A travel guide to Vienna, Austria
We visited the Austrian capital in February when there are fewer tourists. Yes it’s colder but there’s something magical about cities in central Europe in the crisp winter. The city is still vibrant in its own charming way, with its impressive imperial history showing through at every turn. As with many major European cities there is plenty to see and do as this guide shows.
First impressions? Clean, classic, wide streets, tall buildings, friendly, easy to navigate.
Places to visit in Vienna
Rathaus Park
There are daytime and evening events in Rathaus Park opposite the town hall. In winter see the multi-level ice rink (Wiener Eistraum – Vienna Ice World) with curling lanes, smoky wiener (hotdog) shacks and convivial grog cabins. No takeaway packaging here – coffee (kaffee) is served in a china mug for which you pay a €2 deposit. This is great for the environment as there’s no disposable cup waste. It’s a clever marketing ploy too: it keeps visitors on site. The park is a great place to sit and people-watch in the evening as the locals hone their ice skating and curling skills. But wrap up warm, the winter nights in Vienna can get cold!
Rathaus Park ice rink and town hall
Naschmarkt
With a history going back to the 1600s, the mile-long night market (Naschmarkt) near Karlsplatz has more stalls than you can shake a stick at. There’s a noticeable Eastern influence here: lots of olives, nuts, Turkish delight and falafel among the fruit and veg, butchers, fishmongers and tourist tat stalls. And a good range of sit-in restaurants and coffee bars too. Despite its name it’s open during the day, from early morning to 7.30pm on weekdays, closing earlier on Saturdays. We visited during February so check before visiting – high season hours may better reflect its name.
Naschmarkt stalls
Gasometer
As you may guess from the name of this stop on the U3 metro line, it’s home to some old gas towers. Converted from heavy duty gas tanks in 2001, the four imposing red brick circular towers are now used for apartments, music venue, shopping mall and an entertainment complex. Instagram heaven!
Gasometers – Instagram gold!
Belvedere Palace and Museum
Walk through the Soviet peace memorial at the north end of Belvedere Park to the historic Schloss Belvedere Palace, an impressive Baroque building which hosts the Belvedere Museum. From the palace is a photo opportunity view of Vienna and if that’s not enough for you there are various white statues of winged lions with tits. Pop in to the museum cafe to warm up after the walk, and if you can get a seat, try the Mozart cake (Mozarttorte) – chocolate with marzipan and lurid lime green!
Belvedere Palace Museum and Klimt exhibition tickets
Back to the museum itself, €16 buys you a ticket to the main event, the Klimt exhibition, plus two more floors of temporary exhibitions and works of art from the Middle Ages onwards. The main draw here is Gustav Klimt’s best known painting The Kiss – if you can see it that is, behind the large groups of selfie-stick waving Chinese tourists. It’s worth persevering though as it’s a world famous classic and should be seen ‘in the flesh’. In the gallery you’ll also find some other big hitters in the art world, including Van Gogh, Monet, Munch, Schiele and Hundertwasser. Speaking of whom…
Hundertwasser’s waste incineration plant
Walking around Vienna you may notice a tall tower on the skyline with a bulbous gold feature near the top. This is the chimney of a working waste incineration plant in the Spittelau district. Not something you’d usually make a detour to see, but this is worth it since the whole plant was given a unique industrial art face-lift by local Austrian artist and eco-architect Hundertwasser in 1992. Think Gaudi meets Klimt, in an industrial wasteland.
Hundertwasser waste incineration plant
You can walk around the sides of this piece of working art and when the sun is in the right direction it makes for some great photos. Also check out the detail of the Gaudi-esque coloured tiling and the wavy brick walls, which are also a feature of…
Hundertwasser House
Hundertwasserhaus is a block of social housing in the Landstraße district which the architectural artist developed in the 1980s. Still private flats now, you can’t go inside but the exterior is well worth a look. It’ll be busy with tourists and photographers but it’s worth the 10 minute walk from Landstraße metro stop (U3 line) for the colourful facades. Each apartment is painted a vivid colour and the wonky blue and black tiled lines mark the boundaries of each home. Different window shapes and sizes, onion towers on the roof and multi-coloured pillars add to the visual fairytale feast and the inner courtyard, accessible though unkempt, is also worth a look for Hundertwasser’s detail tiling.
Hundertwasserhaus
Prater Park’s Giant Ferris Wheel
This out of town ten-a-penny theme park in Leopoldstadt is pretty tacky and mostly avoidable, except for the vintage ferris wheel (Reisenrad). It dates from 1897 and although a bit pricey (€12 per adult at February 2019) for a 10-15 minute ride, it does give excellent panorama views of the city. Try it at sunset to see the taller buildings of Vienna bathed in golden light or silhouetted against an orange and pink sky. The dangling carriages are charmfully old and basic – rectangles with hard seating that gently sway from side to side as the big wheel rotates. Maybe not so good if you don’t like heights – the wheel is 65 metres high!
Prater Park historic ferris wheel
Travel tips for Vienna
- Take the City Airport Train (CAT) from Flughafen Wien airport to the city centre (at time of writing in 2019, €12 single or €21 return). Unlike British trains it’s efficient, clean, spacious and punctual. You can’t miss it – look for the lime green and grey signs. This takes you into Wien Mitte station, then upstairs from here you can pick up the U3 or U4 metro from the Landstraße station, which is one of the hub stations on the metro.
- Do tip in cafes and restaurants but be aware that after leaving notes and saying thank you the deal is done – you’ll get no change!
- Cold outside, hot inside! In winter the eateries, shops, malls and hotels crank up the heating so get used to moving between extremes of temperature.
- Buy the 72 hour travel pass online before you go. The public transport system in Vienna is extensive and easy to use and this pass will cover central buses, trams and the metro (but it doesn’t include the CAT train).
- Keep an eye out for the ‘traffic light couples‘ dotted around the city. These are diversity-themed red and green walk/don’t walk crossing lights introduced in 2015 ahead of the city hosting the Eurovision Song Contest. Just be careful not to get run over while getting that all important camera angle.
Vienna photo gallery
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