Vienna, Austria is a phenomenal, elegant metropolis stuffed with baroque structure and sprinkled with its quintessential espresso homes. Stuffed with historical past, music, and tradition, additionally it is certainly one of our favourite European cities. I feel you need to spend no less than three days in Vienna to full expertise the Metropolis of Music. This Vienna itinerary will assist you determine what number of days you want in Vienna and what to do if you are there.
One warning I’d give is that regardless that there’s a lot to do, don’t let your Vienna journey itinerary get too full. In case you are anxious about what number of days in Vienna you might have, you could be tempted to pack all of it into a brief go to, however it’s good to take the time to benefit from the coffeehouse tradition, the identical approach you’ll loosen up and other people watch at a Parisian cafe.
What number of days in Vienna do you want?
In case you are questioning what number of days to spend in Vienna, I recommend you begin with no less than two full days to get an actual sense of town and have sufficient time to see the principle sights. In case you are planning on flying instantly into Vienna from america, you’ll want 3 days in Vienna as your first day shall be your arrival day and you’ll be combatting jet lag.
We truly spent 5 days in Vienna on a mixed Vienna-Budapest journey and I used to be glad to have the additional time. Between the 2 cities, we most popular Vienna by far and we might have simply spent per week. Ideally, if you wish to take any day journeys to Salzburg, Bratislava, or Melk Abbey, you’ll keep as much as 5 days in Vienna.
3 Day Vienna Itinerary
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If you wish to expertise the perfect of Vienna, observe this three day Vienna Itinerary.
Day 1
Begin on the Hofburg Palace and the Sisi Museum, which is the previous Imperial Palace of the Habsburg dynasty, positioned within the First District proper within the middle of city. Followers of The Empress collection on Netflix will get pleasure from attending to see and study extra about Franz and Elisabeth.
You’ll be able to tour the Palace however if in case you have restricted time, simply get pleasure from strolling by way of the gate and across the exterior. From right here, you’re in shut proximity to the Opera Home, Museums Quartier, and the Spanish Using Faculty.
The Spanish Using Faculty has been training the UNESCO-recognized equestrian type of Haute Ecole, a really specialised type of dressage, for over 450 years.
Attending to see these Lippizaner stallions and their riders carry out is kind of a deal with! Make sure you verify the schedule earlier than you go to see in case you can match a efficiency into your journey (tickets should be bought prematurely), or maybe peek in on certainly one of their morning practices.
After visiting the Spanish Using Faculty, make a beeline for certainly one of Vienna’s well-known coffeehouses. For those who can arrive earlier than midday the traces shall be shorter. I’ve an entire record of our favourite espresso homes in Vienna, and from the Hofburg, it’s a quick stroll to Demel, Cafe Central, or Cafe Sperl.
After getting completed lunch, artwork historical past followers ought to head to the Museum Quarter or go to both the Albertina, Leopold Museum, or Belvedere Museum within the Higher Belvedere Palace, the place you could find the “Kiss” by Gustav Klimt, made well-known by the “Lady in Gold” film. For those who aren’t into artwork, Vienna has an exquisite Pure Historical past Museum.
When it’s time for dinner, make sure to strive some conventional wiener schnitzel and strudel. You will get the basic Viennese delicacies at Griechenbeisl or Figmüller (try my put up on the place to eat in Vienna for extra choices.)
Day 2
To your second day in Vienna, head out to the Schönbrunn Palace, the summer season residence of the Habsburgs. The Schönbrunn was constructed within the late seventeenth century by Emperor Leopold I, who commissioned the Baroque architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach to design an imperial looking lodge for his son, Crown Prince Joseph, who later to grew to become Emperor Joseph I.
Take an Imperial or Grand Tour of the Royal Residences and Rooms. That is simply a half-day tour, or longer in case you additionally go to the world’s oldest zoo or get pleasure from any particular occasions that could be occurring on the time. The Imperial tour supplies perception into the completely different eras of the imperial monarchy and contains visits to the staterooms and personal flats of Franz Joseph and Sisi.
The Grand Tour additionally contains 18th-century interiors from the time of Maria Theresia. If visiting with tweens/teenagers that aren’t historical past buffs, the Imperial Tour is adequate. However if you wish to be awed by ornate interiors, spring for the Grand Tour.
In case you are visiting with younger kids, it’s essential to additionally go to the Youngsters’s Museum at Schönbrunn Palace. Right here, youngsters will study toys from the previous, get to set the imperial eating desk, participate in a themed tour, and even gown up as a prince or princess!
