If you ask me, the best time when to visit Vienna is May/June and September/October, and surely December. On the one hand the weather in Vienna in the spring and autumn is generally sunny and warm, but not too hot. On the other hand, the Vienna Opera calendar is full, and the Lipizzaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School and the Vienna Boys Choir are not on their summer break. What’s more, in these months you can book bike tours and boat trips on the Danube, too. From mid November to late December, Viennese and visitors indulge in the traditional Vienna’s Christmas markets along with advent choirs and brass bands, and mulled wine.

Definitely, Vienna is best known for its classical music, art and feel-good culture have been shaping Vienna for centuries. However, triumphant classical concerts, world renown art collections and sumptuous cakes are just the start. Read my complete guide of 20+ highlights what Vienna is best known for.

First of all, explore Ringstrasse boulevard with its many state buildings, before taking a walk through the Vienna city centre, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Assuming you like classical art and culture like most other visitors, include Schonbrunn Palace, Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Art), the Vienna State Opera and a visit to a traditional Vienna coffeehouse into your trip plan. What you should not miss in Vienna, either, is at least one quality classical concert, for example at Wiener Konzerthaus.

 Being mostly flat with a compact centre and manageable traffic Vienna is easy to walk around. On top, most of the historic city centre is pedestrian area. Therefore, you may not need as much transport as in other European metropolises. For additional inspiration, copy my six most exciting Vienna Walks.

How many days you spend in Vienna depends on the depth of your visit. You should best spend between two and five days to get to know Vienna. In two days, you will cover main highlights such as Hofburg and Schönbrunn Palace, Ringstrasse boulevard, the city center and some wineries. Whereas staying for three or more days will enable you to expand into lovely districts and neighborhoods, see insider gems and go on day trips to the Vienna Woods and Wachau Valley. 

Because of Wien’s overwhelming choice of things to see and do, this is tricky. Perhaps your personal tastes and preferences are the best guideline how you can spend a day in Vienna. To that end, I have created seven itineraries for different travellers spending 24 hours in Vienna – find out your favorite!

As a rule of thumb you will be able to cover most of Vienna’s top attractions and sightseeing highlights in three days. If you plan smart you will also be able to get behind the scenes to explore charming places and venues. As a rule of thumb, most attractions in the city center are not more than a 10-minute walk from each other. Here is a standard 3-day itinerary to provide you with a template to fine-tune to your tastes:

Day 1

• small group orientation tour; (2 hours)
• Vienna Ringtram ride across Ringstrasse (25 min)
• traditional coffeehouse (1 hour)
• Museum of Fine Arts (Kunsthistorisches Museum) (2 hours)
• dinner (2 hours)
• rooftop visit and drinks (1 hour)

Day 2

• Vienna Secession (30 min)
• Naschmarkt street market and Otto Wagner buildings (1.5 hours)
• lunch in Hietzing (2 hours)
• Schonbrunn Palace, possibly with marionette theatre or Vienna zoo (3 hours)
• Opera, operetta or classical concert (1.5 to 3 hours)

Day 3

• Augarten or Prater and Giant Ferris Wheel (2 hours)
• Wiener Schnitzel off the beaten road (1.5 hours)
• themed walk, for example the Third Man movie tour (2 hours)
• gift shopping or wine tasting (1 hour / 1.5 hours)
• dinner at local winery (1.5 hours)

Where to stay in Vienna depends on your budget and what experience you are after. For a classical sightseeing experience, stay in the city centre, aka Innenstadt. Besides, most of the luxury hotels are along Ringstrasse boulevard and in the centre, although you will find good value for money three star hotels and four star hotels there, too. To get to know local living in town, opt for a nice central neighborhood in the districts of Wieden, Neubau, Josefstadt or Alsergrund. Specifically, you will find great apartments and quieter hotels there, too. Finally, this hotel search map helps you to find places in your chosen area. Click on the map to find hotel deals in a particular location. Then compare deals from the biggest booking sites such as booking.com, expedia.com and agoda.com for each hotel on one page.

 Spittelberg in Vienna is part of the 7th district of Neubau and extends across a grid of cobblestoned streets. To be precise, Spittelberg includes the area of Museumsquartier, Volkstheater and nearby Hotel Sans Souci. The most picturesque streets to explore are parallel streets Breite Gasse, Kirchberggasse, Gutenberggasse, Spittelberggasse and Schrankgasse. Find out more about Spittelberg and what to do there.

