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Itinerary Ideas for 1 Week in Vienna/Prague

Posted by (Brooklyn, NY) on

My husband, my sister, and my father and I are doing a 1 week trip to Vienna/Prague 2nd week of November 2025. (6 nights for my husband and me, 8 nights for father and sister). We are staying in District 6 Mariahilf in Vienna and staying in Old Town while in Prague. Sister wants to go to Salzburg for a day trip, possibly.

We are a spritely group– most of us in our late 20s, my father in his early 60s and still very mobile. This is our big family vacation this year (we are spread throughout Iowa and NYC). We are seeking quality over quantity for us when it comes to itinerary, and we would like some element of rest and relaxation in the trip from our busy work lives.

We all enjoy walking the city streets and simply taking in the sights, but will have to balance this with the chilly weather this time of year. Father, sister, and me are art appreciators, and would be happy for a slice of Klimt and Mucha (possibly Schiele), but don’t want to be cooped in a huge museum of palace for a whole day (NYC Met museum size would be a no for this trip.) We all like live-music, but anything over 1.5 hours/opera is probably a no. We really enjoyed pub music in Ireland, as well as that type of atmosphere.

We plan to coordinate most sightseeing ourselves to save money, but might be willing to spend up to $250 for the 4 of us, per experience, like a cooking class or antique car tour. Thus, the budget could be up to $500 for two experiences. (this amount would be separate from any museum entrance fees/eating/lodging etc.)

Questions below. Feel free to take your pick for answering:

  1. Any suggestions for good local eateries/curiosities in Mariahilf neighborhood?
  2. Any non-classical, live music venue offering the Viennese or Czech equivalent of Irish pub music or Portuguese Fado?
  3. Any affordable, but impactful, classes/experiences/exhibits/tours having to do with the following interests: Apparel/fiber arts; Cooking classes; Architecture
  4. Is Naschmarkt worth it? (I’ve heard it is more of a tourist trap these days)
  5. Best affordable walking tours in either city?
  6. Any recommendations for airbnb tours/experiences they have done?
Posted by
98 posts

For a local food experience get a sausage from a street vendor. Essentially a hot dog/sausage stuffed into the center of an unsliced bun. You didn't mention wine, but consider going a bit outside of the city to a heuriger.

Posted by
3467 posts

Salzburg is not a day trip from Vienna. Consider going to the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Vienna State Opera house while in Vienna.

Posted by
5950 posts

  1. Please don't limit yourself to Mariahilf. Vienna is small, compact and public transportation is cheap, safe and efficient. You are within 15-20 minutes of nearly everywhere in the city. I can walk across much of the inner districts (1-9) in under an hour. That said, Mariahilf has some good restaurants, particularly Asian ones. For cafes/coffeehouses, I suggest Jelinek and Sperl. Disco Volante has great pizza. Lao Lao has great Asian as does Mama Liu and Sons. To be honest, I cannot think of any great Austrian places in Mariahilf as it is a lot of international and fast food.

  2. To be honest, music in Vienna is classical music. If you don't want to sit through an entire opera, it is absolutely acceptable to leave during the intermission. I also recommend the free choral mass at the Augustinerkirche (part of the Hofburg) every Sunday morning. It is an experience not to be missed if you have the means. Otherwise, some coffeehouses have a music from time to time - here is an article - https://www.wien.info/en/art-culture/music-stage-shows/classic/concert-cafes-343570

  3. Vienna is really bad at this type of experience thing. There is an architectural tour of the Spanish Riding School in English (https://www.srs.at/en/tickets/architectural-tour-en). I am guessing you can find a guide to give you an architectural tour of Vienna - I would suggest focus on Otto Wagner and Jugendstil architecture. I highly recommend the Wien Museum for all of these topics.

  4. No. But you know you will be here during the Christmas Markets? Go to the ones at Karlsplatz, Spittelberg, Freyung and Schonbrunn for certain.

  5. Look at some of my posts - I have put together some which are obviously free.

  6. No.

Posted by
2610 posts

ad 3.:
Stefan Riedl has a very dynamic and witty style of presenting things. His favorite style in architecture is Jugendstil (Art Deco) of which he can present a lot of stuff.
https://www.wien-entdecker.at/

ad 5.:
Do most of the walking on your own.
This is a little folder, targeted at short-time visitors, giving you a good overview of the main sights in the very center of Vienna, proposing two city walks. (Ignore the last page, which is not up to date, as this folder has not been renewed since and is out of print.)
https://bit.ly/Vienna_in_3_days

Posted by
29501 posts

Prague survived WWII with its historic architecture intact, so simply walking around the city is a fabulous sightseeing experience.

The Obecni Dum (Municipal House) has a stunning Art Nouveau interior. A tour will get you into the most beautiful spaces. English tours are usually offered multiple times a day during peak season, but the schedule and frequency vary. Scroll down on the webpage linked below for the schedule through October 20. It's possible there won't be as many tours running in November, so you should take a fresh look at the website around the beginning of November. I don't think you need to worry about trying to buy tickets the minute they go on sale (and I have no idea what the ticket-release schedule looks like), but tour groups are relatively small, and individual tours could sell out. Your father would qualify for the senior discount. Although nothing shows up during the online ticket-purchasing process, there used to be a modest extra fee for permission to take photos. I didn't pay it and was very, very sorry afterward. It would be prudent to ask about the photography policy upon arrival.

https://www.obecnidum.cz/en/tours/

The 1990s-era Dancing House building has an interesting exterior.

The Mucha Museum isn't large and is centrally located.

For Klimt in Vienna, I think your best options are the Upper Belvedere (must prebook timed entry; it is popular) and the Leopold Museum. The Kunsthistorisches Museum is great but quite large; a wall of the main staircase was painted by Klimt. The Leopold Museum has a large collection of Schieles as well as its Klimts.

The Wien Museum is an historical museum that also shows some art. I recall a few works by Klimt and Schiele; I'm no expert, but I think they'd be considered more-minor ones. However, the Wien Museum is worthwhile even aside from the art.

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