JulieVikmanis

<b>Dates:</b>
September 17 to October 2, 2008

<b>Weather:</b>
Pretty crummy-- drizzle, rain, clouds, about 3 days of sun, windy, and relatively cold, between 45 and 50 most of the time. Not the best we've ever had by a long shot. Temps may have reached almost to 60 one day or two.

<b>Who:</b>
Four of us--Me, DH, a friend and co-worker of DH and her sister, all between 50 and 65 and relatively well-traveled. We had been to all destinations previously, some recently and some many years ago, but all of the destinations on this trip were new to our friends.

<b>Hotels:</b>
Vienna -- Konig Von Ungarn
Prague -- Cerna Liska
Nuremberg -- Meridean
Wurzburg -- Rebstock
Complete reviews to follow.

<b>Itinerary:</b>
Quick breakdown of days spent with hopes that the info will prove helpful for those trying to plan similar trips:

<b>Vienna</b>
We arrived a day ahead of our friends and spent 6 days in Vienna to their 5.
It was our first European destination 35 years ago and is one of our all time favorites: While there we followed this itinerary:

Day 1- walk about main areas of old town, Stephensdom, Kartnerstrasse, Graben
Day 2- Inner ring area and ride around ring on strassenbahn. Repeat areas of Day 1 for new arrivals
Day 3- Freying market and passage, Votivekirche, University, Rathaus, Volksgarden,
Hofburg area, Opera, Kirche am Steinhof
Day 4- Museum quarter and Spittalberg, Hundertwasser Haus and museum, Urbania and eastern ring area by foot
Day 5- Schoenbrunn and Heitzing, Grinzing
Day 6- Belvedere, Russian war memorial in Schwedenplatz, Naschmarkt, Secession building, Karlskirche, Stadtpark

<b>Prague - 3 days</b>
We love Prague. It's so beautiful, but it has become so packed with tourists that that beauty is getting more and more difficult to get to, so in breaking up our time we decided to devote more to Vienna. It was a good choice.

Day 1- 3 hours or so by train to get there from Vienna, short walk about Old Town square, Charles Bridge and parts of Mala Strana
Day 2- Powder Tower, Municipal building, Wenceslas Square, walk along river to see art nouveau and cubist houses and the Fred and Ginger Dancing building.
Day 3- Castle Hill, Cathedral and Castle, Loretto church. Back to Mala Strana and across Charles Bridge, Kampa Island.

<b>Nuremberg and Wurzburg areas - 5 days</b>
I'd hoped to split 2 days in Nuremberg and 3 in Wurzburg, but our selected Wurzburg hotel couldn't give us 3 days, so I split 3 in Nuremberg and 2 in Wurzburg and it turned out to be, I think, a better selection.

Day 1 - Awful 6 hour train ride to Nuremberg from Prague, explore a bit of city.
Day 2 - Explore city in depth, church interiors, Haupt Market with fall festival, Castle,
Shopping streets
Day 3 - Drive to Bamburg Dom with Reimenschneider altar, Rathaus in middle of river, old town. Had intended to go to Coburg and even one or two other small towns but weather, long meal and general malaise caused us to just return to Nuremberg which we'd grown quite fond of.
Day 4 - Drive some of Romantic Road enroute to Wurzburg: Rothenberg ob der Tauber, so terminally cute, drive by Creglingen, walk through Weikersheim with its castle, Bad Mergentheim.
Day 5 - Explore Wurzburg: Residence, churches, Saints Bridge.

<b>Comments on expenditure of time:</b>
Vienna can probably be "done" in as short as three days but will reward 5, 6 or even more depending upon your interests.
Prague is now so filled with tourists that I didn't feel bad getting only 2 and 1/2 days there. But we only scratched the surface and missed showing our friends the Jewish Quarter completely.
Nuremberg makes a fine place to do day trips from, but is itself worth a full day or two.
Wurzburg can be done in a day.

JulieVikmanis

<b>Scenery highlights:</b>
I’ve selected these because they were highlights for me, but also because they may be a bit less often listed in the guidebooks where all the usual sights are generally covered.

<b>Vienna:</b>

<b>Freying passage</b>
I love the passages of Paris so finding this lovely passage in Vienna was great fun. To find it, continue northwest from the Graben along Naglergasse which is a nice pedestrian street with cute shops. Turn left as the street ends in about two blocks and dumps you out in to the Freyung square where there is a Farmers’ Market on Fridays and Saturdays. Walk along, cross the street and keep looking to the left until you spot an opening in the beautiful Ferstel Palace which is the passage. It runs the full lenth of the block to connect with Herrengasse on the other side. It’s well kept, has beautiful columns and vaulted ceilings and lovely shops and even an atrium with a fountain. Quite the place. Well worth looking for.

