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 | Vienna Tourist Traps | Tips 1 - 10 of 127 |  |
Popular Tourist Traps | Miscellaneous Tourist Traps Tips | All Tips (127) To get from Vienna's International Airport in Schwechat to the city centre by train you can take either a CAT (City Airport Train) or a regular suburban train S7.
The CAT train is a non-stop service which takes you to Wien City Station in 16 minutes. A single ticket costs 9 Euro, whereas a single ticket for the S7 costs only 3 Euro (2005). It can even be combined with a 24 hour ticket.
The trip by normal train is slightly longer, but also gives you the chance to get off the train at other stations than Wien Mitte. Apart from that it goes more frequently than the CAT train.
The only real advantage of the CAT train is the fact that you can check in your luggage and collect your boarding pass already at Wien Mitte Station.
Instead of taking the expensive CAT train from Vienna Airport to the city centre, take a normal train (e.g. S7). Leave a Comment |
The City Bus Tour is the Hop on and off bus tour, where you can visit the main tourist site and get off and then get on later. For this, you pay almost Euro 30 and you get a crappy headphone with audio guide, then circle around the city and maybe visit a few sights away from Vienna (e.g. Schonbrunn, etc.).
Do the city bus tour when you don't have much time in Vienna. The bus tour is good for busy people because the bus will bring you easily and directly to the main major attractions without much hassle. If you take this tour, get off at every stop and enjoy the sights as much as possible.
Go to the tourist office and get the map of the city. Then you should walk to every tourist attractions; you don't have to walk far because most of the attractions are close to each other. You can take the Tram # 1 or # 2 and enjoy the ride around the "Ring" road. You get to see the Hofburg palace gates, the Empress Maria Theresa square and the 2 museums, the Parliment, the Town Hall, the Votiv church (from far), then around to Schwedenplatz, the Stadtpark and the Schwazenburgplatz. You just pay Euro 1.50 for the Tram ticket and you can use the ticket for the underground as well, as long as it is within one journey or 60 minutes, whichever is earlier. |
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Viennas airport is situated in Schwechat, 18kms from Viennas city center and lies in the federal state of Lower Austria.Flagging down a taxi in Vienna for a ride to the airport may become expensive, because some drivers may try to get paid also for the ride back to the city.
You can avoid this either by taking the CAT (City airport train) from Schwechat to Central Vienna (and hire a taxi there to your hotel) OR by making a reservation by phone in advance at one of the cheaper taxi companies, like most Viennese already do !
At the moment the best rates are by Airport-Service (+0043 676 351 64 20) one way EUR 27,- and C&K (+43(1) 44 444) EUR 29,- The drivers will expect you in the arrival-hall,carrying your name-plate.The Viennese telephone-taxi company tel 60160 will charge EUR 31,-
In Schwechat you should go to the official taxi-counter in the arrival-hall, the ride to the city will cost also around EUR 31,-
If you flag a taxi in Vienna or at the airport, you have to bargain: you should never pay more than EUR 31,-
The first address has now a new website at: http://www.airportservice.at/airport.htm
Both companies as well as the telephone-taxi 60160 are reliable, I tried them several times !
Another choice would be to take the CAT or the (slower and cheaper) train to the citiy:
See more details on trains and CAT at my Transportation-tips ! Leave a Comment |
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When in Vienna, we decided to end our trip on a high note by saving the Schönbrunn and Hofburg for last. Big mistake!
After having visited Schönbrunn, we had the unfortunate surprise of finding out that the information presented in the headphones at Hofburg was very similar to that presented at Schönbrunn. The feeling of redundancy was accentuated by the fact that nearly all the rooms at Hofburg are decorated in the same fashion (imperial red).
Our ticket also included an entry into the seemingly endless Silberkammer (Silver Chamber), which houses an exhibition of pompous table decorations and silverware.
And let us not forget the Sissimuseum. The museum in itself is not at fault, since it makes an earnest effort to present the real life of Sissi. The only problem is her life is very uninteresting. By the end of the tour, it is obvious movies made her into a cult figure when in fact she is quite undeserving of our attention.
