As you might remember, I went to Vienna last month - with the (unfortunately cancelled) Taylor Swift concert serving as a wonderful excuse to visit one of my very favourite places in the world.
I wanted to share some of my travel tips, in case you’re planning your own trip to the city of Mozart and Schnitzel.
First, in case you missed it…
📖 Breaking Book News 📖
A quick off-schedule newsletter to share some super exciting book news with you: I’m thrilled to be able to share that my manuscript, Checked Out, has been longlisted for the Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers’ Prize.
Travel
Even though Vienna is further south and east than you might think, it’s really easy to get to from the UK by rail; I spent three days getting there and two getting back, because I wanted to take the TransAlpin through the Arlberg Pass in a panorama railcar (an amazing experience which I highly recommend), but you can definitely do it in less time than I did, especially if you’re starting in London and can take an early morning Eurostar.
Once you’re on the ground, Viennese public transport is really cheap and easy. I’d recommend buying a public transport pass to cover you for the time you’ll be in Vienna (which you can now do through the WienMobil phone app). You don’t have to show it as you board trains or buses, just have it in your possession and validated in case of a ticket check. For reference, a week’s ticket last month cost me €19.70.
Accommodation
As a capital city, there’s tonnes of hostels and hotels at all price brackets, here’s where I’ve stayed:
The first time I went to Vienna, with my mum, we stayed at the Mercure ‘Wien Zentrum’ (Vienna Centre’). It was indeed super central and a fantastic location for exploring the city, including taking an hour’s quiet time between a day’s sightseeing and heading out again in the evening.
I made three trips solo in the 18 months before Covid, all staying at a now-closed branch of Wombats hostel. Their remaining Vienna location has a great location in the 4th district, right next to a U-Bahn station. Like their other branches, they have private rooms which are the perfect option if your budget won’t run to a hotel but you don’t want the shared bunk-room experience. Plus you get the hostel benefits of a bar with a social vibe and cheap drinks!
With this trip being loosely connected to my 30th birthday, I splashed out on a stunning MGallery hotel in the 3rd district, just a few minutes by tram from the main train station and a stone’s throw from multiple tram, bus, and U-Bahn stops. It was gorgeous, and the team took such good care of us - first with a cute letter enclosing Swiftie friendship bracelets and then with an offer of help to organise replacement activities after the concert was cancelled.
Food and Drink
Okay, let’s get the obvious out of the way: if you’re going to Vienna you probably want to try traditional Viennese food.
For a super central place to try Schnitzel, Goulash, or the Viennese classic of pancake soup (‘Frittatensuppe’, don’t knock it til you’ve tried it!), I would always recommend Reinthaler’s Beisl - I’ve always been able to just walk in there without a reservation; they follow the Austrian tradition of grouping parties together around big tables.
Afterwards, go next door to Cafe Hawelka, another family-owned business, and in this case one that’s been running continuously since the end of occupation in 1955. If you’re there after 8pm, make sure to get a few Buchteln (plum-jam filled doughnuts) to go with your glass of wine.
Still not had your fill of Viennese specialities? Get yourself to Heindl’s, tucked away behind a shopping street in the city centre, and try Kaiserschmarr’n, Austria’s answer to Eton Mess (scrambled pancakes, essentially). They do also offer savoury foods, but I’ve never felt the need to order them…
Also on my list for this most recent trip was Vollpension; a cafe mostly staffed by ‘grandmas and grandpas’ - the idea is that cooking and hospitality can mitigate old-age-poverty and foster dialogue between generations. The late breakfast I had, with ham and pickles on a slice of lovely dark bread, was stunning.
If, after that, you want a break from traditional Austrian food, I can recommend checking out Maschu Maschu for seriously good falafel meals and Swing Kitchen for some of the best vegan junk food I’ve eaten anywhere.
I can’t wrap up a food section without referring to the Viennese tradition of the Würstelstand - the sausage stand. They are everywhere - but if you’re visiting in peak holiday season and/or, as we were, wanting a late-night meal on the way home from a party, it’s worth checking opening times on Google Maps. My friend and I both had delicious ‘hot dogs’ (i.e., a hot sausage indelicately shoved into a hollowed and heated-from-within baguette) from this place next to the Karlsplatz U-Bahn station.
