Getting Around Vienna

Vienna’s transport system is superb. A combination of S-bahn (overground trains), U-bahn (underground trains), trams and buses will ensure that you get to all the attractions conveniently. You can walk around the city centre but there is a lot to see, so it’s worth using the public transport to get to the various attractions. We recommend the Vienna City Card which costs around 5 Euros per day and allows unlimited use of public transport. The card also offers discounts for some of the museums, galleries and restaurants. We bought a  7 day card for 35 Euros and got 20 Euros back in reduced admission fees.

If you decide to travel using individual tickets, you must validate your ticket before using the transport. Validation stamping machines will be found on trams and buses and at the entrances to U-bahn and S-bahn stations. Ticket offices and machines can be found in the stations.

Worth Knowing: Vienna public transport is used on an honesty basis. Tickets aren’t routinely checked but could be inspected at any time and you will get a hefty fine if you don’t have a valid ticket for your journey.

Where to Stay in Vienna

Vienna can be an expensive city to stay in, especially if you wish to stay in the central area. But, just slightly further out, there is a good range of much cheaper accommodation. We spent a week in Vienna so decided to rent an apartment in Leopoldstadt. Our room comprised a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen-diner-lounge which was perfect for us.

Just across the Danube canal it was a 10-15 minute walk to the nearest U-bahn and a 5 minute walk to the nearest tram, we were located close enough to the action. We had a supermarket and a pharmacy just 3 minutes walk away and the area had plenty of shops and cafes.

Introduction To Vienna

On our first day we decided to walk the Ringstrasse, a 5 km ring road that encircles the historic centre. It’s a good way of getting your bearings. The only problem was that there was so much to see that we kept getting distracted!

The Wien Museum is a great place to start your exploration of the city. A free museum, close to Karlsplatz station, you can learn all about the history of the city as well as explore its culture. It has a wonderful model of the cathedral.

Artistic Vienna

Vienna is paradise for art lovers. We could not visit all the museums and galleries we wanted to see  – there are so many.

The Upper and Lower Belvedere

The Belevedere comprises two baroque palaces which house the Belvedere museum. You need to get tickets for each palace or you can buy a combined ticket if you want to visit both.

Klimt is possibly Vienna’s most famous local artist and his works can be found throughout the city. If you want to see The Kiss it is located in the Upper Belvedere building. However, it is impossible to really look at this artwork for getting pushed out of the way by people wanting selfies.

The Kiss is a marvellous painting but the other pictures in the room – and indeed the rest of the gallery- were just as good. And there is more exciting Klimt in other parts of the city. While you’re at the Belvedere, don’t forget to look at the palace building as well as the amazing art.

Secession

The Secession Building showcases a wide variety of mainly contemporary art but in the basement is a special treat – a frieze created by Klimt, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the death of Beethoven. Its inspiration was Wagner’s interpretation of Beethoven’s glorious Ode To Joy – Symphony no 9. Headphones are available to listen to the wonderful music.

MAK

MAK is the museum of applied arts. It displays arts and crafts objets rather than traditional paintings. We really enjoyed our time here, taking advantage of their half price tickets on Tuesday evenings, exploring the world of design. The staff are super-friendly and when you buy your ticket, they can advise which exhibits are best suited to your tastes.

MAK Is home to a massive 8 metre wide Klimt, Tree of Life. Even better, there is a bench in front of it, so you can sit down and look at the piece in all its detailed glory.

This work sits alongside a lovely mural by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (wife of Charles Rennie Mackintosh) The Seven Princesses.

Kunst Haus

We fell in love with the works of artist Hundertwasser, who was also a designer and architect. Museum Hundertwasser is an absolute joy to visit. It’s a short walk from Radetzkyplatz on tram 1 going to Prater (pick it up from U1 or U4 from Schwedenplatz).

The building is organic and curvaceous, the floors undulating – Hundertwasser stated that you never walk on an even surface in nature. The artwork is delightful.

Kunsthistorisches Museum

The Kunsthistorisches Museum is a grand building located on the Ringstrasse (Burgring) or Museumsplatz and houses a huge collection of fine art. Highlights include works by Carravagio, Archimboldo, Rubens, Bosch, Raphael and Titian. And there’s some sneaky Klimt to view on the staircase.

There are many portraits of the Spanish royal family, a branch of the Habsburg family, by Velázquez. They have an extensive Brueghel collection, the most magnificent of which is The Tower of Babel.

Historic Vienna

St Stephen’s Cathedral

Located right in the centre of Vienna, conveniently in Stephensplatz, this is Austria’s tallest church and has a wonderful Gothic design. You can enter the cathedral for free but guided tours are available, for which there is a fee.

