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 THE ALTSTADT |
We
visited Vienna for a short stay several years ago, and we have talked
about returning ever since. So, this trip was 7 nights only in Vienna,
what is generally called "slow travel". Vienna is a beautiful
city, loaded with beautiful buildings, museums, palaces, and
churches. The tourist area is the inner city, which is called the
"altstadt" (literally the old town). It is small and very easily walkable.
It is surroundedby a 5 KM ring road, called the " Ringstrasse"
which was built on the ruins of the old city walls.
It is a grand boulevard and there is a ring tram which will take you
its full length. It's a bright yellow tram, but it was not in
operation during our visit. |
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| Vienna's public
transport system
is wonderful, simple, efficient, and unusual. I think it's the best one
I have used anywhere in Europe. Within the city, there are subways,
trams and busses, and we used them all. It's unusual because you don't
need to go through any barriers either getting on or off, even on the
subway. If you have a paper ticket, you do have to validate it when you
get on whatever you have gotten on to, but if you have a pass of some
sort, there may be no validation at all, depending on the type of pass.
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| You are still expected to buy a ticket, and there are conductors who may check if you have a valid ticket. We rode the system many times, and didn't see any checks. There are a variety of passes you can buy. We bought two 7 day passes online, which had our names on them, and their dates of validity. We rode many times, and never had to show them to anybody. We bought them on this web site, and the price for each was about the price for a 10 minute taxi ride within the city. |  NOT PART OF THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM |
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| Before
flying to Vienna, we booked a transfer from the airport to our hotel
with Vienna Airport
Cab.
The ride cost 38 Euros, which was the cheapest price in the
market, and our driver was waiting for us at the terminal, and
everything went smoothly. I would book with them again. In fact, I did
book with them again. After our arrival, I booked our ride back to the
airport for the
same price. The driver was on time and the drive went smoothly. All
our communications were through whatsapp. and it was very convenient. |
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| The hotel
we stayed at was called the Hollmann Beletage Boutique Hotel. it's located in
a very central part of the Old Town. Before
I describe this very unconventional hotel, I invite you to open the
hotel link above, and note the URL address. The name of the site is
"crazyhollmann", and that says it all. Mr Robert Hollmann designed this
hotel, and 2 or 3 others with the philosophy that he hates hotels. He
is also clearly a very creative megalomaniac. You can read all about
him on the web site's main page, and if you stay at the hotel, you can
also see a continuous video of him and his exploits in the hotel's
elevator. |
 THE GAME ROOM AT HOLLMAN |
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 BREAKFAST OMELETTE AT HOLLMAN |
Regarding the hotel, it is very unconventional, and I recommend to anyone who plans to stay here, to stay for at least 3 nights, as it takes a couple of days to get used to the place. It's rated at 4 stars, but the desk closes at 9 PM. It has a restaurant which only serves breakfast, which was very good with everything made to order. Between 3 and 5 in the afternoon, there is free beer and pork meatloaf. Our room was huge, with a high ceiling and a wall of doors, and we never quite figured out which door to open for what purpose. |  MYSTERY WALL AT HOLLMAN |
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| The
hotel is on the 2nd and 3rd floors of a residential building, and
you have to use a code, or your room key (RFID) to gain access. There is a
communal minibar open 24 hours (actually a whole half floor, with a game room) with
drinks on the honor system, and free whiskey. The hotel staff were
super helpful, and the best thing about this hotel is its location.
It's
steps away from Schwedenplatz (a central transport and commercial
hub), and a 5 minute walk from Stephansplatz, the true center of the
old town. It's surrounded by stores and restaurants in every
direction. Once we got used to it, we really enjoyed our stay here. |
 BREAKFAST AT HOLLMAN |
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 HIDDEN GEM IN VIENNA |
We took a
walking tour of the old town with a local guide called Karyna.
