While it is an incredibly modern, progressive city nowadays, Vienna was the Hapsburg seat of power for hundreds of years and this fact creates the backdrop both literally and figuratively for the city today. The Hapsburgs were a family of monarchs that controlled the lands in Europe at various times from Poland to Portugal and the remnants of their opulence and power is all over the city in the form of palaces, architecture, cathedrals, and the obsession with classical music and opera. When I arrived, I headed straight to the Schloss Schonbrunn, the summer palace of the imperial family. It is large and... opulent, which almost goes without saying with the Hapsburgs, and is surrounded by intricate gardens and manicured paths while the palace itself has room after room of materialized grandeur and wealth, reminding me strongly of both the Palacio Real in Madrid and Versailles, outside Paris.
The next day I headed into the center of Vienna to check out the city. Sepctacular Baroque, Rennasaince, and Gothic architecture dominant the cityscape and every building feels as though it was designed to outdo the one next to it. My wandering took me to St. Stephens Cathedral (different St. Stephens than the one in Budapest), where I went down to see the cataombs where the plague victims had been buried under the adjacent plaza in the 1700s.
Then I walked around Belvedere Palace
before checking out St. Charles' Church (Karlskirch)
and making my way to the Hofburg Palace
and the Kunsthistorische museum, their Museum of Fine Arts. The Kunsthistorisches museum is supposedly one of the world's most renowned art museums, on par with the Louvre, the Prado, or the Met. I suppose that is true if portraits and religious paintings are your thing, but they aren't mine so I found most of it a little boring; there were a few in there I really enjoyed though.
The nearby Parlament and City Hall both were worth the stop even just to admire the buildings and their facades, though an outdoor opera/music showing festival was set up in front of city hall, blocking a good part of the view.
Since I had seen most of the cool sights in the city the day before, I had to be a bit creative in finding things to do on my last full day in Austria. Walking through the city, I found a flea market selling a bunch of quirky junk before getting to a residential area of the city where the famous Austrian architect, Hundertwasser, had designed a few buildings in a peculiar and interesting style.
My walk home took me along the route of Vienna's gay pride parade, though it didn't seem like all that big of a deal, just bus after bus of people of the same sex playing loud music as they passed partially-filled streets. I think Vienna has a lot more to offer than what I experienced, but it is an expensive city with expensive tastes so I doubt I will come back here for at least a few decades. But if I had plenty of money and wanted to go somewhere for an opera or a concert, this would be the place.
Beer of Austria: The massproduced lagers I tried, Gussen, Schwechater, and Ossakringer, were disappointing given how close Austria is to such brewing hotspots as Germany and Czech Republic, but perhaps I just didn't really give the full variety a chance. But, from what I had, I wasn't impressed. Grade: C.
Ice Cream of Austria: The quality is high, the prices are relatively low, the servings vary from large to enormous; Austrians love this stuff and it shows. The Italian influence means that gelato is served here, usually by shoveling it onto a cone or into a cup with a spade. Grade: A.
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Details:
There are tons of trains and buses that go from Budapest to Vienna. I came by bus because it was a fair bit cheaper ($15/10€ by bus, this is with a 50% student reduction). I got the 9:30 bus and it takes about 3 hours. Though Orange buses are generally cheaper, Eurolines has better student fares. Perhaps conveniently for some, the bus stops at the Vienna airport on the way in. I stayed at a place called Wombat Hostel Vienna - The Lounge ($28/20€), just down the street from Westbahnof train station, which is a great area of town for cheap grocery stores and cheap fast food like kebabs and schnitzels. It is also a 20 minute walk from anywhere. I wouldn't recommend it because it had a very hotel-like feel to it, where it was hard to meet people. But if you just need a place to crash for a night in Vienna, I suppose there are worse choices. Everything except the Schloss Schonbrunn is really close together in Vienna, you could walk moderately aimlessly and see everything in half a day by chance. Going inside anything, museums and palaces, etc. is a bit expensive but here are the ticket prices I paid (Schloss Schonbrunn: 11.40€, K museum: 7.50€, Catacombs in Stephansdom: 4.50€, all student prices though the ISIC only saves a few euros each time here). I think that you could almost skip anything requiring money and just admire the buildings from the outside and get a good feel of Vienna, with the exception of Schloss Schonbrunn, which I would recommend only of you have never been to a proper palace before (make sure to get the cheapest ticket, called the Imperial Tour, because the other addons aren't worth the extra money). The grounds are worth walking, regardless though. If you aren't on a strict budget, by all means, see it all.
