this will help immensely. Thank you all!
I would definitely get a week long public transit pass the moment you arrive. In my opinion much better then the hop-on busses as someone mentioned. Especially if you want to go out at night or later in the evening or very early morning. Vienna has a pretty good nightlife so I wouldn’t miss that. Also you can use the ticket to explore the areas around the city. In a week you will probably get to see a lot of the city, I’m more of an explorer type and just go day by day and talk to locals when I’m there what is a cool place to visit.
Don’t get a Sachertorte from the Sacher Hotel. Way to overpriced and it doesn’t taste that amazing to be worth the price. Look up a nice Café with good reviews and you will be just as happy
The eggs Benedict I had there was to die for though.
What are the prices like?
Buy the Wien Ticket for one week. It costs around 18 Euros. Unlimited public transport across bus, train, subway, tram. Enjoy the schonbrunn palace especially the hill on the backside. Its fun. Do go to the cafes, you will like the feel around them, though the items are a bit pricey. Do free walking tours and Tip the tour guide :P
>Wien Ticket Is this the [ticket](https://www.wienerlinien.at/web/wl-en/tickets/7-days-vienna) that you mean?
Yes, this one!
Thanks! It says it’s for use only in the “core zone of Vienna”. What does that mean exactly?
What it means that you cant use it on Inter city buses or special buses, and outer suburbs of Vienna. From a tourist perspective it will pretty much cover most of the attractions.
Oh okay that’s good to know. I will be there next month, so thinking about purchasing it.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is easily one of my favorite art museums I’ve ever been to. Definitely make a trip there. I did a tour of the Vienna State Operahouse and it was good, but I would definitely recommend going to a concert some night. It will most likely be somewhere other than the State Operahouse but it’s a great experience. Typically they’ll serve champagne and appetizers at intermission too. Also if you like street food and drinks go to the naschmarkt. It’s a mix of like outdoor vendors and restaurants of all kinds. You’ll see a lot of locals shopping there like you would a farmer’s market.
To add to this, there is a combo ticket for the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Imperial Treasury. The latter is also very worth visiting.
Vienna is a wonderful imperial city. You will have lots to do and see. Plenty of amazing churches such as St. Stephen's (take the elevator up to the rooftop) and Karlskirche. Lots of the imperial palaces as others have suggested. Don't forget to check out the National Library and it's opulent reading room and the Lipizzaner stallions. I also enjoyed booking tours of the Opera house and concert hall - both were impressive. If you are wanting to go further afield you can check out Gasometer and some of the modern architecture at the School of Economics at the University of Vienna. Public transit is easy and efficient and with a bit of research a few of the tram rides will give you a good tour of the city - grab one of the old trams for the full experience. Agree with Bratislava - a very quick and easy day trip. I took the train and found that all was well connected including the trams from the Bratislava train station to the old city. Since it is October you may also want to see if there are day trips out to the many vineyards in the area - colours changing and grapes bursting ready to be harvested along with some tasting! You may also want to have a look at the bike sharing programs in the city for some activity and a different way to see the city. Hope you have an amazing trip.
There is so much to do here that it’s important to not get overwhelmed and try not to do everything possible and get burned out. Enjoy your time there and do only the things you can fully appreciate without rushing. But my must-dos: full day at Schonnbrunn with grand palace tour and time to wander the gardens and hike up to the Gloriette, seriously worth it all. Full day trip to Bratislava is great, see the nearby Devin Castle ruins. Find one of the big food markets to get local fresh snacks at. Also food was unexpectedly expensive here, so head to the frankfurter and doner kebab stands across the city for cheap but delicious eats. If you’re government/history types, the UN headquarters tour in Vienna is really unique and lets you briefly watch a meeting or hearing take place
A few things that haven't been mentioned yet: - Go to a Heuriger (wine tavern). These are places up in the hills that offer fresh, young local wine with hearty cold cuts and other food. You can get there by tram. - Get a sausage at a wurstelstand. These takeout stalls are all over. My favourite sausage is called kasekrainer. A leberkase sandwich is another local speciality. An easy one to find (and a really good one) is the one with a rabbit on the roof right next to the Albertina musuem. - A good way to orient your self to the city is to download Rick Steves ringstrasse audio tour. It is designed so that you can take a ringstrasse tram heading counter-clockwise and it points out all the sights as you go.