Votive Church

Located on Rooseveltsplatz this a chuch in neo-gothic design built to commemorate Emperor Franz Josef surviving an assassination attempt in 1853.

Rathaus

Vienna’s City Hall is a glorious gothic-inspired building on Rathausplatz, located right on the Ringstrasse. It’s the city’s administrative building but it is possible to visit and tour inside.

Hofburg and the Sisi Museum

The Hapsburgs were one of Europe’s most famous dynasties, ruling Austria from the 13^th century and the Austro-Hungarian empire from the 15^th century. Their reign ended with the collapse of Austria-Hungary following World War 1. Many royal families in Europe, including the British royal family, have connections to the Hapsburgs.

Vienna was the home of the Hapsburgs and it is possible to visit their splendid residences in the city. The Imperial Apartments at Hofburg, and the Sisi Museum, which showcases the life of Empress Elisabeth, are popular attractions.

Schönbrunn

A little way out of town, accessible on U4, is Schönbrunn palace, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs. This Baroque palace boasts 1,441-rooms and is one of Vienna’s most popular tourist attractions.

You can visit the extensive gardens for free. The entrance is to the right of the palace as you enter the complex.

It makes for a lovely walk and you can get some wonderful views across the city.

The woodlands are populated by the cutest red squirrels.

Top Tip: If you want to visit all the imperial palaces it is possible to buy a combined ticket. It is also worth considering some of the other cards, such as the City Card or Vienna Pass, if you are planning on doing a lot of sightseeing. The Vienna Pass is expensive so it’s worth researching whether it works out as good value for you as you’d have to visit a lot of attractions in a short time period.

Famous Residents of Vienna

Many famous people lived and worked in Vienna, from musical maestros Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Mahler and Strauss, to artists Klimt and Schiele and, of course, the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. It is possible to visit many of their former houses, many of which have been converted into museums.

The Sigmund Freud museum is located in his former house on Berggasse 19, before he escaped to London in 1938. The layout has changed over the years and it contains displays of artefacts and correspondence. The only room that contains any original features is the furniture from the waiting room, donated by his daughter Anna Freud.

The Klimt villa located on Feldmühlgasse 11 is where Klimt worked from 1911 to 1918. The studio has been restored to show how he would have lived and worked.

Beethoven lived in many places in Vienna. You can visit the apartments on Mölker Bastei 8. Apparently he completed his 5^th and 6^th Symphonies here.

He also spent much of his time residing in the hillsides above Vienna, trying to find relief for his ailing health. The Beethoven Museum at Nussdorf (Tram D) showcases the rural house where he lived.

The Haydnhaus on Haydngasse 19 was Haydn’s final home and has been extensively restored.

Architecture in Vienna

One of the best things to do in Vienna is simply wander the streets. The architecture is stunning.

We particularly enjoyed many of the buildings designed by Otto Wagner, one of the city’s most important architects. The post office Postsparkasse at Georg-Coch-Platz 2 is a wonderful modern, functional design. It is possible to visit but you will need to pre-book.

The decoration of the Majolika house on Linke Wienzeile 38 is delightful. This building is very close to Naschmarkt and the Secession building, so be sure to pop by to take a look.

The Karlsplatz station pavilion is gorgeous in its design. You can visit during the summer months. Karlsplatz is on U1, U2 and U4 as well as REX1, S1, and S2 

Hundertwasser was a particular favourite architect. You can visit the house and village he designed. It’s just down the road from the Kunst Haus museum.

And if you travel along the U4 or catch tram D  towards Heiligenstadt you can visit the Spittelau incinerator, a waste-to-energy plant that is undisputable proof that industrial can be beautiful. Free tours are available but only at certain times, so check the schedule. If you can’t find a tour it’s okay to go into the office foyer and have a look around – there are some interesting displays.

Vienna in the Movies

Loads of movies were filmed in Vienna and, if you’re intrested in cinema, it’s fun finding the locations for classic scenes.

The Third Man is one of the most famous films set in Vienna and the city is integral to its narrative. It is possible to join Third Man tours in Vienna, and even visit the underground sewers that were key to the climactic chase, but these only happen in the high season. Nevertheless, you can still visit iconic locations, such as the famous doorway where we first catch a glimpse of Harry Lime at Schreyvogelgasse 8 or Lime’s apartment building (and ‘assassination’ location) on Josefplatz square.

And they say you can’t say you have visited Vienna unless you have had a ride on the big wheel at Prater. This was an iconic location in The Third Man, when Harry Lime (Orson Welles) expresses his disdain for humanity and we learn quite what a repulsive character he really is.

