Vienna

Austria

Vienna

Welcome to charming Vienna – one of our favorite cities in the world. Regularly rated one of the best cities in the world to live, this was the capital of the mighty Hapsburg empire and oozes with history and charm. It’s also an easy city to get around for the traveler with some fantastic nearby excursions. Do yourself a favor and spend a few days – you won’t regret it

Length 4-5 days

Transportation: Train, U-Bahn, S-Bahn

Best guide book: Rick Steve’s Vienna

Day 1 – Welcome to Vienna

Day 2 – Walking tour and Art History Museum

Day 3- Palaces

Day 4 – Melk Abbey and Wachau Valley excursion

  • Train to Melk (1h train, purchase the Wachau- Ticket for the day)
  • Melk Abbey
  • Lunch – Rathauskeller Melk
  • Select one:
  • Boat to Spitz or Durnstein
    • Option 1:
      • Boat to Spitz
      • Bike to Durnstein via wine towns and wineries
        • Weingut Prager
        • Lagners Vineyard
        • Johann Donabaum
      • Continue bike ride to Krems train station
    • Option 2:
      • Boat to Durnstein
      • Wine tasting – Domäne Wachau or Vinothek Dürnstein
      • Afternoon tea at the Schlossberg Hotel
      • Hike to the Ruins of Dürnstein Castle
      • Grab a boat to Krems (if there is one late enough – depends on season) or bus #715 to Krems train station
  • Train to Vienna (1h train)
  • Lodging – same place (night 4/4)

IN DEPTH ITINERARY

Day 1 – Welcome to Vienna

Vienna is charming and has a lot to see so we’d give it at least 3 days – but you could easily spend 5. It’s a remarkably easy city to get around – most of the sights are walkable in the old city center and an excellent streetcar and metro system gets you everywhere else

On arrival to the airport you have several options to get into town – S-Bahn (S7 – 4.30€), CAT train (14.40€ including transfer to S or U-Bahn when you get town), Taxi (36€ fixed fee), or Uber (about 30€). Plan on about 30 minutes.

Getting around town you are likely to use the metro system quite a bit so consider a multi day pass for convenience. You can also get around easily by bike (600miles of bike lanes and a relatively flat city) – if so inclined consider downloading the WienMobil Rad app to be able to rent bikes from stands all over the city.

St Stephens Cathedral is on a nice square right in the middle of the old city and makes a great place to start your introduction to the city. Do a self guided walking tour and consider climbing the south tower (tallest in Austria) for a view of the city (you can elevator up the north tower for a much less energetic climb with a lesser view)

St Stephens Cathedral

Depending on what time you arrive may limit your first day activities, but the Albertina Museum is less than a 10 minute walk away and is well worth a visit for both state rooms and a nice collection showing progression of impressionism to expressionism and other modern art. Just on the way down the street to the museum is the Kaisergruft (Imperial crypt), with some very elaborate tombs. Very nearby is the Vienna State Opera House, which has an interesting tour (reservations needed) – or if you can snag seats or standing room places (and have the clothes for it) you can try and arrange to see an opera (they rotate 4 on a daily basis so you can probably find one to your liking).

State Opera House

For food / snacks / drinks the Naschmarkt has a ton of places to grab lunch / drink or buy food and is a pretty short walk away from the opera just across the ring road. Alternatively if you need an afternoon chocolate fix, the Sacher cafe, home of the famous Sacher torte (death by chocolate) is just behind the Opera or at the nearby Gertner Cafe. Cafe culture is a thing in Vienna – be sure and spend some time in the afternoon with coffee and pastry. At some point be sure and see Cafe Central to hobnob with the ghosts of Freud and Trotsky.

