05 Oct
Austria?
We leave for the train to Vienna in 12 hours. I know nothing about it and I’m trying not to freak out about how unplanned this is (I gave everyone a 19 page booklet before my wedding detailing everything they could ever want to know. I’m a planner.)
We have two half days and one full day. We want to walk around a lot, eat well, and only visit free attractions.
What should we do/eat/see?
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
You should EMBRACE the unplanned nature of the trip! Oh man, I envy you. I’ve been to Vienna before, and I adored everything about it. We spent 4 days there. But by far, my favorite day was the one that I just spent exploring on my own. We were dropped off in the center of the city, and we had 10 hours just to walk. To eat, to shop, to lay down and think, to take pictures… it was GLORIOUS. Do yourself a favor and take at least one unplanned day!
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1When I was in Vienna, the weather was miserable and sadly we didn’t do much in our short time there, so I don’t have great recommendations… but I will say that I loved Salzburg, which is only a few hours away, in the event that you get there! My best friend lives there and it’s absolutely charming.
I am no help.
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23 words my friend: Sound of Music. Holla! Free tour stuff here: http://www.eurocheapo.com/blog/salzburg-free-sound-of-music-walking-tour.html
Please let me live vicariously through you?
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3I love unplanned trips! I agree with Chelsea, embrace it and see what comes. When I was living in Japan my friend and I went to Hiroshima/Osaka with nothing but the tickets to get there and an edition of “Lonely Planet” to guide our way. Bobby and I didn’t plan anything on our 3 week camping roadtrip, and it was awesome. We didn’t plan our South Dakota trip either- and if South Dakota, of all places, can be fun when unplanned I’m sure Austria will be too
But, speaking of Lonely Planet, if you’re leaving in 12 hours they have a great website. And, since it’s catered to travel on the more budget conscious side of things there will probably be lots of tips for free/close to free entertainment.
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4Unplanned trips are the best!! I hope the weather holds up for you! I bet if you go to the square and just wander you’ll find tons of stuff! Have fun!
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5Schonbrunn Palace is a MUST see!!
St. Stephan’s Cathedral is wonderful. Make sure to take the catacombs tour.
And as so many have suggested, Salzburg is great as well. It’s about 3 hours from Vienna.
There is also a giant ferris wheel (The Prater) that may make for some great photo opportunities.
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6Full disclosure: I haven’t been to Austria. But in planning the four trips to Europe that I have been on, I used two websites (and guidebooks) more than any others: Rick Steves and Lonely Planet.
This is what I found for Vienna:
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/austria/aus_menu.htm
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/austria/vienna
I also found one of the New York Times’ 36 hours guides for Vienna (though that seems more like an upscale, aspirational itinerary to me!).
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/travel/15hours.html
I’m totally and completely jealous, though. I think our next trip to Europe will be the western part of Germany and Austria. Have fun!
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7I went to Vienna and stayed about three days. We did a lot of walking. The best things we did that weren’t free but cheap were the Spanish riding school and the opera. The riding school we just saw the morning exercise which is a lot cheaper than an actual performance. Not as many tricks etc but still fun to see the pretty horses.
The opera we bought standing seats for like 2 euros so we just went for the experience and then left. Really neat though to see the opera during a real performance.
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8Vienna is such a beautiful city. Check out Schloß Schönbrunn, such a beautiful place.
Currently they also have a Michelangelo exhibit at the Albertina and a Frieda Kahlo exhibit. Vienna is also known to have the largest English theatre. Then there is the Mozarthaus in Vienna. So many things to do.