I
booked with her online, and paid at the end of the tour. She took us to
some beautiful hidden spots in the old town. She was a
delightful guide, and provided lots of local information and history. |
 ALISA & KARYNA |
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| The old town is lovely, and I think one of the most beautiful inner cities in all of Europe. It is full of museums, squares, churches, and a few palaces as well. It's very walkable, and as I mentioned above, public transportation is excellent. Below is a description of what we did in the old town. | ||||||||||||
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| THE KUNST MUSEUM |
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 THE KUNST ART MUSEUM |
The Kunst Historic Museum (The Vienna Fine Arts Museum) is the largest and most significant art museum in Vienna. It is located in a big beautiful building directly across from the Natural History Museum, which is housed in a similar building. In between the 2 buildings is a public square called Maria-Theresien-Platz. And, here is the story about these 2 beautiful buildings. As for the museum visit, it has lots of beautiful and historic art works, and all the explanations are in both German and English. We enjoyed our visit, but preferred the other museums we visited. | |||||||||||
| THE JEWISH MUSEUM |
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| The Jewish Museum is located at a spot called Judenplatz in the center of Vienna. Judenplatz was the center of Jewish life in Vienna during the middle ages. At this square is also a Holocaust Memorial. This museum concentrates on the history of Jewish life in Vienna, and there is another Jewish Museum in the city, on Dorotheergasse, and which is just a 10 minute walk from Judenplatz. We only visited the museum at Judenplatz, which we found very intreresting. As far as I know, the museum at Dorotheergasse concentrates more on the holocaust. I believe that one of the museums is an annex of the other, and that one ticket covers entry to both museums. |  JUDENPLATZ |
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| THE LEOPOLD MUSEUM |
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 THE PLAZA OF MUSEUMS- QUARTIER |
The Leopold Museum is an art museum specializing in modern Austrian art. We enjoyed our visit here very much. It is located in a cultural center called the Museumsquartier. It's an enclosed center holding several different museums, and is located very close to the Kunst Museum. Just the same, we had difficulty finding it and had to ask several people how to find it (none of whom actually knew where it was), but we found it in the end. It's a lovely center, and the museum itself was most enjoyable. |  MODERN BEDROOM AT LEOPOLD |
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| THE MAK MUSEUM |
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 MAIN LOBBY AT THE MAK |
The full name of this museum is the Museum of Applied Arts. The museum displays furniture, glass, china, silver, and textiles from the Middle Ages to the present day. It was our favorite museum visit in Vienna. The exhibits were fascinating, and included Chinese pottery, fantastic glassware, modern furniture, as well as some really wierd sculpture. There is a combination ticket available to visit both Leopold and MAK, which you can buy at either museum. The price is a little more than the admission to either one of them, but we didn't know that, and paid full price at both. |  CRAZY SCULPTURE AT THE MAK |
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| Vienna
is famous for its music. There are concerts going on all the time, many
of them primarilly for tourists. Everybody knows this, but they go
anyway, because they are usually held in fantastic places, like baroque
churches, palaces, or beautiful concert halls. We went to 2. One was
surprisingly good, and the other was surprisingly disappointing. |
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 KARLSKIRCHE |
The first
one was at Karlskirche (St. Charles' Church), a beautiful
baroque church, and it's truly beautiful both inside and out.
There is a standard concert played here about 3 times a week, featuring
Vivaldi's 4 seasons, and usually another unrelated work or 2. Even
though this is a tourist oriented concert, run on a regular basis, the
concert was absolutely fantastic. The first violinist was exceptional.
I did my best to identify him, but I couldn't find his name anywhere.
All in all - a beautiful venue, and a fantastic concert! |
 KARLSKIRCHE |
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Musikverien
(the Vienna Music Society) is one of the most important concert halls
in Vienna. It’s an impressive building and inside, and is quite a
professional operation. They have a variety of concerts here, but they
also have a regular series of Mozart concerts, with what I would call
“Mozart’s Greatest Hits”, played by an orchestra, aptly named, the Vienna
Mozart Orchestra. This orchestra of around 30 musicians plays in
17th century period dress, and even the ushers are in wigs and costumes. These concerts are strictly for the tourists. Our audience was filled with Chinese and other tourists who had no idea when to applaud and when not to applaud. However, it was clear that the conductor was used to it, and shushed the crowd subtly with one of his hands behind his back when they applauded between movements. |
 MUSIKVERIEN |
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 MUSIKVERIEN |
This
concert was not quite what we expected. Sitting next to us was a
young man who obviously appreciated classical music, and he got
frustrated and left at the intermission. As noted above, it was a
selection of Mozart pieces, and being in Vienna, of course ended with a
few rousing pieces by Strauss. At one point (during a Mozart piece),
the conductor led the audience in clapping. Not only did he get the
audience clapping, but he also played some games with the audience, now
and then missing a clap, now and then clapping twice, or stopping
suddenly. It was quite entertaining - for a concert for school
children. The hall is beautiful, and the concert was fun, but far from inspiring, and not what we expected. |
 OUR CONDUCTOR? |
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| We
were 6 passengers in an 8 seat minivan, on our Hidden Wachau Valley
tour with Vienna Explorer. Our guide was Marco. The tour was great fun.
