A Week in Vienna

The nicest section of the Danube is the Wachau, between Krems and Melk. I think both towns have bike rentals. You could also hire a bike in Vienna, but taking a full-sized bike on Austrian trains requires an extra fee of 10% of the normal fare.

Take a look at the excellent 4-part Trip Report by MrsEB. I think you will find some good information here, plus it's a good read.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/fabulous-vienna-oct-20-24-part-1
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/fabulous-vienna-oct-20-24-part-2
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/fabulous-vienna-oct-20-24-part-3
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/fabulous-vienna-oct-20-24-part-4

If you are going to seek out the Hundertwasser architecture in Vienna maybe you'd like a guided or self guided art nouveau tour of the city. Try to see the Kunsthistorische Museum, a spectular building in its own right, and its wonderful collection of Northern European Renaissance masters.

Opera in September might be tricky. The season at the Staatsoper starts in October. There will be other concert and music options though.

Vienna is a good walking city, but don't be shy about the transit system. It's very good and cheap and gets you everywhere.

For renting bikes by the day in Vienna, check Pedal Power. The have two locations in town and do tours as well as bike rentals. Some hotels have bikes too. I know magdas (the refugee-staffed hotel on the edge of the Prater) has bikes for guests. So does Meridien (upscale place on the ring near the Opera).

If you are here for a whole week, I would recommend a day trip up the Danube and cycling the section from Melk to Krems. There are bike rental outfits up there, but ÖBB also has special tickets for groups with bikes or weekend tickets that make it pretty cheap.

And yes, there is gluten free pastry. Aida and Oberlaa will have something for sure. :-)

I spent a week in Vienna in late August 2014 and with a couple of day trips it was the perfect amount of time to get comfortable and explore the city at a pleasant pace. I love opera but it wasn't in season--though when I was there they were filming the exterior scenes for Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation and I did see Tom Cruise dangling from the opera house.

My must-dos were different and I spent a lot of time on things to do with The Third Man--finding filming locations, walking tour, riding the Riesenrad, visiting the wonderful museum devoted to it (and post-war Vienna, very interesting)and even seeing it at the theatre near my hotel. I love the art of the Secession era so tailored my museum agenda to that, also enjoyed the area near the Hundertwasser haus. I planned to be there on a Saturday so I could visit the flohmarkt at the end of the Naschmarkt, very crowded but I found some great old things so very much worth it. I spent a morning at Schonbrunn and also toured parts of the Hofburg. It's a great city for walking, the Ringstrasse is very compact but I also made good use of my pass and rode the U-bahn and trams.

I did a day trip to Melk--train there, toured the Abbey and had lunch in the charming little town, then boat along the Danube to Krems where I caught the train back to Vienna. My other day trip was a very long one to Salzburg--3 hours each way, left at 6:30 am and back in Vienna by 8:30 pm. It's do-able if you plan what you want to see--I used a HoHo bus to get around to the outlying sites, toured Hellbrunn palace and gardens, ended in the old town where I toured Mozart's gebursthaus and spent the rest of the day exploring, having lunch and finding a craft fair along the river.

I loved Vienna quite a lot and will be returning for 3 days next April--missed the Kunsthistoriche and will re-visit the Belvedere and Leopold, and just spend time exploring.

Thanks! This is all very helpful---I will follow up on allmsuggestions. This is a home exchange, and we are fortunate that the apartment is in such a great location.

We will be there starting September 18 and somehow Inthoughtnopera season at the Staatsoper started around then. But if not, it is not a big deal----and we won't have to bring dress-up clothes as we usually do.

Maybe we should watch the Third Man for atmosphere and history? I am ambivalent about "dark" movies but Orson Welles is pretty irresistible.

We generally do mostly our own cooking when we have an apartment---is there a particularly good open-air market in this area for produce and fish?

But we will surely want to enjoy authentic Schnitzel, either from veal, or pork. (I actually make darn good Schweineschnitzel at home, but maybe I can learn something). I do not like the sound of Figlmüller---long lines, huge portions, diners rushed through dinner to turn the table over. Any recommendations for a smaller, calmer, friendlier place where we can linger over our wine and Schnitzel?

