Hey everyone, hope this blog finds you well! Well, today I am going to dive into the nitty gritty of being a tourist in one of Europe’s, perhaps the world’s, greatest cities and that is the Austrian capital of Vienna. It’s packed with things to see and do, and even though this promises to be quite the lengthy post, there is much more to Vienna! Anyways…. Here are sights in Vienna I have personally been to and seen!

Hofburg Palace & Sisi Museum

The Hofburg Palace is as significant as any place in Vienna, home to the Arch Duke over the years (until WWI brought an end to all that) and seat of the Hapsburgs. Okay, that’s basically the same thing. Never the less! You can walk around it and see it’s various facades and courtyards quite freely and get a few photos. It’s very central too and if you find the right exit you’ll basically be in the centre of town. Ish.

It’s a funny old building because at points I guess you might be confused as to what is the palace and what is the rest of Vienna. Maybe not. Two most famous/photographed facades are at Michaelplatz, opposite Herrengasse and St Michael’s Church (worth popping into). The other is from Heldenplatz, which links the palace to the Volks Garten and is bigger and grander.

You don’t just enter the palace for a tour, there are several museums and galleries inside the palace’s vast array of buildings and rooms. Depending on time and money you can see what you like. I was keen to get an idea of the inside of the palace in the time of the Hapsburgs so I was advised at the information centre to check out the ‘Sisi Museum’, a museum in the palace dedicated to Elizabeth of Austria, wife of Emperor Franz-Joseph 1.  The ‘Empress’ became a revered figure only after her death, she was assassinated in 1898. They were married when she was just 16, and is an interesting historical figure and yes, films have been made about her life.     

In the Sisi Museum there are many rooms decorated with items from the time in the style that they would have been too when ‘Sisi’ occupied the palace. It’s worth going to see for sure, although it was very crowded despite the timed entry. I bought the ticket earlier in the day at the information centre for the earliest available time slot which was a few hours later. Currently tickets are 25 Euro for adults.

Votive Church

This church was not far from where I stayed (at the Hotel Atlanta, vlog review in second half of the year I am expecting). It was built between 1856 and 1879, and was built in the Neo-Gothic style. In German ‘Votivkirche’ it’s a grand church indeed, sitting behind a park dedicated to Sigmund Freud. A large, imposing cathedral some impressive stained glass windows.

St Stephens

‘Stephansdome’ is a much older, and I guess more impressive church than the Votive Church. It’s more central too, and is much busier seeing loads of visitors every day. If, like me you didn’t want to spend money you are able to visit for free, and you can get a look at the church but you can’t walk around much of it.

With any place you visit you have to ration your spending to some extent I guess, and with SO MUCH in Vienna to see and do, and this blog just scratches the surface really, so you have to choose I guess unless money is no obstacle. The ground was broken to begin construction of St Stephens in 1137, and it was officially ‘completed’ in 1578. Any way it is definitely worth popping your head into and if you are into your cathedrals, well, you might want to spend a few more Euros to really explore the place.

St Peter’s Cathedral

Peterskirche is a Roman Catholic Cathedral somewhere around the centre of Vienna built between 1701 and 1733. It’s got an amazing dome and again is worth checking out if you have a 15 minute window. I don’t think you have to pay to visit, but when I visited they were having a concert and so visitors were just kept to the back and had to be as discreet as possible. Many churches in Vienna do put on concerts of appropriate music (no ABBA cover bands strangely enough) so if this is something that piques your interest, then look into it!

Imperial Crypt

This is something I thought was worth the entrance fee of around 15 Euro. Here you will find the bodies of the Hapsburgs including Empress Elizabeth and her husband Emperor Franz Joseph I and I think his successor(s) too. The royal line ended in 1918 with the abolition of the monarchy and Franz Jospeh died in 1916 so it was a rapid end that I believe coincided with the end of the first world war.

But if you are okay with visiting something like a crypt, the Imperial Crypt in Vienna is quite large with many royals buried inside it. It might be suitably creepy however with the number of visitors it receives it feels a little less so I guess. You will get a bit of a history lesson too if you follow the names you will find buried there. Filming not allowed and I don’t think photos are either, but after ten minutes I realised no one was following those instructions so, I confess, neither did I.

Rathaus and Burgtheater

The town hall (Rathaus) is a lively place and there was a little festival going on whilst I was there. So I didn’t get to go inside but there was plenty of activity outside so that was cool. Across the way was the domed and circular Burgtheater which looked also to be an interesting building. Even if you don’t go inside either, worth a photo or two.

Volks Garten

The Volks Garten is just a little further down the road from the Rathaus and is opposite the impressive parliament building with an nice statue outside it. Lots of bright and colourful flowers in this garden. Worth walking through and if you enter from the parliament end and continue towards the centre of town you will get to the Hofburg Palace.

Mozart’s Apartment

Seems incredible I have not year mentioned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as Vienna was his home for many years, where he lived, entertained and created music and today many would regard him as the greatest composer of all time. You can buy souvenirs all over Vienna with his face (or more on them) and perhaps, above all else he is the city’s most recognisable former resident, although let’s be honest, he’s got a bit of competition with the likes of Empress Sisi and Sigmund Freud!

You can take a tour of his apartment, aka ‘Mozarthaus’ and believe me, plenty of people do. Photos are limited to the stairwell and outside as is video, or as I tend to read it ‘be discreet’. Let’s be honest, this doesn’t stop many people. Come and see the rooms where he lived, learn a bit about his life and listen to the very detailed audio guide. Which I did, but to be honest, meh, audio guides? Am I right? It’s not as fascinating as you might hope, but it’s… okay.

Café Central & Gerstner Café

Two fascinating (architecturally) places to have a bite to eat. Café Central has you line up mostly for a table waiting to eat, I had a large Weiner schnitzel which was nice enough, the décor and architecture is the reason to visit both of these cafes. Café Central was a hub for important people and important meetings up until the Second World War, some described it as a ‘literary stronghold’. As I said, line up outside but reservations well in advance are possible I believe. It was built between 1856 and 1860 and the style is regarded as ‘Neo-Renaissance’.

The Gerstner Café definitely requires a prior reservation and we booked a couple of months in advance. It’s opposite the State Opera House and it has a number of floors and the décor is truly decadent. The building it is in today is the opulent Palais Todesco which also dates back to the 1860s. However it only moved there earlier this century and the café itself dates back to 1847 in different locations. We went for breakfast. No, we went for the location but we had breakfast. The staff there demanded a tip before we had even paid. I wasn’t impressed by that I have to say, especially as this is Europe where I thought tipping was not compulsory. I do tip good service, but this time I felt like I tipped poor service because of standover tactics.

From 2004

Back in 2004 I also visited Vienna and so I just wanted to add to places to this list. Firstly, the Schoenbrun Palace is unmissable probably if you haven’t been before. Extensive beautiful gardens, you can explore a good portion of the palace, it’s probably more impressive than Hofburg, but you know, that’s horses for courses.

 Why not visit Sigmund Feud’s Apartment? I mean, don’t get too excited it’s a small apartment where he practiced and there’s not that much to see, but he was a famous man indeed who created his own school of thought in psychiatry. See his office and his couch!

And don’t forget if you’re into interesting art like that of Mr Hundertwasser, there’s loads to see in relation to him and that’s summarised in my post HERE.

And believe me, there is PLENTY MORE to see in Vienna. You could easily burn a week or even two here to take it all in! Next blog though I leave Vienna by train to Budapest. Also part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the day and also a fascinating city! Take care wherever you are in the world and… May the Journey Never End!