<b>Kirche “St. Leopold” am Steinhof</b>
This place has been a quest for me through 3 or 4 trips to Vienna. Each time I’ve been thwarted in my efforts to see it—not there at the right time, closed for renovation, couldn’t make travel arrangements, etc, etc. With 6 days there I was determined to make it this time. I did. It wasn’t easy, but if you’re a devoted art Nouveau fan, or just a fan of architectural and design beauty, it’s certainly worth the trouble to get there.

This church is the last work of master art nouveau architect Otto Wagner and his best. The catch is, it’s the church of the Otto Wagner Psychiatric Hospital on the outskirts of Vienna and it’s open to the public only one hour a week, 4 – 5 p.m. on Saturdays following a 3 p.m. paid tour usually only available in German. Although I had a print out from the web telling me which U bahn and buses to take to get there, I made the mistake of double checking with my hotel concierge who redirected me to a different—and wrong—bus.

Following my inaccurate instructions we got out of the bus after a very long ride, on top of a residential hill and walked into a more or less empty field. Luckily there were people walking about at intervals so we kept checking with them to refine our directions but this was a pretty crazy means of getting to the place.

It was drizzling. The paths were muddy and I slipped several times. We were told to go this way, then to go back that way. It was a nightmare and DH isn’t a patient man. Just as I was about to call “uncle” we emerged from a wooded area to see cars and buildings and walked around a corner to find the church, high on a hill overlooking the hospital grounds.

It’s incredibly beautiful, in fact, IMO the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen—including St. Peters, but I’m a dedicated Art Nouveau fan. It’s white, inside and out, with green and gold ornamentation, built as a square cross with a central gold dome, two square towers with seated saints, and four columns over the doorway topped by four standing angels. A mosaic behind the gold filigree altar is of Christ and the disciples and the stained glass windows are amazing as are the chandeliers of plain round balls. My description isn’t doing justice to this lovely, aesthetically pleasing place.

After viewing the church (I could have spent hours there, but they’re only open for one hour and DH had completed his picture taking) we asked if there wasn’t another way back to the city. Sure enough, all we had to do was walk down several levels of streets, steps, etc. directly to the bus stop that was listed on the web site pages I’d printed out for the right bus.

In fairness to those of you who might be interested in making this pilgrimage I must divulge that even if you take the right bus, it’s a schlep up to the church from the stop. The hospital is built on a hill with winding roads running through it and I’d guess it’s a good 4 levels (uphill blocks) from the stop to the church. But that’s nothing compared to walking through wet, muddy fields and woods to get there. Nonetheless I’d allow a good ½ hour to make the uphill climb from the bus stop to the church.

Getting there:
Take bus 48 A from the Burgring or take the U 3 U Bahn to Ottokring and then bus 48A. View pix at www.pp.htv.fi/rhurmal1/steinhof.html

<b>Hundertwasserhaus and KunsthausWien</b>
I discovered these places when planning a trip to Vienna several years ago. My husband scoffed at me. Now he hypes them to everyone who even mentions that they might go to Vienna. They are outside the Ring area where the majority of tourist sights are—between the Ring and the Prater but on the ring side of the Danube canal. The Hundertwasserhaus is a public housing project built in 1985 and has to be seen to be believed. It’s multi-colored with uneven floors and trees growing out of it and domes on top. The KunsthausWien is similar with something of a checkerboard pattern. Both have colorful columns almost like barber or gondola poles or spindles here and there. They are fanciful and fun. I’ve never taken anyone to see them who hasn’t loved them.

<b>Heitzing</b>
The Knopf Mapguide to Vienna, of which I’m fond, highlights the area of Heitzing with its information on Schoenbrunn Palace so we decided to look it over over after touring the Schoenbrunn grounds. We found a nice, interesting area with Otto Wagner’s Hofpavillion, the elaborate, now closed, subway station designed especially for the royal family and a shopping and restaurant street where we found good food after our visit to Schoenbrunn. I plan to return and explore further Heitzing on future visits. It’s supposedly the most prestigious area of Vienna and I can see why.

