Palaces, Cafes, and Culture in Vienna

So Vienna was my first stop on my European road-trip (I already wrote about Budapest and Cesky Krumlov and will write about Germany, Prague, and Bratislava later). I didn’t really have any expectations of Vienna, but ended up loving it! I will definitely be exploring more of Austria in the future. The heart of Vienna is a lot smaller than I expected and the Airbnb we booked was right in the middle of all of it. The best way to describe Vienna is very pretty and clean and full of palaces, cafes, and culture! I listed my top 10 highlights in Vienna.

1. Palaces

What first drew me to Vienna was its amazing palaces. Vienna is all about its palaces! It is well-known for the Belvedere, Schönbrunn, and Hofburg palaces, all equally beautiful.

The Belvedere The most impressive thing about the Belvedere is its gorgeous landscaped gardens! The gardens are a world heritage site. This was probably the prettiest part of Vienna, I thought.

The Belvedere is home to an extensive art collection, most notably the largest collection of Gustav Klim’s paintings and his most famous painting, the kiss. I will say that I am not really a fan of that painting. Lots of cool paintings there though, and did I mention the gardens??

Schönbrunn Palace

The Schönbrunn Palace was the Summer palace of the Habsburgs. It was built in 1642 and has 1441 rooms 45 of which can be visited.

Hofburg Palace

The Hofburg palace is the Hadsburgs’ winter palace and is one of the largest palaces in the world. It also has the imperial apartments and “Sissi” museum. So what I find interesting is that here in the US, we don’t often hear a lot of history about rulers and other European dynasties besides England. Before going on this trip, I wanted to learn more about this area of Europe and saw and read many things about Maria Theresa, who was the only woman ruler of the Habsburg empire. Maria Theresa strengthened and unified the Austrian monarchy. Her reign lasted 40 years and is considered the savior of the Hadsburg Dynasty. And yetttttt, none of the palaces really seemed to focus on her. Instead, they focused on Empress Elisabeth (“Sissi”), who basically did nothing of importance besides look pretty and have really long hair. She was basically the Rapunzel of her time. It took several hours a day to fix her hair, I learned. Clearly more important things to know about then Maria Theresa. She has an almost cult-like following. This was the 300 year anniversary of Maria Theresa’s birthday and I do believe somewhere in Vienna there was a small temporary exhibit on her, but I couldn’t get enough information on it. But seriously, there is a whole permanent museum devoted to Sissi!

2.The Cafes

So the other thing most people think of when they think of Vienna is the cafes! The café culture is pretty amazing. There are cafes everywhere and they are opened really late! It is not unusual for the people of Vienna to decide they just need a slice of cake and a fancy coffee at 10pm. It’s popular to take an afternoon coffee break as well. So I wanted to visit as many cafes as possible! And they were all just amazing. Y’all, they make their own whipped cream! And it is soooo good. So here are some of the cafes I visited out of the dozens around Vienna.

Café Central

Café Central is one of the most popular cafes! Freud, Trotsky and Hitler are some of the more famous patrons who have dined there, although the café now is not exactly where the original café sits, but the original section is open to visit and take pictures! And of course the café pays homage to Sissi and her hubby, Franz, with a couple of portraits. They are also well-known for their Sacher-torte, a popular type of chocolate cake in Vienna.

Café Demel

Café Demel is also a well-known café, particularly because you can see into the bakery and watch them make your food for you! Also worth noting is that this café is very close to the Hofburg Palace, so a great place to stop before or after a visit there. We had such nice service when we were there and our traditional Vienna breakfast was so good! They are also the official bakery to the royal court and imperial.

Café Diglas

Café Diglas wasn’t originally on my list of cafes to go, but they served breakfast until very late and were right by the St. Stephan’s Cathedral so it was a great find.

Café Residenz

Café Residenz was my first stop for sacher-torte. It is located in the Schönbrunn Palace complex, so a great little stop! They also have an apple strudel show offered throughout the day, where they make apple strudel in front of you and you get to eat it when they’re done. We unfortunately kept missing the shows so didn’t get to go.

