Gordon_R

Thursdaysd - I think you've missed the point I was making, this has nothing to do with the old chestnut of chip & PIN versus signature. I am from the UK and <u>only</u> have chip and pin cards. My observation (seen it written in several guide books also) is that card payment use - especially for relatively small payments such as lunch in a cafe - is not *normal* in Vienna and can cause all sorts of difficulties.

Cautionary tale: On day 1 of our last trip there, we had lunch in a plush cafe in the centre of town and whipped out our Visa card. The waiter rolled his eyes perceptibly and from somewhere out back a dusty old card reader was produced (chip & pin). Guess what - despite several attempts the transaction didn't go through and we left not knowing if we'd paid or not (we left our contact number). We had to return two days later to pay in cash after the manager phoned me to say the transaction definitely hadn't gone through.

PalenQ

Be sure to ride the Big Wheel, as my grandma born in raised in Vienna used to call it - in the Prater and an iconic landmark for over a century. It's about the slowest moving Ferris Wheel I've ever seen!

Dukey1

Gordon, could you not have logged onto your card account on the internet to check whether or not the charge had gone through?

thursdaysd

Gordon - my equally anecdotal evidence completely contradicts yours.

I checked my CC receipts. Aside from the transport passes, I used my Visa card successfully at:
A grocery store - Billa
A chemist (pharmacy) - Bipa
An apothecary
Two museums for admission
Two museum cafes (different museums)
A cafe-restaurant inside the ring
A restaurant inside the ring
Two restaurants outside the ring

I did observe more people paying cash at the grocery store, for quite large amounts, than I would have expected, but I had no difficulty using my own card.

I don't know whether this idea that you need cash is supposed to apply only to Vienna, or to Austria as a whole, but I had no problem using my card in Graz, either.

scrb11

Well no tours offered at the Lichtenstein Palace for the days I'll be there.

Does look beautiful but since the tours start at 20 Euros and tours are one of the ways to visit, it's kind of pricey for a museum, especially for people who don't speak German.

PalenQ

http://www.sacher.com/original-sacher-torte/

Be sure to have the real deal original Sacher Tort, the famous pastry of Vienna, at its source (may have been mentioned above but did not see in a quick look).

scrb11

Would both Upper and Lower Belevedere be recommended? They're separate tickets, though there's a combination ticket along with the Orangery, as well as add-ons for the Winter Palace and the 21er Haus.

Can you walk on the grounds with either ticket? Actually, can you use the tickets on different days, Upper on one day, Lower on another?

And it sounds like there would be Christmas markets on the grounds of both Schonbrunn and Belvedere? Says the hours are until 6 PM but maybe that's only for the buildings, not the grounds?

Though I wonder how the grounds of either castles are in late November. Not as green and with as many flowers in bloom as in other months, probably fountains not running.

fourfortravel

thursdaysd and scrb11, I'll add my third data point as a Vienna resident. We hold credit and debit (Bankomat) cards with Bank Austria. On three occasions to date they have been refused, all of them at restaurants where the Maestro and VISA signs were visible in the window. On two of the occasions (both within the InnerStadt) one of us had to go find a Bankomat to withdraw cash; on the third, it being a restaurant up in our neighborhood, the proprietor allowed an IOU (since he knows us, it was late, and there were no nearby Bankomats). And on occasion I'll find a shop owner who will claim that the credit card machine "isn't working" if I'm making a small purchase. Outside of Vienna we rarely expect to use our cards, and always have more cash on hand than we think we might need. Within Vienna it can really be hit or miss.

scrb11, one is free to walk the grounds of Belvedere and Schönbrun without tickets; though, as you suspected, the grounds in November aren't particularly photogenic; the fountains will be closed, as well.

The buildings close at 18:00, but the grounds will be open during the Christmas markets. The tickets are valid for anywhere from 30 days to 1 year, depending on which you purchase, so you can take a couple of days to see everything.

As for whether to recommend both upper and lower Belvedere, that really depends on your interest in the exhibits.

thursdaysd

Fourfor, so, three refusals. But how many acceptances? Was this three for three, or three for three hundred?

scrb11

I'd be more interested in the spaces than the paintings, especially for taking photos.

If the weather is poor, then it's worth spending more time inside.

Cowboy1968

I get to Vienna maybe 8-10 times each year, and I'd be more in fourfortravel's camp.
Chains like Bipa, larger stores, or any on Kärntner Str. or Graben or Mariahilfer Str. will be most likely to take your credit card. Also many of the restaurants that get mentioned here and usually cater for an international clientele.
Smaller establishments like the quirky chocolate or stationary store or the non-touristy coffee houses or restaurants will be less likely or unlikely to take cards.
It is highly unlikely that you can grab a Coke from a small shop and be able to charge.
If you want a gut-bases assessment, I'd say that it is not common to charge purchases of €20 or less (even where it is possible), highly uncommon to charge €10 or less.
I'd usually carry appr. €100 in cash to be on the safe side. OTOH, Vienna is a very safe city, so you don't have to feel uneasy just because you carry a bit more cash than at home.

fourfortravel

thursdaysd, the question is difficult to answer, because even before we moved but had traveled overseas we learned to generally be prepared to pay in cash. On the two occasions in the InnerStadt I was meeting DH for lunch and neither of us had enough cash on our persons but "knew" the restaurants accepted plastic. Except they didn't. In the chains you mentioned, Billa and BIPA, for example, I know I've run amounts as low as €2 on my Bankomat without problem, even up in my neighborhood. Routinely now I carry more cash that I would ever be comfortable with carrying elsewhere; I've even had a €15 purchase refused at a Christmas market because the vendor "didn't have change" for my €50 note. Vienna in many ways is in a time loop; the city makes occasional forays into modernity, but the old Imperial ways are always bubbling just below the surface.

