Whilst the Switzerland leg of our trip was a family affair, Vienna was just for me and my brothers. SWEET FREEDOM! jk ;P (My parents went on their own tour from Munich to Budapest.) Without our parents around to hustle us out of the Airbnb every day, it was tempting to stay in with the fan instead of going out to sight-see under the beating sun. We did manage to leave the Airbnb for a few hours every day, but I admit that we probably spent the majority of most days indoors. (It was HOT, okay??) I don’t really have any regrets though. We made good use of those hours outside, took the rest we needed inside, and avoided becoming grouchy human puddles of sweat. Efficiency!
Look at our beautiful Airbnb! Could you blame us for wanting to stay in? It was located in a central location of Innere Stadt. Many major landmarks were within walking distance… and the ones that weren’t within walking distance, we didn’t go to (sorry Schönbrunn Palace!).
(Sorry, the orientation of the screenshotted and illustrated maps don’t align, even though they’re both of Ringstraße! I screenshotted Google Maps weird, but you can mentally align the maps by orienting the rivers the same way. The destination marked on Google Maps is the State Opera House.)
Pretty much all you have to do to see most of Vienna’s major landmarks is stick to Ringstraße; you’ll pass by City Hall, the National Theatre, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Parliament, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Hofburg Imperial Palace, and the State Opera House, just to name a few. (See a fully annotated map of Ringstraße and its major landmarks here.) We chose one afternoon to walk through Ringstraße, and it just so happened that Vienna was having their Pride March that day, right on Ringstraße! Google Maps got dressed up for the occasion as well.
Well, to be specific, we walked our own mini version of Ringstraße, choosing only three major attractions and creating our own “ring road.” The lucky attractions were the Hofburg Imperial Palace, the State Opera House, and St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and it was at the Opera House that we crossed paths with the Pride March. By the Opera House is Naschmarkt, which you could also throw into your Ringstraße itinerary in one fell swoop, but we decided to save that for lunch another day.
The next day I decided to head out myself bright and early to Belvedere Palace, a little further out from Ringstraße, and along the way I passed by St. Peter’s Cathedral and the Pestsäule Memorial Column, a memorial to the Great Plague. I also passed by the Hofburg again; pretty much anywhere we went from our Airbnb took us past the Hofburg. Casual.
On my way back from Belvedere Palace, I popped by Gerstner K.u.K. Hofzuckerbäcker, a Viennese coffee house right across the Opera House, and finished off my morning there with a classic combination of sachertorte and melange. (Pls appreciate the illustrated sachertorte postcard, which I bought elsewhere at a random souvenir shop.) I also got a slice of strawberry cheesecake and another slice of sachertorte to bring back for my brothers.
Sachertorte is a chocolate cake coated over the top and sides with dark chocolate icing, and has a spread of apricot jam through the middle; it was invented in Vienna for Prince Wenzel von Metternich. Melange is a classic Viennese coffee similar to a cappuccino.
As promised, we made our way back to Naschmarkt (also by the Opera House, if you recall. Yeah, we really didn’t venture all that far haha) for lunch one afternoon. We strolled around for a bit and plopped down at a random cafe that was popping with other customers–a sure sign of good food, no? I got an arugula salad with falafels and goat cheese coated in pumpkin seeds. It was really good! My brothers and I also shared fries.
But the most important foodie experience was taste-testing gelato around the city! Our favourite was Zanoni & Zanoni. Loved their dark chocolate gelato.
Surprisingly, we had more meals in than out. Our Airbnb had a lovely kitchen, and we found a grocery store in our neighbourhood to frequent–Merkur Hoher Markt–by which was Anker Clock. Peep some of the meals and snacks we made! It was really satisfying making our own meals, and not having to venture out into the heat looking for a restaurant was an added bonus.
Next up: Budapest travel diary