<b>Naschmarkt</b>
This is one of the best European food markets IMO. Everything is beautifully kept. The stalls are nicely arranged, even a little cottage selling pots of herbs, and the food availability is terrific. It’s very large, covering 3 or 4 city blocks (probably doubling that length on Saturdays when it continues with a flea market), and with two or three aisles of permanent wooden stands. There are wonderful fish and seafood stands selling fresh fish for takeaway and all manner of prepared fish and seafood dishes for take away or to eat right there at the cute little stands, including some with warm, heated interiors. There’s a Nordsee, my all time favorite fast food place anywhere. You can stop for a cup of coffee, a beer, or a glass of top flight sparkling wine, and, of course, sturm, that cloudy, unfiltered wine they sell in the fall, that has more of a kick than you think—until it’s too late. We stopped at one stand for a beer and grabbed pickled vegetables to snack on from another. Then we stopped for some sparkling wine and wound up having their snack plate for lunch—fantastic, voluminous supply of slices of sausages, prosciutto, and streaky bacon and then mushroom ravioli and tagliatelle with pesto.

JulieVikmanis

<b>Other Vienna sights:</b>
These are not “off the beaten track” sights, but some mentioned in many guidebooks. Nonethless they are some of my favorites and I couldn’t go to Vienna without seeing them—nor write a report about being in Vienna and not mention them.

Meinl on Graben—one of the best food stores in the world IMO. I may have as many pix from there as I do from the Naschmarkt.

Otto Wagner apartments facing the Naschmarkt—stunning exterior d&eacute;cor, one covered in majolica tiles.

Greek Church by the Greichenbeisl restaurant—ornate, well-preserved and well tended Orthodox church.

Looshaus—interesting architecture and exterior d&eacute;cor, now a bank, across from the entrance to the Hofburg.

Belvedere Palace—IMO the most beautiful palace anywhere, Versailles included. Not square like the others, but possessed of elegant, flowing undulating rooflines that make the place unique and very beautiful. Houses a great art museum as well, full of Klimts including my favorite, Judith.

Karlskirche—In terms of elegance, this is kind of to churches what the Belvedere is to palaces. Beautiful dome with minaret-like towers all shown a second time in a reflecting pool.

Secession building—somewhat like the Kirche am Steinhof, white exterior with lovely filigreed gold dome and leaf designs. Interesting frieze by Klimt on the interior.

<b>Prague</b>

We spent too little time in Prague to see anything truly off the beaten path (with the misguided exception of the cubist houses touted by the NYTimes travel section in a recent article and which I have to say I found not worth the effort to get to) but because of our hotel selection—Cerna Liska, the only hotel directly on the Old Town Square—were lucky enough to be able to look out our window at all hours, twilight, dark, sun up, to see the Tyn church in all kinds of light. It was a fantastic sight, making a stay at the hotel worthwhile even without its nice rooms and great breakfast.

The only other thing I’d mention specifically is another passage, the Lucerne Passage, or Lucerna Pasaz. It’s just off Wenceslas Square, has nice shops, an old theatre and a statue of a horse upside down being ridden by a kind or a knight. Very interesting. Worth seeking out.

Other areas to walk for good architectural interest are Narodni St. and Marsaryk Quay where, among other, older buildings, you’ll find the famous Dancing or Fred and Ginger house.

<b>Nuremberg</b>

This was a surprise to us. We hadn’t been in Nuremberg until sometime in the 1970’s and remembered it as an “also ran” in the scenery department. So when I wound up booking three nights there instead of the two I’d been planning, I figured we’d spend most of our time doing day trips and not pay much attention to the town.

Wrong. Nuremberg turned out to be a true highlight of the whole trip. For one thing we had our best weather there. Sun two days out of three. So everything just looked better. It also made things warmer and even meant we could dine outdoors for lunch. And best of all, they were in the midst of their fall festival. It’s called the Nurnberger Altstadtfest. This year it ran from Sept. 18 to Sept. 29 and we were there at the right time. If you’re going to be in Germany at that time of year and are a bit leery of the crowds and drunken revelry of Munich’s Octoberfest, I’d heartily recommend this Nuremberg alternative. It’s more spread out but incorporated within the city itself. No huge tents, but lots of little wooden temporary buildings and lots of sauerkraut, sausages and beer. And plenty of music and fun.

The Hauptmarkt area by the Frauenkirche where Nuremberg holds its famous Christkindl Markt is completely taken up with red and white striped roofed stands selling everything and I mean everything, from soup to nuts and plumbing, and scarves, and clothing and toys and anything else you can think of. The streets surrounding the area and leading from our hotel to the Hauptmarkt were likewise filled with stands selling vegetables, ice cream, candy, canned fish, etc, etc. One of the department stores on one of the main streets was having a modeling show complete with loud music and young things clad only in very expensive and lovely, though somewhat skimp, underwear. Great fun for the spectators but must have been tough on the young models since the temps were probably on the low side of 50.

