Vienna

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Vienna - City of Music and Culture

A March 2006 trip to Vienna by g-champagne*

It was a part of the one-week trip that I took with a friend, starting from Bratislava, Vienna, and eventually to Salzburg.

  • 9 reviews

Vienna - City of Music and CultureBest of IgoUgo

Overview

We were there for 3 nights and basically went to a performance every single night. The first night was a symphony concert at the Musikverein (a famous concert hall). The second night was an opera ("The Magic Flute" by Mozart) at the Volksoper. The third night was a ballet ("Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky) at the Staatsoper. Also, we went all over the city: Hofburg, Obere Belvedere, Hundertwasserhaus, Zentralfriedhof, etc.

Quick Tips:

If you're there for 24 or 72 hours, it's worth getting the 24-hour or 72-hour travel pass. It makes life so much easier when you're traveling around. The pass offers discounts to attractions and other things if you're not a student. If you're a student, you probably don't have to consider it, because the student prices offered by attractions are sometimes even cheaper than the discount price offered by the Vienna Card.

Best Way To Get Around:

The innere stadt (inner city) is walkable, but to get out of the ring, it makes life easier to take the U-Bahn or the S-Bahn.

Hotel PostBest of IgoUgo

Hotel

The hotel was centrally located near the U-Bahn station Schwedenplatz. It's about a 5- to 10-minute walk away from the Stephansdom and the main shopping streets. Our twin ensuite bedroom was clean and comfortable. There's also a safe in the room. We got 3 nights for the price of 2 from yeego.com, so we each only had to pay 80€ for 3 nights. Breakfast was included, and it was a fantastic selection.
  • Member Rating 5 out of 5 by g-champagne* on April 1, 2006

Hotel Post
Faxnachricht an HOTEL POST Vienna, Austria
+43 (1) 51583-808

ZentralfriedhofBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Zentrafriedhof (Central Cemetery)"

We were there mainly for the musicians' graves. The large cemetery is easily accessible by public transportation. You can take U3 line to Simmering and then take the tram/s-bahn outside of the u-bahn station to Zentrafriedhof 2. The journey time from the centre of Wien to the cemetery can be under 30 minutes 'tho it looks quite far off to the southeastern end on the map. The musicians' quarter is easy to find. You can get a map of the cemetery from the information centre just to the right of the large gate. The map has the names of all famous figures buried here, which was quite useful. There's also a bus that runs around in the cemetery because the cemetery is huge. But if you're only there for Beethoven, Strauss, Brahms, Schubert, Wolf, and Schoenberg, they're all in one place.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by g-champagne* on April 1, 2006

Zentralfriedhof
Simmeringer Hauptstraße 230-244 Vienna A-1110

Schonbrunn - Imperial Tour.Best of IgoUgo

Attraction

The tour was rather short (about 45 minutes). It's self-guided with an audio guide. I would recommend you to go on the Grand Tour guide if you like palaces or if you'd like to see the very well-decorated rooms in the palace. I've been to a lot of palaces in the UK and France, so I went on the imperial tour thinking all palaces are pretty much similar. But I'd say I regretted only going on the imperial tour because apparently a lot of the more lavishly decorated/unique rooms are part of the Grand Tour. So go for that if you have an hour or so to spare, and the price difference is not enormous.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by g-champagne* on April 1, 2006

HofburgBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Hofburg- Kaiserapts, Sisi Museum, & Silver Collctn"

The three museums are basically linked together, so one ticket enables you to go to all three starting from the imperial silver collection. Look out for the magnificent Milan table piece. It really tells you a lot about the life style at the court of Habsburg. The Sisi Museum was a great introduction to the life of the famous Habsburg empress who led an extraordinary life. A lot of famous paintings of the empress are hanging in the Sisi Museum, as well as the Kaiserappartments. Definitely worth a visit if you'd like to get an introduction to the Habsburg.
  • Member Rating 5 out of 5 by g-champagne* on April 1, 2006

Hofburg
Ringstrasse/Michaelerplatz Vienna, Austria A-1010
+43 01 533 7570

Symphony at MusikvereinBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

We got the last-minute standing tickets right before the performance. The concert hall was said to have the best acoustics in the country, and it's NOT one of those huge concert halls where if you're sitting at the back, you won't be able to see a thing without binoculars. The standing tickets were 5€ and got us to see the performance from the first floor at the back of the theatre. If you don't have a large budget and if you don't mind standing throughout the concert (of course, you can sit on the floor if you'd like at times, but you won't be able to see anything), go for these 5€ tickets if the those for the next available seating are out of your budget.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by g-champagne* on April 1, 2006

Vienna Boys' ChorusBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

We were there for the Sunday morning mass. Usually, it's recommended that you reserve seats online (email). Then you take your confirmed reservation there on the day of the performance and pay for the tickets you reserved. The lowest price is €5. Only tickets above €20 enable you to see the choir directly. Other tickets only allow you to hear the choir and see them from projection on a screen before you. You can also listen to the choir for free if you go early in the morning. You don't have to line up to get tickets to hear the choir if you're only planning to go for the standing tickets. The lineup is only for people getting last minute tickets with seats. Don't expect the choir to sing non-stop/all-the-way because it's a mass after all, and follows the usual procedure.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by g-champagne* on April 1, 2006

StaatsoperBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Ballet at Staatsoper"

We went for the last-minute standing tickets for the performance of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake at the famous Staatsoper. The standing tickets get you a great standing spot right at the centre of the theatre (€3.5 on the first floor; €2 on upper floor) and gives you a great view of the stage. These last-minute standing tickets cannot be reserved, so even if the performance is sold out (which is VERY likely if you didn't reserve weeks, if not months, in advance), you can still go for these tickets. But be prepared to be jammed and crammed into a pit, instead of having your own spacious standing room because they do try to get as many people into the standing area as possible—but don't worry, there are still limits to the cramming and you'll still be able to see the performance without feeling intimidated by the presence of others.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by g-champagne* on April 1, 2006

Staatsoper
Opernring 2 Vienna, Austria A-1010
+43 1 514 44 2969

VolksoperBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Opera at Volksoper"

I wouldn't want to stand through an opera if I were given a choice of getting a seat, because it does get quite tiring. Unlike ballet, opera usually has one intermission and are about 3 hours long. But that being said, the cheapest way to see an opera is to get the standing tickets. In Volksoper, the 1.50€ standing tickets get you the spots all the way in the back row of the highest audience floor of the theatre. It gives you a great view of the stage as well as some part of the pit orchestra. Sometimes, if you get the spot that's one step lower than the spot behind you, you can even sit on the step and watch the performance without even standing! But these special spots are very limited. Go there early to get them. We watched Mozart's "The Magic Flute," so the entire opera was in German. Unlike Staatsoper or other theatres I know, there are no subtitle screens, so if you go for German-speaking operas, you better know the plot well beforehand.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by g-champagne* on April 1, 2006

Volksoper
Währinger Straße 78 Vienna, Austria A-1090
+43 1 315 1933

About the Writer

g-champagne*
g-champagne*
N/A, Switzerland

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