Check out this link to get a better idea of what you want to see and do. If I were you, and if the finances allow it I would see an Opera or the Vienna Philharmonics.
http://www.wien.info/en or this http://www.aboutvienna.org/culture.php
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9I loooved Vienna when I went two years ago. These are my suggestions: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Albertina Museum, just walking around the Museum Quarter in general is nice, grab a yummy sachertorte at the Hotel Sacher which I think is also in the Museum Quarter, taking the trolly around town to see the sights, take a peek inside the Vienna Opera House (sometimes they let you come in for free after the intermission if it isn’t a sold out show) Schönbrunn Palace, any of the lovely bridges over the Danube (Reichsbrucke is the most famous) and we also visited the area where Beethoven lived which required a train ride but I don’t remember it being terribly far. If you want to see boring vacation photos for an idea of what it all looked like, here is my set (Vienna was the second half of the trip, so you’ll have to scroll past Munich/Oktoberfest!) http://www.flickr.com/photos/clarice77/sets/72157607547550153/with/2897320506/
Enjoy it - it is one of the most romantic places I’ve ever visited!
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10Oh, don’t forget the Burgtheater! And since Europe already has the cooler temperature, don’t forget to grab a Apfelstudel mit Heißer Schokolade at one of the Cafe. Sooo delish!
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11Oh I almost forgot - we had dinner at a neat place called Zwölf Apostelkeller. Here is the website: http://www.zwoelf-apostelkeller.at/index-en.htm
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12goulash museum (you must eat some goulash)
viennese cafe (duh)
hubby says there’s an outdoor market that is INCREDIBLE.
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13Oh how fun!!! I wish I could be helpful, but I visited Vienna in 8th grade on a class trip for about 2 days. I don’t remember much and my ‘journal’ of the trip is at my parents house. I agree with everyone else, embrace the unplanned. For our European honeymoon, we had so much planned and I longed for time to just lay on the grass in Regent’s Park in London and hang out to people watch under the Eiffel Tower. You all will have a blast!!!
Can’t wait to see pics!
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14Ahh I love Vienna!
Let’s see… make sure you at least walk by the Parliament Building, the Hofburg, and Vienna’s City Hall. Gorgeous architecture. Nearby those is the “Volksgarten” which was beautiful when I went in March (but the gardens might be a little less pretty this time of year). The museum district is also right around there, and there are plenty of great museums… I just feel like I can go to museums in the US. Haha.
St. Stephans cathedral is just lovely (and I’m totally jealous that you’re going because the renovations should be done by now, which means is will be even prettier!). Eat some bratwurst. Somewhere. Anywhere. Preferably one of the little street vendors. What else…hmm. Oh! Hundertwasser Haus - perfect example of Viennese architecture/culture (plus it has a teeny tiny gift shop run by the sweetest people ever!). They’re pretty little multicolored apartment buildings (perfect for taking photos of!)…Google image search it… you’ll see what I’m talking about.
The Hapsburg burial crypt is really interesting (but kind of creepy). I can’t remember which church it’s below, and I think you have to pay a small fee to get in, but SOOO interesting! As for outdoor markets… there’s a cute little one on Spittelburg street (which also has lots of little shops). The big one is Naschmarkt (it’s been there since the 16th century!) Find a Viennese cafe, and sit there and relax. There’s a Viennese cake called “sachertorte” that is quite good if you get a chance to try it! Prater is the home of Vienna’s famous ferris wheel. You have to pay to ride it, but it has wonderful views of the city!
My favorite thing I did on my last trip was visit Schonbrunn palace (the summer home of the Hapsburg dynasty). You do have to pay to go on the tour, but it’s an incredible piece of history.
All of those places can be easily reached via the U-bahn! Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll try to help!
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15I would find a tourist office and ask them or just see where you can go just by walking (map is recommended). That’s what my husband and I did for most of our trip - we just wandered around and enjoyed being in Europe. Vienna quite possibly has a free walking tour that will take you to see the most exciting and interesting things.
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16I spent a month in Vienna in college and loved it. You’re going to have so much fun! I combed through my noted from my trip for some ideas…
- I went cheap cheap cheap, and didn’t eat out a lot, but they have a fast food schnitzel restaurant called Schnitzel Haus which is quite good.
