Please sign in to post.

3 Nights Vienna, Mid-September

Posted by (Portugal) on

We (wife and I) will be coming off a tour of about 10 days (including a 3 river cruise on the Danube, Main and Rhine) and fly into Vienna to meet my B-I-L (coming from West Coast of the US. Wife and I figured we need to do some laundry before continuing on to Croatia with her brother. So we decided a two bedroom AirBnB with a washer/dryer was optimal and we wanted to see Vienna too! We ended up with a place on the south side of Westbahnhof (on Denglergasse) in trying to be between Schonbrunn and the center.

This location probably creates some logistical issues for the three of us. Any thoughts on how best to use our time (knowing there is timed entry and pre-booking places like the Schonbrunn this becomes critical, I think) over the two full days we have? Given the neighborhood where we are staying, any thoughts on where to eat or best transit options?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Posted by
6075 posts

That’s a pretty crappy part of the city. It is easy to use Google Maps public transit directions to figure out how to get somewhere.

Posted by
218 posts

Thank you GeoffB, that trip report was very detailed and filled with ideas we can use. Some sense of the time to travel between sites and the time required helps with the planning.
And too bad that part of town is “crappy”, Emily. The apartment is pretty newly fitted and the pictures looked good (as usual on AirBnB), and not knowing the city, the mid-point between Hofburg and Schonbrunn seemed convenient. Do you have anything helpful to add?

Posted by
2822 posts

And too bad that part of town is “crappy”, ...

It is not that bad, it is a lower-income area, having not much green (trees, parks). But there are no safety concerns, even in the night. You have direct access to tram 60, going uptown directly to Schönbrunn palace, downtown to Westbahnhof (western train station), where is not only a major public transport hub, but also the beginning of Vienna's major shopping street (Mariahilfer Straße) which you can walk down to Ring boulevard encompassing the very center of the city.

Posted by
6075 posts

As Schonbrunn is on the outskirts of town and the Hofburg is in the very city center, the midpoint will be nowhere special. It is not an area I would choose to stay as a tourist. As wmt1 said, it is safe, but completely an uninteresting lower income neighborhood. Better would have been to stay in a nicer district closer to the city center. That said, there are no "logistical issues" as you have trams and buses literally a block away. Vienna is good at public transportation in all neighborhoods. The better news is that you can leave your neighborhood quickly and be in a nicer area in minutes. There is no need to stay in your neighborhood.

If you have two days, spend one at Schonbrunn and one visiting the city center/Ring. Do you like museums, walking around, churches, gardens, coffeehouses?

Where to eat? I suggest Amerlingbeisl or Glacis Beisl, Plachutta on Wollzeile, and Schweizerhaus in the Prater. I also love Silberwirt and Palmenhaus.

Posted by
218 posts

Thanks for the helpful info. Poorer neighborhoods are part of any big city, but am glad to hear it will be safe. I expect we will get laundry started and go get some food the night we arrive, so that the clothes have a couple days to dry. Looks like the next day is best for Schonbrunn. I am guess that will take most of the day? The Furniture Museum is between where we are staying and Schonbrunn, would that be worth a peek on the way back? Second day we will focus more on the center.

I understand the Hofburg is an entire complex and am not sure what to prioritize. We do like museums, history, architecture, food, coffee, etc. Probably won't be doing too much shopping as anything we buy adds to the things to be lugged around for the next four weeks or so. Wife and B-I-L are less into music concerts, so we probably won't be booking that. B-I-L was a city manager for years and is always interested in transit systems (we have traveled with him before), so he will be happy using transit. LOL An Argentinian friend that lives in Valencia, Spain loves Vienna and everything about it . . . maybe the pastries and public spaces most of all, so we are anticipating a nice few days.