Make sure you go away time to benefit from the outside gardens and take a stroll as much as the Gloriette for sweeping views of the Palace and town past. The traces may be lengthy so I’d suggest a skip-the-line tour.
When you have youngsters, they might get pleasure from a go to to the zoo subsequent door, Europe’s oldest. Households might additionally spend the afternoon on the Prater amusement park again in Central Vienna, and experience the large Ferris wheel (discover out how one can skip the road.) The Prater was as soon as an imperial looking floor and solely accessible to the aristocracy, however at present it’s an amusement park and inexperienced house with swings, curler coasters, the Large Ferris wheel, and occasions areas.
For these not visiting with households (and even in case you are!), make time to go to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which towers over town middle. Constructed within the 12th century, the roof of St. Stephen’s is roofed in colourful tiles, laid to create the coat of arms of town of Vienna.
The Cathedral is open to the general public, and you can too take a guided tour of the cathedral, catacombs, and two towers. The tower room is kind of a climb — 343 steps to the highest, however you’ll be rewarded with lovely views over Vienna. Within the reverse tower hangs the Pummerin, the second-largest free-swinging chimed church bell in Europe.
Within the night, I’d additionally suggest squeezing in a go to to the opera or different musical efficiency if you are in Vienna. Even when there isn’t one thing enjoying on the State Opera Home, there are different venues within the metropolis. Plan forward to soak up a night efficiency, simply make sure to analysis the efficiency prematurely. We went to a really avant-garde efficiency of Don Giovanni by Mozart and it was nothing like what we anticipated.
Day 3
When you have 3 days in Vienna, the extra day will provide you with time to dig a bit deeper into town’s tradition and historical past. Begin off by following the two days in Vienna itinerary above, after which for the third day, plan a guided tour (after all you possibly can at all times shuffle the times and instances round to fit your schedule.)
There are two guided excursions that we actually loved once we visited Vienna.
Jewish Historical past Tour in Vienna
The primary was a Vienna Jewish historical past tour with Context Journey. This three-hour tour led to very fascinating discussions about Vienna’s previous, how its tragic Jewish historical past is being remembered, and the rebirth of the Viennese Jewish neighborhood.
The historical past of Jewish Vienna goes all the best way again to 1190 with the founding of the primary synagogue within the metropolis. But in case you stroll round Vienna at present, it’s simple to cross by the proof of the as soon as vibrant Jewish neighborhood with out noticing.
As within the historical past of Jewish teams all through the world, the historical past of Jews in Vienna is kind of turbulent, with a collection of pogroms and expulsions. After a few centuries of relative peace, the Jews had been first expelled from Vienna in 1420, once they had been suspected of opposing the Habsburgs. Then, within the seventeenth century when the Protestants and Catholics had been at struggle and so they wanted cash, Vienna introduced again the Jews.
In 1825 the Metropolis Temple was constructed and later, in 1867, a transfer was made to permit for equal rights for all religions in Vienna, ushering in almost 70 years of prosperity till the Nazi rise to energy. By 1938, there have been 170,000 Jews in Vienna, representing about one-tenth of the inhabitants. Tragically, after World Warfare II, solely 5,512 Jews had been left in Vienna, and of those, solely 3,000 had been initially Viennese.
On November 9, 1938, the evening of Kristallnacht (or evening of crystal or damaged glass), 24 synagogues had been fully destroyed. Right now, there are someplace between 12,000-20,000 Jews in Vienna and plenty of synagogues have been rebuilt.
Even when that is extra time than you need to dedicate, no less than take the time to go to the Holocaust Memorial in Judenplatz. This Memorial is within the type of a library, the place all of the titles face in and the library door doesn’t have a deal with, representing all of the lives with tales unwritten and untold. The symbolism is extremely highly effective.
Vienna Meals Tour
In case you are extra of a foodie, I’d suggest a meals tour with Meals Excursions Vienna. Certainly one of my favourite methods of exploring a metropolis is thru its meals.
Lukas, our tour information/chef, confirmed us fairly a couple of small companies we’d not have discovered on our personal and launched us to a few of Vienna’s specialties. Even in case you don’t take a meals tour, spend a while wandering by way of the kilometer-long Nashmarkt outside meals market.
We began our tour in certainly one of Vienna’s class espresso homes, Cafe Sperl. Inbuilt 1880, Cafe Sperl has lengthy been a favourite hang-out for composers, singers, writers, and artists. Right now, it maintains its historic really feel and native attraction and is likely one of the solely cafe that also bakes its personal pastries in-house each day.