We visited 2 wineries, (Sigl and Lagler) had lunch at a Heurigen
(Austrian wine tavern), and took an hour boat ride on the Danube. Marco
was a good driver and a fine guide, and he knew all the vintners
personally, which made for an enjoyable tour. The Wachau Valley itself
is a beautiful area, and we took lots of nice pictures. The wine is 90%
white in the Wachau region, and a good time was had by all. Below is a selection of pictures from the Wachau Valley. |
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| We also
spent some time strolling in the village of Dürnstein,
one of the nicest villages in the Wachau Valley. It has a castle
overlooking the town, and lots of stores selling local delicacies and
touristy merchandise. We also stopped at the village of Melk for a
stunning picture of the Melk Abbey. It's the center picture above. We were there just for the picture, but you can take a tour inside the Abbey if you visit Melk. |
MORE ABOUT DURNSTEIN |
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THE TOP TEN AUSTRIAN FOODS TO TRY IN VIENNA THE OFFICIAL RECIPE FOR WIENER SCHNITZEL THE 11 BEST CAFES IN VIENNA |
I
have to start with some general comments on the food in Vienna. Our
diet is primarilly the Mediterranean diet, and the food in central
European countries is just not our cup of tea. I eat anything and
everything, but Alisa doesn't eat much meat. and the Viennese diet is
meat, potatoes, cabbage, and then some more meat. She managed somehow,
but in the hotel, she trained the staff to make har a nice green salad
every day at breakfast. We also visited the supermarket right across
the street from the hotel, every day to pick up snacks or salad for
dinner. I had Wiener Schnitzel, but just once, and we searched out
restaurants with something to eat for both of us. Below are
descriptions of the restaurants where we ate. |
 ALISA'S CUSTOM MADE BREAKFAST SALAD AT AT HOLLMAN |
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| FIGLMÜLLER | ||||||||||||
| This place
is the “ultimate” Wiener Schnitzel restaurant in Vienna! And today there
are three! The oldest one is on Wollzeile, which is actually more an
alley than a street, and is reputed to be the oldest schnitzel
restaurant in Vienna. It is small and old, and people stand in line to
eat here. The newer one is close by, on Bäckerstraße Street and is
larger and more modern, but the schnitzel recipe is the same. We ate
here (at Bäckerstraße), and people stand in line here too. The third
one is called Lugeck, and is also a few steps from the other 2. This is
the newest place, and is a touch more upscale, and the prices are a
little higher. I didn’t see people standing in line here. The 3 restaurants are all steps one from the other,
maybe 50 meters apart, at most. |
 WAITING ON LINE AT FIGLMULLER |
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 THE FAMOUS SCHNITZEL AT FIGLMULLER |
We
made a reservation for lunch at 2 at the Bäckerstraße branch, and I was
really surprised when they seated us in front of the people who were
standing in line outside. The service is slow and curt, and the Wiener
Schnitzel was as expected, huge and not something I would not make a
steady diet of. However, the side dishes were excellent, especially the
Viennese potato salad. Alisa had salmon trout and it was surprisingly
good. |
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| In short, you come here for the experience of eating the original Wiener Schnitzel, at the original Wiener Schnitzel restaurant, and for us, we did it, once, and once was enough! | ||||||||||||
| BUXBAUM |
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 AT BUXBAUM |
Buxbaum
is a high end restaurant, with Michelin credentials, just short of a
star. I enjoyed my meal which was an appetizer of burrata, and a main
of braised beef. Alisa enjoyed her meal less. She had a prawn ceviche
and a cucumber soup. She was not happy with the ceviche, which was far
from ceviche, and the shrimps were not marinaded properly. Service was
excellent. |
 BRAISED BEEF AT BUXBAUM |
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| HEINDL
SCHMARREN & PALATSCHINKENKUCHL |
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| We had a
late-night snack here, as it was right near our hotel. The menu is
strictly Austrian fare. The food was good, the beer was cold, and the
service was friendly. Nothing special, but no complaints. |
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| CIVEDIAMO BAR |
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| This place
bills itself as an Italian aperitif bar. They have a big selection of
mostly Italian drinks (except that all the ones I wanted were “not in
stock”). The food consisted of cold antipasto, and a few other cold
items. We visited because it was right next to our hotel. We sat at
crowded tables on the sidewalk, and I wouldn’t return. |
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| LANDTMANN CAFÉ |
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 PASTRIES AT LANDTMANN |
How
could we visit Vienna and not eat in at least one of the city’s famous
cafes? We chose the Landtmann café, because it was in the right place