Make sure you're a huge Sissi fan before entering Hofburg. If not, save your time and money and just walk around the palace. I personally liked the Schweizerhof (Swiss Courtyard).
Visit Schönbrunn instead. You'll learn just as much about the Habsburg family and see a much greater variety of room decorations. Leave a Comment |
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I went on a guided tour around the Opera House with a group of friends. The tour cost is Euro 6.50 per person for about half an hour, and I don't think it was such a good value. There were many groups on tour and we were herded around too much, not leaving much time for the tour guides to explain much, not giving us much time to really look around. We didn't see much of the Opera House - front and back of the curtains, some empty rooms, and 2 ballrooms, that's it.
For Euro 6.50 per person for half an hour? That is too much for too little time. |
Almost every Vienna guidebook will tell you that you must try the infamous Sacher Torte, an extremely rich Viennese classic made with layers (usually three) of chocolate cake filled with apricot jam and enrobed in a creamy-rich chocolate glaze. And, they say you must try at the Hotel Sacher. Well, I do enjoy the occasional sacher torte but not enough to pay top money (a small whole cake will cost you over 30 euros) when I can get a nice torte in another coffeehouse or Oberlaa Cafe
Go ahead and have your cake. At the very least, soak up the glamour of having cake & coffee at a famous fancy hotel |
If you walk by the Vienna Opera or in the pedestrian-zone between the opera-house and St Stephens you will meet dozens of mozart-like, baroquish clad men and women, trying to sell you tickets for "Original Viennese" concerts.
As long as you like the rather "light" type of music, Strauss walzes, operette-melodies or if you savor small orchestras of (nice) young ladies performing those kind of music-styles, as long as you want to watch 1 or 2 ballet-couples doing the Vienna-waltz, everything is ok, although the tickets are rather expensive (about 40-60 EUR)
BUT do NOT expect performances, like you might know from the Viennese Opera or our NEW YEARS CONCERT !!
If you cant get away without savoring some music in "the city of music" Vienna, check the program and location, before booking your tickets. Compare prices and do NOT book with the first "Mozart", you meet.
BETTER check with your reception-desk clerks, who might get you better prices and better concerts!
One thing you should do, if you are a serious lover of classical music: check the online- ticket-site of
WIENER KONZERTHAUSGESELLSCHAFT and WIENER MUSIKVEREIN at
http://www.viennaclassic.com/wien-musikverein/
Here you could easily book your tickets several weeks or days in advance at nearly the same price, you would have to pay for the above mentioned "Viennese" concerts ! Leave a Comment |
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It may be older than the London Eye and it may have become famous from its starring role in "The Third Man" but the Riesenrad is over-priced for a mediocre view. The visitors centre is also not really much to write home about and the souvenir shop is the most appalling tat emporium in Vienna.
Go on a day when it is not hazy - the view is not outstanding, but if hazy you'll not see anything.
Go up to Kahlenberg - or up to the Gloriette - the views over Vienna are free and much better. Leave a Comment |
Should you climb the hill to the Gloriette on warm day, there’s a good chance that you’ll feel the need for a cool drink, as we did. Aha, there's the outdoor refreshment area at the rear of the Gloriette waiting for you!
I have an abiding caution about places such as this – it seems that the price of food and drink is proportional to the locale (or height of the lookout) no matter where in the world you may be. And so it was here. Cool drinks which were available locally near our hotel for about 1.20€, or in the snackbar/souvenir shop inside the Schönbrunn entrance (0.5L for 1.90€) suddenly rose to 0.25L for 2.30€ - half the quantity for almost twice the “outside” price!
We had our drinks when we returned down the hill to the Schönbrunn entrance |
When you walk pass the Opera in the 1st district, you will notice that there will be some people dressed up as Mozart or period costumes and stopping you to ask if you would like to go to a classical concert. You might think that the concert is held in the infamous Opera but far from it. These people are trying to sell overpriced tickets to concerts held in smaller theatres in other parts of towns.
If you still would like to attend a musical concert for a lower (but not cheap) price than the Opera, go ahead and buy a ticket. When you get home, you can always say that you've been to one in Vienna. |
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