You’ll be able to actually style the distinction and in case you go to, make sure to strive the unassuming Sperl cake. It doesn’t appear to be a lot however this chocolate cake is scrumptious. Of all of the cafes and low homes we visited in Vienna, Cafe Sperl was in our high two and I preferred the Sperl cake far more than the well-known Sacher Torte.
Certainly one of my favourite stops was on the Bitzringer’s Sausage Stand — one of the crucial well-known sausage stands in Vienna. We had already stopped by right here the day earlier than, however we had been pleased to pattern one other model. Between the smoked and the cheese sausages, the cheese-stuffed was my favourite — not overly tacky however with a lot of scrumptious taste.
Until you order a “sizzling canine”, the sausage is sliced and served on a plate with mustard, ketchup, and freshly shredded horseradish. Make sure you watch by way of the window as they put together it if somebody orders a sizzling canine. It’s cool to see how they poke a gap within the bun, squirt in some ketchup, after which stuff within the sausage. Undoubtedly make this a cease in case you go to Vienna!
We additionally actually loved sampling Austrian wine at Melker Stiftskeller, a cute underground wine bar that includes wines from up close to Melks Abbey.
For those who want extra solutions on what to see in Vienna in 3 days, cease by the Haus der Musik Sound Museum. It’s going to solely take one to 2 hours however it’s quite a lot of enjoyable to play with the varied sounds and study Vienna’s classical composers. This can be a very enjoyable and interactive museum for music lovers of all ages.
What if in case you have extra time in Vienna?
When you have 4 days in Vienna, you’ll want to spend a while visiting a couple of extra of Vienna’s many museums (and low retailers) and take any excursions you might have missed.
With 5 days in Vienna, you’ll have time to take a day journey to Hallstatt, Salzburg, Bratislava, or Melk Abbey. When you have greater than that, you possibly can embrace a aspect journey to Budapest or Prague.
The place to Keep in Vienna
We cut up our keep in Vienna into two neighborhoods to see extra of town and to avoid wasting on our funds.
Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna
We completely cherished our keep on the Palais Hansen Kempinski! The central location was very best. It was proper off the Ringstrasse (Ring Highway) and away from the touristy areas, making it tremendous handy. However it was additionally quiet and extra genuine feeling than the resorts across the Vienna State Opera Home. It was steps away from two tram stops and a block from an underground station.
The service on the Kempinski was the perfect of any lodge we’ve skilled. Each time we got here and went, we had been greeted by title. The doormen, bell workers, and concierge had been exceedingly useful. The housekeeping workers was additionally top-notch, with nightly turn-down service and kid-friendly facilities.
We had booked a Grand Deluxe Room however had been very pleased to obtain the Virtuoso improve to a Ring Suite. The suite was so spacious with a really massive lounge with a pull-out couch mattress and views of town. The main bedroom featured a snug king mattress, additionally with a phenomenal metropolis view.
Certainly one of my favourite issues in regards to the Kempinski was the in depth world breakfast buffet (free, due to a Virtuoso perk!) The breakfast options champagne, freshly squeezed juices (or a do-it-yourself juicer, eggs made to order, recent fruits, pastries, meats and cheese, cereals, and even a kid-sized youngster buffet with cereal, juice containers, and different snacks.
Airbnb
In case you are searching for a extra inexpensive possibility within the metropolis centre, there are many good Airbnb or vrbo choices in Vienna, a few of that are extraordinarily inexpensive. After we returned to Vienna, we ended up selecting a two-bedroom condominium in a historic constructing close to Judenplatz, very centrally positioned inside the Ringstrasse.
The condominium was very spacious, with two massive bedrooms, a full bathtub with bathe and tub, a kitchen, a eating desk, and a small couch. They are saying it might match as much as six individuals (two on the couch mattress), and it was greater than sufficient house for the three of us. It was an awesome possibility in case you are touring on a decent funds.
Discover extra locations to remain in Vienna:
What’s the Greatest Time to Go to Vienna?
Many guests flock to Vienna to hunt the perfect Christmas markets in Central Europe in December, particularly these embarking on river cruises. Nevertheless, the perfect instances to the capital of Austria shall be within the shoulder seasons of April and Might or September and October. At the moment you’ll encounter delicate climate and manageable crowds.
In the summertime months, you will discover bigger crowds and better costs. We truly visited in March on a European spring break journey and located the climate ranged from wet and chilly to sunny and heat.
Visiting Vienna?
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