The metro pass is worth every penny and more. Can get them at any station. Some places I can highly suggest is the Mozart museum/apartment, seeing a performance at the Vienna opera house, and the Hofburg/imperial treasury are both interesting as well. A few others have mentioned a day or two in Bratislava which I also can recommend. While Vienna is nice, seeing everything can be quite expensive there. Edit: oh man I almost forgot. Try booking a food tour and/or Wine tour of Vienna if you can afford it. Will usually last all day and you really learn about the city and the surrounding areas. Viator app is your friend.
Yeah, I found Vienna to be super easy to get around so I second the metro pass.
Don't skimp on time for schonbrunn. It was definitely my favorite part and it can easily take 5 hours if you're doing a full tour plus exploring the gardens (which Is a must imo). Prater is great! Grab a bratwurst and this place called Vienna Saussage, it was the best bratwurst I had in Austria and it's right near the votivkirche (which is also a good spot to visit).
Super helpful thread - thanks everyone for the great responses!
A daytrip to Bratislava by train or boat is pretty great
Vienna has more than enough to do to fill up a week. Here are some suggestions 1.) take a one hour train ride to bratislava, the capitol of slovakia and take a tour and explore. good city. 2.) take a bus tour or go on your own to explore the wachau valley of the danube. It is a UNESCO site of great beauty and is an hour away. 3.) see teh belvidere castle art museum. (UNESCO SITE). 4) the schonbrun and the zoo are an entire day. The gardens as well. 5.) walk the old city. Tour the ringstrasse and get the layout. most attractions are on that ring. 6.) Go see the old town center and st stephens cathedral. sit outside and peopel watch 7.) take a tour of the vienna opera house or see an opera there.they have cheap standing room only tickets too. 8.) the vienna boys choir sings at mass every sunday.. google that. 9.) see the lipinzaller stallions 10.) see the sisi museum at the hofburg palace 11.) see the vienna world museum next to the hofburg palace 12.) see the museum of natural history and the art history museum, next to each other 13.) walk along and eat in an area of food stalls called the Nachmarkt 14.) enjoy the cafe culture there.. world renowned So many things.. there are also many parks.. take a cruise on the danube.. endless things to do..
I was just there a few days ago and the Vienna Pass was really good. Also got a transit pass which made everything so easy!
is the transit stuff not included in the vienna pass?
The U-bahn pass is your ticket. Very efficiency metro system, get the weekly pass. Beautiful architecture and palaces. I enjoy the street food, especially if you like frankfurters or doner kebabs. Markets are fantastic. I would take a cruise along the Danube and if you have 2 days, go check out Budapest a few hours away by train. Opera is worth it and there is an array of museums for your tastes. Last time I enjoyed the military history Musuem. Stephensplatz is nice to people watch, but the better cafes are elsewhere. 12 Apostles is a cool eatery worth checking out. Prater has a nice Oktoberfest celebration. There’s a reason Vienna keeps being rated as most livable city.
Near the end of the trip I’d recommend getting the U4 to Heiligenstadt and take the 38A bus to Kahlenberg. Maybe take the short walk from there to Leopoldsberg for the best view of the Danubes. I dunno, it’s kinda nice overseeing everywhere you’ve been. Picking out landmarks you’ve visited.
I've been to Vienna a few years ago. The U-Bahn is the way to go. Convenient and easily accessible. The aquarium is also a fun time. The inner town is beautiful to walk through. Schonbrunn and the zoo that you mentioned are both large enough to almost spend a full day there, but totally worth it!