Museums
I will note before I start this section that Vienna is famous for its art galleries and museums - the Kunsthistorisches, the Belvedere, the Albertina, and the Leopold Museum to name just a few. I’m not huge on visual art (which I know is sacrilege to some of you!) so I’ll just say that they’re all justifiably famous, and move on to some of the other museums which maybe might not be as obvious on your to-visit list.
I love a transport museum - for what it tells you about a city’s social history as well as getting to see old trams and buses! - and Vienna’s is truly excellent. Also, fun fact, it’s where they filmed the 2009 music video for the single version of Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire:
For book nerds, the state hall of the Austrian National Library is absolutely worth a visit. It’s in a wing of the Hofburg palace complex, so easy to combine with other museums for your day’s itinerary, and there are many amazing exhibits on show. Plus the State Hall (Prunksaal) itself is incredible. Definitely one for a ‘Beauty and the Beast’ moment…
Since my previous visit, the Wien Museum had been completely reconstructed, adding two new floors to the top of the building and turning a former atrium into an amazing central great hall. The permanent exhibit, on the first few floors of the museum, tells the story of Vienna right back to the Neolithic era through it growth until today, with detours through the eras of revolution and of ‘Red Vienna’. One thing I found especially impressive was the way the museum explicitly encouraged visitors to ask questions about the way history was presented, especially regarding the ‘Siege of Vienna’ and the way the Ottoman Empire and ‘Turks’ more broadly have been depicted in Austrian museums as a result.
Another museum with understandably tough subject matter is the Jewish Museum Vienna, which is split across two sites, one on Dorotheergasse and one on the Judenplatz. In addition to the permanent collections, they often put on excellent temporary exhibitions - there was one in 2019 about Leonard Bernstein which was fantastic. Also on Judenplatz is the famous memorial (created by Rachel Whiteread) depicting library shelves with the books turned inside out. What I didn’t know until I went into the museum is that the memorial is exactly on top of the site of the medieval synagogue, which was burned down in 1421. In the museum, the foundations of that synagogue can be visited through an underground passageway; it’s an extremely solemn experience.
The Museum of Military History (Heeresgeschichtliches Museum) is also worth visiting, if only because of one particularly unexpected (to me) section: a room containing the car Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were being driven in when they were shot, and then the bloodstained couch on which he died. A real ‘Wow, I’m in the same room as history!’ moment for me.
For more history of modern Austria, I recommend the (relatively new) Haus der Geschichte Österreich (the house of Austrian history) which tells the story of the Austrian country in its current geographical form. Right now it’s in the Hofburg palace complex but a new site is being planned in ‘Museumsquartier’ with many of the city’s other museums. It covers themes like poverty, democracy, the Dollfuss-Schuschnigg Dictatorship (the period immediately before the Anschluss), and Austria’s relationship with the EU, as well as having lighter objects like Conchita Wurst’s dress from Eurovision in its collection.
I can’t finish off without mentioning a couple of my favourite shops to visit on any trip to Vienna:
Firstly, for those of you for whom visiting a grocery store is a key part of your trip anywhere (you’re among friends here), the fanciest place to go is Julius Meinl on Graben, the big shopping street opposite the Stephansdom. There are also a few rather good SPAR Gourmet food shops dotted around - on Fleischmarkt and on Schwarzenbergplatz for example, which will supply you with everything you need for a hotel room picnic as well as any necessary souvenirs (you can’t go to Austria and come home without Mozart Balls…)
Secondly, a bookshop… Obviously, there are plenty, but I always go to Frick, also on the Graben. It’s delightfully higgledy-piggledy, over a few floors, and not so big that I’d lose a whole day there. There’s an English-language section upstairs - but you can usually find me looking at the popular fiction downstairs. It’s fun to see different markets’ covers for books I know and love.
Speak soon,
Lily
Missed this week’s Friday recommendations roundup?