Case in point is the inconsistency of the "Sunday Shutdown." Grocery stores are closed but for the ones at the airport and major train stations, and one or two in the Inner Stadt. However, the aisles containing pet food, paper products, and cleaning supplies are covered with grates. So, if you discover on Sunday that you're out of dog kibble or need more paper towel to clean up a mess, you must go to a petrol station market, where those items are not locked behind grates. Makes no sense, but does make for adventurous ex-pat living.

scrb11, photos are prohibited inside Belvedere, if that helps with planning. If interiors interest you, the Austrian National Library State Hall, the Albertina, KHM, the Globe Museum and Schönbrun permit photos. So too do the museums at NeueBurg, and all have photo-worthy interiors. If you choose the KHM and NeueBurg museums, look at combination tickets for the best value. Likewise, there is a combination ticket for the Globe Museum and Library State Hall.

kja

I am truly the only one of us who would recommend the Secession?!? Wow....

Cathinjoetown

kja

I think it is stunning and unique (at least in my experience).

fourfortravel

kja and Cathinjoetown, it's simply that everyone's interests are different. Don't take it personally. Long ago we as a family stopped always seeing the "Must See" museums and doing the "Must Do" in every city we visit. Wherever we go we see and do what interests us: for me and for DD, modern art makes us happy (Klimt does not--I've been here over two years and have yet to enter Secession.); for me and DH, and especially me, cities with WWII or Cold War history fascinate us (have you been to the Jewish Cemetery in Vienna, or searched for the bronze sidewalk tiles that serve as memorials to the Viennese Jews murdered?) We just returned from a week in Venice without having set foot in a single art museum, preferring the art in the churches and the architecture of the bridges, and we pronounced our week wonderful. Everyone's interest are different.

I was at the KHM this morning with my art group for a private tour of the Velazquez exhibit. I go to learn, as I am not an artsy kind of person, so having someone explain the art to me makes it worthwhile. And for the record, I most enjoyed the exhibit. The crowd was understandably dense, but what I noticed was that few patrons bothered with audio guides or spent time reading the displays; most just walked though like catatonic zombies, probably because their guide book told them to visit the KHM and they felt they needed value for the €14 admission fee.

Dukey1

"it's simply that everyone's interests are different..."

I wish more people would remember than sometimes.

Cathinjoetown

Fourfor

I've learned not to take anything personally on here and in this case it was the furthest thing from my mind.

scrb11

That's really a bummer about the Belvedere not allowing photos inside. I do like modernist art so if I have time I'll visit inside the Upper Belvedere.

I was under the impression that the 14€ ticket to the KHM included the Neue Berg.

I used to avidly read the placards at the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay the first times I visited but over time, I feel more tired walking through the galleries of museums than say walking miles and miles outdoors. Not sure why that is. I certainly have interest in the art but really taking time to listen to the audio guides and reading up requires a lot of time.

I was also reading up about the difference between the Ring Tram for 8 Euro and the old Trams 1 and 2, which used to do a full circuit. If the weather is nice, I think I'll just try to walk it or maybe hop on the trams here and there.

sandralist

I went to the Klimt show earlier this year in Milan and it was part of the reason I was interested to make a trip to Vienna. However, I found Klimt (and Schiele) among the least interesting things I saw in Vienna. I really enjoyed seeing everything designed by Otto Wagner however -- and was fascinated by the Hagenbund show at the Belvedere. I could have spent a few more hours in the Kunsthistoriches easily.

Despite spending 6 days in Vienna, I only saw a fraction of what any guidebook deems to be interesting and historic. And about a third of what I visited that was recommended by guidebooks and friends I got very little out of -- and yet I got a tremendous amount out of other sights. One really can't tell.

I would certainly recommend to anybody that they read up on all that Vienna has to offer -- whether it be Secession, or Roman history, the National Library (something I found tremendous), Thonet chairs, Hundertwasser, the music museums and concerts, the Third Man sights and the Prater, or the many, many historic pastries in addition to Sachertorte. We picked what we thought we'd find rewarding, and our near 70 percent batting average was pretty good as these things go for a first time visit to any major city as complex and rich as Vienna.

sandralist

scrb,

a visit to the Lower Belvedere is highly recommended for its extraordinary interior architecture, the Hagenbund show (it was the significant modern art group rivaling the Secessionist movement), and also a current Monet show if you like Monet. The stables of the Lower Belvedere also have a beautiful collection of medieval Austrian religious art.

I enjoyed visiting the Upper Belvedere most for its views of the gardens and grounds. I turned out not to be such a big Klimt fan as I thought I would be, but there are other works worthwhile.

As mentioned above, I found the Belvedere a joy and Schoenbrunn a bore. I opted for a ticket to the Schoenbrunn that included about 12 additional rooms at a higher price, and I am glad I did because they were the most interesting rooms I saw. However, I still would have skipped it entirely having seen the more beautiful Belvedere.