Even without the festival atmosphere, the sights were better than we’d recalled them. We spent a long time and lots of megapixels photographing the castle and surrounds. It has well placed flowers everywhere and great, red vine leaves making things even prettier. And just the town was great to walk around with its many half-timbered buildings. We’d planned to spend half a day in Nuremberg, nominally seeing the sights and wound up spending a day and a half and even part of another. We liked it a lot. And we’d highly recommend their fall Altstadt Festival.

<b>Weikersheim</b>

We’d remembered this little town and its castle of the counts of Hohenlohe from one of our first trips to Europe, probably in 1976 or 78. It’s still cute but it’s changed, and for the better. The castle gardens appear to have been expanded and much more exuberantly planted. They present a feast for the eyes with every possible color and on a drizzly day that helps a lot. The view from the castle, through the gardens, to the sort of “glassed in breezeways” at the end and then to the hills beyond with their fall colors was really something to behold.

Directly in front of the castle is a stone fence of balustrades with dwarf figures mounted at intervals on top. The cutest one is a little drummer. I remembered him especially from my first visit 30 some years ago.

The town is cute too, especially the square in front of the castle with its fountain and surrounding buildings including what appears to be a very nice restaurant from the Jeunes Restauranteurs d’Europe association about which you’ll hear more in the food section of this report.

JulieVikmanis

<b>Hotels</b>

<b>Vienna—Konig von Ungarn</b>

This is our favorite hotel in Vienna out of some 6 or 7 that we’ve stayed in over the years. It’s location, down the street from Stephensdom, but on a fairly quiet street, can’t be beat. The overall impression is of a well-preserved, old place kept abreast of the times only enough as to keep guests comfortable but firmly rooted in the past, like Vienna itself.

The best part is the 3 or 4 story atrium permitting live trees in the public sitting area adjoining a pleasant bar. Dropping into one of the sofas there for a drink after a long day of sightseeing is perfection.

All rooms are different both in size, shape and d&eacute;cor. Ours was big, junior-suite size with a couch, small table and sideboard which held the mini-bar. We had a nice walk in closet and the bathroom was well lighted and sparklingly clean but with old towels with the hotel’s name and crest woven into them—the crest is the crown of the “king of Hungary”—hence the hotel name, and looks like the headgear Julie Andrews wore in her numbers in Victor Victoria. Our friends’ room was smaller but had two chairs and large closet space and they were happy with it. Nightly turn down service is provided and a foot towel (does anyone know a proper name for those things?) is laid next to the bed to keep your tootsies warm and clean when alighting during the night or morning. It’s that kind of a place.

Breakfasts (included in the room price as are breakfasts at all but the largest chain hotels in Austria and Germany) were lovely, served in the hotel dining room, buffet style with 3 or 4 kinds of cold meats and similar variety of sliced cheeses, fruit salad, cereals, etc, etc. and eggs and sausages cooked to order on request without extra charge.

While we have eaten at the hotel dining room on past visits we did not this time—only because we had a list of other places to try, not because it doesn’t have not good. In fact, it’s quite good, serving an excellent tafelspitz (the sort of Austrian national dish, which is your basic boiled dinner) with the usual accompaniments including a good creamed spinach.

The only thing I’d not call close to perfect at the hotel is their service. It’s not very warm and friendly and we sometimes had trouble finding anyone to take our drink order when returning to sit in the lovely atrium. I also received erroneous info from the concierge concerning my U bahn and bus trip to Kirche am Steinhof. Oh, and they charge for use of their internet terminal, kind of small for a hotel of the caliber of the KVU. We’ll not let either of these matters deter us from booking again on future trips, but when you love a hotel, you really want it to be the very best it can be.

Our double junior suite was 205 euros per night.

<b>Prague—Cerna Liska</b>

Our friends found this place and we were all very happy with it. They advertise as being the only hotel directly on the Old Town Square. You can’t get a better location, especially when it’s directly across from the Tyn Church enabling you to take pictures of it in all light conditions directly from your window. Both of our double rooms had windows directly onto the square and being over each other, had identical foot prints. Nice large bedroom with a couple of chairs and desk, reasonable closet space in an armoire and an acceptably sized bathroom with enclosed shower.

