Greg and Trish: Vienna

Frederic Chopin once said that ‘Vienna is a handsome, lively city, and it pleases me exceedingly’. This is how we feel – we like her architecture, the culture she represents and her relaxed way of life.

Everything seems to work beautifully in Vienna. There does not appear to be any ugly parts of the city, rather just older post war buildings without real character. That’s probably reflective of the Teutonic sense of precision that means everything needs to be functional and serve its purpose. Vienna is walkable, bikeable, and blessed with an excellent and extensive public transport system.

One of the things Vienna has going for is its seemingly perennial reputation as the most liveable city in the world. Certainly, it is beautiful and old-world, with its Baroque palaces and elegant looks, but it’s also energetic, cosmopolitan, and modern – I think that I could live here. It is as pretty as Paris, and less crowded. Palaces as opulent as Versailles. A cosmopolitan city, rich with culture, history and tales of kings and queens to add to the mix.

It’s said that retreating Ottoman soldiers left a few sacks of beans behind in the late 1600s, leaving behind the accidental ‘gift’ of coffee. The very first Viennese coffee house was opened in 1685, and since then, these rich cultural institutions have served coffee and become the backbone of Viennese life. The Viennese coffee shop is a place where you’re almost encouraged to linger. For the price of one cup of coffee (or one of the spectacular little cakes and tarts that are such a mainstay in Vienna), locals browse newspapers and let the day unfold before them. Your morning coffee is enjoyed in a relaxed and unhurried manner.

Mark Twain once said that ‘the best coffee in Europe is Vienna coffee, compared to which all other coffee is fluid poverty’. I think that I must agree with him on that, certainly based on our recent travels. We tried many of the traditional old Viennese coffee houses, including Cafe Hawelka...

...Cafe Sacher and...

Cafe Central. Pair the strong cup of Viennese coffee with an apple strudel and your day is fulfilled before it even begins!

Vienna is a beautiful city, it looks wonderful, is well kept and tidy. The streets are clean and there are plenty of parks and trees all around, which makes the city look airy and nice.

Vienna’s ‘inner city’ is a city with detailed architecture and dreamy streets which look inviting. The centre is dotted with boutiques for shopping lovers and there are myriad museums waiting to be discovered. It is fair to say that Vienna is incredibly versatile and can cater for any type of traveller. The historical centre of Vienna is easily walked. You can encompass many of the beautiful buildings and pop into any of the museums or palaces and still have time to continue your venture.

The inner city contains almost all of the ‘must see attractions’ of Vienna. St. Stephen’s Cathedral is in the middle of the city and the tower offers a nice view. Located between St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the Stock Exchange, you’ll find the luxurious shopping district in the most historic quarter - all the major luxury brands are here.

Located in the heart of the city, Albertina is the largest former private Habsburg residence. Today Albertina houses an amazing array of art, including permanent and temporary exhibitions.

St Michael's square is impressive for its architecture, the Hofburg Palace and the Spanish Riding School.

The Imperial Palace was built in the 13th century and is a giant complex with multiple attractions. You can easily spend half a day here. First, there are the Imperial Apartments, which is really three activities in one: the silver collection featuring thousands of royal dinnerware, the Sisi exhibit highlighting the life of the beloved Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and the royal apartments themselves. The Sisi exhibit is a refreshingly honest portrayal of the Austrian Empress.

Located at the Hofburg Palace, the Spanish Riding School was a surprise for a non-horse person. I will say that the horses are originally from Lipica, Slovenia, but are now bred in Austria. We watched the summer performance, which was essentially the school showing off the mares and foals as the main performing horses are having a spell in the alps. What we saw, though, made us want to see a full performance when we return to Vienna!

The Museumsquartier is now home to three different museums: the Leopold Museum for Art Noveau and Experessionism; Kunsthalle Wien, an exhibition center with rotating exhibitions; and the Museum of Modern Art, which has the largest collection of modern art in central Europe. The Museumsquartier is also home to a number of festivals throughout the year. Basically, if you love modern art, this is your go to Viennese excursion.

The Stephansdom (St Stephen’s cathedral) is built in Romanesque and Gothic styles and has been standing since the 12th century. Inside, you’ll find an ornately decorated church with high archways, vaulted ceilings, and a plethora of statues and religious paintings. Additionally, there are two beautiful altars: the High Altar and the Wiener Neustadt Altar. The cathedral also has two towers, though one remains unfinished. The multi-coloured tiled roof is particularly interesting.

If Dr Suess was an architect, he would have designed the Hundertwasser Haus. This is a super colourful apartment house that challenges the traditional architectural styles and norm of Vienna. You can't actually visit it, but you can glean from the outside just how inspiring it is and how is differs so much from traditional Viennese architecture. Within this house, there are 53 apartments, 4 offices, 16 private terraces, 3 communal terraces, and countless trees and shrubs. It is considered a cultural heritage. This is incredible work.

The traditional Sunday pursuit for locals when most shops are closed and the city retains a sleepier vibe, is spending time in the Stadtpark or Volksgarten. These are verdant and elegant parks located at the edge of the city centre and are beautifully presented and kept with wonderful rose gardens, monuments and statues to classical masters and local notable citizens...

...but Mozart has pride of place in a park (Josefplatz) near the Albertina and MuseumsQuartier.

For many years, the Vienna film festival on Rathausplatz, the square in front of Vienna City Hall, has taken place for two months during the summer. The unique location attracts significant numbers of visitors each summer to enjoy the special atmosphere, listen to selected musical highlights (operas, operettas, classical, pop and jazz concerts) and indulge in the many international culinary delights. It was a delight to experience this relaxed event.

The area around the Karlschirche also have an open air theatre set up for summer evening film viewing.

Taking a walk along the Danube, you see that there are a number of bars and cafes along the shoreline and during the summer, there are also a few small “beaches” where you can relax and soak up some sun and relax on a nice day.

One of our more enjoyable outings was to a heurigen, situated in the Vienna Woods. The heuriger are in the incredible winelands found just on the outskirts of the city – it is a wine garden, generally owned by a family-run winemaker, selling their wine directly to the public, and serving food alongside it. It’s usually filled with local regulars, who come for an hour or two in the evening to drink a bit of wine, have a chat, and listen to, in most cases, live music or singing, and have a simple bite to eat.

We enjoyed two such heuriger during the afternoon, after walking through the vineyards from Kahlenberg, with its views across Vienna, back to the wine growing community of Grinzing, where we enjoyed lunch and local wine. The narrow streets still boast an old-fashioned rural charm.

The beautiful Vienna Woods is located on the outskirts of the city and is filled with a lot of hiking paths. It’s located around 30km from the city, extremely popular with locals and hardy tourists looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city alike.