What to do in Vienna?

Djunn

Doomed
Dec 11, 2010
384
0
16
Istanbul
So I'll be visiting Vienna with my wife for our new year vacation. It's going to be a 5 day visit including Dec 31st.

Wien guys, tell me your favourite places. Where to eat and drink? I'd like to avoid tourist-traps. Which places are must see? I love a good shopping so I need a few music shops as well.

I also like cycling, so it would be great if you can advise me some bike shops too.
 
It's very cultural orientated for tourists around here...so lot's of museums and art stuff to see if you want. Usually always something interesting around!
Must see places....hard to tell for me, I don't think we really have anything monumental crazy epic stuff going like other cities.
The usuals are pretty nice though...Stephansdom, Schönbrunn, Belvedere, The Zoo at Schönbrunn etc if you're into historic background.
It's a nice city overall with lots of bits and pieces here and there, but we don't really have an eiffeltower or something like that....

Eat and drink wise it depends on if you want to party or just have a nice dinner...but both can have around the Schwedenplatz pretty easily.

There are some really nice restaurants around there as well (some a bit hidden tho) that make awesome barbeque style food (or lots of other meat heavy "austrian" style kitchen), with lots of different beers and wine to have alongside (I like Bieradies and Hinterholz for example, awesome ribs)
Lots and lots of "normal" bars too there.

I don't really know how it looks with reservations, so it might be hard to get a spot, but having dinner in the Donauturm is pretty cool. It's kinda like the seattle space neelde I think, turning restaurant at the top.

You can always just take a trip by foot through the inner city, it's not big and you can see lots of stuff going round the Ring or streight somewhere through Erster Bezirk (Innere Stadt).

Prater isn't open that time of the year...at least I think so.
Nature wise there's also a lot of green going on to take a walk.
We had a really awesome beautiful fall, but already now it's not yellow and red anymore, so it will be winter already when you'll be here.

Oh and yeah, obviously you can go take a coffee and sweets anywhere.
 
Thanks Mago, nice info there! I do like museums and palaces and I'll try to visit them all but I'm more interested in food and drink culture heh. Of course you can find tons of recommendations on TripAdvisor etc. but it's often touristy attractions and I know the real treasure is usually known better by locals. :D I'll definitely check Bieradies and Hinterholz.

And for music shops, yes I mean for gear.
 
For gear you should probably check out Klangfarbe (take the U3 to "Gasometer").

Maybe you'd like to see a concert while you are in Vienna as well? http://www.planet.tt/8-0-Events-und-Tickets.html

I think you might also find some nice food and bars in the "Gürtel"-area but I don't know any specific venues or locations to recommend.

PS: I'm afraid there will be no biking around that time of year. Icy roads and snow don't make it very safe. Bring your winter jacket. Although you'll probably freeze your butt off anyway if you are used to the warm Turkish weather. ;)
 
yeah, klangfarbe is your best bet, even if it is constantly degrading in quality. Still the biggest store here. There are quite a few other, and the one or other is nice...

ah Gürtel...yes, there are plenty bars and stuff, also for smaller concerts, but I don't really frequent that area.

Hm, it depends on the weather...a friend of mine goes around by bike the whole year. She's a tough one though haha

If you do like museums and palaces you're going to have a good time! Food and drink culture is like I said...heavy old school food with beer/wine, and then some coffee with something sweet.

If you're here by the time also make sure to check out the one or other Christkindlmarkt, as well as to get some Punsch & Glühwein ;)

And just in case for shopping: Kärnterstraße (steeeeeeeeep prices tho!) and Mariahilferstraße.

Also: I don't know exactly when your dates are, but be aware of the holidays. Supermarkets and Shops are closed the one or other days around christmas and afterwards. Also on days like the 31st they close earlier.
 
Thanks guys. I'm taking notes and marking on the map. As for winter, Istanbul doesn't really have that warm Turkish weather, it's around 4C degrees today. I'm fine with freezing temperatures and I'm more of a winter guy. That's why I picked Austria in the first place.

By the way I'll be there between 28 Dec - 1st Jan and I'm down for a beer with you guys.
 
It's almost end of day 2 and I already love the place. Most shopping areas were closed so we took our chance to see palaces and monuments. By the way I already ate and drank 1 week's food and beer haha. I'm in Hinterholtz and food is indeed tasty!
 
We played in Vienna a month ago and got the chance to go to a concert in the Musikverein Goldsaal. If you're interested in acoustics go there, the Konzerthaus and Opera House are also really highly rated but I didn't get the chance to go there. It might be hard to get tickets for a concert on such short notice but I think you can check out the halls anyway, I would if I had a few days there!