cparris

What are your favorite Vienna attractions? Are there things I shouldn't miss. I will be there 4 nights in July. thanks

Snoopy

Schoenbrunn Castle - the topiary should be beautiful in July.

St Stephens Cathedral - Lots of bird poop, still worth the visit.

Sacher Hotel - pricey restaurant but very good . . . across from the State Opera in an interesting area, near the pedestrian shopping street - Karntnerstrasse, I think.

Spanish Riding School - if you like horses . . . of Lipizzaner Stallion fame.

MGB

If you go for tickets to tour the Opera, most times you have a little wait. Go over to the Sacher Cafe for a beverage and dessert! It was wonderful. Schoenbrunn was our favorite in Vienna. We also stopped in briefly at the casino mostly out of curiosity.

beagle

Visit a coffee house (Cafe Central was my favourite)to soak up the atmosphere.
Britain has her pubs, Vienna has her coffee houses.

julies

We really liked the Upper Belvedere Palace. Probably more so than Schoenbrun. Be sure to visit the crypts of the Habsburgs. Try to find your way to a real heurigen (not the typical touristy ones). We felt that the tour of the Vienna Opera House was one of the biggest rip-offs that we have found anywhere in Europe.

Graziella5b

Hi, get a little booklet that is sold on every stand in Viena edited by the city, it has a list + a small description of every interesting building in Viena. The good part is that the buildings are marked with the same number as in the book and a huge sign and waving flags. So as you walk by
you can devise the flags look for the number and check in your book.
A wonderfully useful little booklet.

Graziella5b

Sorry, now that I think about it may be it is sold in the Tourism Office in Viena.

RAR

Cafe Central!

Travelnick

For that time of the year - lunch/dinner in the square outside the Rathaus - around 30-40 good restaurants get a license to serve food from makeshift kitchens. You can eat from a huge range of cuisines, buy a drink from somewhere else and sit down with everyone else. Like a Munich beergarden atmosphere but with better selection and quality of food.
Naschmarkt - but watch your bag as it gets busy.
Some of the churches - Jesuitenkirche, Greek Orthodox churches are two smaller ones in centre which are stunning inside.
Harrys Time restaurant, An Der Hulben in first district, for amazing value lunch.
Kunsthistorische Museum for Thursday night buffet dinner - one of the most beautiful "dining rooms" you will see in the world with magnificent cupola. Just over 40 euro for dinner + entry - see the paintings between courses. Dinner is excellent smorgasboard. Cafe Central was done up last year and is really pretty, but KunstHistorische beats it for grandeur and definitely for food quality.

MGB

Regarding what julies said about the Opera. We had a very nice tour, maybe it was the guide but we really enjoyed it. It was in Sept., full but not overly rushed. Good explanation of its history, etc.

dovima

cparris,
Will you be in Vienna on a Thursday evening? I believe that's the night the Museum of Applied Arts (M.A.K.) stays open till midnight. I loved this museum - incredible exhibits of Art Noveau glass, metalwork and furniture. Also a "blueprint" of a Gustav Klimt mosaic which takes up a whole wall and has his handwritten notes on it. I did not go to the M.A.K. cafe, but my sources tell me it's a cool place to have a light meal during your visit.
I concur with travelnick's suggestion to visit the Naschmarkt - very lively and colorful street market - and I also agree with his warning to keep a tight hold on your possessions when it gets crowded, due to the possibility of pickpocketing.
If you are a wine drinker, I suggest you try some of the Austrian reds, since they are not as widely exported as the whites. I had several that still linger in my memories!
Have a lovely time - how I wish I were headed to Vienna.

Snoopy

Regarding dovima's remark about whether or not you are a wine drinker . . . I ordered fortified wine without realizing it. Perhaps I'm a simpleton and I should have noticed or perhaps it wasn't clear on the wine list I ordered from, it was a recommended house wine . . . beware!

cparris

Thanks for all the help! Unfortunately we won't be there Thrus. night...we will be there Fri to Tues. I do like wine...especially red. We all love a good meal so if you have any other favorite places, let me know. Fortified wine is what??...more alcohol?? I know my kids won't tolerate spending too much time in museums...but I would like them to see a few of the more interesting ones. Is the tour of the castle (Schoenbrun) interesting?? Thanks again

MGB

Schoenbrun was very interesting. I think it was one of the ones you get earphones and go at your own pace. The grounds are lovely also. I think what impressed me about the tour was that it explaine how progressive Marie Therese was during her reign, more so them male rulers and even considered a form of health insurance. Hopefully this is right, we had a beautiful day which always makes it better.

Michael

The Hundertwasser apartment house and nearby museum are worth a visit.

Schynbrunn is interesting, with some beautiful 18th cent. rooms and some real 19th cent. kitsch. In contrast to Versailles which fell into great disrepair and was restored thanks in large part to Rockefeller money, Schynbrunn has been on continuous use as a government residence; I believe that the second floor still contains government apartments. For that reason the interiors cover a greater historical period.

ginhut

Just to answer your question about wine:
fortified; fortified wine.............
"Initially used as a method to preserve some wines, fortification is the addition of brandy or a neutral spirit in order to boost a wine's alcohol content. Fortified wines generally have between 17 and 21 percent alcohol. Some of the better-known examples are port, sherry, madeira, málaga, and marsala."-wine dictionary