Posted by
6075 posts

Thanks for the helpful info. Poorer neighborhoods are part of any big city, but am glad to hear it will be safe. I expect we will get laundry started and go get some food the night we arrive, so that the clothes have a couple days to dry. Looks like the next day is best for Schonbrunn. I am guess that will take most of the day? The Furniture Museum is between where we are staying and Schonbrunn, would that be worth a peek on the way back? Second day we will focus more on the center.

I understand the Hofburg is an entire complex and am not sure what to prioritize. We do like museums, history, architecture, food, coffee, etc. Probably won't be doing too much shopping as anything we buy adds to the things to be lugged around for the next four weeks or so. Wife and B-I-L are less into music concerts, so we probably won't be booking that. B-I-L was a city manager for years and is always interested in transit systems (we have traveled with him before), so he will be happy using transit. LOL An Argentinian friend that lives in Valencia, Spain loves Vienna and everything about it . . . maybe the pastries and public spaces most of all, so we are anticipating a nice few days.

For Schonbrunn, I think you can easily allocate most of a day if you plan to visit the interior and the gardens. I highly recommend visiting the carriage museum and I think the furniture museum is a nice pairing with everything. Nearby and also interesting is the Technical Museum. That said, I would definitely recommend after visiting Schonbrunn to take the U4 line to Karlsplatz for a visit to the Wien Museum (the best museum in the city, in my opinion). On the way you can pass through the Naschmarkt and look at the Majolikahaus and Secession Building.

Vienna isn't really known for pastries, but really for cake (and strudel). If you want good French pastries, however, there are some good spots. But for Viennese cakes/strudel, I recommend Gerstner (sour cherry or apricot strudel), Kaffee Alt Wien, Cafe Pruckel, Cafe Diglas on Wollzeile, Landtmann, Cafe Sperl and the takeaway window at Demel for Kaiserschmarrn. For public spaces, you want to walk around the Ring.

You might enjoy the food crawl I wrote up - https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/austria/a-viennese-food-crawl

Posted by
218 posts

Lots of good stuff there, Emily, thank you! Funny enough that I had already stumbled on your food tour and even printed it out. (The sausage stand with the cheese-filled sausage, for example sounds great - I have bought similar sausages many times). Would a trip to a Hairier be good in mid-September?
The Wien museum was not on my radar, but I just took a look and it looks great. People have mentioned the Carriage Museum at Schonbrunn and we are intrigued by that too (the Royal Carriage Museum in Lisbon is something we frequently recommend to visitors, so it could be an intriguing comparison). With our limited time, is the Kunsthistorishes worth squeezing in?
If I am pestering too much, feel free to take a rest, but thank you so much for the info you have shared!

Posted by
6075 posts

Lots of good stuff there, Emily, thank you! Funny enough that I had already stumbled on your food tour and even printed it out. (The sausage stand with the cheese-filled sausage, for example sounds great - I have bought similar sausages many times). Would a trip to a Hairier be good in mid-September?
The Wien museum was not on my radar, but I just took a look and it looks great. People have mentioned the Carriage Museum at Schonbrunn and we are intrigued by that too (the Royal Carriage Museum in Lisbon is something we frequently recommend to visitors, so it could be an intriguing comparison). With our limited time, is the Kunsthistorishes worth squeezing in?
If I am pestering too much, feel free to take a rest, but thank you so much for the info you have shared!

I think you mean Heuriger? September is actually peak time to visit as they are originally set up to coincide with the grape harvest. Be on the lookout for Sturm, a potent drink very popular for a short period of time. I like the Heuriger in Neustift am Walde and Nussdorf.

Also be on the lookout for festivals as September is prime time for those.

Kunsthistoriches is stunning and really shines with the northern Dutch renaissance art (among other things). If you want more modern and more Viennese, then I highly recommend the Leopold or the Belvedere. Be sure to also visit the National Library as it is the most stunning interior in the city.

Posted by
218 posts

Yes, heuriger. LOL Spell check jumped in and I posted without checking. Thank you for deciphering! And for the other museum info!

Add Reply

Please do not reply to violations of our Community Guidelines.