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Yes – we watched Rick Stein’s long weekend https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07bpc4c/rick-steins-long-weekends-4-vienna and then did most of the venues.
Definitely recommend the schnitzel and Gemischter Satz in Cafe Imperial, the strudel in Cafe Landtmann, the sandwiches in Trzesniewski and sachertorte anywhere. The Prater is worth a wander and a spin on the historic ferris wheel – very Third Man and James Bond.
It is all very compact and walkable. Great too for Christmas markets. The tram is cheap and there is a route which goes round the ‘ring’ from which you can see, or visit, a lot of the city.
It’s a fabulous city and I would agree with many of the recommendations above.
For a local restaurant that is consistently excellent for the classics and good local wine, head to “Oswald and Kalb” (Bäckerstraße 14, 1010 Wien).
For something higher end, go for lunch at the Michelin starred Konstantin Fillippou, €69pp. It’s an extraordinary experience (I think it was covered in that BBC Chef’s black book programme).
The Park Hyatt Vienna is my favourite hotel, worth going for a drink in the bar if not staying there (can’t recall if the cigar room ever reopened).
Just had a look at website for Konstantin Fillppou but it says they don’t open until 6 pm?
Just had a look at website for Konstantin Fillppou but it says they don’t open until 6 pm?
The website advises lunch on certain days – Scroll to very bottom
HOURS
Lunch:
Wednesday through Saturday
12 PM to 3 PM
Kitchen closes at 2 PMDinner:
Monday
6:30 PM to midnight
Wednesday through Saturday
6 PM to midnight
Kitchen closes at 10 PMThanks, @marshy11, that’s a different version of the website from the one I found.
I have spent many weeks in Vienna visiting family. Here are some top tips:
Worth going to if they are singing while you are there: https://www.viennaboyschoir.org/
Amazing views from this vast public swimming pool: https://www.wien.gv.at/freizeit/baeder/uebersicht/sommerbaeder/krapfenwaldlbad.html
A good heuriger ‘wine pub’ in the 19th (but lots to choose from in Grinzing): https://www.pfarrplatz.at/en/
Here’s another one of my favourites: https://www.schuebel-auer.at/heuriger
And another: http://www.muellers-heuriger.at/
Lovely Buschenschank with nice wine and views. An essential trip if the weather is nice and within walking distance —albeit uphill— from the Grinzing/Nussberg tram. https://www.wieninger-am-nussberg.at/
High-end Austrian restaurant – https://www.restauranteckel.at/
Food market – https://www.wien.gv.at/freizeit/einkaufen/maerkte/lebensmittel/naschmarkt/
The trendiest restaurant in Vienna, booking essential – https://zurherknerin.at/
Day trip: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melk_Abbey
And another day trip: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BCrnstein
And if you are missing home…https://johnnys-pub.at/
Great – we may well check out the swimming pool given that it’s supposed to be 33 C next week 🏖. This is why I love the German language; they can name an outdoor pool Krapfenwaldlbad 😂
Great – we may well check out the swimming pool given that it’s supposed to be 33 C next week 🏖. This is why I love the German language; they can name an outdoor pool Krapfenwaldlbad 😂
Take the 38 tram to Grinzing and then there is a bus up the hill, or walk the 20 mins up the hill through the vineyards.
Go as early in the morning as you can, it gets very busy!
11 to 15 August. Staying at the SO Vienna ( Sofitel I think )
I’m there 10th – 15th!
Going Berlin – Prague – Vienna
With a 2.5 year old. Adventure awaits.
Heading to Vienna next month for work. I’ll have some time to stroll the city.
I think I’ve already done all the tourist stuff (and already booked my dinners and the opera).
I am more interested in seeing more of the underrated neighbourhoods of the city. Any suggestions?I did a day trip from Vienna to Bratislava on the train. As has been mentioned there’s a 20 minute walk at the far end to get to the old town though.
An alternative is to go by catamaran – either both ways or go one way by train and the other by boat so you get to see different scenery. Book ahead though as it was sold out on the day I wanted to do it
I did a day trip from Vienna to Bratislava on the train. As has been mentioned there’s a 20 minute walk at the far end to get to the old town though.
An alternative is to go by catamaran – either both ways or go one way by train and the other by boat so you get to see different scenery. Book ahead though as it was sold out on the day I wanted to do it
Thanks. Did that already, too
We always book a walking tour when we visit a city as the guides tend to be extremely knowledgeable and interesting and will show you places you wouldn’t know about otherwise. The last 2 we did (Berlin & Vienna) were WW2-related but there’s usually a few different ones. I book via Viator or Get Your Guide (you can get avios with the former, can’t remember re the latter!)