at the right time, and we had lunch there. As in other restaurants in
Vienna, I made a reservation, which was honored and we were seated
before those waiting in line, who apparently had not made reservations. The interior is opulent, with chilled showcases filled with beautiful pastries and cakes. We had a light lunch, and I had the famous apple strudel “mit schlag” (with whipped cream). The Strudel was fantastic. Lunch was similar to many Viennese restaurants – mostly deep-fried meat. I had Wiener chicken, which is like schnitzel, just with chicken instead of veal or pork. So we give this place top marks for appearance, service, and dessert, and fair marks for the food. |
 APPLE STRUDEL AT LANDTMANN |
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| THE
NASCHMARKT |
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 THE NASCHMARKT |
This isn't
exactly a restaurant. It's a market full of many restaurants. This is a
place that needs to be seen to be believed. It’s on the south edge of
the old town, (not far from the major museums) and is a full kilometer
of restaurants of all sorts. There are also stands selling produce as
well, but the restaurants are the main event here. It's mostly basic
restaurants - nothing elegant here. This is a must see place in Vienna.
We also ate lunch here. The restaurant is described below. |
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PREGO AM NASCHMARKT This is an Italian restaurant located in the Naschmarkt of Vienna. The Italian food was good, in fact, better than expected. My lasagna was prepared properly, and Alisa’s fish (I forget which fish) was cooked properly, and filleted expertly at our table. |
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 FISH CARVING AT PREGO |
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| KIANG |
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 HALIBUT AT KIANG |
After
a few days in Vienna, we got tired of the local fare, so we went to
this Chinese restaurant. It’s a simple restaurant, but we really
enjoyed the food, which seemed quite authentic. Alisa had a dish with
haddock and glass noodles, and I had Hunan chicken. We enjoyed both
dishes. |
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| WEINGUT
MANG (Weissenkirchen in the Wachau Valley) |
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 WEINGUT MANG GROUNDS |
I was
looking forward to eating at a heurigen,
a traditional Austrian wine tavern. They can be found in many Austrian
towns, but in particular in the wine regions of Austria. We had lunch
here on our tour of the Wachau Valley. We were a group of 6 with a
guide, and were pretty much alone, so our main measure would be the
wine and the food. The wine was cheap, and the food was cold, in fact,
all the food is cold. I would guess that a place like this would be
great fun in the evening with lots of diners drinking and singing. For
lunch alone, the wine was just simple and the food was just cold. I was
disappointed. |
 MEAT PLATTER AT WEINGUT MANG |
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| LE SALZGRIES
(for the English page, use Chrome) |
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I looked for a really good
restaurant for our last meal in Vienna, and I found Le Salzgries. This
was the restaurant we enjoyed more than any other during our visit to
Vienna. Everything was just great. The service was fine, and all the
dishes were very French. We had avocado and crab
tartare, lobster bisque, Dover sole, and grilled octopus. Everything
was superb. We even had 2 desserts, I had Crème Brûlée, which was
perfect, and Alisa had sorbet drenched in vodka. Very nice!
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| And here is
something notable that we didn't do. We did not visit the the Donauinselfest,
the largest, free, open-air music festival in Europe, which was going
on while we were in Vienna. We saw a couple of live concerts live on TV
from our hotel room, and decided that that was enough for us. |
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| We
also
didn't go to several of the highlights of Vienna, because we had
visited them during our first visit to Vienna. That would include the Belvedere
Gardens, the Schönbrunn Palace (there are also concerts here),
and the Spanish
Riding School,
just to name a few. There's also a boat which sails to Bratislava, the
capital of Slovakia for a very nice day trip. There's a link below if
you are interested. |
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This is a page from our site "Travels with Steve & Alisa". It describes one of the many trips we have made together. We've built these pages not just to describe our trips, but to help other travelers if we can. Please use the information we've provided freely, and let us know if you have any questions we might be able to answer about your own planned trip, or just let us know if we have helped you. Or perhaps you have some information we could add to the site. Visit our home page using the link to the right.
Enjoy
your next
trip!!
~Steve & Alisa~
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