Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips: Ernst Fuchs Villa

Vienna Austria: Top 10 Off Beat Travel Tips

Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips. Once you know Vienna Austria’s top attractions it may be time to freshen and deepen your perspective of my home city. Since you will have done classical city center landmarks, get off path to explore the Vienna of the Viennese. Below I’m sharing the 10 best off the beaten track travel tips:

1. Cook And Dine At A Viennese’s Home

Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips. Whenever I connect with locals in their places that special experience shapes my entire trip. And nothing connects you in a better way than cooking and eating together. In fact, a Viennese food blogger felt much the same, and set up a range of cooking classes in various locals’ home. Between breading Wiener Schnitzel, stretching apple strudel dough and even cooking kosher there is enough time to exchange news and views of different lifestyle habits. Read more in Vienna Cooking Classes.

2. Take A German Class In A Coffeehouse

Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips. Especially if you travel to German speaking countries more than once knowing a few words and phrases in German puts you on a different level. Rather than booking a full blown course consider meeting up with a local German teacher for an hour or two of relaxed insight into the intricacies of speaking Deutsch. You can even meet in your favourite coffeehouse over Melange and Kuchen. Find out more in Learn German in Vienna.

3. Ride A Zille On The Danube

Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips. How big does your ship need to be for a GRAND river cruise? In fact, not much more than 10 meters long and a bit more than one meter wide!

At UNESCO World Heritage Site Wachau Valley, you can take a ride in one of these traditional Danube boats. Among the most popular round trips is the route from the Duernstein village upstream to winery heaven Spitz an der Donau and back.

The boat season starts on 1st April and lasts until the end of October. For further information, visit Wachau boat trips.

4. Taste Wine In A Roman Wine Cellar

Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips. Few travellers know about Vienna’s vast underground network of tunnels, cellars and canals. Since the Viennese extended and connected the tunnels during the sieges of the Ottomans in the 16th and 17th century Wien’s underworld reached amazing dimensions.

To catch a quiet glimpse into a three-storey wine cellar, you can join a small group wine tasting right in the center. Apart from beautiful vaulted brick ceilings you can even see the original Roman ‘right gate’ that marked the east entrance of the military camp Vindobona.

5. Lunch At Ministry Of Justice

Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips. To lunch at Justizcafe isn’t only about rubbing shoulders with Austria’s much loved civil servants. What’s more, the publicly accessible cantine offers some of the most breathtaking views of Wien’s elegant rooftops. Right next, for example, you will overlook the amazing rooftops of the Austrian Parliament and Volkstheater. By the way, Justizcafe offers some of the best cantine food I ever had. Find out more in best rooftop views in Vienna.

6. Entertain Yourself At An Operetta

Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips. Operetta is Vienna’s traditional answer to a musical. Specifically, it reflects the popular culture of 19th century Austrian-Hungarian Empire. If you love comedies of error, colourful costumes and catchy tunes, join a mostly local audience at Wiener Volksoper, our other opera house. To find out what is on stage during your trip, access the operetta calendar.

7. Visit An Eccentric’s Villa

Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips. Unlike any other building in Wien, the Ernst Fuchs Villa enchants, amazes and sometimes shocks. Viennese Art Nouveau architect Otto Wagner built a series of ground breaking architecture in Vienna. One of his villas was bought by late Austrian Fantastic Realist Ernst Fuchs. What makes the site so special is the way Wagner’s modernist style blends with Fuchs’ utterly eccentric artwork. Don’t miss the out-of-this-world sculpture garden.

8. Explore Forgotten Art Nouveau

Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips. If you love Art Nouveau, venture out to Baumgartner Hoehe to experience Wagner’s stunning Church am Steinhof in Wien’s West. Set on the grounds of the Otto Wagner Hospital, the green hills of Steinhof are a world of its own to explore: from the groundbreaking concept of a 19th century hospital and a forgotten Art Nouveau theatre to another dark chapter of our Nazi past. Find out more in Otto Wagner Church.

9. Shop At Neighbourhood Markets

Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips. Why not explore Vienna between ripe organic tomatoes, local cheese specialities, Wiener sausages and cosy cafes? For example, I like to shop at 120-year-old Karmelitermarkt in the centre of trendy neighbourhood Leopoldstadt. On Saturdays between 8.00 am and 1.00pm you can visit the weekly farmers’ market. Best places for food and contemplation are Vegetarian bistro Zimmer 37 and oriental restaurant TeWa. My other market favourite is small Kutschkermarkt in traditional residential neighbourhood of Wahring. With its flowers, meat, veg and cheese stalls and gift accessories the market opens a window into local lifestyle. On some days you can join a degustation across various stalls.

10. Stay In A Biedermeier Salettl

Vienna Austria Off Beat Travel Tips. What if you could stay in your own historic pavilion, sip some wine on your terrace after a hard day of sightseeing, and walk across a lush courtyard to dine in your hosts’ gourmet neighbourhood tavern? Angela and Thomas have transformed a beautiful garden pavilion from Vienna’s Biedermeier era into a welcoming holiday retreat. If you like authentic green neighbourhoods paired with historic flair and a central location, get more information in Four Star Hotels in Vienna.