Vienna 2008 (and Christmas Markets 2007)
Written: May 08 '08
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Pros: Fabulous music, art, architecture, and excellent public transportation. World's best coffee.
Cons: Expensive! (And, if you are overweight, embarrassing.)
The Bottom Line: This is a "must see" city for anyone interested in European culture. It is very enjoyable and easy to manage, although pricey.
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| masonbarge's Full Review: Vienna |
Background and Christmas Markets:
My wife and I visited Vienna (Wien, in German) for the first time in December-January, 2007-08. I had always wanted to see the Christmas markets in Austria and Bavaria, so we put Vienna as the start and end point of a Danube River Cruise.
Vienna's Christmas Markets date back to the 13th century. Because the weather is grey and chilly, the large public areas are wasted. So during Advent, they fill them with small wooden huts, anywhere from 20 to 300 square feet, with counters on one side to serve pedestrians.
The items for sale span a vast variety of Christmas wants. First, ALL of the markets have at least one wurst (sausage) stand and at least one selling "Punsch" or "Glühwein" (pronounced gleu-vine), a hot sweet spiced drink with wine, brandy, and/or rum. To cut down on litter and waste, they don't use cardboard mugs; you get your beverage in a very cute little Christmas mug for a 2 euro deposit. For a great inexpensive souvenir -- the designs often change annually -- just forfeit the deposit. There are also a lot of roasted chestnut and candied nut stands.
Vienna has dozens of Christmas markets, ranging from the 160 stalls at the Rathaus (City Hall) to little ones with 6 or 8 stalls scattered all over. The Viennese love to be outdoors and even in cold weather will have a quick meal or after-work cocktail at these outdoor huts. The market at Rathausplatz got over 3 million visitors last year, 80 percent of them Austrian.
The Markets are a lot of fun, and you can shop for anything to do with Christmas. There are some very specialized stalls at the large markets, such as pressed tin toys (antique and new), wooden signs, and such, and lots of toys and tree ornaments. The larger markets have decorated trees, concerts, and even visits by a beautiful young blond woman dressed as Christkindl, or Christ child.
There has been a very concerted ongoing effort, both in Austria and Germany, to keep Christmas and the Christmas markets from becoming overly commercialized. Generally the towns fight to allow only smaller shop owners to keep stalls. Today you are more likely to see hand-blown glass, silver and wooden ornaments than cheap Chinese imports.
There are lots of good online resources if you want more information. (In Austria, the traditional term for a market is Weinachtmarkt and the drink is called "Punsch", but the German terms Christkindlmarkt and Gluhwein are also used sometimes.)
General City Information and Impressions:
Overview -- Vienna was the capital of the Hapsburg Empire. Although its position as a world power ceased with the collapse of Austria-Hungary after WW1, it is an ancient city which was once possibly the greatest city in Europe. Its population is about 2 million. While it has an excellent cultural heritage in all aspects, I personally would say that its most outstanding art form is music, especially operetta and music of the classical period (think "Mozart's hometown").
Orientation -- Vienna's center is the Ringstrasse (Ring Street), a somewhat circular network of wide high-traffic avenues (whose names all end in "ring", such as Opernring). Inside the Ring, prices are very high and there is little traffic. The main streets are much like Fifth Avenue without traffic or dirt, and I believe one of them may be the most beautiful center city street I've ever seen.
The main middle-class shopping street is Mariahelfer Strasse, which runs roughly south from the Ring. The Belvedere is southeast of the Ring. The Danube (Donau) River and canal form a norther border. The airport is 20 minutes by train (or a very expensive cab ride) to the east. There are two principle international railroad stations and several minor ones, so if you arrive or depart by train be sure to get the correct station name.
Transportation -- Vienna has, in my opinion, the best public transportation in the world: Cheap, frequent, clean, efficient, safe and rarely overcrowded. The four main forms of transport are U-Bahn (subway), Schnellbahn or S-Bahn (local train), Straßenbahn (tram) and Autobus (bus). If you are going to stay more than two nights, you will probably want to get a pass. There are 24, 72, and 8 day passes. The break-even point for the 72 hour pass is 8 trips. There is only one ticket, which is good on any form of transport.
For example, we took the speedy S-Bahn from the airport to a stop near our hotel, then transferred to the subway. Like many places in Europe, nobody collects the tickets. Be sure to stamp your ticket in a little mechanical box before you get on the train or tram, as the fine for a first offense is nearly $100.
Cleanliness and Crime -- Vienna isn't particularly clean except inside the Ring. Some of the subway stations, especially towards the outside of the city and the seedy
Karlsplatz U-Bahn station, remind me of New York -- even worse, New York 30 years ago, when people were allowed to smoke inside. On the other hand, it isn't particularly dirty compared to other large cities.
Crime, especially violent crime, is a close to non-existent as you could get in a major city. Just take basic precautions, stay away from the Prater Park (Ferris Wheel) area at night (unless you just *have* to see an Austrian strip-club), and keep your wallet in a safe place in the subway.
Cost -- Vienna is generally very expensive, especially with the Euro so high against the dollar (1.55 to 1 when this was written). It is not as bad as Tokyo, more on par with London or Zürich. However, if you can use public transportation, eat at smaller cafes, and walk up a flight of stairs to your hotel room, it is within a reasonable budget, perhaps $200-$250 per day for a couple. A first class (not luxury) visit could easily run $800 per day for a couple.