The hotel entry is small but has an internet corner and free access. The restaurant where buffet breakfast is served is directly across the hall from the hotel desk. Breakfast was included in the price of the room (180 euros, hotel’s are not cheap in Prague) and it was excellent. Besides a buffet of all the standard offerings, including scrambled eggs and sausages and one day including head cheese among the sliced meats, they always had some interesting, different generally vegetarian offering—one day a breakfast paella, another day quiche, etc. The restaurant seemed cute and friendly though it was a little too much on the vegetarian/healthy side to attract me to take a meal other than breakfast there.

Service was, well, serviceable. They called cabs for us, got us a wake up call as requested, etc. They didn’t seem particularly friendly at the front desk but that isn’t to say that they were unfriendly, just serviceable.

We were well satisfied with our rooms, the breakfast and loved the view and location and would definitely stay there again. We preferred it to the residence hotel we had at the Seven Angels just off the Old Town Square on a previous trip and while the Relais and Chateau Hoffmeister in Mala Strana where we also stayed before was a superior hotel, for location and value it was also not the equal of the Cerna Liska.

<b>Nuremberg—Meridien</b>

I originally booked a room in Furth, a suburb of Nuremberg and then thought better of it and switched to this grande dame just beyond the wall and near the train station when I found a good deal for it on a hotel website. So glad we did. Nuremberg is larger than we remembered and traffic in and out is no picnic. Also from everything I read, Furth isn’t loaded with places to dine. And we sure enjoyed walking about Nuremberg in the evenings.

I don’t usually like large chain hotels but I was quite happy with this one. For one thing we got a great deal. Doubles usually run about 300 euros or more per the information posted in the room, so our web booking price of 165 or 170 euros per night was a really good one. The room could use another renovation but it was ok and the beautiful old marble inlaid bathroom was large and lovely, except for the over forceful shower which overwhelmed the flimsy shower curtain.

The public rooms were appropriately grand and in art deco style, another of my favorites. The restaurant advertised a special candlelight buffet for Saturday night and we signed up for it. Truly one of the best buffets I’ve ever had. Lovely trays of cold appetizers—salmon, various salads, herring, balsamic marinated cippoline onions. Then every imaginable meat with a variety of sauces and veggie accompaniments—beef, lamb, chicken even wild duck. Also multiple dessert offerings of which I selected the fresh strawberries and the many cheeses.

Nice piano arrangements were played throughout the meal. The place also does a big Sunday brunch. These buffet meals are justifiably popular not just with guests but with locals, so much so, that they’ve added on two special rooms fitted out just for their buffet offerings. It really is an exceptional dining opportunity. It’s accompanied by red and white wines all part of the 40 euro per person charge. No wonder the locals flock to this place.

If in Nuremberg again, I would definitely return for the Meridien’s buffet extravaganza, and I would be perfectly happy staying in the hotel again. I might, however, be more inclined to try out the Drei Raben which we kept walking by on our way further into the old town. It’s a small hotel of 25 rooms with a modern look and apparently themed guest rooms that gets good reviews on Trip Advisor and has rates even lower than we paid at the Meridien.

<b>Wurzburg—Best Western Rebstock</b>

This is a terrific hotel, the best on this trip. My brother and sister in law stayed there eons ago and have spoken fondly of it ever since. Based on that I checked it out and found mixed reviews, some suggesting that it was nice but had seen better days. Nonetheless I booked it and it was wonderful. It’s now affiliated with Best Western as one of the Premier properties. It’s directly in the Old Town probably a half kilometer from the Residenz.

Our room was spacious and nicely decorated in modern style with a couch, coffee table and desk besides the bed. The bathroom was very large and had both a tub and a separate walk in shower of some size with terrific “just right” water pressure. There was also a large walk in closet. There were nice little touches everywhere, like a note on the night stand offering delivery of warm milk with honey for anyone having trouble falling asleep.

There was free internet at the reception desk and a lovely included buffet breakfast in an airy atrium-like breakfast room with a growing tree in the middle. Everything you could imagine was offered on the breakfast buffet, even champagne or some German sparkling wine. The cheese plate had a large variety of cheeses all listing their respective “fett” contents. We dined one night at the hotel in their small but lovely dining room and had a very respectable dinner, including perfectly done lamb with a horseradish flavored crust and gratin of potatoes.

Service was both pleasant and prompt as well as competent. We left very early on our final day for a flight and were both given bottles of water to take on our journey. All this for the least expensive stay of our trip—140 euros per night double via Expedia booking.