The next day I headed into the center of Vienna to check out the city. Sepctacular Baroque, Rennasaince, and Gothic architecture dominant the cityscape and every building feels as though it was designed to outdo the one next to it. My wandering took me to St. Stephens Cathedral (different St. Stephens than the one in Budapest), where I went down to see the cataombs where the plague victims had been buried under the adjacent plaza in the 1700s.
Then I walked around Belvedere Palace
before checking out St. Charles' Church (Karlskirch)
and making my way to the Hofburg Palace
and the Kunsthistorische museum, their Museum of Fine Arts. The Kunsthistorisches museum is supposedly one of the world's most renowned art museums, on par with the Louvre, the Prado, or the Met. I suppose that is true if portraits and religious paintings are your thing, but they aren't mine so I found most of it a little boring; there were a few in there I really enjoyed though.
The nearby Parlament and City Hall both were worth the stop even just to admire the buildings and their facades, though an outdoor opera/music showing festival was set up in front of city hall, blocking a good part of the view.
Since I had seen most of the cool sights in the city the day before, I had to be a bit creative in finding things to do on my last full day in Austria. Walking through the city, I found a flea market selling a bunch of quirky junk before getting to a residential area of the city where the famous Austrian architect, Hundertwasser, had designed a few buildings in a peculiar and interesting style.
My walk home took me along the route of Vienna's gay pride parade, though it didn't seem like all that big of a deal, just bus after bus of people of the same sex playing loud music as they passed partially-filled streets. I think Vienna has a lot more to offer than what I experienced, but it is an expensive city with expensive tastes so I doubt I will come back here for at least a few decades. But if I had plenty of money and wanted to go somewhere for an opera or a concert, this would be the place.
Beer of Austria: The massproduced lagers I tried, Gussen, Schwechater, and Ossakringer, were disappointing given how close Austria is to such brewing hotspots as Germany and Czech Republic, but perhaps I just didn't really give the full variety a chance. But, from what I had, I wasn't impressed. Grade: C.
Ice Cream of Austria: The quality is high, the prices are relatively low, the servings vary from large to enormous; Austrians love this stuff and it shows. The Italian influence means that gelato is served here, usually by shoveling it onto a cone or into a cup with a spade. Grade: A.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Details:
There are tons of trains and buses that go from Budapest to Vienna. I came by bus because it was a fair bit cheaper ($15/10€ by bus, this is with a 50% student reduction). I got the 9:30 bus and it takes about 3 hours. Though Orange buses are generally cheaper, Eurolines has better student fares. Perhaps conveniently for some, the bus stops at the Vienna airport on the way in. I stayed at a place called Wombat Hostel Vienna - The Lounge ($28/20€), just down the street from Westbahnof train station, which is a great area of town for cheap grocery stores and cheap fast food like kebabs and schnitzels. It is also a 20 minute walk from anywhere. I wouldn't recommend it because it had a very hotel-like feel to it, where it was hard to meet people. But if you just need a place to crash for a night in Vienna, I suppose there are worse choices. Everything except the Schloss Schonbrunn is really close together in Vienna, you could walk moderately aimlessly and see everything in half a day by chance. Going inside anything, museums and palaces, etc. is a bit expensive but here are the ticket prices I paid (Schloss Schonbrunn: 11.40€, K museum: 7.50€, Catacombs in Stephansdom: 4.50€, all student prices though the ISIC only saves a few euros each time here). I think that you could almost skip anything requiring money and just admire the buildings from the outside and get a good feel of Vienna, with the exception of Schloss Schonbrunn, which I would recommend only of you have never been to a proper palace before (make sure to get the cheapest ticket, called the Imperial Tour, because the other addons aren't worth the extra money). The grounds are worth walking, regardless though. If you aren't on a strict budget, by all means, see it all.
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