 The baroque Gloriette belvedere forms part of Schönbrunn Palace and sits on top of the hill of Schönbrunn gardens. Right in the middle of the colonnades, the Gloriette café rewards for the uphill walk. Between 1st April and 2nd November you can also visit the rooftop via a staircase (ticket included in Classic Pass). To reach Gloriette, either walk up the hill or take the Schönbrunn panorama train.

Vienna International Airport in Schwechat, at 12 km/7.5m from the city, is Vienna’s only airport. Address: Flughafen Wien Schwechat, 1300 Schwechat, Austria. However, Bratislava’s M. R. Štefánik airport (or Bratislava Ivanka airport) is just 87 km/54 m from Vienna and can be reached by train, bus and car.  Address: Letisko M. R. Štefánika – Airport Bratislava, a. s. (BTS), 823 11 Bratislava 216

To take the train from Vienna to Bratislava, use the Vienna Central Station (Wien Hauptbahnhof) at Favoritenstraße 51, 1100 Vienna. 

If you book train tickets from Vienna to Salzburg with Austrian Railways, use Vienna Central Station, aka Wien Hauptbahnhof (Hbf). Alternatively, if you choose private rail operator Westbahn, trains depart from Vienna’s Western railway station, Wien Westbahnhof (Wbf) at Europaplatz 2/3, 1150 Vienna. 

 To eat in Vienna, you can venture beyond restaurants to informal bistro-style eateries and taverns, traditional coffeehouses, wine taverns and snack bars to Vienna sausage stands. As for finding the most authentic places, steer clear of popular guide book restaurants even when searching for the best Wiener schnitzel restaurants in town. Since each of Vienna’s 23 districts has its local gems, such as Silberwirt in Margareten, dining outside the center opens a great opportunity to connect with the city’s different vibes. For detailed tips where to eat in each of Vienna’s districts, including the centre, go to Vienna districts and best neighborhoods.

 To be honest, the best coffee in Vienna does not come from traditional Vienna coffeehouses. Instead, some outstanding third-wave coffee shops in town use top quality, locally roasted coffee beans, and prepare each cup with great care. My favorites are Caffè Couture in Ferstel passageway (Freyung 2), Café Balthasar (Praterstrasse 38), and POC (People on Caffeine; Schlösselgasse 21). But where to have the best coffee in Vienna doesn’t always refer to a café: At contemporary eatery Labstelle (Lugeck 6), try the ‘Salatkaffee’, a slow roasted coffee from young Austrian entrepreneur/roaster Bernd Salat which has been winning an increasing fan community in Vienna.

 Since the Habsburg Emperors created a lucrative ground for composers from all over Europe, Vienna became known as the Capital of Music. As long as the music promoted their power, the musically talented Habsburgs sponsored composers and musicians. Why Vienna is the capital of music doesn’t mean that many musical geniuses were born there.

Probably the first real musics fanatic of the family were Ferdinand III (1608-1657) and his son Leopold I in the 17th century (1658-1705). In particular Leopold loved the opera so much that he had a theatre built in record time, and also took part in opera performances himself. During his life, Leopold composed various musical pieces himself and loved to invite German and Italian composers to his court. From her childhood, Empress Maria Theresa regularly participated in court operas and was trained in opera singing. Likewise, all her children enjoyed a thorough musical education.

Among the best known composers who found a second home in the Vienna of the Habsburgs were Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Antonio Vivaldi. Born Viennese composers Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II equally thrived in the musical capital. Today, musical guides take visitors to the many concert halls, musical venues and composers’ homes to provide insight into the capital of music beyond musical events.

 Vienna can be considered rich because of two key reasons: its Imperial material and immaterial heritage, and its gross domestic product (GDP) and its public infrastructure. First, due to more than 600 years of Habsburg reign, Vienna boasts a series of sumptuous palaces and buildings, along with imperial and art treasures. The entire city center as well as Schönbrunn Palace are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Among the city’s immaterial cultural heritage are its coffeehouse traditions and its wine tavern culture, for example.

Second, Vienna generates the highest gross regional product (GRP) of all Austrian federal regions (EUR 94 m in 2019). About 85% of its economic output comes from services.  In 2019, Austria reached the fifth highest GDP per capita of all European Union member states, ranking 27% above average EU GDP.

 Generally, Vienna’s residents have a reputation of not being friendly. Statistics, such as global expat network Internations’ Expat City Ranking 2019, seem to confirm this. According to the study, Vienna is one of the three most unfriendly cities worldwide. According to the ranking, about 38% of respondents (expats living in Vienna) believe that Viennese are unfriendly towards them.

