Things to do in Austria
-
Brewery Tours
Freistadt is a Braucommune, a town where the citizens actually own their brewery - buy a house and you automatically buy a share of your favourite tipple. Practically every bar in town serves the local brew, so it's not hard to see why the brewery remains a profitable business. If you'd like to learn more about Freistadt beer, there are Brewery Tours; three small beers are thrown in with the price of the tour. Call ahead if you'd like to take a tour.
reviewed
-
A
Theater an der Wien
The Theater an der Wien has hosted some monumental premiere performances, such as Beethoven’s Fidelo, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Strauss Jnr’s Die Fledermaus. These days the theatre is more attuned to popular culture and features musicals such as Elisabeth and Mozart. Discounts include €10 to €15 tickets for students on sale 30 minutes before shows, and €7 standing tickets available one hour before performances.
reviewed
-
Saigon (Ottakrin
Saigon was one of the original Asian restaurants in Vienna and it is a testament to the quality of the food that it has not only weathered the influx of Asian places in the city, but actually grown. Saigon offers a selection of rice- and noodle-based dishes that seems unending. The duck is crispy and tender, the vegetables crunchy and fresh, and the noodle soups delicious - the Pho Tai Bo (beef noodle soup) is only more authentic in the motherland.
reviewed
-
B
Curryinsel
Hoppers (made from baked rice) and string hoppers (steamed noodles made of rice and wheat) form the mainstays of the Sri Lankan curries at Curryinsel. You can pick and combine the different types of curry from a wide selection on the menu, and staff will help if you start combining curries that clash. The menu also has some more-expensive meat main dishes and for €13.50 a mixed curry plate with five vegetable and two meat curries served with accompaniments.
reviewed
-
C
Künstlerhauspassage
A glass box beneath the Künstlerhaus, Künstlerhauspassage is a refuge for Vienna's art scene. Spoken word performances, films, live music and DJs take turns entertaining a thoroughly alternative crowd; 'Icke Micke' , every Friday night from August to September, tops the bill with progressive techno and electronica from the next big names in the DJ business. The adjoining outdoor ampitheatre is a perfect escape from the sweaty dance floor.
reviewed
-
D
Griechenbeisl
As the oldest guesthouse in Vienna (dating from 1447), and once frequented by the likes of Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Johannes Brahms, Griechenbeisl quite rightly aims at the tourist trade. It is a lovely haunt, with vaulted rooms, age-old wood panelling and a figure of Augustin trapped at the bottom of a well just inside the front door. Every classic Viennese dish is on the menu, and in summer the plant-fringed front garden is pole position.
reviewed
-
E
Schnattl
Despite its weekday-only operning hours, Schnattl is a culinary institution in Josefstadt, especially among artists from the nearby Theater in der Josefstadt. Idyllic outdoor seating in a courtyard is perfect for summer dining, whereas the simple wooden panels inside create a light mood. Seasonally changing dishes such as a roulade of beef loin with prosciutto, or lamb filet with polenta spiced with wild garlic (each €22), are served here.
reviewed
-
F
Kantine
This upbeat cafe-bar housed in the former stables of the emperor’s personal steeds is the most laid-back spot to eat in the MuseumsQuartier. It has a couple of old sofas down the back where you can lounge about and surf in comfort, and you can grab a cocktail from the extensive list and make good use of the outdoor patio on MuseumsQuartier’s main square. It’s a versatile place, like most in the MuseumsQuartier, and a good place to meet up before moving on.
reviewed
-
G
Gasometer
These four round, brownstone gas containers, measuring 75m tall and each big enough to house the Riesenrad, supplied gas to the city from 1899 to 1969. Today they have been redeveloped into 615 apartments, a students’ hostel, an adjacent event hall and a cinema, but it’s the fairly average shopping complex that predominates. Four different architectural groups were involved in this project for urban renewal, one for each gasometer and each with an atrium.
reviewed
-
H
Kiang
This ultra-modern pan-Asian restaurant near Rochusplatz is a relaxed and spacious experience where you can enjoy good sushi and sashimi. Sha cha noodle soup with beef costs €10.80 and in summer there’s outdoor seating. As well as a Mongolian lamb dish (served with pitta bread), Chinese, Thai and Japanese dishes figure on the menu. Kiang also has branches in the Innere Stadt.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
New Year's Eve at an Austrian Wine Tavern from Vienna
4 hours 30 minutes (Departs Vienna, Austria)
by Viator
Bring in the New Year and celebrate with your family and friends in a traditional Austrian Wine Tavern. Spend an unforgettable evening accompanied by…Not LP reviewed
from USD$123.46 -
I
Gasthaus Wild
Gasthaus Wild, formerly a dive of a Beisl, has in recent years morphed into a great neo-Beisl. Its dark, wood-panelled interior retains a traditional look, and the menu includes favourites like goulash and Schnitzel mit Erdäpfelsalat (schnitzel with potato salad), but also veal filet with dumplings spiced with blood sausage. The menu changes regularly, the ambience is relaxed, the staff welcoming and the wine selection good.
reviewed
-
J
Haas & Haas
The fragrance of tea from around the world greets customers on entry to Haas & Hass, Vienna’s prime tearoom. Green, herbal, aromatic, Assam, Ceylon, Darjeeling; the selection seems endless. The rear garden is a shaded retreat from the wind, rain, sun and tourist bustle, while the front parlour sports comfy cushioned booths and views of Stephansdom. If you are more of a coffee person, lattes and various other coffee drinks are also available here.
