"My 3 Days in Vienna" Vienna by SandiMandi

I spent 3 days in Vienna with my mum and as we both enjoy shopping, we started our trip on Mariahilfer Strasse. Conveniently, that was also where our hotel Das Tyrol was located. So, we spent our first day in Vienna going up and down Mariahilfer Strasse, which really is a heaven for shopaholics! There are so many shops that you just don't know where to start and the street seems to go on forever.

On our second day we walked to Stephansdom, which was truly amazing! Kärnter Strasse and Graben, the shopping streets in the inner city, were very crowded and over-priced for our budget so we decided to go back to Mariahilf. On our way back we went through the Hofburg complex, which was magnificent as well. We also saw the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, which were very impressive as they're situated opposite to each other and they look alike. Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit them, but may be next time!

Schönbrunn gardens

We dedicated our last day in Vienna to sightseeing. We bought a 24-hour ticket and used both subway and the tram to see most of the major sights. First of all we went to Rathaus (Vienna City Hall), and were amazed by the size of it. There were Film Festivals in Vienna and Rathaus was the venue for the event so there was a huge screen in front of the building. From the Rathaus we took tram No 2 which goes around the Ring. We stopped at the Votiv church to take some photos and then went on tram again to stop at the Opera. Behind the Opera house we found Hotel Sacher and decided to go and taste the original sacher cake, which was very sweet and tasty! After a quick break at the hotel, we headed to Schönbrunn Castle. The size of the Schönbrunn gardens was absolutely huge! We only had about an hour or so to spend there so we only managed to see a fraction of it all. You could easily spend a whole day exploring there. The Zoo can be found there, too.

• Pros:Coffeehouses, castles, gardens
• Cons:Expensive