Vienna General Tips by Zo72

Favorite Thing: Stephansdom is cathedral situated in the very city centre at Stephansplatz. It is beautiful and huge church, the biggest I have been to. Otherwise there are many beautiful churches in Vienna which makes this city great place for me since i love to visit churches and religious objects.

Stephansdom is open every day until 21 and it is certainly worth seeing. There are tombs of Habsburgs in the basement and stairs to church tower (both for admission). Sometimes there are organ concerts held around 19 or 20 in the church which I recommend.

Fondest Memory: I was amazed by its beauty and size when I reached Vienna centre by U-bahn (subway train) for the first time. Stairs from Stephanplatz bring you directly in front of Stephansdom and when you look up you are shocked. At least I was.

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Favorite Thing: During summer part of Vienna situated near Danube becomes very lively, especially in the evening. Vienese call this place Copa Kagrana as parallel to Copa Cabana (Kagran is northern suburb of Vienna).

There are many places to dance or have a drink. Some of these places are on rafts. If you catch weekend with no rain, then this is a good place to visit in the evening.

Fondest Memory: Watching Southamericans dance in some place under open skies near Danube. Beauty of women was stunning, and the way they danced was so natural and attracting.

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Favorite Thing: There are two hills to the northwest of the city, Leopoldsberg and Kahlenberg. They are both reachable from Heiligenstadt by public bus 38A or by walking. Since these hills dominate Vienna there is great point of view there (but choose sunny day! ;) ). Sight is much better than any photo can show.

At Leopoldsberg there is a church with some interesting data and pictures about Turkish invasion in 1683. It is Leopoldsberg where Christian forces under Jan Sobieski started their victorious attack against Turks on 12th September, 1683.

It is also interesting to hike around this area. There are forests around and villas and vineyards in the direction of Vienna and sometimes there are Heurigen (wine taverns) within vineyards where you can try their wine. Viertel (quarter (of liter)) of wine sounds nice for any tired backpacker. ;)

Fondest Memory: Size of Vienna is stunning when watched from these hills! City occupies such a wast area. It is also nice to walk around and that viertel weiss wein was cool. ;)

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Favorite Thing: Danube used to have many branches near Vienna in the past causing many floods, which was changed with big regulation project that resulted in creation of Donauinsel, 21 km long and only 200 m wide strip of land, created by digging up a second riverbed for the river. Southern riverbed is wider and it is used by vessels like cruising ships coming from as far as Ukraine, while northern riverbed represents place for relaxation, swimming and skating during the winter.

Northeastern of Donauinsel there is very modern Donaustadt with Vienna International Centre. Donaustadt itself looks like island because it is situated between Danube and the lake which lies in old Danube riverbed. There is interesting park on Donauinsel, too, with tower that hosts rotating restaurant - good for sightseeing.

Fondest Memory: Danauinsel is great place to spend free time in Vienna. It is park with fresh air. Bicycle might be a fine way to explore it.

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Favorite Thing: Although Wienerberg is not on many people's visiting lists, some of my fondest memories are connected with park around lake at Wienerberg, southern Vienna district. Bushes in this park are not being cultivated (I assume because of the birds) so it all gives a scent of wilderness, except the trails that are settled. Actually it feels like being in swamp and I assume that is why I liked it so much. Many people use it for walking and running, so was I. Signs say that fishing or bathing is forbidden, but actually people don't obey that. During weekends this is relaxation point for many people. During winter it is frozen and used for skating.

Fondest Memory: Fresh air and beautiful nature of this place make this one of most special parts of the city for me.

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Favorite Thing: City centre of Vienna is area surrounded with so called Ring, circle of roads around the very heart of the city. For me it is a beautiful place with many roads, squares, churches and special places. Main pedestrian zone in this area consists of Kaertner strasse, Stephansplatz and Graben, but there are many other places worth visiting. It is also interesting to take tram 1 or 2 that are riding around the ring.

Fondest Memory: Waliking around the city centre is something I like to do. Some places are special during the day while others are great during the night.

I only don't like how it looks on Saturday night.

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Favorite Thing: One of the things that make this city special is what is going on in the streets and parks. There are open concerts taking place, some shows, many street musicians, as well as stalls where they sell seasonal things, like roasted potatoes, chestnuts, young wine (sturm) and punch that keeps you warm during cold winter days! ;) ).

Fondest Memory: My favorite concert was concert of ethno music in Augarten. Also it was interesting for me to see how many people find punch stalls as great meeting point even during coldest winter evenings.

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Favorite Thing: I don't know why I find red tram so special. Vienna has excellent public transport and red trams are probably least comfortable. There is also modern tram there that is taking over some lines. But somehow I find red tram more appealing.


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Favorite Thing: Although it is not very popular to admit, shopping facilities of Vienna impressed me. I have found main shopping centre SCS (Shopping Centre Sud) quite uninteresting, but some shopping streets within city, especially Mariahilfer Strasse impressed me if not for shops only (although they are quite impressive) then for vividness. Districts of Neubau and Josefstadt northern of Mariahilferstrasse are places I find well worth visiting. There are also some of my favorite pubs there.

Some other good shopping areas:
1) Favoritenstrasse
2) Meidlingerhauptstrasse
3) Millenium city.


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Favorite Thing: There are some quite interesting places located near Ringstrasse, street that encircles old city of Vienna. Most interesting of them are Hofburg (Habsburg imperial palace), Maria Theresia Platz and museums around it, Austrian parliament, Votivkirsche and Rathaus. Not less interesting is the area of Karlsplatz and Schwartzenberg Platz and Belvedere castle just around the corner.


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