reviewed
-
Stift Heiligenkreuz
About 20km from Mödling is Heiligenkreuz and the 12th-century Cistercian abbey Stift Heiligenkreuz. The chapter house is the final resting place of most of the Babenberg dynasty, which ruled Austria until 1246. The abbey museum contains 150 clay models by Giovanni Giuliani (1663–1744), a Venetian sculptor who also created the Trinity column in the courtyard. Note that tours in English are by request only.
reviewed
-
K
Soho
Soho is the Hofburg's canteen, with excellent food at canteen prices. Daily menus - one vegetarian, one meat - are invariably European based, but the occasional Asian dish sneaks in now and then. The simple wooden tables, splashes of colour and smattering of paintings combine to create an appealing look, and the service is welcoming and friendly. It's a little hard to find, however: follow your nose past the Schmetterlinghaus and it's directly west.
reviewed
-
L
Wein & Co
With a wide selection of quality European and New World wines, and a huge variety of local bottles, Wein & Co is probably your best bet for wine shopping – you should be able to pick up a bargain, as the specials here are always great. You can also buy cigars, and the wine bar has a terrace with a view of Stephansdom (try ‘Happy Sunday’, when all glasses are half-price from 11am to 4pm). Seven other Wein & Co shops are scattered around town.
reviewed
-
M
Cinemagic
An initiative of the City of Vienna aimed at entertainment for children, Cinemagic has an entire day programme totally devoted to the little ‘uns. Films come from around the globe and screen Thursday through Sunday afternoons. In mid-November the cinema, along with three others, hosts a Children’s Film Festival (www.kinderfilmfestival.at) showcasing international children’s films. Evenings feature blockbusters and independent films geared to adults.
reviewed
-
Wasserspiele
Today, Hellbrunn attracts the giggling tourist masses in summer; most are here for the fabulously eccentric Wasserspiele. Be prepared to get very wet as you wander past stone lions, cherubs and statues that drench you with water when you least expect it. For a right good soaking, step inside the mother-of-pearl Neptune Grotto or gaze up to admire the 200 limewood figurines at the water-driven Mechanical Theatre. Tours run every 30 minutes.
reviewed
-
N
Ankeruhr
Vienna’s oldest square (once the centre of the Roman outpost) is home to the Ankeruhr (Anker Clock), an art-nouveau masterpiece created by Franz von Matsch in 1911 and named after the Anker Insurance Co, which commissioned it. Over a 12-hour period, figures slowly pass across the clock face, indicating the time against a static measure showing the minutes. Figures range from Marcus Aurelius (the Roman emperor who died in Vienna in AD 180) to Josef Haydn, with Eugene of Savoy, Maria Theresia and others in between. Details of who’s who are on a plaque on the wall below. People flock here at noon, when all the figures trundle past in succession and organ music from the…
reviewed
-
Hofkäserei Robert Paget
From Krems the Weinstrasse Kremstal (Krems Valley Wine Rd; B35) takes you northeast. About 2km past Gedersdorf – just before Hadersdorf train station – veer off right under the railway line and immediately left to Diendorf, where you find Hofkäserei Robert Paget. Here Robert Paget produces Austria’s finest mozzarella cheese from buffalo, as well as goat’s cheese. You can buy from the shop and eat it outside where the buffalo roam.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
O
Schloss Mirabell
Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich built this splendid palace in 1606 to impress his beloved mistress Salome Alt. It must have done the trick because she went on to bear the archbishop some 15 children; sources disagree on the exact number – poor Wolf was presumably too distracted by spiritual matters to keep count himself. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, of Schloss Belvedere fame, remodelled the palace in baroque style in 1721. The lavish baroque interior, replete with stucco, marble and frescos, is free to visit. The Marmorsaal (Marble Hall) provides a sublime backdrop for evening chamber concerts.
The flowery parterres, rose gardens and leafy arbours are less overrun…
reviewed
-
P
Amacord
The popularity of this small eatery stems from its convivial vibe, friendly staff, lovely vaulted ceilings, comfy surroundings and good, affordable food. Viennese classics are mixed in with a healthy range of Italian pastas, the odd curry and ragout, and an extensive salad selection. However, some will find the smoke overpowering as the evening rolls on, and trying to find a seat on a Saturday morning is a fruitless enterprise. Eat off-peak here.
reviewed
-
Q
Gu
If you choose carefully in the evening or take advantage of the lunch dishes, Gu can be a very inexpensive way to fill up on noodles, rice and pan-Asian curries between forays into Alsergrund and Josefstadt. A chicken curry with coconut milk costs about €9, and whatever hasn’t been sold out from the lunchtime blackboard can be ordered at the day price in the evening. Gu doesn’t aspire to culinary sensation, but it does honest, satisfying dishes.
reviewed
-
Museum Für Historische Sanitärobjeckte
The Museum für Historische Sanitärobjeckte is basically a monumental collection of toilets. Here you can discover the difference between ‘wash-down’ and ‘wash-out’ models, and if you thought the latter with its flat poop deck and horizontal splash is just an anally obsessive Central European quirk, this museum vividly explodes the myth. The British were perching on these in the 19th century.
reviewed
-
R
Weinkellerei Enrico Panigl
Although the menu is small, this wine restaurant serves delicious dishes such as tuna with a truffle and porcini sauce accompanied by grilled polenta (€19.90). The atmosphere is genuinely rustic right down to the wooden floors, offset by art from Vienna’s postmodernist guru Hermann Nitsch. The choice of 150 wines from Italy and Austria means that the pleasure of being here is as much about the wines as is it about good food and contemporary art.
reviewed