Vienna Local Custom Tips by globetrott Top 5 Page for this destination

Fasching & Ball - Saison ball - season & carneval Review

FASCHING is the austrian expression for Carneval - and in comparison to Venice or Cologne our kind of Carneval is certainly nothing you would miss, if you miss it...

BUT attending a BALL in Vienna is always something special and something you see nowhere else THAT way.

Formal dresses are a Must !!
No jeans or colorful suits for men.
A list of Balls in Vienna 2013 is shown in my link !

On my pic : One of the most beautiful rooms of Schoenbrunn castle.
Some balls are held in rooms at least looking almost as beautiful as this one.

Website: http://www.wien.gv.at/vadb/internet/AdvPrSrv.asp?Layout=event&Type=K&TT_ID=203&SID=187

NEXT station

Just imagine, you ask a person from Vienna, which station to leave the tramway in order to get to the Opera...

" Get out the NEXT station " will mean, the 2nd station from now, when the tramway is still moving.
People from Vienna have that way of counting:
the 1st station from now is " this station coming now "
and the 2nd station is the NEXT

Somehow very easy, IF you just know about it !

On my pic : Schoenbrunn castle seen from Gloriette

Schönbrunn castle - NO dogs in the park ! museums Review

Schoenbrunn castle - the former summerresidence of the austrian emperors.

The big park around the castle Schoenbrunn is a great place for a walk, or to go jogging, BUT is totally Off limits for dogs !!

Watch out for the opening-times of the park, because - depending on the duration of daylight - the opening-hours vary a lot !!

Tipping in Restaurants, taxis ect... Tipping Review

I saw it on many "tips" on VT, that it is usual to add 10% to the bill...

THAT is simply not correct, as most people in Austria will just ROUND UP the bill like :

02,70 --> 3,00
27,30 --> 28,00
246,20 --> 250,00

The only "sense" of that kind of tipping is, not to get back a lot of small change back !

I work in Restaurant business since more than 20 years now, and of course I know, there are guests, who tip a bit more on a special occasion, for EXTRA&SPECIAL service - sometimes simply in order to impress a nice waitress...

BUT travelers on an ordinary budget ABSOLUTELY will NOT NEED to tip more than a few cents !!!

Better save your money, and visit Schönbrunn-castle as seen on my pic !

Christkindlmarkt / the X-mas-markets X-mas / Weihnachten Review

Christkindlmarkt is the austrian name for "Christmas-market" and the most beautiful in many ways is for me the one in Schoenbrunn castle.
There is a big number of shops lined up in a big cercle in the court in front of the castle.
You may easily go around for shopping as there are no small paths with other customers pushing you around.
There is a lot of space to walk or take a rest at one of the 4 food-stands in the centre of the market with a lot of tables and space around them.

In Vienna you will find more than 10 big Christkindl-markets
read more about them in my "shopping-tips"!

Website: http://www.christkindlmarkt.at

Silvester-Pfad - the festivities at new Years Eve

Silvester-Pfad is the name of the festivity in Vienna at New Years Eve, when all of the inner city of Vienna is full of different shows, food-stands and when you are able to dance in the streets ( IN CASE that you find enough place to do so !!) In front of the townhall / Rathaus you may get dancing-lessons for viennese-waltz, beginning at 02.00p.m. and at night you may dance there as well in the open air, another open-air-dance-floor will be on Graben.
Silvester-Pfad starts at 02.00p.m. and has an open end, although the official end is at 02.00a.m. - see the program and some pics at the web-link below !
Be aware of the fact that the city of Vienna will be terribly crowded that day, especially close to Stephansdom, where Bummerin, the biggest bell of Austria will ring at midnight !
Pfad is the expression for path and aqlong that path you will find the right place for your kind of music :
Boogie Woogie and Rock n’ Roll live will be at Lugeck
Samba & greek melodies will be at Freyung
Music of the 80s, 90s, and today will be am Hof
and so on...

Click here for the opening-times of Museums in Vienna at Dec. 31st !

Schoenbrunn / Schönbrunn museums Review

Schoenbrunn / Schönbrunn

The residence of the Kaiser (emperor) and a great place to go jogging !

Simply bear in mind, the park will be locked at certain times, that will be posted at the entrance gates.

Website: http://www.schoenbrunn.at

Schanigarten Kaffeehaus Review

Schanigarten is the austrian word for the chairs and tables some restaurants have in front of their houses in the streets.

In Vienna you see them mainly in the pedestrian zones .

On my pic : the big collection of royal carriages in Schoenbrunn castle.

Website: http://www.wien.at

White Horses on vacation festivals / Festwochen Review

When planning your trip to Vienna, make sure, everybody is at " home " when YOU get there !!
Almost all attractions take a vacation, including the White Horses ( Lippizaner Hofreitschule ), Vienna Boy's Chorus, the famous Opera and theatres etc.

Better check their web-pages before you book a vacation.

Instead of these attractions there might be other attractions in summer, mostly at the so called " Wiener Festwochen "

Parking of cars in winter Kaffeehaus Review

There is an old rule saying that whenever there are rails of a tram in a street and only 1 track left for the cartrafic in each direction, parking of cars is NOT allowed in these streets after 04.00 a.m., except in streets , where a seperate space for parking exists ( like between the trees ).

The idea behind this is, that the first tramways will start running at around 05.00 a.m. and there has to be enough space to remove the snow with big machineries.

On my pic : a carriage of the emperor for funerals, one of the expositions in Schoenbrunn castle