After super successful days in Frankfurt, Munich and Salzburg, I arrived in Vienna. I stayed at the Le Meridien Vienna, which was super conveniently located in the middle of the city, but just a tad too far to walk with my luggage. They were able to check me in early, and gave me a sweet upgrade to a deluxe room.
The hotel is incredible, and my room had incredible almost two story ceilings, floor to ceiling windows, and enough seating to have like 6 people over comfortably. They also gave me these super delicious wafer cookies every night, and the bed had these super funky backlights that they would turn on with the turndown service. It was all very trendy.
By the time I settled in I only had a little bit of time before sunset, so I left the hotel and started out on the Ring Road. Like many old cities in Europe, the old town is in the center of the city with a road around the outside in the form of a circle. The Ring Road in Vienna is full of amazing restaurants and shops, and you can take a ton of great photos of the architecture. The Le Meridien is also located essentially half way between the two sides of the road (its not a full circle since it borders the canal). I walked one direction, and then crossed the canal to the Sofitel hotel. It’s known for the incredible rooftop bar and restaurant, Das Loft. Aside from the amazing views, the ceiling is a unique artwork in itself.
After my drink at Das Loft, I walked back via the other half of the Ring Road, and stopped for a beer and some Weiner Schnitzel at Bier & Bierli next to the hotel. They have a great outdoor area, as most restaurants in Europe seem to have, and they were still open at 9:30 pm when I finally arrived. The food was excellent, but the service left much to be desired. They only had three employees for the entire restaurant, and apparently only one of them could actually take orders and process payment. Vienna in general is apparently known for less that amazing service at the more low to mid-level restaurants. Tips are mostly included, and they assume that a tourist isn’t going to come back again so they aren’t as attentive as they are with locals. Despite having heard this from many people, Bier & Bierli was really the only place I experienced it, and the food was good so I didn’t mind that much.
The next morning I slept in quite a bit after having stayed at the restaurant until close to 11.The Anker Uhr clock is super incredible to see, and at noon, apparently all of the figures walk out and it’s a pretty cool show. Unfortunately I didn’t quite make it because I needed to make sure I looked nice for my dinner that evening. I managed to arrive around 12:30, so I just missed it. I highly recommend trying to get there at noon if you can!
Afterwards I headed to the Austrian National Library inside Hofburg Palace. It’s an incredible collection of over 7 million books, and is probably the most beautiful library I’ve ever been to. You do have to pay to enter, but there is rarely a line. Get the combo ticket that also includes the Globe and Esperanto museums to pay a better price for all of them combined. It’s very expansive, but the overall walk through only takes about 15-20 minutes for the library.
A few blocks away from the library is the Spanish Riding School and in front of the Riding School, the old city walls. The current city is built on top of much of the old city, and it’s really cool to see the old walls built into the ground in the square. The Spanish Riding School apparently used to be free to walk in and visit, but now has become a pretty big tourist attraction, so you have to pay to attend, and also have to book in advance as they only have certain times when training is in session. I walked in and they didn’t have anything available for the next two days, so unfortunately I missed out. I recommend using the link above to book a tour if you’re interested – they aren’t super pricey and the tours looked to all be at least an hour long.
A few blocks down is the building that houses both the Globe Museum and the Esperanto Museum. If you purchased the combo entry you should have separate tickets for each spot. Start with the Globe Museum – you’ll walk through individual rooms of the old home it’s located in, and see some of the most intricate and unique globes in the world. Keep an eye out for the hallway with the incredible floor to ceiling paintings as seen above. Some of the globes date back to as old as the 14th century!
Afterwards, hit up the Esperanto Museum in the same building. This part is much smaller, just two rooms that lead into one another, and there wasn’t even an attendant at the door. You simply scan your ticket and let yourself in. I honestly had never heard of Esperanto before coming into the museum and it was pretty fascinating to realize that there is such a large group of people so dedicated to Esperanto being the global language. It only took about 10 minutes to walk through, but I learned a lot.
