Vienna, Austria
It’s time to talk about the final part of our Austria trip - Vienna!
If you have been following along, I posted about our stay in Salzburg and the Sound of Music tour we took, so make sure you read those if you haven’t!
After 3 nights in Salzburg, we made our way back to Vienna on the train. We once again decided to walk to the train station because we figured it would go much better this time around since we were well rested and properly dressed for the weather. It was definitely a more pleasant walk this time around!
We arrived early, but it isn’t really necessary here since you can’t board the train until it arrives. They don’t spend long in the stations here - it is much more like a subway or city train station versus the train stations we have experienced in London, Scotland, or Italy. It is important to be ready to board!
We had decided to eat a quick lunch at the station since we knew there was food available. We opted for the Spar grocery store option because they had premade sandwiches and bottled drinks that were inexpensive and delicious!
Since we purchased these train tickets in advance, we were able to reserve seats. When we got on the train, there was a man sitting in them, but he moved when we told him they were our seats. So no worries if this happens to you! There wasn’t anything indicating reserved seats vs non-reserved seats on the train, so it wasn’t a big deal. We had tickets with the numbers on them if it would have been a problem.
When we arrived in Vienna, we also opted to walk to our hotel because it was about 25 minutes from the station. We could have easily taken public transportation or hired a taxi, but we didn’t mind walking. It was a Sunday so it was pretty quiet.
Our hotel was lovely and while I picked it mostly for the name (Hotel Beethoven Wien - my music teacher roots run strong!), it did come highly recommended. We had a breakfast included rate and they also offered a daily tea and snacks on the mezzanine level in the afternoon. It was the perfect thing to tide us over until dinner when we arrived around 3pm.
We didn’t have any set plans in Vienna. We really enjoy just wandering around with maybe a destination in mind, but seeing what we can see along the way is also great. We once again utilized Google reviews to find our meals here based on our location.
Vienna is rated as the most liveable city in the world by several sources and I can definitely see why. The public transportation system is wonderful and there are bike lanes everywhere. I joked with Aaron that if I was going to get hit by something in the city, it was going to be a bike! They were quick and you often had to cross over the bike lane to get to the pedestrian sidewalk.
Like I said, we really just wandered a lot. My favorite part was visiting the Central Cemetery to see where Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, and Brahms are buried. I was pretty awestruck in the moment.
We also decided to take a tour of the Schonbrunn Palace, which is where the Emporer lived. It was very interesting and I loved learning more about the history.
This is the room 6 year old Mozart performed for the Emperer in !
We also took a tour of the only surviving apartment Mozart lived in during his time in Vienna. It was fine and we got in for free, but I wouldn’t recommend paying for it. It was interesting to see, but there isn’t much there.
Please enjoy some photos of the other places we wandered.
The Plague Column
St. Stephen’s Cathedral
Danube River
Belvedere Palace
Johann Strauss Monument
Mozart Monument
Are you ready to visit Vienna? I highly recommend it. I want to go back in December and visit the Christmas markets - I think this city would be absolutely magical during the holidays!
