Help and advice with Vienna Itinerary 3.5 days in the city mid-sept.

Actually sounds like on of the more fun Vienna trips I have seen in years. Maybe get the opera tour ticket now, just to be sure. Otherwise, go and enjoy and send pictures!

I was in Vienna last month. As a horsey person, the highlight was the training and performance at Spanish Riding School. The person I sat next to at schilling also did the architecture tour and found it interesting. Website is https://www.srs.at/en/ if you walk along the backside of the complex you can see the stables but can’t go in unless on a tour.

I bought the SiSi and Hofburg museum passes so did not have worry about timed entry to the 10 museums they covered. If you get a chance go to the Carriage Museum at Schoenbrunn and both the Imperial Treasury and Armory at Hofburg.

St Stephen’s had a church service going on when I went there. But the roof was open. Take the elevator up for a great view of the city.

I enjoyed a ballet at the Opera House and a string quartet at Annakirche. My trip report posted a couple days ago if you’re interested.

Enjoy your trip!

Day 2 - consider visiting Upper Belvedere Palace. Beautiful building and grounds with impressive art, if you like Art Nouveau, and an historic location where Austria formally became a neutral country. Would take two or so hours and well worth it.

Mid-September is a good time for visiting Vienna as the weather should be pretty good and crowds will have slightly diminished. I am assuming that you, like many RS followers, will be staying at Pension Suzanne and not the Sacher, which are both by the Opera House?

Day 1 - I didn't really think that the Opera House tour was that interesting, but maybe it will be for you. I think that my favorite spots are not included on the city walk or Ringstrasse tour, so don't limit yourself to those locations. For example, I really like Freyung, Am Hof and Judenplatz and the areas around these squares. For dinner, I have never eaten that your selected restaurant but I've walked by it many times. If you are eating at a heuriger on Day 4, maybe try something different? I really like, for example, the Palmenhaus, Amerlingbeisl, Glacis Beisl, Puerstner, Lugeck and Motto am Fluss. Please be sure to stop at a cafe when you are wandering around like Gerstner or Bräunerhof (just not Central or Demel).

Day 2 - Schonbrunn, not necessary to buy tix ahead but it might save you some time in line. If you eat lunch there, I highly recommend the Jausen Station of the well known Landtmann restaurant family. You can order ahead a picnic basket which you can then eat in the grass overlooking the lovely palace - https://www.landtmann-jausenstation.at/en/landtmann-s-jausen-station.html. As noted, the interior of the palace is noteworthy as is the carriage museum. The gardens are also very beautiful and worth exploring.
You need nearly a full day at the palace. The Spanish Riding School museum? Are you really into horses? I cannot imagine spending my time on this unless I was really into horses. St. Stephan's tour? Why not just do this on day 1? I would suggest seeing the Naschmarkt on this day as the U4 subway line stops at both Schonbrunn and the Naschmarkt. That said, the Naschmarkt is really a tourist trap now, in my opinon. For dinner, see my suggestions above or maybe eat at the Naschmarkt.

Day 3 - The Wachau, great idea. No need to book a tour as this is very easy on your own (especially not with a wholesaler like Viator). Take the train to Melk, visit the Abbey, get on the DDSG or Brandner boat. Exit the boat at Duernstein. Have lunch at the Alte Presshaus. Hike up to the fortress ruin. Take the bus to the Krems train station and get on the train back to Vienna. Instead of the boat, it is also nice to rent bikes from Nextbike. You can just bike a portion - for example me and my 70 year old parents biked from Duernstein to Krems and it is really beautiful through several wine growing villages. It takes about an hour.

Day 4 - I'd recommend that you just visit the Hofburg's Library and Treasury. The apartments will be very repetitive of the Schonbrunn visit. Then I suggest that you visit the Belvedere for the gardens and Klimt's Kiss as well as a good view. If you want to do something different, take the U1 subway line to the Alte Donau stop (10 minutes from the center) and rent a small motorboat from Marina Hofbauer. Enjoy puttering around the Alte Donau, a now dead arm of the Danube where people sail, swim and build cute little cottages. You also could head to the Cottage Quarter - I've written a recent post about this area - which is close to one of the heurigen areas. Taking the 38a bus up to Kahlenberg for the amazing view of the city and then walking downhill, stopping at one of the many buschenschanks (outdoor heurigen) along the city hiking trail 1 (stadtwanderweg 1) like Mayer am Nussberg for a glass of wine is a classic experience. Dinner at Schuebel Auer or Feuerwehr Wagner, two heurigen, is a great way to end the day.

Let me know if you need more details on any of these ideas.

This is the right information for rushing in three days through a city having a 2000 years' history.

Here is a little folder, targeted at short-time visitors. It gives you a good overview of the main sights in Vienna, suggesting two walks in the city center. (Ignore the very last page which is not up to date, as this folder has not be reprinted since 2020 due to Corona times without tourists in Vienna.)

My recommendation is to go to a real Heurigen, not a Stadtheurigen.

Would you be interested in seeing a performance at the Opera one night instead of just doing a tour? We saw one last year and loved it.

While at Schonbrunn, I have enjoyed the Apple Strudel Show. You get to watch someone make one, and then you are served a piece.

I absolutely love the Wachau Valley. I have biked from Melk to Krems twice. In Melk, you might enjoy a visit to the Abbey before you head out. I have also stopped to see the museum of the Venus of Willendorf (a tiny few minutes diversion) and pushed my e-bike up to the Aggstein Castle ruins ( we spent a lot of time climbing around and enjoying the view, but getting there on a bike is not for the faint of heart). The all day tour will no doubt cover a lot of ground and be great fun, but you can do it on your own.

Both Schonbrunn and the Hofburg are likely to be very crowded with wall to wall people slowly shuffling along. Doing both in 4 days may be a lot. Demel was a wonderful coffee house and while there was a line, it moved fast.

Have a great trip!

I would skip the Hofburg Palace and go to Kundhisoriches(I know its mispelled) Art Museum or at least have lunch in the beautiful building.