3. Prater Ferris Wheel

The Prater Ferris Wheel is a popular attraction in Vienna and is located in the oldest amusement park in the world. The ferris wheel was constructed in 1897 and was the tallest ferris wheel until 1985. The ferris wheel kind of reminds me of the London Eye. You can put probably 20 people in each pod. Ours only had 8. You can also reserve to have a private dinner in your own little pod. We were there during sunset, which gave us a beautiful view of the city.

4. Kunsthistorisches Museum

I have stated previously that I am actually not a hugeeee fan of museums. This was different, however because the Kunsthistorisches museum hosts this really amazing multiple course fine dining experience, where you are invited to roam around the museum in between courses. This was a really cool experience and the food was really good, too and focused on traditional Austrian dishes. There was a soup course, appetizer buffet, main dish of your choosing, cheese course and dessert. And the museum has a lot of really great art! Lots of Raphael’s.

5. St. Stephans Cathedral

I honestly was not that impressed with this one. Worth a look, but there was a lot of scaffolding and people begging for money outside of the cathedral. I’m just including this as a highlight since most people end up wanting to see this.

6. Imperial Crypt

The Habsburgs are all housed in a crypt, including Maria Theresa and of course Sissi. The coffins are extremely ornate, adorned with decorations of lions paws, eagles, snakes, etc. It is actually a really beautiful place and didn’t feel creepy or macabre at all. It seemed overly cheery for a crypt. To be fair, though, Halloween is my favorite holiday and I love horror movies so I may be a little bias and more interested in things like crypts than the average person.

7. Farmer’s Market

I have mentioned this before, but I love checking out farmer’s markets when I visit a new place! Vienna’s Naschmarkt (Farmer’s Market) was a great place to stop for lunch and buy a few things like homemade soups and baked goods for breakfast. Now this doesn’t compare with Budapest’s market, but it is still worth a look!

8. Wiener Staatsoper, the Vienna Opera House

The Vienna Opera House, or Wiener Staatsopher, is continuously ranked as one of the most beautiful opera houses in the world. It is very expensive, however, unlike Budapest and Prague. We were able to get tickets for Swan Lake! They have box seats here! I have never been in box seats for a show before. There are about 9 seats per box and they shut the door behind you once everyone is in. We had two other people who were in our box. It was really cool to see Swan Lake here!

9. Favorite Restaurants

Best food Our first stop when we arrived in Vienna was to obviously try some Weiner Schnitzel from the famous Figlmueller, which was nothing short of amazing. We went by and it was packed so I thought we would just make a reservation for another day, but they were very accommodating and sat us after a short wait. A great first meal in Vienna!

Best ambiance

Griechenbeisl is the oldest restaurant in Vienna from 1447, where Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mark Twain and Johnny Cash all went to. I will say that every single thing we ate in Vienna was amazing! And this was no exception. To be honest, I usually prefer dining in places that are known for being more unique or aesthetically pleasing (IE views or by the water) rather than having the food be my main motivator. I just know I’ll take the experience with me and what I saw rather than what I tasted. But luckily, this restaurant provided both. They put us in a private room, even without reservations and the whole vibe felt very German.

Best view Another thing I usually like to do when visiting a new big city is find a good rooftop view restaurant. The views of Vienna from the restaurant, Das LOFT, is set on the 18th floor of Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom and they were impressive! However, the food was pricy for what you get and they also have a “couvert” charge, which is a charge on your bill for the view, basicially. This was my first time ever seeing a couvert charge, although I understand it is popular in certain countries. I would recommend coming here for a drink and skipping the food.

10. Anker Clock

The Anker Clock forms a bridge between two parts of a building in Vienna. In the course of 12 hours, twelve historical figures or pairs of figures move across the bridge. Every day at noon, all of the figures parade, each accompanied by music from its era. I have a video of it, but not many pictures unfortunately, so look it up! So there is a really famous clock in Prague and honestly I found this one way more impressive and entertaining!