Vienna Unwrapped Inspiration and Planning For Independent Travellers who are visiting Vienna
I had stayed in apartments in six districts when living in my hometown Vienna. Wieden district, just off the centre, was a blank space I was keen to fill. Even if it was just for a few days, while visiting Vienna with my two kids.
Choose A Key Neighbourhood
Vienna Apartment Rental. Staying in an apartment in a key neighbourhood has three advantages: First, you get a better feeling of local life while keeping top attractions at arm’s length. Second, you make your own charming discoveries off-the-beaten-path on your way home. Third, you are more likely to feel the pulse of urban transformation than in landmarked areas.
This changes your views of Vienna as a tourist for a few days or weeks. It changes your lifestyle if you stay there on business for a few weeks or months, as many guests of our visited apartment do.
Our place was alongside Naschmarkt, my Viennese mum’s hunting ground for vintage things and delicatessen. “You are so lucky”, she envied my choice, “you will be the first on the flea market in the morning and snatch the best bargains before others do.”
Viewing Vienna’s largest historic street market from our fourth-floor ‘showroom’ window was thrilling. I could figure out our future go-to bakery, a bistro, and the green grocers further up. The photo above is one of 25 almost identical pictures I took during my first rave of the views.
Inhabit The Right Space
Vienna Apartment Rental. Viennese nowadays are genuinely spoilt with spacious apartments. Non-serviced and non-furnished rental space is relatively cheap, compared to other European metropolises. Our two bedroom place spread over 85 square metres (915 square feet), with a living room and open plan kitchen to host a banquet. The first evening, my children emptied their batteries in a mad race around the sofa and dining area while I quietly boiled pasta.
The interiors mixed film-set elements with vintage bohemian style. It was the kind of taste a modern local family would choose, lots of airy white and beige, with splashes of colour in between. I liked the fact that the furniture was carefully selected and left the cluttering up to us.
Below is a photo of the bathroom, just so you know. No gold-plated taps but decent, fairly new, squeaky clean and yes, pretty spacious.
Virtual space was as uncluttered as the real one: The internet connection worked from minute one, without a single hiccup in two days, phew.
The flat itself was different from the mid 20thcentury building’s exteriors and colourful graphics at the entrance. Not a historic jewel but close to life. My daughter adored the graffiti. Elisa from viennaresidence, who showed us around, told me that one of Vienna’s top modern chefs and cookbook author might open a little restaurant downstairs soon.
Define Your Radius
Vienna Apartment Rental. In the following days we roamed Naschmarkt, passed Secession and baroque Church St. Charles Borromeo (we know them already but do step in if you don’t), enjoyed the quirky urban farming place ‘Karlsgarten’ with its own beehive boxes and tiny vineyard, and took nearby U4 metro to Schonbrunn Palace (a 7 minute ride). We could have done more if we had stayed longer.
Most cherished detail of our stay: waking up to the faint sound of church bells, seeing the sun rise over the street market and then walk to the city centre in less than 10 minutes.
Vienna Apartment Rental: Practical Information
Location: Rechte Wienzeile 5, 1040 Vienna
Rental duration: one week to 2+ years
Local highlights: Naschmarkt, Secession, Café Drechsler, Karlsgarten (urban farming), Karlskirche
Get more information on this and 350+ other serviced rental apartments: visit viennaresidence, Vienna’s largest serviced apartment provider. Apartments on offer are largely exclusive.
NOTE: I was a guest of viennaresidence. All opinions expressed are explicitly my own.
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