Thanks. Will look at viator. I never used it before
@Gordon, as requested, headlines as follows:
Firstly, if I’d read the Vienna thread before our trip this week it may have helped us find better evening meal choices. Safe to say I have no dinner recommendations but decent coffee and delicious breads and pastries were everywhere.
Four nights, three days was pretty perfect for a short break and to get our fill of galleries and museums. It’s a lovely city and easy integrated transport system.
Overall, we really rated the Kunsthistoriches Museum, the House of Austrian History Museum in the Hofburg complex, Papyrus Museum next door, Leopold Museum and the Albertina. There were generally queues for Kunsthistoriches tickets so would be worth booking ahead for this one, and I’d highly recommend paying the few euros extra for the excellent Rembrandt exhibition.
Mumok (sorry Vienna) just didn’t do it for me.
I think every museum had just one cafe. We did go to pretty much all of them but the surrounding cafes were more relaxed, quieter and of the same/ better offerings. What’s more, the Kunsthistoriches only allow re-entry to the Museum when the cafe is closed, so if it’s busy can’t or you can’t face the queue it’s tough luck. I don’t know if that’s the case with all of them.
We followed Lonely Planet to the Naschmarkt but I wouldn’t recommend it if you actually want to buy food rather than wander round looking at spices, sausage and cheese. It was pretty close in experience to being in the Grand Bazzar and showing interest in a rug. Lots of eye watering prices for tourists including cheese for 9-12 euros per 100g, and the piece we were hassled to buy for this price looked nearer 25g. We declined, repeatedly.
Vienna Lounge was good. I believe we were unlucky with our timing through passport control ie we were there 45-50 minutes before our flight and there were initially just two desks open and a massive queue. Got to the gate with minutes to spare.
Overall, great city. I’d probably not go back, but I would go back to other recent European cities such as Berlin and Florence.
Hope this helps!
Schoenbrunn also worth a visit if you have 3/4 day spare. Need to book in advance and gets busy so best to get there for opening if you are going to go. Not as grand as Versailles but interesting to see nonetheless
Any recommendations for one of the Hilton’s (Park or Plaza) or the Intercon please? Visiting with my daughter & want to be fairly central for a couple of nights visiting the Christmas markets & taking in a bit of culture. Thanks
The Plaza is the best of those but try to stay @ The Intercontinental if you can. It is directly opposite Stadtpark station and is old-school beautiful. Even if you are not a massive opera fan Vienna an incredible opera house – really worth seeing and incredibly cheap in comparison to England. Rigoletto and HÄnsel Und Gretel are both on in December. You will find tickets for fewer than fifty euros.
@runnerbean – Thank you for your report, it has given me a heads up as what to expect, we always visit one European destination with friends every year, for the Christmas markets, so as we’ve found, there are countries that stand out better than others, depending what your expectations are, Nuremberg is our favourite so far, that we would return to, as the saying goes, you never know until you try.
@runnerbean – Thank you for your report, it has given me a heads up as what to expect, we always visit one European destination with friends every year, for the Christmas markets, so as we’ve found, there are countries that stand out better than others, depending what your expectations are, Nuremberg is our favourite so far, that we would return to, as the saying goes, you never know until you try.
Thanks for the nudge on Nuremberg. I have this and Hamburg on my list of future trips.
Any recommendations for one of the Hilton’s (Park or Plaza) or the Intercon please? Visiting with my daughter & want to be fairly central for a couple of nights visiting the Christmas markets & taking in a bit of culture. Thanks
I stayed at the Intercontinental in the lead up to Christmas last year and thought it was great. Booked using Amex FHR for $100 credit and free breakfast.
Location was perfect, easy access to the airport by train and just outside the Old Town.
Got one of the rooms that looked out onto the ice rink behind.
As pbcold says, it’s old school beautiful as opposed to modern but was done up nicely for Christmas.
Any recommendations for one of the Hilton’s (Park or Plaza) or the Intercon please? Visiting with my daughter & want to be fairly central for a couple of nights visiting the Christmas markets & taking in a bit of culture. Thanks
I stayed at the Intercontinental in the lead up to Christmas last year and thought it was great. Booked using Amex FHR for $100 credit and free breakfast.
Location was perfect, easy access to the airport by train and just outside the Old Town.
Got one of the rooms that looked out onto the ice rink behind.
As pbcold says, it’s old school beautiful as opposed to modern but was done up nicely for Christmas.
Thanks both. Have booked Intercon. Got a good price & will shortly renew Ambassador (after several years without) so hopefully a room upgrade with that. It is also convenient for a concert we are going to at the Kursalon in Stadtpark one evening.
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