Just watch the dates for the opera. Maybe it will work out for you.

For restaurants, there are lots of places to have good traditional food here. No need to stand in line just because one is famous for serving gigantic portions. You might look at Plachutta, but the one in Nussdorf not in the first district. Very classic and moderately upscale. I was there at New Year's and it was great. I posted Rebhuhn and Wild (on Alyssa's thread) as non-touristy, cozy choices.

The closest outdoor market to where you will be is probably the excellent Karmelietermarkt. The merkIur on hoher markt is a grocery store but upscale and lots of nice small things to round out a meal.

Maybe we should watch the Third Man for atmosphere and history? I am ambivalent about "dark" movies but Orson Welles is pretty irresistible.

To see the movie go to "Burg Kino" where it is shown three times a week:
http://www.burgkino.at/film_detail.phtml?fil_id=4&per=spec

There is also a "Third Man" museum:
http://www.3mpc.net/englsamml.htm

Eventually you may go into the sewers where parts of the movie have been shot:
https://www.drittemanntour.at/en/index.html

This restaurant I've been to twice, if you can get in since at lunch it's absolutely packed, mostly locals, some tourists..."Schnitzel Wirt" at 52 Neubaugasse, ie, two stops on the U-Bahn from Westbahnhof on Mariahilferstraße, closed on Sunday. Copious portions, well worth it. Much cheaper than Figlmüller.

One big thumbs up for the The Third Man Museum! The owners Gerhard Strassgschwandtner and Karin Höfler have put together an amazing collection of memorabilia from the film, as well as an exhibit about post-WW2 Vienna. The museum, which is the only one in the world devoted to a single motion picture, has expanded to encompass parts of three adjacent apartments. You can also go on a In the Footsteps of the Third Man walk, where they take you to the various sites in the city where parts of the movie were filmed (other parts were filmed in a studio in London). So, watch the film before you go to Vienna, and then enjoy the museum and walking tour to complete the 'triad'.

Lola--The Third Man has been a favorite of mine for a very long time and I think seeing it would certainly enhance your visit there, I could go on and on and on about it but suffice it to say that it's a beautifully done award-winning movie with fabulous cinematography, a compelling story, some humor, an unusual soundtrack (you either love the zither or you don't!) and the best part is that the city of Vienna itself is a character and many locations will be familiar to anyone who's visited.

Christa , listen to the original version of Johann Strauss' waltz " Tales from the Vienna Woods " . The introduction and epilogue ( or coda , in musical terminology ) are scored for the zither . The best recording of this can be found on YouTube - The 2014 Vienna New Years Concert , with gorgeous shots of the Wienerwald in Autumn . I am in Vienna now , writing from my tablet , and haven't yet figured out how to hotlink from it , enjoy !

@ Steven....You just might be lucky enough in Vienna to hear some music by Lanner.

Fred , we are leaving on Thursday , I think I will have to console myself with my recorded library at home , including a fair amount of Lanner conducted by Willi Boskovsky , until my return to Vienna . Heading up to Heitzing tomorrow to see the cemetery and perhaps coffee ( and pastry , of course ) at Dommayer .

@ Steven....Anything Boskovsky does in that music genre is great, one can't wrong with him. The pieces (2) I have by Lanner are done by the Alexander Schneider Quintet.

You're most likely pressed for time in the remaining days in Vienna but should you want to see more history as that displayed in the Army Museum, I would recommend the Zentral Friedhof (central cemetery) where the WW1 and 2 parts can be seen as well as the Soviet eleven year occupation. The WW1 cemetery is way in the back. In that light there is the Soviet memorial close to that of Schwarzenberg am Schwarzenbergplatz. You read the flowery dedication, typical Habsburg. As for military/war monuments I've found two in Vienna: the big one am Deutschmeisterplatz and a more modest one near Westbahnhof, down from Hotel Fürstenhof.