On the other hand, the survey Tourism Consciousness of the Viennese Population 2019 by the Vienna Tourism Office showed that 9 out of 10 Viennese thought tourism was a good thing for Vienna. According to the survey, 77% of respondents liked to help tourists when they had questions.

 Whether people believe Vienna is a boring city largely depends on its cultural offer. According to the results of an intergenerational local survey about Cultural Participation by the Viennese Department for Culture in 2015, 70% of Viennese are very happy about the cultural offer. Another 25% are happy with it. In fact, Vienna not only hosts a broad variety of cafés, bars, shops, cinemas, museums and event venues, it runs hundreds of events every day: from classical, pop, jazz and folk concerts to music, art, fashion and food festivals. For example, Vienna’s annual Donauinselfest is the largest outdoor festival in Europe. On top, seasonal festivities such as Vienna’s dozens of Christmas markets and its dance balls attract an even wider number of international visitors.

Vienna was founded as a Roman military camp around 70 AC, called Vindobona. Learn more about Roman Vienna and where to find antique remains of the city today. In 1137, Babenberg count Leopold IV. provided Vienna with the status of a city (civitas). 

Most importantly, the Danube river runs through Vienna. On a smaller scale, the Wien river runs through the Western part of Vienna before ending in the Danube Canal. 

Like the countries between Hungary to Spain, Vienna is on Central European Time (CET). This means Vienna is one hour ahead of London and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Between late March to late October, Austria switches to Central European Summer Time (CEST), also called Daylight Saving Time (DST). Here are the dates Austria switches between CET and CEST from 2020 to 2023. To be precise, the time switches always on Sundays between 2.00 am and 3.00 am in the morning.

• 29th March 2020: from CET to CEST; set clock one hour forward
• 25th October 2020: from CEST to CET; set clock one hour back
• 28th March 2021: from CET to CEST; set clock one hour forward
• 31st October 2021: from CEST to CET; set clock one hour back
• 27th March 2022: from CET to CEST; set clock one hour forward
• 30th October 2022: from CEST to CET; set clock one hour back
• 26th March 2023: from CET to CEST; set clock one hour forward
• 29th October 2023: from CEST to CET; set clock one hour back

In June, sunrise in Vienna can be as early as 4.51 am, and in January as late as 7.38 am. As for sunset in Vienna, in June the sun goes down as late as 8.58 pm, and in December at 4.02 pm in the afternoon. To find out sunrise and sunset in Vienna during your stay check the timings for each month:

• January: 07.38 am / 04:28 pm
• February: 07.00 am / 05:16 pm
• March 06.05 am / 06:01 pm (change to summertime last weekend of March)
• April 06.01 am / 07:46 pm 
• May 05.12 am / 08:29 pm
• June 04.51 am / 08:58 pm
• July 05.08 am / 08:52 pm
• August 05.47 am / 08:09 pm
• September 06.30 am / 07:08 pm
• Oktober 07.13 am / 06:07 pm (change to wintertime last weekend of October)
• November 07.00 am / 04:17 pm
• Dezember 07.36 am / 04:02 pm

 Source: www.laenderdaten.info

Generally, it starts snowing in Vienna from as early as mid November to as late as February. According to the statistics, a white Christmas in Vienna is quite unlikely: In the past 35 years, Vienna had only six times a white Christmas (source: wetter blog.at).

In theory, the Vienna area code is 1000. Practically, Vienna has 23 area codes, one for each of its districts. For example, the area code of the first district is 1010, of the second district 1020, and of the twenty-third district 1230.

The British-Austrian drama series Vienna Blood used several film locations in Vienna: One of the key locations was the Vienna State Opera, where filming took place while opera singers were on stage. Other locations used were the archive of the Vienna University, the Giant Ferris Wheel, Café Sperl, Café Bräunerhof and Burggarten park. In the third episode ‘The Lost Child’, Grafenegg castle in Lower Austria represented the boys’ boarding school.

There are two different Vienna songs. The first was created in 1977 by Billy Joel and the second in 1981 by British band Ultravox. In the past years, the Billy Joel song was covered by various singers and actors, from Ariana Grande and Grace VanderWaal to Christian Borle (The Phenomenon) and Ben Platt (The Politician). There is even a Hebrew version of the song by Roie Labes, and a version in Austrian dialect, by Austrian band Granada.