- I second the Prater, it’s actually a whole amuseument park - free to wander, only the rides and things cost. It’s interesting to see how amusement parks are the same everywhere!
- Hundertwasser is a famous Austrian architect, known for his crazy colors and organic forms. I definitely recommend wandering around the Hundertwasser House and seeing some of his building, even if you don’t pay for the nearby Kunsthauswien museum, also designed by him.
- The naschmarkt is a giant food market, and on Saturday mornings they also have a fleamarket
- For window shopping, you can’t beat Karntnerstrasse or Graben(which, if you have to go to the bathroom, has ones below the street designed by the architect Adolph Loos). Mariahilferstasse is more affordable - I got some great jewlery!
- The Stadtpark is a nice outdoor park, with a famous statue of Johann Strauss. It’s exceptionally fun to sit and watch all the tourists pose for photos in front of it.
- Schloss Schonbrunn has an entrance fee, but the grounds are free and fabulous to wander around in
- Judenplatz has a really interesting Holocaust memorial. I don’t want to say too much and spoil your experience of it - but you should definitely go.
- Along the fleishmarkt they have beautiful art nouveau homes
- The Bawag foundation is a free gallery showing contemporary art
- Some evenings the Augustinekirche has free or cheap classical music concerts
- The Ankeruhr is a really neat mechanical clock, it goes off with all the figures and the music at noon
- All municipal museums are free on fridays before noon and all day Saturday. I liked the Uhren museum, which is all about clocks, and the Museen der Stadt Wien which is about Vienna’s history
- I can’t go without recommending at least one art museum, and the cheapest is the Secession museum at 4 euro. You should see at least one Klimt while you’re in Vienna!
- I was in Vienna researching the art group Wochenklausur, which does sociopolitical intervention as art, and one of their projects was creating the upcycling company Gabarage. Not only are they reusing materials, they also use the company to help former drug addicts reintroduced to the workplace. Needless to say, they’re pretty cool. The store is at: Schleifmühlgasse 6, 1040 Vienna
Hope that helps, and I will look forward to hearing what you saw!
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17I’ve never been, so I have no suggestions, but I’m really looking forward to your posts about what you do!
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18Vienna is a beautiful city. Very clean and easy to maneuver. Definitely make the trip to Schonbrun Palace - exquisite. The cathedral is amazing and take the time to go to the top. Check out the Vienesse horses (name is slipping my mind right now), and dine on Tafelspitz. Most of all, just enjoy!
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19Jama mentioned this above, but one thing I remember seeing when I was there 11 years ago for free was a building with no straight lines. Here is a link. http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/hundertwasserkunsthaus.htm
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20Salzburg is less than 3 hours away by train
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21Salzburg is amazing. Vienna is fun too, but I don’t remember much of what we did there. I know Salzburg was my favorite part of the trip, and we went to Prague as well!! I highly recommend Rick Steves!! He’s wonderful and his podcast tours are the best!! I’m not sure if he has any for Austria, but you should definitely look it up! We did some of those tours in Italy and LOVED it!!
Have SO much fun!!!
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22Oh, you will have such a fabulous time! I went w/my husband a couple years ago (tagged along with his MBA class that was studying abroad for a few weeks) and loved it. I blogged about it here: http://notlikeotherkids.blogspot.com/2008/05/american-in-vienna.html
One of my favorite things was taking the public transit up onto a mountain. We walked around and had brunch at this mountaintop cafe that was surrounded by vineyards. Schönbrunn was also a fun place to wander around.
Looking forward to seeing pictures!
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23The Schloss Shoenbrun is AMAZING! I feel like the entrance fee was nominal but you would be able to get the most gorgeous photos there, it would be completely worth it. It’s where Marie Antoinette grew up.
I can’t remember the name but the church downtown is amazing and beautiful. Food was great, we just asked at our hotel and they gave us a list of hole in the wall schnitzel joints and we ate a ton of struedel.