There are a lot of great restaurants in Vienna – consider Cafe Central, Mochi am Markt, Skopik und Lohn, The Palmenhaus, Bruder, Mraz und Sohn, Steireck, O Boufés, Labstelle (Reservatiobs are good idea)

Day 2 – Walking tour and Art History Museum

Vienna is a great city for walking – most sites are an easy and flat walk away and there and today is a great day to take or arrange one for sights you have not yet seen. We recommend Adrienn Barte-Rhomberg (private) , Good Vienna Tours (public) or If you’re not on a formal walking tour use the Rick Steves one (audio download available). Be sure and look for the famous Lippizaner stallions in their stable at the Hofburg palace.

Afterwards, grab lunch at a cafe or Haas & Hass, then consider visiting the spectacular Kunsthistorisches Museum – both for the architecture as well as the collection.

Staircase in Kunsthistoriches museum

On your way back to lodging stop in and see the Hofburg Palace Treasury to see the best crown jewels on the continent and if you have time, tour the Hofburg Royal apartments (though you’ll see even more lavish royal apartments tomorrow at Schoenbrunn).

If its not too late this would be a great time to grab a rental bike (download WienMobil Rad), unlock a bike (by entering bike number on the app and get an unlock code) from one of the many bike racks around town, and zip off along the ring road as a great way to see the city.

Day 3- Palaces

Today is palace day. If you decide, as we did, to join Adrienn Barte-Rhomberg for a private guided tour she will pick you up and take you on the metro out to the Schönbrunn Palace If not tickets are timed entry and you should reserve in advance then take the U4 10 minutes to Schonbrunn (direction Hutteldorf). Tickets come with an audiotour – be sure and book the Grand Tour. The palace is huge and opulent and rivals (or surpasses) Versailles. Afterwards be sure and visit the expansive and lovely gardens.

Schonbrunn palace and grounds

Metro back to the opera stop and grab lunch at the Naschmarket or one of the nearby cafes (depending on which you did not doing and day number one). From here grab the D S Bahn to the Belvedere Palace for a great collection of modern art (especially Klimt).

If you still have time, and are not put off by slightly complex travel logistics you could consider heading out of town for a hike in the Vienna woods (30min bus / 15 min Uber). Afterwards you can have dinner in a wine garden (a unique Vienna institution) – try Weinhof Zimmerman or Fuhrgassl Huber if out near the area – but be aware travel to these is a bit of a hassle – verify that bus runs late enough and realize getting an Uber back may be a bit of a challenge.

Otherwise you have many restaurants still to choose from.

Day 4 – Melk Abbey and Wachau Valley excursion

One day of your visit we recommend a short excursion to the nearby Wachau valley for a couple of great attraction – the UNESCO world heritage Melk Abbey and a delightful boat cruise down the Danube through the lovely Wachau Valley. You can buy a combo ticket that includes a train out to Melk (about 1 hour), boat ride, and train back from Krems (at the other end of the boat ride – about one hour).

Melk Abbey has been a benedictine monastery for about 1000 years and features a beautiful hilltop location overlooking the Danube and amazing baroque interiors.

Melk Abby

For lunch you can eat in Melk, grab lunch on the boat, or cruise down and hop off in one of the nearby villages. Durnstein in the prettiest. Another great option is to hop off the boat at the stop in Spitz and rent a bike (via Nextbike -dowload app in advance) and ride down to Krems (lovely biking through vineyards and villages – gentle downhill all the way). Along the way winery options to try include Weingut Prager, Lagners Vineyard, and Johann Donabaum.

If you boat we recommend getting off at Durnstein and there MAY be another boat along later (depends on season and time – check in advance) but if not you can bus to the train station in Krems to get your return train. Durnstein is very cute and there are several options there for tasting of Wachu valley wine – try Domäne Wachau or Vinothek Dürnstein.

Causing the Danube

Make your way to Krems the next town and catch your train to Vienna (1h train).

More

As you can see Vienna has a lot to offer and you could easily add a day or more. With more time, add in a Vienna woods walk that you probably did not have time for, a visit to Prater park (amusement park, ferris wheel etc), a show with the Lippizaner stallions, or some of the other museums you may have missed (Hofburg New Palace Museum, Academy of Fine Arts Painting Gallery, Natural History Museum, The Secession (with large Klimt fresco).

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