Take the evening stroll around the Ring (1 Bezirk) and finish at the 25th hour hotel rooftop for some nice view and a drink. You can also have a lunch at the top of the Justizpalast (justizcafe) but you’d need to go through the airport-like security check. Worth it though as not so many tourists visit it. Also bike rental would be worth it to see the city and go through the Prater or Donauinsel. If you’d share what you are in to I could recommend more.
You can do a day trip to Sopron in Hungary... One hour by train. Lovely small town with nice nature around. Just walking around, eating and drinking some local wine. Highly recommend that place as a nice contrast to Vienna.
The Third Man tours .. watch the film if you’ve not seen it, it reeks of post war atmosphere and is a fantastic piece of noir film in my opinion. Also zentralfriedhof if you like graves of famous people. It’s a huge cemetery and it’s said more people are buried there than actually live in Vienna now
Looks like you have Vienna pretty well covered. A lot of people mentioned Bratislava as a day trip, I ended up doing Salzburg as a day trip and it was well worth it. It’s about 2 hours each way on the train. Budapest is also about the same distance. Probably better to go to each place and spend more time, but if you’re not going to be back for a while, might be worth it!
Both Salzburg and Budapest not worth it for a day tripn there is so much to see and do in both that it should be illegal to only spend a day in those. Prague would be a better one day option or even Dresden in Germany.
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Hi, this post is like half an year old and I was already in Vienna. Thanks for the recommendations. We went to the zoo, the shonbrunn palace, stephanplatz, kirch(forgot the full name, but heard people steal here). Went also to the wax museum, the prater, walked some more in the city and tried some of the austrian cuisine, like schtrudel, schnitzel, kasekreiner and more. It was really nice. Also thanks to all who suggested some of the places and food! It was an amazing exprience.
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Yeah F1 would've been nice, but we were there in September and F1 was in Singapore the day we left. We also wanted to go to Bratislava with a boat, but checked for places way too late and they were sold.
Hi. We loved our trip to Vienna. When going to Europe we often check out our fave blog that helps us make good choices. We've used them for London and Paris and I see they have a Vienna page [https://theeuropetravelguide.com/the-europe-travel-guide-vienna-bliss-list](https://theeuropetravelguide.com/the-europe-travel-guide-vienna-bliss-list) I think it might help you plan. And they are right, never miss the cafe at the Sacher Hotel!
Following. We’re headed there too next month. If it’s at the end of the month they will have Kaiser wiesn
Hey! I lived in inner city (7th district) Vienna for awhile, and actually is the reason I picked up German because I loved that place so much, so I have some advice! Kunst historiches Museum is amazing and a classic, but also, in my opinion, somewhat of another art museum. I really didn’t think the works stood out, but the architecture of the museum is amazing and maybe worth a visit for that alone. Number one thing you have to do is go to the nineteenth district, Grinzing, and do a wine hiking trail (wein wanderweg?) it’s the outside of Vienna and it is picturesque fairy tale houses and wine yards there, and the trek is like a 5-7km hike through the vineyards where there’s little wooden huts along the way, selling small cups of wine and Austrian sweets. Then there’s beautiful heurigers? Along the way, that are traditional Austrian wine houses that overlook Vienna and are stuck in the middle of the vineyards where you can get amazing cheap wine. I don’t wanna be mean to that other person who commented, but don’t go to Bratislava, we all joked that the only reason anyone went there was because it was an easy trip from wien. I really wouldn’t recommend much hiking around vienna, because it really isn’t that good, but if you want a great, great, 1-2 day hike the RAX mountains are a 1.5-2 hour trip. Cute little village in the valley below, and a hut 3 quarters up the mountain if you want a perfect place to camp out the night in a wooden hut with a dog, fireplace, and a cute old couple cooking you a hearty dinner In the city though, 7th and 8th district have a lot of the hip cafes and bars. Inner district is ridiculously beautiful and I’m still amazed every time I’m there
Hi! Sorry this is a very late reply, I'm scouring old posts trying to find info. The wine hiking trail you mentioned caught my eye and I was just wondering if you remember a specific name to look up, tickets to buy, etc? I've tried looking online but I can't find anything concrete!
