Vienna

philologos

I'm heading to Vienna on Monday. I was just wondering if anyone has been before, and if they could recommend some things to see and do there.

Imposter

The top things would be:
- The Hofburg is the palace in the centre of the city. The Spanish riding school is also attached. The Stephansdom is also nearby.
- Schönbrunn
- Belvedere palace if you still ahve time.

The main shopping streets are Mariahilferstraße and Kärntner Straße (Stephansdom is at the end of this).

philologos

I'll be there for about 2 weeks I should have plenty of time. Is Bratislava worth a visit, it's quite close.

cailinoBAC

I posted about Vienna here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055119519

philologos

much appreciated.

cailinoBAC

I'm actually reading 'The Third Man' at the moment. Really should do the tour next time I'm there.

Also, seeing as you're going in the summer, it's lovely just to sit out in the gardens (which you can't exactly do in winter!). Go to one of the outdoor swimming areas, god I can't remember where the one I always went to was....pas the Donauinsel, take the U1 nearly to the end of the line in that direction. Well there are outdoor pools as well, but not as nice.
I think you can see on www.vienna.at
Go to the Vienna Woods if you can...
Oh, they used to have these free city bikes. I think they still have them, but you have to use your credit card and it's only free for an hour or so.

Go to the Prater and go on the Big Wheel. It's over 100 years old, so maybe not if that type of thing scares you. The Prater is a bit eerie in winter but can be good fun in summer.

Seeing as you're there for 2 weeks you may as well visit Bratislava. Don't know if I'd be bothered staying overnight, maybe somebody else has been there? I was there almost 6 years ago, I'm sure it's changed since then.

Imposter

Well if you're there for 2 weeks then that's a different story

If you can get out of Vienna for a night or a few nights i'd suggest the following:
- Bratislava for at least a daytrip, maybe one night there - it's about 30-60 mins away.
- Wachau, Melk Abbey, Durnstein - this is a wine area along the danube and very picturesque.
- Rost - it's on the edge of the Neusiedlersee which borders Hungary. It's in the Burgenland wine area and there are loads of Heuriger which are wine gardens that sell local (usually their own) wine and cold food platters. Summer/autumn is a great time to go there! If you're the sporty type you could comfortably cycle around the lake in 2 days. Sopron in Hungry would be good for the overnight part. It's about 120km around it i think.
- Salzburg is nice for a daytrip or a one nighter too - it's about 3 hours by (fast) train.

Esmereldina

I'm heading to Vienna on Wednesday for a few days too, so it's great to get some tips about things to do and see here... thanks dudes

philologos

Thanks again for all the info

I assume most people in Vienna, or Bratislava speak good English? I have decent German to get me by so it's not really an issue.

JPA

Jakkass wrote:

Thanks again for all the info

I assume most people in Vienna, or Bratislava speak good English? I have decent German to get me by so it's not really an issue.

No not really. Some younger people do but most don't.

Tom Dunne

I must admit, I didn't like Vienna.

Or, more correctly, the Viennese people. I found them very cold and distant, not at all friendly and very blunt. I had the exact opposite experience in Salzburg.

Vienna itself is as you would expect a major European destination - full of history and culture. Adding to the sights above, I would also recommend the natural history museum.

If you are there for two weeks, Salzburg is certainly worth a visit. Apart from the whole Sound of Music nonsense, there's Mozart's birthplace and a spectacular castle on a hill in the middle of the city.

philologos

cailinoBAC wrote:

Also, seeing as you're going in the summer, it's lovely just to sit out in the gardens (which you can't exactly do in winter!). Go to one of the outdoor swimming areas, god I can't remember where the one I always went to was....pas the Donauinsel, take the U1 nearly to the end of the line in that direction. Well there are outdoor pools as well, but not as nice.

In Vienna now. Thanks for the advice on the Donauinsel. Went there to the stop and it's awesome. Loads of cool bars etc. So Kudos to you pity theres no reputation thing on Boards any more

Sonnenblumen

tom dunne wrote:

I must admit, I didn't like Vienna.

Or, more correctly, the Viennese people. I found them very cold and distant, not at all friendly and very blunt. I had the exact opposite experience in Salzburg.

Vienna itself is as you would expect a major European destination - full of history and culture. Adding to the sights above, I would also recommend the natural history museum.

If you are there for two weeks, Salzburg is certainly worth a visit. Apart from the whole Sound of Music nonsense, there's Mozart's birthplace and a spectacular castle on a hill in the middle of the city.

Yeah you missed so much (but I'll just rattle off a few: Konigs See, Watzmanner Spitzen, Kehlstein/Eagle Nest, Salzburge Werke/Minen, Chiemsee, Neu Schwannstein etc etc) you should have stayed at home. Pity really.

sweetie

apologies for threadcrashing but does anyone have recommendations for nice reasonably priced accomodation in Vienna (or Bratislava)?

philologos

was in the MuseumsQuartier today. Was in the Leopold Museum today. Pretty cool area. Stadtpark is also a nice place to chill out. Will update more as I'm there.