Know before you go : Vienna Edition

In this article, I’ll make an overview of everything useful to know before going to Vienna, including some travel tips.

You’ll find : 

Austria is a landlocked country located in Central Europe. It shares borders with 8 countries : Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Lichtenstein

The capital is Vienna, and the largest city in Austria as well. The city is located in the northeastern corner of Austria, between the foothills of the Alps and the Carpathians. Vienna is also located alongside the Danube – Europe’s second longest river.

The city covers 414km² and Budapest’s population is around 1,99 million.

The best time to visit Vienna would be on the shoulders seasons, so either in May-June or September-October.

I went in June and the weather was perfect to visit the city and the countryside (20 to 25°C) ! Coming in December-January can be beautiful with the snow but be prepared for cold temperatures and gloomy weather. If you can, avoid the crowded summer months of July and August.

The currency in Austria is the Euro, and almost all restaurants, bars and museums accept the card for paiements, so you don’t necessarily need to withdraw cash.

Prices in Vienna are not cheap but can be affordable is you know where to look : in restaurants and coffee houses, a wiener schnitzel or tafelspitz will be around 25€, whereas desserts will be between 8-10€. But if you go in bakeries or if you opt for a pita at Miznon (see my restaurant recommendations here) prices will be lower.

Regarding the places to visit such as the various monuments or the different museums, the entrance is less cheap : between 16 to 21€ for most museums, the Spanish Riding School has tickets for 17-26€ depending on the event and the Schöbrunn Palace first price entry is 17€.

You can buy attractions passes to save some time and money :

• The Go City All-Inclusive pass allows you to visit as many attractions as you like in a single day, it’s 74€ per day. So if you choose to attend an event at the Spanish Riding School and visit 2 museums after, or a museum and a boat tour it will be profitable. Of course, you can directly opt for 2 or 3 three days pass for example and pay respectively 104€ or 124€. If you plan to book for 5 or 6 days, prices get even more profitable – 144€ and 154€, which can be a really good value for money if you plan on visiting a lot !
• The Go City Explorer pass allows instead to choose a number of attractions between 2 and 7 and tickets are valid for 60 days. This is the best option if you want to spread the activities on several days and if you don’t plan on visiting that much museums/monuments. For example the 3 choice pass is 64€ and the 7 choice pass is 122€.

For both passes, the list of activities available is the same and really complete, you can book any activity in Vienna.

Regarding accommodations, you can find most Airbnb / hotels in downtown Vienna around 65-85€ per night for one downtown, which is more expensive than many European cities. If you are looking for budget options, you can either look a bit further away from the city center (you can get a hotel room for 40€ per night per person at the Art Hotel Vienna), or opt for a capsule (or pod) hotel. This is what I tried and honestly it had great value for money (clean bed and shared bathroom). It is around 40€ per night at the Space Home Apartment in Prater (a really quiet neighbourhood, close to the city center).

Clothing : I would suggest packing great walking shoes because Vienna is huge and you will walk a lot.

Of course a light sweater or jacket because it can get a bit cold in the summer evenings, and if you plan on coming in winter, bring the gloves, scarf and puffy jacket !

Adapter: Austria uses Type C and F power outlets, like most European countries. Travelers from outside Europe will need a plug adapter. A power bank is also handy for keeping your devices charged during a long day of exploration !

There’s a lot to bring back from Vienna !

Food : First of all, as I mentioned in my article about the food specialties in Vienna, Mozart balls and Manner Wafers are the most famous (and tasty) sweets in Austria. But of course, when in Vienna you can also bring back Sachertorte from Sacher or even Demel. Plus, they wrap it really nicely (you can even get a wooden box).

In my article about day trips from Vienna, I talked about the Wachau and Danube Valley, regions with many vineyards, so a great souvenir can be a bottle of Viennese wine.

If wine and chocolate are not your jam, you can head to STAUD’S, a traditional Viennese company selling jams and pickles.

Traditional items : Snow globes were invented in Vienna, so it can be a fun little souvenir as well.

Otherwise, cheese, sausages, porcelain, vintage items are also great items to bring back from a trip in Vienna.

The official language is German, however you won’t have any issues speaking in English.

But here are a few words you can use :

Hello : Hallo [hallo]

Thank you : Danke [dan-kuh]

You’re welcome : Bitteschön [bit-tuh-shun]

I understand / I don’t understand : Ich verstehe / Ich verstehen nicht [ish versh-tee (nishd)]

Sorry / Excuse me / Please :  Bitte [bit-tuh]

My name is… : Ich heiße… [ish hi-suh..]

Yes / No : Ja [yah] / Nein [nine]

As I came from France, my mobile plan included internet and calls in Austria.

However if you need to buy one upon arrival, A1 has great options available for tourists and it’s not expensive at all : the B.free plan is 9,9€ you get 5GB and 5€ worth of credit, valid for 30 days.

If you are planning on visiting only Vienna, you absolutely don’t need a car. But if you plan to visit more of Austria, I suggest booking one in advance.

Now I personally did not rent a car, but if you do, I recommend booking via Kayak or Skyscanner. I find it to be the best comparative tool for booking a car abroad.

There’s a lot of things to see in Vienna ! You can spend a day visiting the city center monuments, another day to see the various palaces and if you have even more time you can discover the countryside…You won’t be bored a second !

Here’s a list of the best things to do in Vienna :

That’s it for my Vienna travel tips ! To have a lot more information and pictures about these places, you can read my ultimate Vienna itinerary.

I have also made a detailed post about the food specialties to try out in Vienna.