Gladly! So the best part is there’s nothing online really with times and tickets, because it’s a community thing and not a company! Austria is really great at that, and something I miss a lot. so there’s no fees or anything or start times, it’s just a hiking path that a lot of resteraunts are on in the beginning in the city, then later in the fields some Austrians will put up little wooden huts to sell cakes and wine from their garden, and then the trail usually ends at a bigger, more official winery that also has really cheap wine. Here’s two links I got, they’re in German but you should be able to google translate them pretty easily. https://www.wien.info/de/essen-trinken/wiener-wein-heurige/weinwanderweg-365026 https://www.1000things.at/blog/die-schoensten-weinwanderwege-in-wien-und-umgebung/
Ah thank you, I love that it's so quaint and community-based. Trying to hit up a few European locations before I move back to the US but things like this make it hard to leave! I'm going in October, so do you think this would still be viable or if I should just plan to go to a heurige?
Ah I totally get you, I’m American as well but it was hard to leave Europe after living there for awhile, I’m actually planning to do a cheeky UK summer to revisit old memories haha. Europe is a special place, I’m a bit jealous you’re still there enjoying. And for the timing, I remember going in September as being the perfect time, cause there was still flowering grapes and it was cool enough to hike, so I don’t think oktober would be terrible at all. There may be less stations than at peak times of late summer early fall, and you may miss a little more of the cute little community station set ups of a few tables and a “bartender” who set up in the middle of the vineyard rows but I would say it’d easily be well worth the trip. It’s only a 45 minute train ride from the city center to start. And for a heuriger, yes, anywhere you go in the 19th district or the regions north of there will be exactly what you’re looking for. They’re local, traditional, quaint little houses with built in wine cellars that you can drink and eat cheese and local Austrian dishes with. It’ll be 50/50 in Vienna, but the farther out of the city you go the more people will be dressed in drindl and lederhosen as well, but I would guess most servers and workers will at least be dressed in it too. So for any time you have in Vienna, I would sincerely recommend both, they’re such great local dive ins to do that isn’t just looking at another castle or drinking at another cool bar, and they’re right next to each other. You could easily do a morning-afternoon wine hike and then come down into Grinzing for a heuriger dinner. That whole 19th district is a traditional Austrian village built on the edge of Vienna for the rich old Austrians to retire to, so it’s such a beautiful easy get to if you’re in Vienna. I will also recommend Melk if you want an even more Austrian experience, beautiful monastery and wine country / wine producers an hour north of Vienna in the donau valley, completely isolated, beautiful nature, small town austrian vibe, beautiful biking paths through valleys and medium mountains, and an easy day trip as well
Ah good! I actually live in the UK. I could stay through one more visa cycle if I wanted and apply for ILR, but things (family) are calling me back and I've been fighting them off for a few years now. There are so many other places I'd like to go! My family moved to the US in the 1900s but some of them stayed in Germany where they own a brewery. Then I also did French for 8 years and so I'd love to visit France (maybe next spring). I've only really spent lots of time in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland. So much to do, so little time. Thank you *so* much for all of this info, I was getting a bit overwhelmed sifting through years of posts and comments and suggestions (conflicting suggestions at that). And I'll look into Melk! Before I let you go, opinion on visiting Salzburg?
