What We Love About Vienna
Vienna is dignified, but quirky. It has the opulence of the Hapsburgs, the music of Mozart, Strauss, and Beethoven, and the flair of 20th century designers and artists. On the same evening you can dress in your finery and attend the opera, or drink a beer on the canal bank against a backdrop of street art. It feels aristocratic and sophisticated without being stodgy or smug. It strikes a beautiful balance that you’ll notice right away when visiting and it will quickly climb your list of most comfortable cities to visit and explore.
1) Architectural Feast
Vienna is absolutely gorgeous and just walking around the city center is a treat. The wealth that flowed through the Habsburg capital resulted in some fantastic architecture with well ornamented, elegant buildings everywhere. It is a rare alleyway within the Ringstrasse (city center) that doesn’t contain a lovely fountain or statue. Copper cupolas accent the skyline. Even the modern buildings or remodels add to the interest of the city’s built environment by providing a bold contrast. Vienna is simply pretty to look at.
2) Compact and Walkable
Within the Ringstrasse (once the ancient walls of the city) are enough world class tourist destinations to fill your itinerary. Palaces, museums, shopping districts, concert halls, and parks are all within a modest walk of each other. You can meander and connect the dots all on foot.
3) Excellent Public Transportation
Complementing Vienna’s walkability is brilliantly designed public transportation consisting of above ground buses and trams and an underground rail network. The stops are well placed, trains are on time, the prices are reasonable, and the system as a whole, from the ticket kiosks to the carriages themselves is very user friendly and reliable.
4) Variety of Activities
Vienna is one of those unique, grand, old cities with layers to be explored. The Habsburgs are responsible for most of the headline attractions but generations of artists, musicians, intellectuals, and other creatives throughout history have put their stamp on the city. It is a place where you can experience ancient artifacts in a museum or modern art in a gallery. You can visit exquisite palaces or the follies of eccentric 20th century architects. You can hear the works of the world’s best composers in an opulent concert hall or just chill in the park and listen to a tinpan player. The city also hosts every known sort of festival, roaming attraction, and pop-up market ensuring that boredom is virtually impossible.
5) Location within Europe
Vienna deserves a lot of your attention but it is also perfectly situated to serve as your home base for a series of worthwhile side trips. It is located in a unique geographic cluster of European capitals, allowing you easily reach Bratislava, Prague, Ljubljana, and Budapest. It is a nice hub to utilize to explore other parts of Austria, with the Wachau Valley (wine region) and Salzburg being easy one day excursions.
6) Manageable for Non-German Speaking Foreigners
I don’t believe we encountered any “lost in translation” moments in Vienna. Everyone from the cab driver, to the baker, to the train conductor was conversational in English. This is probably a vestigial tradition from the Imperial days when the residents of the city were amalgamated from the far corners of the empire and people were naturally multilingual. It probably helped that we knew so little German that we couldn’t muddy the waters with a sloppy attempt at the language. The only time we had a language barrier was at the Saturday flea market held at the Naschmarket, which the vendor and I easily overcame by haggling using the calculators on our phones.
7) Classy and Safe Feeling
Our experience in the city is admittedly limited to the areas around the Ringstrasse Schronbrunn Palace, and wine gardens on the outskirts of town, in other words, the tourist hotspots, but we were impressed with the overall safe and comfortable feel of the city center. It felt clean and orderly despite being such a bustling place. The people in the tourism industry were very helpful and polite. Everyone checking your tickets and watching over museum exhibitions was extremely kind and helpful, a feat of stamina given how much they have to interface with the public every day. The city may have its unpolished parts, but the heart of the city remains a delight. It just feels thought out and well executed. There is a smoothness to moving about the place that feels pleasant.