Vienna

Dear 606V2,

Me and Mrs LK are headed to Vienna end of February for 5 days. Has anyone from 606V2 been and if so any recommendations of places to visit and those to avoid?

Thanks in advance.

This thread means nothing to me......

I've never been. Hope this has been helpful.

I did watch "The Third Man" a few years back. There was a nice Ferris Wheel and the sewers looked like they were in decent nick. 10/10 for me.

Galted has been to Reykjavik if that helps.

Beautiful but boring (nightlife wise) is the feedback I've heard from a number of people. But meant to be good for couples (due to aforementioned beauty).

Meant to have one of the best opera houses in the world, if that's your bag, thinking of going in December for that and the Xmas markets with the gf.

I went a couple of years ago and it's a stunning city. Nowhere that I can say not to go but as I was a tourist then I wasn't really stumbling off the beaten track into the burbs which I imagine are like any major city.



I did the opera (Staatsoper) whilst I was there, not usually my thing but certainly worth a visit, I'd recommend going up to the top of Stephansplatz to take in the whole of the city as well as having a look inside.


I did the bus tour of the city as a number of the sites are not in the middle but are worth going out to including the Belgravia Art Museum, not just for the content but the building itself:



Food wise it wasn’t that memorable I recall but very much of the Germanic/Austrian warm and filling variety, to keep your energies up for the cold rather than pleasure.

Hi LK,

I'll try to be helpful. I spent a day and a half or so in Vienna a few years ago. I don't remember all that much TBH, apart from the museums (more on that in a bit). I do however remember the impression of a nice city, which was very pleasant to walk around in (particularly the old "historical" centre). Bear in mind that February will be cold though. Other than that, I guess it depends on what you're into. Here would be my personal recommendations.

Museums: plenty thereof, and stunning. If you're into art, and paintings in particular, then this is a fantastic place to go to. You have the world famous Kunst Historisches, the Albertina for more modern stuff (last 150 years or so) as well as its remarkable graphic arts collection, the Leopold, and so on.

Other stuff worth visiting would be St Stephen's cathedral, the Hofburg imperial palace.

Prices can be a bit steep, so if you plan on doing a lot of visiting there's a couple of discount options. One is the Vienna Card https://www.wien.info/en/travel-info/vienna-card which gives you free public transport and discounts to all the main attractions. Costs 22 euros for 3 days. Another is the Vienna Pass https://www.viennapass.com/ which will get you into the main attractions and on the open bus hop on/hop off tour for free. Costs 84 euros for 3 days, or 99 for 6. You can also add a "free travel" option which makes it 99 euros for 3 days, and 132 for 6.

Vienna is also a great scene for classical music. If you're into opera, I see they're doing Cosi Fan Tutte at the end of February http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/Content.Node/home/spielplan/Spielplan.en.php?month=2&year=2016&mode=current and there'll be many many more classical music concerts while you're there. Book in advance, although being in February things won't sell out quite so quickly. The opera is worth visiting even if you're not going to see a performace BTW.

Food: Vienna is famous for its cakes. Sachertorte, while not from the region, is delicious, and you can certainly get it in Vienna! Not too sure about the rest of the food TBH. Coffees are good IIRC.

That's all I can think of for now, but if you have any other questions to jog my memory I'll be happy to answer to the best of my ability.

Another thought. If you enjoy skiing then it may be possible to make a day trip http://www.ski-austria.com/vienna/

It was Rusalka at the opera house when I visited, very bleak and Grimmesque with Tim Burton styling but certainly one that I'm glad I experienced.

love Rusalka, terrific music

seanmichaels wrote:Galted has been to Reykjavik if that helps.

I have.

Thank you one and all. Plenty of food for thought.

Ask Midge Ure, I think he's been.

Realised never came back to this thread.

Well I went and it was amazing. We stayed in Hietzing in a lovely 4 star hotel opposite the Schonbrunn Palace. It was stunning the views from our hotel. We stayed at the Park Hotel Schonbrunn. The palace was amazing. We did a day around there and went to the Schoebrunner Park. The views from the hills was stunning. Could see as far as Wieden. We also visited the Schonbrunn Zoo.

I must say that their travel links are impressive. The underground links are efficiency personified. Always run to time and never experienced a delay. The buses were also efficient.

We went to a spa called Therme Wien which was just amazing. Heated pools, crazy @ss slides and the hot stone massage was divine (even if the masseur mocked my broken limited German) the OH fell asleep during her massage. She had a rose and hay pillow laid on her back. Don't think she appreciated me remarking she smelt like a barn! It's great value for money. We managed to get 6 hours for the price of 3. The whole day came out at 170 euros.

Also went and visited Karlsplatz and saw the Opera House. Did loads of walking around the area. Saw the Wien Museum too. Went to a posh area in Karlsplatz where the cheapest item on display was a Rolex! They had security guards outside every shop. One of them thought I was planning a heist!

Had lunch at the Danube Tower. Just awe inspiring views. Stunning. Went on the old Ferris Wheel near Pratestern. The wind chill that day was like -6 and it was brutal when walking around the area.

The food was a bit hit and miss. Loved trying Tafelspitz (boiled beef) with creamed spinach, potato rosti and apple and horseradish sauce. Strange combination, but lovely!

Overall great value for money. We paid £392 for the pair of us for 5 nights B&B 4 star hotel, flights and transport to and fro from the airport.