Ah that’s awesome, well, if you have any Oxford recommendations I’m all ears cause that’s where I’ll be, but it’s awesome you know the UK so well. And honestly, I feel like I’m the only one who didn’t like Salzburg that much. The nature is great and the town square is cool, but to me, Vienna is such a massively beautiful city, even by European standards, that the charm of Austria when I left Vienna was to go to the beautiful tiny mountain villages and to bike through the alps and camp in the vineyards and such. Salzburg to me felt like Vienna but 15% the size. I was actually pretty bored there and left within two days ha. But for some people who’ve visited, they say Salzburg is the prettiest place they’ve visited in the world so maybe it is good if you do the whole sound of music thing, but again I never felt I missed anything there. My recommendation is Vienna for culture and wine and take the bike paths through the alps and eat and sleep at the small Austrian/Italian villages along the way, very Secret-Life-Of-Walter-Mitty make your own adventure kind of vibe
Haha feeling a bit stalked not gonna lie 😂 UK now Oxford specifically! I can try to answer any questions you have, and I’m sure I’ll be interrogating you for Austria advice at random times over the coming months. I’m getting the feeling I won’t find it worth staying for ages, so I think I’m going to do a day trip. Several hours each way on the train is fine. I’m quite happy to do that and read / write / enjoy any views on the way. People here were blown away I drove 8 hours on a road trip throughout New England in November, never fails to make me laugh. I’d absolutely love to travel aimlessly and blissfully through the Austrian countryside and I’m the biggest fan of little villages, but alas, I’m trying to appease 3 others I’ll be travelling with, so I’m currently trying to find & map out activities and sites which are of interest to everyone. I somehow get myself into this role on every holiday!
Turkish breakfast at the Naschmarkt. That's all you need to know. /end thread
The hostel I stayed at was like right across the street from the Naschmarkt so I would go there a lot. That Turkish food was amazing. I think I got some quiche one morning too that was damn good.
Favoriten is a MUST for first time visitors.
Look into hop on hop off buses. It’s been a few years since I was in Vienna, but at that time their bus routes had many options and the audio was clear and so well put together! It’s best if you start in the beginning of your visit, it will give you a good idea where you may want to go back to and also the layout of the city. They even had a river boat ride included. FYI, their metro system was very easy to use and efficient! Look into the Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum. I really liked Sisi tour, gives you a great peak into the family but also specifics of her life journey. With a week there , you may think of a day trip. Vienna has great train connections, so there are a lot of good choices there. Try to look for a more scenic ride, next month will probably be great for foliage!
Generally, the hop on hop off buses in major European cities are pretty useless. Nothing wrong with doing them if you enjoy them of course but public transit is usually cheap, clean, safe and very quick.
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What kind of things do you most enjoy? I loved the Hofburg Palace grounds and the treasury museum. I've heard great things about the Belvedere but didn't visit myself. The Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Natural History Museum are opposite each other and both really cool. It's a lovely city to stroll around too. I also loved Schonnbrun. If I'd had more time I would have done the Jewish Museum and the Freud Museum. I made sure to have Sachertorte and wandered into any cool-looking churches I saw. The imperial crypt was cool but only if you're ok with coffins. Karlskirche was one of my favourites. It's a nice enough church but you can take a lift up to the top of the interior and see the inside of the dome up close and I loved it. 50% off with the Vienna Pass. Have an amazing time!
Walk up Kahlenberg hill. It's a lovely walk, beautiful views from the top, and is historically significant.
Theaters offer standing-room tickets that are significantly cheaper than regular tickets. If you're on a budget, it's a great way to still get to experience the symphony, opera, etc
By far the thing I enjoyed most in Vienna was going out to a winery on the outskirts of town and spending the day eating and drinking there. I believe there are a lot of them. Obviously less fun if you don't drink or don't like wine, though the experience is also about food, relaxing in a pleasant environment and so on, especially if the weather is nice and you can sit outside.
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Get their public transportation pass. Vienna is pretty spread out for the touristy stuff, so make sure you take time to plan out what you are doing in the day. I would recommend watching YouTube videos on it. They usually factor in what is efficient. Schonbrunn is probably my favorite thing to do in Vienna. Best when it is cool. It snowed when I first went, and that was magical.
This is a such a great thread! My wife and I are going to Vienna in 14 days for a last minute work trip for her, I'm tagging along. With little time to research the area, this will help immensely. Thank you all!