Austria ski Wheather Museums History Travel

Why Travel to Vienna?

This city is Bugbog's favourite European walking capital!
Vienna has piles of magnificent and varied architecture ranging from Gothic to Art Nouveau, all set in an uncrowded, relaxed, spaced-out city that must be the most pedestrian-friendly world capital.
Home to Strauss, Brahms, Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart, the place revolves around music but also offers some interesting museum experiences.
The locals are well-mannered, it's extremely safe, efficient, not so expensive, and only a few hours drive from other great cities in and out of Austria.
Food is good, though heavy and meat oriented.
Inline skaters and bikers are also well catered for.

Downside:
Nothing serious but...
- The Danube is neither blue nor near the city centre, though the green Danube Canal is.
- Shops tend to be elegant and pricey, while the centre lacks little grocer stores.
- Austrian modern art is a disaster.

Vienna climate guide:
Best: May - Nov
Avoid: Jan, Feb [cold, short days]
n.b. The Lipizzaner Horses [Spanish Riding School] and the State Opera House are both out of action every July/August, tho' there's plenty of other music around.

Main Attractions:
Two pleasant, rambling walks can cover many of the key sights for tourists:
Vienna's inner city is outlined by the Ringstrasse - a wide, tree-lined boulevard uncrowded by cars, trams, bikes or pedestrians. Many important sights line this ring road - including the Stadt Park [with its Strauss monument], Opera House, Hofburg Palace, a cluster of big museums, Parliament and the imposing Rathaus [City Hall]. This latter has exceptionally lively evening action outside, with a daily free showing of famous music films [evenings, July/Aug] and a busy world food court of varied cuisine, ranging from Greek to Australian [?!]. This is not a tourist attraction.
Saturday night at 10pm sees hundreds of skaters travelling around the Ringstrasse - legally.
Pedestrianised Kartner Strasse runs from the Opera House/Ringstrasse junction down to the spectacular St Stephen's cathedral and offers many diversions en route. This is an area that demands random walks of discovery.

Outside the Ringstrasse, but only just, still walkable are:
- the magnificent Karlskirche [church] with awesome dome frescoes.
- the cute little Art Nouveau Secession Building.
- the huge, baroque Museumsquartier culture complex.
- the two Belvedere Palace/Museums.

Outside the inner city, needing a taxi or short trip on the metro/subway/underground/U-bahn:
- the totally wacky, 'Austrian Gaudi' apartments of Hundertwasserhaus.
- the huge Schloss Schonnbrunn palace complex, with clear, detailed tours of 'a day in the life of an emperor's family', superb free gardens, and frequent concerts/operas in different locations.


Short Trips:
- Vienna Woods, stretching from the city to the Alps provide excellent hiking, biking and Austrian country town experiences.
- Salzburg [209m/336km SW] is a fast 3hrs by car - about €100 for a day trip with a guide. Impressive little town with depressing numbers of tourists.
- Baden [15m/24km SW] for the Spa bath experience,
- Neusiedl Lake [28m/45km SE] for family activities, bird watching or biking,
- The Wachau Danube Valley [NW], including popular Krems[ 50m/80km W], lovely Durnstein [5m/8km W of Krems, where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned] and the amazing over-the-top baroquery of Melk Abbey [55m/89km W]. Car, bus or boat, tho' boat travel takes a long time to get anywhere interesting...

Festivals:
Christmas - March, Ball Season finds dances, mostly waltz, all over the city, with the elite jigging at the Hofburg Palace.
May-June, Theatre Festival, including dance.
mid June - early July, Jazzfest takes over.
September, one week, Hallamasch, multi-ethnic music and dance performances.

For some precise dates or more information see: European Festivals or Arts Festivals.

Arts/Culture:
Museums and Galleries:
There are some superb displays - including how the Imperial families lived - in gorgeous settings, such as the Hofburg Palace, Kunsthistorisches Museum [Fine Arts], the Belvedere Palaces, the recently redeveloped Museumsquartier culture complex, and many more.

Classical Music:
Excellent free daily shows of music films outside the Rathaus [city hall], July, August. With food/drink stalls.
Musikverein for the Philharmonic Orchestra, Burgkapelle in Hofburg for Vienna Boys Choir.
Dance/Opera: Note that the #1 opera place, Staatsoper, is closed July/Aug, tho' tours run every hour and the interior is spectacular. Otherwise there are plenty of concerts and occasional operas at Schloss Schonnbrunn and other musical establishments. Look for touts in tourist areas wearing 19thC costumes!
Also the Rathaus has lively outdoor, evening showings, see above.
Theatre: Performances in English for travellers at English Theatre and International Theatre.
Live Music and Clubs: The best area for a night out is around Ruprechtsplatz, Seiten-stettengasse, Rabensteig and Salzgries, or other districts [WUK, U4, Arena,etc.]
Tickets can be bought from the venues or at the tourist office near the Opera House.
Check the tourist office's magazine for event info/listings.

Kids stuff:
There're not a lot of kid friendly activities in Vienna, but Schloss Schonnbrunn has a few things to keep small tourists busy - a maze, a zoo, a puppet theatre and kid-oriented tours of the Palace.
Elsewhere there's the Riesenrad - the giant ferris wheel, the Zoom Kindermuseum and several adventure swimming pools. Diana-Tropicana is probably the best.

Cuisine:
Heavy on the meat is Austrian style. Tafelspitz [spicy, boiled beef], Wiener Schnitzel [veal or pork in breadcrumbs] and Gulasch [spicy beef stew] are specialities.
Around Vienna there are also many good quality sausage stalls, serving beers and excellent wine too.
Pastries are superb, as is coffee and desserts. This is not a good place for dieters!
Coffee Houses and Heuriger [wine taverns] are integral parts of local culture : try Café Bräunerhof, Café Hawelka, City Heurigen, Weinhof Wieninger, Wienglut Klager.
Bars infest Vienna but no more so than the fabled 'Bermuda Triangle', a rectangle running south of Stephansdom to the Danube Canal and west to the ring road. So called because once you start bar hopping in this maze of streets you may disappear forever.

Shopping:
Classy: In Vienna's inner city just about all the shops are 'classy', so you won't have trouble finding elegant, expensive outfits. Steffl and Ringstrassen Galerien are two good examples of posh department stores, both in Kartnerstrasse.
Antiques/books: Am Hof square, Fri/Sat.
Farmer's markets: Freyung, esp. interesting before Christmas.
Wacky: Naschmarkt flea market, Saturday.