Hi all, we leave for our European jaunt in less than a week and arranging Vienna has so far been the most challenging! (mostly because of the limited time we have there). We don't arrive until 5pm from Venice and are wondering how to arrange our evening in Vienna. We'd like to go for a traditional Viennese dinner somewhere and maybe a coffee house later in the evening.

Are any night time walking routes recommended? Innere Stadt? - what about Stadtpark - recommended or not in the evening? We've also looked into performances at the Staatsoper - but it appears that there is nothing scheduled during July/August. Any other venues where we could see an orchestra in action? Any suggestions welcome.

We only have one day in Vienna (the following day - Monday) and during that time I hope to see as many treasures in the Innere Stadt as we can manage. I'd feel guilty about wasting an evening at the hotel because our time in Austria is so limited!
Vanessa

I just returned from Vienna and agree, you don't have much time. For the first night I would just plan on dining and strolling. Not to knock Viennese cuisine but weinerschnitzel and potatoes, which we also tried was not a high point of the dining experiences. There's a very good French restaurant that we went to. In addition, for maximizing your time Monday, I would suggest hiring a private guide if your budget permits. We hired one and she was excellent. A day pass on all public transit is about €5 and we used it to travel around the city with our guide.

I'm in the office and don't have the retaurant or guide's info here but if you e-mail me I'll respond with the info tonight.

[email protected]

You can try either of these cafes (just suggstions - there are so many in Vienna):

CAFÉ LANDTMANN
DR. KARL LUEGER-RING 4
A-1010 VIENNA, AUSTRIA
T: 011 43 1 24 100 0
WWW.CAFE-WIEN.AT
or
CAFÉ SPERL
GUMPENDORFER STRASSE 11
A-1060 VIENNA, AUSTRIA
T: 011 43 1 586 41 58
WWW.CAFESPERL.AT

For dinner - we went to one of the oldest restaurants in Vienna (from 14th century?).: "Griechenbeisl"
http://www.griechenbeisl.at

The underground station : Schwedenplatz.

Don't know about going in the park at night, haven't been there in the summer. Just walking around anywhere is fun. You can try the Bermuda Triangle area - lots of bars and clubs.

Ness:

I agree with Kenav above....take a nice walk around inner city and end up at Griechen Beisl for a Viennese dinner in one of Europe's oldest continuous restaurants...the walls speak history!

We have gone there on two different
visits to Vienna and have also suggested it to friends...it's the Viennese experience. One time thay had a piano-accordion-violin combo that entertained..the food is hearty-typical, reasonable (even with the high euro). It's a fairly small establishment (dating to 1500's), on Fleisch Markt...a block or two north of St.Stephens. Enjoy!

Stu T.

Thanks very much for the suggestions! Perhaps dinner and strolling will be all we're in the mood for given we'll have been on the train for about 7 hours. Wishing now we had more time in Vienna!
My partner was very keen on seeing some classical music while we are there but perhaps it's not to be...