After the museums, walk by Cafe Central. It seems to always be the top cafe on everyone’s lists, but the line is always SUPER long and it’s mostly tourists inside. I snapped a photo, but opted to get my coffee and pastries at a more local establishment a little later in the evening at a MUCH cooler cafe.
Close by you’ll find St. Stephen’s church in the Stephensplatz square. The church itself is beautiful, and then there are multiple tours you can take part in inside. They offer access up into the two towers of the church, as well as a separate entry into the crypts down below. The towers are great for a view of the city, but the main attraction is the crypts. You’ll be led on a guided tour through both the new and old crypts underneath the church and the square. Along the way you’ll see well maintained mausoleums for the most recent Archbishops, as well as walk through gravel paths in tight stone corridors past mass graves for the victims of the Plague. Some of the rooms are simply full of bones, while others have organized stacks of bones packed in by prisoners back in the day to make room for more victims. There are no photos allowed in the crypts, so you’ll have to experience it for yourselves.
The Jesuit Church nearby had one of the most unique interiors I’d seen in all of my European travels. The church is incredibly ornate, with these whimsical spiral columns in blue and pink colors supporting the sides. I know visiting churches can become monotonous, so if you only decided to do a couple in Europe, make sure you put this one at the top of your list.
Being an alumni of Dominican High School, I always have to visit the Dominican churches. This particular one was just a half a block down from the Jesuit church and was very simple from the outside, but gorgeous on the inside. This one was cool to visit because it isn’t on many of the guidebooks, so you can actually take a moment to relax and reflect rather than entering a church entirely full of photo taking tourists.
When I first arrived in Vienna, I naively assumed the canal was the river. Upon looking at a map, I realized the Danube was a little further away from the city center, and made it a priority to walk over and see it. Along the way, I passed the Prater Amusement park, which is a MASSIVE amusement park in the middle of the city that is totally free to enter, you simply pay per ride. One of the most popular rides is the Wiener Riesenrad Ferris Wheel, which is an incredibly old Ferris Wheel with great views of the city. Unfortunately the lines were super long when I walked by, and the ride itself seemed super slow, so I opted to pass and keep walking around. It was SUPER hot that day, so I treated myself to a smidge of ice cream, which actually ended up being the only thing I ate all day in anticipation of my dinner reservations at Steirereck that evening.
After the park I walked the along the Danube pack towards the main drag into town. Along the way you’ll pass all of the River Cruises, and be able to see the financial center of the city on the other side.
Back at the main drag, you’ll see this incredible building, as well as walk through a park dedicated to Mexico for their protests against the occupation of Austria during WWII. If you’re getting tired from all of the walking, this is a great place to stop and relax for a few in the shade.
Once I got back near the hotel, I walked down to Cafe Savoy, which was recommended to me as a locals alternative to the very tourist-full Cafe Central. The inside is just as ornate, and was known back in the day for their scantily clad women employees. As beautiful as the inside was, it didn’t seem like the AC was on, so I opted to sit outside and people watch along the Naschmarkt. I was almost done with my coffee when suddenly it looked like it was going to start pouring, so I rushed back to the Le Meridien to prepare for dinner.
I had reservations that night at Steirereck, which was rated the 10th best restaurant in the world for 2017. It’s located right in the center of Stadpark in the middle of Vienna, and the food was incredible. Check out my full post on the incredible meal here (coming soon!).
After dinner, I stopped at the Le Moet Lounge in the hotel for a nightcap. They have an incredible selection of champagnes, and great music and it was a nice end to the evening.
The next morning I got up to catch the train to Bratislava, and passed by the Gasometer town area of the city that I had on my list but hadn’t gotten time to walk out to. It’s a bunch of massive gas tanks that were transformed into apartments. I didn’t get a chance to snap a picture, but they’re super unique so keep an eye out for them on the left side of the train tracks as you’re heading out of the city towards Bratislava/Budapest.
I wanted to get to spend some time seeing the St. Charles Church, the Rathaus, the Flak Tower and the Schonbrunn, but unfortunately didn’t have quite enough time in just one day. Anything else I should add to my next itinerary or questions about your upcoming trip? Let me know in the comments!
