TPAYT

We will be staying in Vienna for 5 nights in Sept. 2016 for the first time. After 5 nights in Paris.
I'm sure as we do the planning I'll have some specific questions but any initial tips sure would be welcome.

There seem to be so many choices for classical music venues. We've love to hear about some of the venues that you have enjoyed.

Also---easiest way from the airport to the center of town, near the Vienna Opera House.

nytraveler

One big hit not to miss - Melk Abbey is absolutely gorgeous set in beautiful countryside. I believe you can take a boat one way and train the other.

The restaurants were mobbed and we ended up having lunch in the town with a couple from Argentina. Their English was very good - much better than our Spanish - fascinating how small the world is in many ways.

Underhill

The art museums in Vienna are superb.

On some nights there are concerts by J. Strauss's statue in the park. We had a lovely time waltzing!

Look here:

https://www.viennaconcerts.com/calendar

Underhill

Also, check the calendars for concerts in the many churches.

fourfortravel

The "easiest" transportation to your Vienna hotel from the airport is the taxi (~€40). The "fastest" transportation to Vienna (Wien Mitte) is via the City Airport Train in 16 minutes(€12 per person); from there you can take a taxi or public to your hotel. The "least expensive" transportation to Vienna (Wien Mitte) takes 25 minutes and is the S-Bahn and U-Bahn ticket (€4,50); at Wien Mitte transfer to the U4 to Karlsplatz, which is practically across the street from Opera.

I hope this is helpful.

TPAYT

Just the beginning info I was looking for.

Sounds like a cab from airport for us.

Melk Abbey-----I saw several bus tours which are not for us.
Do you take the boat there and a train back on your own or is there a tour like that?

Great Vienna concert site, thanks.

Schonbrunn Palace:
Tour or go on your own?
Dinner, tour, & concert look interesting, anyone done it?
Or concert only ticket---can you arrive early & tour on your own?

Musikverein Concert Hall:
Dinner & concert?
Concert only?

Kursalon Concert Hall:
Dinner & concert?

I think the Schonbrunn concert looks the best.
What do you think?

Very excited for all the music venues.

Christina

I go to concerts based on the repertoire, mostly, and the performers, not the venue. I suppose I might based on venue if two choices were equally appealing and/or one venue was known to have outstanding acoustics or be a real experience or something (like the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam or something like that).

In Vienna, I just went to a chamber music concert in St Stephans church that I saw in the paper as I liked the repertoire and it didn't cost much.

Dukey1

Sorry, but the last time we took a cab from the airport to our hotel which is in the middle of the city it was certainly a LOT MORE than 40 Euro

annhig

I think that you will find that the dinners are somewhat over-priced for what they are; I'd just go for the concert if I were you and the Musikverein would be my favourite, so long as the programme and performers were what I liked [and the performers are likely to be good in that venue as are the acoustics.]

unlike Christine, we had no luck at all finding concerts in churches such as we have been to in many other places; perhaps we were there for the wrong 3 days. What we did enjoy was an evening at the Prater, eating in a Biergarten and then going on the wheel, and also a bus ride to the top of the Kahlenburg above Vienna and walking down through the vineyards to Heiligenstadt where we visited Beethoven's summer house and the Heurige [or wine tavern] next to it. in fact we visited 3 [or was it 4?] Heurige that evening and had memorable time. They stock their own wine [as shown by the fir branch or tree sticking out over their doors] and serve nice food either buffet or a la carte.

http://www.wienmuseum.at/en/location...igenstadt.html

http://www.pfarrplatz.at/en/pfarrpla...l-english.html

as for the Schoenbrunn, I don't think you need a tour but what you do need is to get tickets in advance. We were lucky because we had bought the combined "Sisi" ticket at the Hofburg Palace which got us into the Schoenbrunn as well. There are various levels of ticket at the Schoenbrunn and the Sisi ticket covers the longest and most expensive one so it's good value.:

http://www.hofburg-wien.at/en/plan-y...si-ticket.html

We also enjoyed the Hofburg and if you have time, would advise doing them both.

fourfortravel

Dukey, the last time we took a cab from the airport to our home just north of the city center (two weeks ago) the fare was €46, with tip, for two adults and two cases.

TPAYT, you can take the cruise/train combination or just the train to/from Melk, and can tour the abbey on your own.

I agree with annhig on purchasing your tickets for Schönbrunn online; just pickup the audio guide for the palace to tour yourself.

rtwin80days

Vienna to me was all about:

The grandeur of the Schonbrunn and Hofburg palace

The culinary experience at Michelin star Tian restaurant (but then maybe it's because I'm a vegetarian and after days of traveling in parts of Germany, Netherlands and Austria, I found a veg friendly restaurant which was refined as well.) and it's more casual outpost called Tian Bistro

The concerts, which I attended two of, because I could not get enough of it in the first one!

Mine was a last minute Europe trip so I couldn't plan to book concert tickets months in advance and the Philharmonic didn't have any shows, but you're surrounded by people approaching you to sell concert tickets with the laminated photo flip books showing seating charts and hall photos everywhere you go. And you gotta use common sense to pay attention to the credentials of the artists over the rest.

I was super lucky to attend a concert by well respected and acclaimed artists performing Mozart's symphonies in the very grand hall that Mozart, at the age of 7, had first played in the company of the Queen and impressed her! This hall is in the Schonbrunn palace.

Another concert was in the historic center in one of the respectable venues for concerts but I don't remember the name. It was good, but not as great as earlier one. But I don't think I regretted parting with some cash worth half a week's dinners to enjoy it. After all, how many concerts am I gonna see in Vienna in my lifetime?!

TPAYT

Excellent info---thanks again.

Kalenburg and Melk Abbey train/boat sound just like our thing.

As per advice, we will purchase Sisi ticket for Hofburg & Schonnbrun ahead of time.

We definitely want to go to several concerts. Which tickets should be purchased ahead of time?

All this planning just adds to a new adventure in Vienna.

BTW, my grandparents were born there but they are long gone and never talked about it much. I found their birth certificates in the attic.

annhig

if you want to go to a concert in the Musikverein or a performance at the Staatsoper, you can't book too far ahead; I suspect that the Volksoper is easier.

Ror concerts at the Schoenbrunn, this is the website:

www.imagevienna.com/en/home.html

I've no idea how far in advance you need to book for those but I suspect that they will be popular with tour groups.

this is the website for the Mozarthaus:

www.viennaconcerts.com/mozarthaus.php

How thrilling to have found your grandparents' birth certificates - do they give the addresses of where their parents were living when they were born?