When you think of Vienna, images may come to your mind of grand palaces, museums and opera performances.
But look beyond the Austrian capital’s obvious attractions and you will find it is teeming with hip bars, cosy coffee houses and easy-going neighbourhoods.
The city of spies is compact and makes it a delight to explore on a cold weekend.
Look beyond Vienna’s obvious attractions and you will find it is teeming with hip bars, cosy coffee houses and easy-going neighbourhoods
Stay where you want
Magdas Hotel
This cosy hotel sits on the edge of the Prater park and the city’s famous Ferris wheel.
Magdas Hotel is run by former refugees as well as hospitality staff. It offers a welcoming atmosphere and colourful rooms, along with a tasty buffet breakfast. Doubles from £52 (magdas-hotel.at).
Vienna’s Magdas Hotel sits on the edge of the Prater park and the city’s famous Ferris wheel (pictured)
Ruby Marie Hotel
In the heart of the city’s trendy district, Neubau, this modern hotel has slick rooms with comfortable beds and impressive music systems.
You can choose to stay on the 8th floor, where you will have your own balcony with stunning views of the city. Don’t leave without having a drink on the roof terrace. Doubles from £62 (ruby-hotels.com).
Hotel Daniel
Above, Hotel Daniel features a bizarre boat sculpture as its roof. Image courtesy Creative Commons
The bizarre boat-shaped roof sculpture of this hotel makes it easy to spot. It is located in Landstrasse and grows vegetables on its own. The seventh floor balcony houses beehives that produce honey.
Make sure you’re comfortable around whoever you check in with — showers with glass doors are in the centre of the 116 quirky, comfortable rooms. Doubles from £83 (hoteldaniel.com/en/vienna).
Max Brown
Max Brown, a cheerful, bright hotel located in Neubau, is close to cafes and coffee shops. There are 143 rooms with stunning views. Don’t leave without visiting chef Eyal Shani’s new restaurant Seven North. Doubles from £81 (maxbrownhotels.com).
Places to Eat
Ulrich
This modern, Vienna-based restaurant (ulrichwien.at), has maintained its excellent reputation. You can share its diverse menu. Tear into one of its chorizo and Manchego flatbreads (£7.50) and try the king prawn skewers with aioli for £5.35.
Naschmarkt
Vienna’s Naschmarkt makes a great grazing area. Susie recommends scouring the deli stalls for ‘dates stuffed with prosciutto and goat’s cheese’
With 120 food stands and restaurants, there is something for everyone at Vienna’s largest food market (naschmarkt-vienna.com) Graze the deli stalls for dates stuffed with prosciutto and goat’s cheese or grab a falafel wrap (£2.70).
Neni is an Israeli trendy restaurant that you can sit down at. You will have to queue, but its soft pitta bread and burnt aubergine with tomato salsa (£6.70) makes the wait worthwhile.
Palmenhaus
Palmenhaus looks out over the Burggarten, a garden built for the emperor in 1818. Pictured above is the garden’s statue of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
This bright and atmospheric restaurant (palmenhaus.at) boasts an exotic assortment of plants that climb the walls. It was once a greenhouse. Enjoy fresh grilled sardines (£16) and a glass of Riesling (£4) while looking over at the Burggarten, a garden built for the emperor in 1818.
Trzesniewski
The perfect spot for a quick, cheap bite to eat, the venue (trzesniewski.at) serves delicious open sandwiches on moist rye bread (£1.25 each). You can add crab or sardines and onions to your sandwich, as well as truffled eggs with ham.
Cafe Diglas
Susie believes that Cafe Diglas is the best place in Vienna to enjoy Viennese coffee house culture.
Cafe Diglas, located just 150m away from historic Stephansplatz Square in downtown Berlin (pictured above).
This is the perfect place to get a taste of Viennese coffeehouse culture (diglas.at). Just 150 metres from the historic Stephansplatz square, you can tuck into a gooey apple strudel (£4) with an earthy espresso (£2.80).
Here are some things to see and do
Look at these galleries!
Pictured is the Belvedere gallery, which is housed in a Baroque palace and displays Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss
There are many great galleries in Vienna. Head to the Leopold Museum (entry £12.55, leopoldmuseum.org). It houses the world’s largest Egon Schiele collection.
Or take a look at the Upper Belvedere gallery, which displays Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss (entry £13.30, belvedere.at). The price includes entry to the Baroque palace’s gardens.
Captain a boat
You can hire an electric boat, and you will be able to drift down the Old Danube. Boats cost £18 per hour. Or try a pedalo (£14.30 per hour, marina-hofbauer.at).
Marvel at street art
Some of Vienna’s top street artists use the Danube Canal concrete walls as blank canvas.
Amble along the Danube Canal where some of the city’s best urban artists treat the concrete walls as a blank canvas.
The best by bicycle
Head to Prater park’s main thoroughfare, Hauptallee, which is lined by 2,500 trees and stretches for three miles. You can borrow a citybike for 85p per hour for the first hour.
How can you get there
Ryanair offers return flights from £7.50 (ryanair.com). Jump on the City Airport Train and be in central Vienna in 16 minutes (£10.50).
The Vienna City Card gives unlimited travel on public transport and discounts for museums, tourist attractions and restaurants (£21 for 48 hours, viennacitycard.at).
For Austria to be considered a tourist destination, you will need proof that you have had a negative PCR test within 48 hours. See ‘entry requirements’ at gov.uk.