Perhaps there has been some kind of major renovation since the people whose reviews I read stayed at this hotel, but there is no sign of shabbiness or need of renovation at this lovely, well kept, top drawer hotel and I would be happy to find similar lodging at every stop I ever make in the future. If I return to Wurzburg, I will insist on staying at the Rebstock.

jenblase

Wow, Julie, your descriptions are so wonderful and detailed. I'm definitely getting more hyped up about our upcoming stay in Nuremberg, (we are also staying at the Le Meridien) and this report is making me long to go to Vienna, which we hadn't planned on, but I'm now trying to figure out a way to squeeze it in.

bettyk

Julie, sounds like you had a great trip inspite of the mostly crummy weather.

As I have mentioned previously, we lived in Vienna for a couple of years back in the 1980's. The Naschmarkt was one of the places I enjoyed shopping the most.

I think the population has almost doubled since then, but it is still one of my favorite places. The architecture is beautiful, the food and wine delicious and the people are very honest and, usually, friendly.

Thanks for posting.

JulieVikmanis

Jenblase, I hope that by tomorrow I can complete my report including some info about dining. We ate in some interesting places in Nuremberg--and, of course, in Vienna. How long will you be there? Where else are you scheduled to stop/stay? Vienna is definitely a good place to tour if you can possibly fit it in.

Bettyk, How fun to live for a while in Vienna and have Naschmarkt actually be &quot;your&quot; market. It's wonderful.

yk

Julie - As always, a very helpful trip report full of excellent information.

I also found Nuremberg a pleasant surprise, as I stayed there for 3 nights last April. I didn't expect too much, but it turns out to be a charming town and I enjoyed my walks around town in the evening.

Wurzburg is nice too, but I prefer Nuremberg.

Vienna is one of my favorite cities in Europe. We only had 4 days there on our last trip, and I was sick for one whole day while we were there (throwing up for hours)! I would love to go back, and your description of so many places just make me want to go back sooner!

Looking forward to the rest, esp your restaurant reviews. I always salivate when I read your food descriptions.

jenblase

Julie - I talked to my husband and we are rearranging our upcoming trip to include Vienna!! (he said he'd been thinking about going there but didn't want to tell me in fear that it would stress me out too much in trying to fit it into the trip!!) We will only have 2 nights there unfortunately.

What do you think about the Hilton on the Stadpark as far as it being convenient to the main attractions? We will have a car.

bettyk

jenblase, you won't need your car IN Vienna as the public transportation is so good and traffic can be heavy.

However, it may be difficult to find affordable parking for your car.

We have stayed at the Hotel Admiral on two different occasions, mainly because they have parking spaces for their guests within a half block of the hotel. It's a nice, clean hotel right off Mariahilferstrasse and behind the Museum Quartier so it is very convenenient to the tram and Ubahn as well as the pedestrian area around St. Stephen's. Not the same category as the Hilton, but it was fine for us.

http://www.hotel-admiral-wien.at/admiral/de/index.php

JulieVikmanis

I don't know much about the Hilton on the Stadtpark, but most Hiltons are fine (if a bit pricey) and the Stadtpark is just adjacent to the ring so it will be central. I agree that you don't want a car in Vienna (or most any large city) if you can help it, so if your stop in Vienna will be at the beginning or end of your stay, you can drop your car off on arrival, and cab to the airport with the money you save by not needing to pay parking. If, however, you'll need the car before and after your stay in Vienna, it's highly likely that a major inner city Hilton will have parking for it.

With two days in Vienna you will be able to see quite a bit. We took our son-in-law on a one day blitz of Vienna, arriving about 10 a.m. and departing about 6 p.m. when we were staying in Salzburg and were able to show him quite a bit. Do get yourself a Knopf Mapguide to Vienna, stay mostly within the Ring (except for Karlskirke, Belvedere and Naschmarket) and you'll see plenty. It's a beautiful city. Glad you'll get to experience it.

JulieVikmanis

For those of you following this report, I've decided to put the food info into a separate thread which I will be posting shortly.

yk

Julie - just re-reading your fantastic trip report, and also the details on Kirche “St. Leopold” am Steinhof by Otto Wagner. I guess I'm a bit torn whether I want to make that "pilgrimage"... I like Art Nouveau though not a fanatic, but regardless, thank you for the detailed info on how to get there.

danon

I really liked Hundertwasserhaus and KunsthausWien - they are a bit difficult to get to, but worth a visit .