Vienna was more of an accidental inclusion in our Danube trip [read more about our 16 day itinerary following the Danube here]. I was looking for options to travel from Budapest to Bucharest but didn’t find decent connections (I am too finicky when it comes to choosing airlines). And I had sort of an extra day in Budapest so was also looking for a quick day trip. That’s when I chanced upon Bratislava for a day trip but the only trouble was that it would be a 5 hr journey both ways. And then I realized that Vienna was just an hour away from Bratislava so it meant only 3.5 hrs on the road in total. And then I further realized that there was a great option of a direct connection to Bucharest from Vienna via Austrian airways. And that’s how precisely Vienna entered the broad scheme of things.
Budapest — Bratislava — Vienna — Bucharest
We reached Vienna at 4.30 pm from Bratislava and were picked up by our Airbnb owner from the Vienna central station. Our apartments were in 9th District in Alsergund area and just stone’s throw from the Volksopper Opera house which is Vienna’s second biggest opera house after the majestic State Opera house. By 5.30 pm we were well settled in our apartment. To make use of the long summer evening and make good use of our short time in the Austrian capital, we had pre-booked a 7:00 pm show at the Volksopper for ‘Gasparone‘. A quick dinner after the show and we were ready to hit the bed.
We started early the next morning and took the metro to Karlplatz. With only a day in Vienna we didn’t want to spend time inside museums or the palace. We wanted to walk around the city and soak in the atmosphere as much as possible. And also wanted to restrict our tour to only the city thus giving Schonbrunn the miss.
We alighted at the Karlplatz metro station and walked past the Vienna Museum past the State Opera House and into Burggarten. After lazing around in the sun for a while inside the garden we made our way towards Albertinaplatz. A trip to the Vienna is almost incomplete without visiting the Mozart Cafe and the Sacher restaurant.
After stopping by at the Mozart Cafe for some ghoulash and other delicacies we walked up the stairs of the Karlplatz. Its one of those vantage points in Vienna where you can get great shots of the city streets so if you live by Instagram, you cannot give this place a miss.
Onward we walked to reach Stephenplatz where aside from the central square teeming with life, you will also find the St Stephen’s cathedral and the House of Mozart. We spent about an hour here, before progressing to one of our final destinations for our trip – the magnificent Hofburg Palace.
A panorama of one of the entrances to the Hofburg Palace
On any other day, I will totally recommend a visit inside the Hofburg Palace to get a sense of the opulence of this Austro-Hungarian Emperial dynasty, but this trip didnot afford us that leisure. So instead, we let our tired feet take some rest at the adjacent rose garden or the Volksgarten.
The Vienna Rathaus is just opposite this garden, so a quick peek into the town hall is recommended from here.
We then walked towards the Museum Quartier for the final leg of our day’s trip in Vienna. I will admit that we are not a great museum lover family and hence on any other day too we would probably have given the museums here a miss. But I would still recommend to visit this quarter for its perfect ambience.
Hope you enjoyed my blog and would use this travel itinerary if you are planning your next trip to Vienna. More coming up soon.
Till then, Happy Travels!!!
