Staying in Vienna

By all means, choose a nice neighborhood place within the city. Public transporation is top notch and easy to use. Lots of people speak enough English to be helpful when you have questions. My husband was born in Vienna and we visit every year. We prefer to stay outside the city in a small village and take the train into the city each day, but
his brother and wife stayed at a nice small apartment close in to the first district over New Year's for a very affordable price. The apartment included Internet, a little kitchen with coffee maker and other amenities, and they had their choice of trams, Uban, buses and trains. The thoughtful landlord included a bottle of sparking wine to welcome them. Oh how I love this beautiful city!

We always stay in a little village south of Vienna called Gompoldskirschen at a pension called the Schwanberghof. Frau Aigner runs a tidy little place with a gold fish pond in an interior garden. There is street parking available and the local train into Vienna runs regularly from a station a ten minute walk down the street. This town is famous for its new wines and the little local huerigen (spelling may be off a bit) which are locally owned and operated family businesses with food, music, and the local wines. They offer indoor and outdoor seating and are usually frequented by the locals rather than tourists. Austrian pensions always offer a nice breakfast with local bread and cheese and salami or ham. Frau Aigner's isn't the most generous spread in town, but we always eat our filland more!and her rooms are cozy and pretty. The village has several other hotels for a more upscale experience, but we are content to travel at three star spots. If you drive your car to the next village, (Gumtransdorfabout three kilometers) you can park your car at the train station and take the BadenerBahn right into the heaert of Vienna. The last stop is the Opera House and once you get out, you're in the middle of all the grandest areas. Buy one of those handy local transport passes and you can ride everything to any place for a whole week. Besides driving to the train station in Gumtransdort, we rarely use our car there. There are many pretty streets, though, in Vienna proper, so if you don't want to walk much, you'd probably be happier staying somewhere in the city. Vienna is a somewhat formal place and only sloppy Americans schlepp around in baggy shorts and Tshirts. Austrians wear leather belts with their jeans and sensiblebut NOT athleticshoes.

I enjoyed our stay at Schweizer Pension http://www.schweizerpension.com/ . It's a family run B&B in the center, perfectly located for walking to the main sights. Loved the owners who were helpful in every way. We booked for 3 nights and ended up wanting to stay longer but the Vienna Marathon was in town and everything was booked. Anita found us a room in another B&B with a friend of hers so we could stay in town a few more days. They also booked excursions and helped us with directions, tickets, and recommendations. The breakfast was quite good in a very nice dining area where we met people from all over. We really had a delightful time and would return.

We love Pension Pertschy. Stayed there on our first trip to Vienna back in 2004 and then again this past September. Not the cheapest but well worth it in our opinion. Mere steps to everything

You cannot be more centrally located than in pension Nossek. It's right on Graben. Our room was big, stylish with high ceiling overlooking Graben.

Thank you all for your suggestions.