Hello all,
Thoughts on Vienna Itinerary? I wil be in Vienna beginning 9/27 and leaving on 10/1.
Wish I could spend more time! I decided to follow the Vienna Now or Never itinerary however with some adjustments. I have tickets for Lehar, Straus and Stolz at the Volksoper on 9/27. I prob. will have a few hours to stroll around St Stephen's Cathedral. For Day 1 (9/28) the itinerary 0900-Imperial Palace, Sisi Museum, Crown Jewels. 1045-Spanish Riding School for exercises. 12 Noon-Anker Clock followed by Judenplatz Museum.
2P- St Rupert's, then St Stephen's 3:30P-Karntner Strasse, then on to the Secession. 5PM-Naschmarkt. Contemplating getting tickets to a concert at St. Rupert's for the evening.
This seems to be a lot for one day so looking for advice!!
Day 2-Schonbrunn Palace-Audio Guide, 12 Noon Back to City Centre Church of St. Charles and Otto Wagners Stadtbahn pavilion. (Have not read much about these so may substitute something else). Maybe a leisurely lunch. Guided Tour Opera House then Belvedere Palace (I do not want to miss). Evening-Tickets for a concert at the Musikverein. Day 3 Volksgarten Park, Parliament and Rathauspark. Then the rest of the day is open. I plan on doing museums however have not decided which ones. Appreciate suggestions/changes.

I think the order of sights needs some improvement. From the Riding School, you'll have to rush to reach the Anker Clock in time, while Volksgarten (day 3 - not sure what you're looking for there, but it's your choice of sights, of course) is just a few steps from the Riding School, so if you do the Volksgarten - Parliament - Rathaus (again, why the park?) walk after the Riding School, you'll be done before lunch. I gather you'll want to go to Ruprechtskirche that day to decide about the evening concert; so if you get into the metro behind the Rathaus, you'll be there in a few minutes, and can then continue with St. Stephen's as you planned on, Kärntnerstraße, and the State Opera.
Day 2, Schönbrunn in the morning; St. Charles and the Karlsplatz Stadtbahn station are among Vienna's best sights, much better than many others on your list, so definitely don't substitute them by anything; and the Secession and Naschmarkt (with more Otto Wagner buildings!) are just a few steps from there, so do them on this day (which is not full yet, unless you want to see also the zoo in Schönbrunn).
Which would leave the Belvedere for day 3, plus more sights/museums to be determined.

hi, travel,

I think that you may be underestimating the amount of time that it takes to get around the city, and teh time that the attractions will take you.

for example - Day 1 - you have given yourself only 1 3/4 hours to see the Hofburg - it took us 30 mins to find teh entrance and get our tickets! [BTW as you are intending to go to the Schoenbrun, do buy the Sissi ticket at the Hofburg - it's cheaper than paying separately, and when you get to the schoenbrun, you can walk straight in, past ALL the lines, AND get to do the longest and most expensive tour!]

then as Franco rightly says, you will see more if you group the sights you are seeing together.

for Day 3, can I recommend what we did one day - from the Belvedere, we caught a tram from a nearby stop, and the the bus to the top of the Kalhenberg. From there we walked down into Grinzing, and went on a tour of the heuriger [taverns where they sell the local wine], before catching the underground back from Heiligenstadt. [the details are on my trip report of our holiday in austria last year which you will find if you click on my screen name].

have a great trip!

Hello Ann - remember our Heurigen sleuthing a few weeks ago?
<From there we walked down into Grinzing>
...rather, into Heiligenstadt... which is also what I'd recommend to travelanywhere.

<i>Day 3 Volksgarten Park, Parliament and Rathauspark. Then the rest of the day is open.</i>

on your last day, you might consider something wierdly different if you wish. Take a bus, taxi, or take a long walk to The Friedensreich Hundertwasser House, and the nearby Kunsthaus (mod art..Warhol exhibit when we were last there)). Read about this markedly "unique" architect who, as undisputed lore would have it, was eccentric enough to walk around the city sans a stitch of clothing. He is 20th century and only passed on about ten years ago. This would take less than two hours IME. We enjoyed it...but admittedly it's not for everyone's taste. Try it...you just may like it.
st

I agree with annhig about the amount of time needed to see things, and I'm surprised much of your pacing was suggested by an official Vienna website ("Vienna in 72 Hours" on www.wien.info).

You lost me right from the start when I saw just 90 minutes for the Sisi Museum and the Crown Jewels. The two museums aren't large, but the Sisi Museum involves reading many exhibit signs to learn her story (unless you're very familiar already) and the Crown Jewels are too amazing to just breeze through the many rooms in a few minutes. As franco pointed out, you'd have to sprint to the Anker Clock. That's just the first morning!

Where are the stops for coffee and pastry?? FWIW, we spent the better part of a day at Schoenbrunn.

"The Friedensreich Hundertwasser House, and the nearby Kunsthaus (mod art..Warhol exhibit when we were last there)). Read about this markedly "unique" architec.."


WE really liked seeing both, a bit hard to get there. Taxi is a good idea.


Kunsthistorisches Museum was our favorite museum.

I don't want to spoil anybody's pleasure with Hundertwasser's architecture, yet I have to object to the attribute "unique". Hundertwasser, as an architect, was very much a Gaudì for the poor, so I don't see much genuine personal achievement. While his rejection of straight lines and right angles makes for livable, "organic" interiors, most architecture critics deem his buildings art handicraft rather than real architecture. So travelanywhere, before deciding whether to go to those two Hundertwasser buildings, you may want to view a few pictures to establish whether you think they're important enough to see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundertwasserhaus
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/KunstHausWien

Whatever you do - don't miss the Venus of Willendorf. Just seeing a 20,000 year old statue of a mother/goddess is fascinating - as is the rest of the museum.

And I must admit it does sound as you haven;t left enough time for things - we were at Schoenbrun a solid 4 hours, which included a little time waiting for the next English tour.

Hello Ann - remember our Heurigen sleuthing a few weeks ago?
<From there we walked down into Grinzing>
...rather, into Heiligenstadt... which is also what I'd recommend to travelanywhere>>

Franco, as ever, you are correct. my memory fades [perhaps ot was washed away!]

<i>you think they're important enough to see:</i>

Franco, Who said anything about "important architecture"...that they ain't...did you ever hear of the words....having f-u-n? You make it sound like a graduate class in modern architecture. Come off it, Professor.

sft

and Franco..you might take a moment to note that I placed quote marks around "unique"...if not, that's OK, too. Good luck with your M.F.A. graduate thesis. I'll be rooting for you.

Stu tower

I'm a great fan of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. Do consider a long visit there, or if that isn't of interest to you, try to go for at least long enough to admire the Klimt murals lining its stairway.

Another vote for the Kunsthistoriches Museum, especially the Bruegel collection

Bruegel would have had a great time painting the mob scene at Costco's on a Sunday afternoon.

Venus of Willendorf is not found in the Kusthistorisches Museum as it seems to imply above but rather in its siter museum acorss the small park area at the Naturhistorisches Museum.

I'm planning a Vienna trip for October. These suggestions wil be very helpful. Thanks!