When I’m in Europe, I love to visit the train stations, especially when I’m in need of a snack. My fav is the bavarian bretzels and I feel like we found them in Vienna.
The trains are really easy to use but we stayed near the Westbahnhapf and it was a nice and fun walk down one of the main streets to the downtown area and the river.
It costs money but I would say definitely skip the Sigmund Freud museum, totally not worth it.
I loved Salzburg but I would save that for when you have a bit more time. The Sound of Music tour is so fun! But everything there is very touristy and expensive. We went in the off-season and it was double the cost of our stays in Munich and Vienna.
Sorry if I misspelled everything! HAVE FUN!
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24My grandmother was from Austria, and she used to make Sacher tortes for the holidays. If you’re looking for a dessert snack, I’d recommend the Hotel Sacher in Vienna. It’s rather fancy inside, but if you’re just going for desserts it’s not too expensive. I even took pictures in the bathrooms because they’re so fancy!
My favorite thing to do was visit the Christkindlemarkt but it’ll still be a little early for that!
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25Just got out my travel journal from when I went to Vienna (Wien) in 2006 -
St. Stephen’s, definitely.
Schonbrunn, definitely. I’d seen pictures before hand of how gorgeous it was but I still was unprepared. Unbelievable.
Mozart’s house.
House of Modern Art (?) [not sure where this was, but it was a building with a crazy Picasso-esque exterior. I'm not into modern art or architecture, so it was ho-hum to me.]
Hofburg Imperial Apartments (I think they’re called this — a museum dedicated to Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth? They were the most beloved imperial couple and had quite fascinating personal lives).
An ice cream bar called a Magnum? I guess I was impressed but 4 years later it’s not ringing any bells. I do remember eating gelato there, but I have no idea how Austrian gelato would compare to Italian gelato.
I think Eisenstadt is not too far away — the Esterhazy palace is there (I didn’t get to go because there was some sort of EU bigwig meeting, how dare they!
)… Haydn’s house and tomb (the church with Haydn’s tomb has this really interesting Stations of the Cross progression that [oh the irreverance] apparently reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney.)
Oh, and if you’re eating meat, eat a wienerschnitzel. ‘Cause you’re in Wien, after all.
Enjoy! I loved Vienna. If all else fails, just walk down the street watching the performers and gawping at the old buildings and humming Edelweiss to yourself.
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Katie H. Reply:
October 6th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
It sounds like you and I had a very similar trip to Vienna! The only thing you listed that I didn’t do was go to Hofburg. I think the Wienderschnitzel was my favortie part.
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Austria is one of my most favorite places in Europe. Try and make it to Hallstatt. It’s breathtakingly beautiful and you will fall in love with it. Trust me!
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27I too went to Vienna with ZERO planning on a whim. I can’t recall how many days I was there - I think 2 nights, 3 days. I wandered. It is a small, beautiful, safe city and I just walked around. I also hired a car/driver for a few hours for a tour of the countryside.
I do remember the horrible train ride from Prague to Vienna. My friend and I shared a train car with someone who had the worst body odor - maybe not from her body, but from her clothes? like she’d been on a farm? I don’t know. We buried our noses into each others clothes to try and escape the smell while we tried to sleep.
I ate A LOT of chocolate croissants in Vienna, but that doesn’t differentiate it from any of my other vacations
Enjoy wandering! xoxo
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28I’m so late.. sorry! Austria was wet and rainy when we were there, so we just popped into a LOT of museums, churches stores and cafes - anything to get out of the rain. I would do the Sound of Music tour {or at least head out that way!} if you have time - and the crypt thing is great, I remember being thoroughly creeped out by it. In a good way! You just don’t see anything like that back here.
Have a ball!