Before Sunrise is one of the most romantic movies of all time. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy star in this tale of a young man and woman who meet on a train and explore Vienna together, just for a night. They fall in love but decide not to exchange details (this was the 1990s) and agree that they will meet at Vienna station exactly six months later. The iconic green bridge where they start their Viennese whirl is in the centre of the city is Zollamtssteg, close to the Mitte station.

English director Nicolas Roeg’s nasty psychological drama Bad Timing flits between Vienna and Bratislava and takes in many of Vienna’s sights, including The Kiss at the Belvedere.

Although the film Amadeus, based on the life of Mozart, was set in Vienna, it was actually filmed in Prague. And The Man With Two Brains was ostensibly set in the city but you only really see a tram!

Green Vienna

Prater is not only the location for the big wheel, it is also an enormous green space. Prater does have a theme park with all sorts of rides but the park itself is extensive. It’s a fantastic place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

As well as riding the big wheel, there are other rides to enjoy at the theme park. Prater Museum is also worth popping into. It’s just across the walkway from the big wheel. It tells the history of the theme park and has some exhibits from days gone by. It also offers a screening of all the films that have featured Prater over the years – a nice piece of cinematic history.

Prater is located in Leopoldstadt, across the Danube canal. You can catch Tram 1 to Prater (end of the line) which will take you to the woodland/park area, or U1 or U2.

Located on the Danube river, Vienna is also surrounded by beautiful countryside and many of the trams will take you away from the city lights. There are lots of enjoyable, well sign-posted walks, especially amongst the extensive vineyards. And plenty of heurigen – taverns – to enjoy a refreshing post-hike glass of wine.

Sweet Treats

Sacher Torte is probably the cake most associated with Vienna. It was apparently created by Franz Sacher for Prince Metternich in 1832. The torte would actually be quite a boring chocolate cake but for the layer of apricot jam running through the middle. If you want to eat Sacher torte at Hotel Sacher, you will almost certainly have to queue. Even the ‘café around the corner’, Café Bel Étage, was full. But there are plenty of other cafes to try this quintessential cake, so we enjoyed a coffee and cake at Demel café where we didn’t have to queue.

Kaiserschmarrn is a lovely dish which comprises shredded sweet pancake accompanied by a delicious plum compote. The tartness of the plum offsets the incredibly sweet pancakes.

Apple strudel is another classic dish associated with Vienna. It comprises delicious apples encased in a crispy pastry. Contains fruit so it is absolutely good for you.

Mozart Balls, Mozartkugel, are sweets made from all the good things: marzipan, pistachio, and nougat, all covered with rich dark chocolate.

Top Tip: The major supermarkets sell Mozart Balls and other sweet treats that you can buy for souvenirs. They are about half the price of the sweets at the airport.

Meet the Meat

The Viennese do love a sausage and there are lots of sausages available at street food stands all over the city. When you order a sausage it is accompanied by horseradish or mustard and a hunk of bread, which is warmed up for you. Käsekrainer is the queen of sausages and hascheese inside. We also enjoyed Burenwurst which includes bacon and spices.

Wiener Schnitzel is yet another dish associated with Vienna. It comprises a cut of meat, traditionally veal, bashed to tenderise it, then coated in fine breadcrumbs and deep fried. It is often served with a wedge of lemon and lingonberry jam, with potato salad on the side. Wiener Schnitzel is clearly the dish that every visitor wants to try because it’s usually significantly more expensive than most other dishes in restaurants!

Surstelze is roasted pork knuckle. A feast for two people with crispy crackling served with mustard and horseradish.

Tafelspitz is another typical Viennese dish. It comprises boiled beef served in a broth. It is usually accompanied by apples and horseradish.

Restaurant Recommendation: Schank zum Reichsapfel located on Karmeliterpl. 3 was superb. It really has the air of a heuriger – a tavern like atmosphere and it serves traditional food.

The highlight dish was pork belly made to a traditional recipe with dumplings and served with meat juices. It was accompanied by warm cabbage salad with bacon and caraway. 

They also host pop-ups which serve slightly more unusual variations on traditional Austrian food using local ingredients. We even managed to eat some stunning vegetarian and fish dishes. Below you can see beetroot carpaccio with horseradish and feta, and wild mushrooms with noodles in a creamy sauce. Both were delicious and much lighter than traditional Viennese cuisine.

Resources To Help You Plan Your Trip

Accommodation: Hotels in Vienna

Transportation: The Vienna City Card offers transportation in and around the city. You can also get discounts at many of museums, galleries and restaurants.

Attractions: The Vienna Pass offers free entry and hop-on/hop-off transportation. It also offers skip-the-line at many museums and galleries. But do check that it works out to be good value for you.