Vienna

Vienna has been an important city in central Europe for a very long time. It was originally a Celtic settlement, then a Roman military camp, and eventually the capital city of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Empire, and the Republic of Austria. The historic wealth of Vienna is evident in its large, opulent, well-preserved historic centre. You can walk for hours without finding any consistently modern building. In spite of that, it has an excellent public transit system, a vibrant music and arts culture, and has been voted the best city in the world for ex-patriate residents for many years.

Day 1 - Introduction to Vienna

Arrival

First things first! Navigating the airport through customs to baggage claim is easy. While you're waiting for your luggage, you can join your fellow passengers in activating your eSIM, if you're using one for your phone. I will meet you at the airport with your tickets for the City Airport Train. Trains come along twice per hour (at :08 and :38), so we’ll check the time to see how quickly we need/want to hurry down. Then, in under 20 minutes, we’ll be arriving at Wien Mitte station.

 

Because it’s unlikely we’ll be able to check into your accommodations this early (it might still be before 10:00 a.m.), we will lock up our luggage for a few hours. Lockers come in varying sizes; we’ve always been able to lock up two medium suitcases plus some of our hand luggage in one locker without any difficulty. Follow the instructions on the screen (also available in English) and purchase a bit more time than you think you’ll need. We can always come back early for our things. Don’t forget the locker number!

From here, we'll take an introductory walk around Vienna's Innere Stadt, probably starting with coffee and a breakfast snack! Our walk will take us past some of the interesting points of the centre that don't necessarily need to be visited.

We might pass:

  • Hundertwasserhaus, a colourful and uniquely designed apartment building.
  • Ankeruhr, an elaborate clock with figures from Austrian history that rotate around it at the top of each hour.
  • Spanish Riding School, where we'll probably be able to see a few of the famous Lipizzaner stallions in their stalls.
  • Austrian National Library. Depending on how we're feeling, or maybe on the weather, this might be a good place to go inside. A ticket to visit the Grand Hall is about $15.
  • Schmetterlinghaus, another attraction we may want to visit. A ticket here is about $14.
  • Wiener Staatsoper. The building from the outside is impressive. Guided tours of the interior have limited availability, but if we want one, it would be best to buy tickets ahead of time. Tickets cost about $24.
  • Various parks. Our route could take us next to or through the Volksgarten, Burggarten, and/or Stadtpark.

Hundertwasserhaus

 Once it's getting close to our check-in time, we'll make our way together back to the train station to pick up our luggage, and then to our accommodations.

We will likely be tired and feel a bit grubby after a long flight and a day of walking. Once we are checked in, we'll take some time for a rest, but we'll also want to be careful to work on getting ourselves accustomed to the new time zone. Here is a routine we have found helpful when we’ve had early morning arrivals:

Have a nap, but set an alarm for between 5:00-5:30 pm, to give yourself a nap of about an hour and a half, tops. When that alarm goes, get up. Take a shower to refresh yourself, brush your teeth, drink some water (no coffee right now!), and get back outside. This will feel rough, but you’ll perk up enough to get through the evening. 

We'll have supper at Schnitzelwirt. Their wiener schnitzel is wonderful, but the servings are enormous. I suggest planning to share with at least one other person!

After supper, we'll go for a walk down Mariahilferstrasse. This broad street and some of its side streets are full of shopping opportunities, hosting both major chain stores and small, unique shops. Even if you don't want to shop, I recommend walking for as long as your energy will carry you. Then we'll head back to our accommodations and get ready for bed. Our rule has been to stay up until at least 9:00 or 9:30 on the first night. Even with an afternoon nap, you should be tired enough to sleep pretty well through the night, which is the key to getting over jet lag as quickly as possible. You might wake up at a weird time, but do your best to relax yourself back to sleep until a reasonable waking hour.