Vienna, Austria is a beautiful city with a colorful history, it is a cultural center especially for classical and operatic music and arts. As the former capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there are countless imperial monuments and palaces, many spectacular museums, and ornate churches and cathedrals. It is a city of many concerts, a city of dignity and pride. This colorful city has always been one of my favorite destinations.
Vienna Riesenrad is a giant Ferris wheel found in the Würstelprater Prater amusement park, one of the many parks in the city. A ride on this majestic wheel costs just 8 euros (or around $10 US dollars or £6.50 British pounds), but exploring the park and surrounding area is free and gives you a great feel for the city.
For the classical music enthusiast
Vienna is known for its classical and operatic musical heritage. Vienna saw the development and popularity of the “great master composers”, CPE Bach, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Salieri; and paved the way for the romantic period of Schubert and others. Vienna is very oriented to this musical tradition.
One of the main attractions of Vienna is the mozart house, the composer’s former residence on Domgasse which is now a museum and small concert hall; definitely worth the student price of €8 ($10.40, £6.50)! There are Mozart-themed venues and events all over Vienna, and there is a chain of souvenir shops called Mostly Mozart (which sells Mozart chocolates). The Mozart statue in the Hofburg Palace which is a must see due to the musical note made of flowers in front of it, the cafes and restaurants named after him, and the Mozart/Strauss concert in the Kursalon which has reasonably priced tickets and many performance options. Haydn, Schubert, Strauss and Beethoven also have houses/museums dedicated to them throughout the city. There is no lack of classical music here!
Tea Vienna State Opera, the Vienna State Opera offers guided tours for less than €5 ($6.50, £4). It’s a beautiful place that’s home to some of the best operas and ballets in the world (and the Vienna Philharmonic takes its musicians from its orchestra!). Nearby is the House musicthe House of Music is a unique museum that has exhibits on the Vienna Philharmonic, the city’s most famous composers, and other multimedia music topics; For just €9 ($12, £7), this place offers so much you can’t get anywhere else in the world.
For history, art and architecture enthusiasts
If you are a history or architecture buff, the huge hofburg palace will take your socks off. Not only is it close to some amazing restaurants and Viennese cafes, but it’s also beautiful and huge. You can visit the Imperial Apartments and the Schatzkammer, the treasury, which contains the imperial jewels of the Habsburg dynasty. Also check out the Austrian National Library and its four museums and the Spanish Riding School which is home to the famous Lipizzaner horses.
There are the twin museums Ringstraße (Ringstrassa or Ring Street) commissioned by the Emperor to house the Habsburg dynasty’s formidable art collection.
The first is the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Museum of Art History, is one of the richest and most massive art museums in the world. It houses many 18th-century paintings by the old masters, Renaissance and Baroque art collections, and magnificent collections of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities.
The second is the Vienna Natural History Museumthe Natural History Museum in Vienna, another of the largest and most important museums in Europe, is truly spectacular.
Beware of admission prices at the Hofburg and the museum area complex because visiting so many places will add up. But spend some leisurely time in each of the major museums and see some of the treasures of our human existence.
For something free, the on-site Burggarten and Volksgarten (parks) are really nice places to unwind from all your sightseeing.
Tea museum quarter, Museum Quarter, is a section of the city that is one of my favorites. There you’ll find the MUMOK and Kunsthalle Wien (for modern art), the Leopold Museum (for Austrian art), and the Architekturzentrum Wien (for architecture and urban design). The Museum of Applied Arts (the MAK) is also great to see, and it’s free on Tuesday nights!
Tea Schonbrunn Palace It is far from the city center but definitely worth the trip. It’s like Versailles, a big palace with vast gardens behind it. Although student tickets are €10-15 ($13-$19, £8-12), you can go to the garden for free and spend quite a bit of time there; It is a great place to have a picnic, run or read a book surrounded by nature.
Tiergarten Schonbrunnit is the oldest zoo in the world and is close to Schönbrunn Palace.
In the lookout, a palace complex closer to the city center, you can visit a free park (in the formal French way) between the Upper and Lower Belvedere palaces and see the amazing city skyline. There you can also see the Belvedere museum.
Tea Freud Museum in Alsergrund was the home of Sigmund Freud and costs €5.50 ($7, £4.50) to enter. For this, you can learn everything about the life and work of the psychologist. However, his famous sofa is not there. It is in London. What may be more interesting are the many really trendy cafes and restaurants in that area that attract students from the nearby university.
stephansdomSt. Stephen’s Cathedral on Stephenplatz in the city center has Gothic and Romanesque styles and offers concerts, tours of the church and catacombs, and stunning views of the city from the top of the south tower. Definitely worth the climb just 343 steps.
Karlskirche, the Church of San Carlos, in Karlplatz is of baroque style and has concerts. (I saw Mozart’s Requiem there) and tours; However, instead of climbing the steps, you can take an elevator up to the observation deck in the dome to see Vienna. Take advantage of Karlsplatz while you’re there: the park is beautiful and the surroundings have many other museums (such as the Clock Museum) and good restaurants and cafes.
viennese cuisine
Vienna has its own cuisine, although it is often treated as equivalent to Austrian cuisine. It is sometimes incorrectly thought of as a variation on German cuisine, but don’t mention that to an Austrian. And indeed, Viennese cuisine is unique in many ways that you will find enjoyable.
Some of my favorite dishes include Rindsuppe (beef soup), Wiener Schnitzel (mashed and breaded fried beef), Gulasch (a stew similar to the Hungarian stew of the same name), Tafelspitz (boiled beef served with apple and horseradish sauces ) and Selchfleisch (smoked meat) is usually served with sauerkraut and meatballs. Auf Geschmack (to taste)!
As for dessert, well, although the Danes are proud of “Danish pastry”, even the Danes call it wienerbrød, “Viennese bread”, because it originated in Vienna and not Denmark. This is the type of puff pastry that is used in a number of ways, including strudels as the Viennese specialty, Apfelstrudel (apple strudel), and Topfenstrudel (a sweet Topfen or quark-filled strudel) often served with vanilla sauce. But there are also many forms of torts like the famous Sachertorte (a chocolate cake) with its many variations. There is no shortage of magnificent bakery creations in Austria.
Unfortunately, when you leave Vienna, one of the things you will miss the most is the food.
Viennese coffee culture
While there are countless pubs in Vienna serving Austrian beer and wine, Vienna’s cafés, coffee houses, are particularly interesting places to experiment with various blends of coffee served with a variety of deli strudel or tort. But the Vienna Café goes beyond the simple snacks served, as it is an institution in itself. There is an interesting culture surrounding Viennese cafes: many have literary readings or live piano music (usually classical, sometimes jazz), and there is a particular look and feel associated with the Viennese cafe that entices the customer to sit there. for hours, partly in wonder and partly in joy. For a really wonderful restaurant and cafe, I recommend Café Greinsteidl near the Hofburg Palace. But there are many, many more in the city.
In summary:
Visiting Austria is like traveling back in time, going back in history, it is unlike any other place you have been. Vienna is the perfect place for the young traveler because its unique way is so unique, even exotic and especially beautiful; and even a high school backpacker will find it oddly charming and an invaluable experience. But fear not, the prices are reasonable, its attributes are disconcerting, and there are so many things to remind you that you’re no longer home. Even when you leave Vienna, his qualities and his character will somehow become a part of you.