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29Stephansdom - Church downtown
Prater - big fair, with rides, ferris wheel, etc
Opera - you can go line up at 5:00 or 6:00 and get “standing room tickets” for something like 5 euro
EAT - Kebaps (or falafel if you prefer veg) and gelato
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30DEFINITELY go to Schonbrunn Palace! Even if you don’t go inside, check out the grounds, they’re gorgeous! And make sure to check out the hidden paths inside the huge shrubs. And there’s a maze off to the right (looking from the palace at the grounds), lots of fun if you’re into that. And St. Stephens is a must too, so gorgeous (makes me wish we had cathedrals all over the US). I was only there for a day so we could only do so much, but my favorite memory is when we just sat in the grass and chilled (I read a book) in the rose garden. But no matter you’ll love it!
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31Eat pastry!! They have some amazing pastries especially this one thing that is like a filled donut with chocolate inside and sugar outside. MMMMMMMMMM
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32I agree with Esterhaazy palace. It’s amazing! You can take a tour of the palace, and they have “scenes” set up in different rooms. It’s where the Esterhaazy family lived. The Esterhaazy’s employed Haydn to write music for them, and every other week it was performed in their palace.
If you go up the street from the Esterhaazy palace, there is a chapel called the Haydnsaal. It means “Haydn’s Church” and it has a crypt in the bottom where Haydn is buried. It’s where his music was performed on the weeks he wasn’t in the Esterhaazy palace. It’s quite small, but interesting.
I also agree with St. Stephens. The square is interesting there. If I remember correctly, there are some places of interest around there too.
One more thing I would add…try to get to Zentralfriedhof. It’s the “central cemetary” in Vienna. There are a lot of well-known people buried there (Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Gluck, and a lot more (and not just famous composers either…). It’s interesting, and free. Then again, maybe not everyone likes to walk through cemetaries.
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33We do a two week food calendar and shop at the market for those two weeks. It helps us not buy and waste and also helps so I know what needs preparation.
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34I love Vienna! It looks like most of the big attractions were covered by the other girls, but I’ll add a few things I didn’t see mentioned.
Vienna is the PERFECT city for just walking around and exploring. But it’s set up in a circle and can get kind of confusing, so make sure you pay attention to a map
There are so many beautiful palaces and cathedrals and gardens and such to see. Stephensplatz, Mariahilfestrasse, Heldensplatz, Museumplatz… it’s all lovely!
The Rathaus (town hall) is gorgeous and usually has something neat going on. In the wintertime, it’s a Christkindlmarkt; in the summer, they have free concerts in the park at night.
A few girls mentioned Salzburg and the Sound of Music Tour, but I’m not sure if you’re wanting to get out of the city and go on tours? If you do leave the city, my husband and I would actually recommend Hallstatt over Salzburg. It’s the most picturesque Austrian village on a lakeside in the Alps. If memory serves me right, it’s about a 3.5-hour train ride from Vienna but it’s well worth it.
Also, I know you said you are looking for free events, but Vienna is known for its music and arts. It’s worth spending a few Euro to experience. We went to an opera at the Staatsoper and it was incredible! Like someone else said, there’s a way to get cheaper seats for it. And if you keep your eyes peeled, it should be easy to find other concerts and events for a good price (like the concert in the park we went to at the Rathaus).
I didn’t see many specific food options in the previous comments so I’ll add mine. My husband lived in Vienna for a year and his very favorite place is Ottakringer Schnitzelwirt. The cordon bleu wienerschnitzels there are to die for. We also loved Figlmueller (yummy food, cool setting) and highly recommend it. Figlmueller is close to Stephensplatz, and Ottakringer is near Mariahilfestrasse. And, of course, the big Austrian treat is a Mozartkugel, which is a chocolate/marzipan ball.
Hope it helps! There’s a bunch more information on my blog here: http://ash-and-matt.blogspot.com/search/label/Austria?updated-max=2010-05-12T13:23:00-07:00&max-results=20… although, I’m sure you don’t have time for reading all that!
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