Food -- It isn't Bologna or Aix, but the food is pretty good. The staples, such as sausage or roast pork with potatoes or spaetzel, are heavy but tasty. The coffee and pastries are outstanding. Realize, however, that a good cup of coffee and pastry can easily run you $10-15. (Well, make that an "unbelievable cup of coffee and pastry". Vienna actually replaced Milan as the place where I had the best cup of coffee in my life.) We also had an extremely good pizza in a very unpromising looking place next to our hotel. Also, watch out for bottled water prices at restaurants. I promise, beer can actually be cheaper!
Unless you speak pretty good German, the menus can be confusing. While much of the food will be "normal" tasting to Americans rather than exotic, the names and combinations are quite different, even in translation. I suggest either ask the waiter for suggestions or else find a place with an English menu.
Ambiance -- I really roll my eyes when I hear someone say "the __________ are so unfriendly" because they had one or two bad experiences. If you want to find the people friendly, at least take a few minutes to learn 10 or 20 basic words of the local language. "Excuse me. Do you speak English, please?" is a good start.
That said, in my limited experience the Viennese are not as warm to strangers as some cities, but I found them to be generally helpful and polite. This is a germanic country and behavior in public tends to be "correct". For instance, the owner of my hotel, seeing my exhaustion, came out onto the street to lug my bags up two long flights of stairs. He spoke good English and answered all my questions. But he didn't want to stand and chat with me. I spoke to a woman with a dachshund (I have a pet dachshund at home) and she spoke with me politely, but not at length.
Service in restaurants and cafes is decent. Tips tend to be a bit smaller than in the US, maybe 10%. Be warned, in a coffeehouse the patrons are not anxious to get their checks (sitting and reading for hours over a cup is common) and the waiters may disappear for ten minutes when you are ready to go. If you are in a hurry, ask to pay when you are served.
One oddity about the ambiance that took me a couple of days to realize; there are almost no obese, and very few overweight, people in Vienna, despite the high calorie German cuisine ("I'll have the two-pound pork sausage with potatoes, a liter of beer, and half an acre of buttery pastry, bitte.") Perhaps the people carrying bicycles to the countryside on the inexpensive trains might be a clue. Also, Vienna is very cosmopolitan and people are rather fashion conscious. It was all expensive jeans and high heels for younger women.
Our Hotel:
If you are on a budget and can walk up two long flights of stairs, I very highly recommend the Pension Kraml. Most double rooms share a bath and shower and are priced at 52 Euros; a room with bath and/or shower is 62 or 72, and there aren't many of them. The rooms are HUGE, sunny, and squeaky clean, the beds are comfy, and the free breakfast is outstanding. Best of all, it is in a perfect location, on a quiet safe little side street just off Mariahelfer about a mile south of the Ring, a three to five minute walk to either of two U-Bahn Stations.
If you want a "good" hotel, expect prices in line with, or even somewhat higher than, New York City.
Culture:
I love art museums and my favorite in Vienna is the Neue Gallarie in Belvedere, a decent walk or short subway ride southeast of the Ring, where you can see the original of Klimt's "The Kiss". The best art in Vienna is from a strange, homegrown art nouveau movement called "The Secession" which started towards the end of the 19th Century; Gustav Klimt was the leader. There is good art from most schools, but if you have traveled or plan to travel to other major cities like New York, Rome/Florence, Amsterdam, London etc., you might want to concentrate on the Secessionists while in Vienna.
The "big" museum, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, has the kind of galleries you would expect in a major world-class museum, including top works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Velazquez, Durer, etc., as well as world-class traveling exhibits. I was surprised to see Archimboldo's most famous work (like discovering Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights" in The Prado). You may not recognize the name, but you will recognize the painting. There are also very good items other than paintings, for those with particular interests such as coins or fashion.
I enjoyed the Leopold Museum in the Museumquartier (south edge of the Ring), which is almost entirely dedicated to Viennese Secessionist art, especially someone I was unacquainted with, Egon Schiele. It also houses perhaps the second most famous Klimt painting, "Life and Death". On that subject, the Secessionists built their own building, which is worth a look, although the only major art inside is a gigantic Klimt mural dedicated to Beethoven's Ode to Joy. But it makes a nice stop on a walk through the main market (Nachsmarkt) and there is a nearby house whose facade is entirely majolica.
There are at least ten other major museums and countless minor ones.
Music - Vienna has more classical music per square inch than anywhere else I have been. The symphony, especially given the small size of the city, is outstanding. There are several ongoing Mozart and/or operetta samplers primarily for tourists, several with dinner, which are quite good.
There are two major opera houses, and both of them are worth seeing just for the fabulous architecture and furnishings even if you don't go to a performance. The Wiener Staatsoper is the more formal house and tends to stage big warhorses by the likes of Verdi, Puccini, and Wagner. The Volksoper (people's operahouse) is more oriented to lighter productions, such as Lehar's "Merry Widow". Warning -- expect to pay through the nose for these, and you might want to book a popular show far in advance. The best seats at the Staatsoper run $400, and even bad seats on a Tuesday night will run $40-$50, assuming you don't want to sit behind a pillar.
Palaces -- The Imperial Palaces of the Hapsburgs is the monument to excess you might expect from one of the most powerful ruling families in world history. The Vienna Boys Choir performs there. Outside of town, the summer palace of Franz Josef and his wife "Sissi" (Empress Elisabeth, who is practically a cult figure in Austria, a bit akin to Princess Diana or Jackie Kennedy in modern US history), called the Schönbrunn Palace, is remarkable.
Near the Ring, the Belvedere is extremely interesting. It was the home of Prince Eugen, an Austrian hero credited with defeating the Ottoman Empire. There are two major buildings and numerous smaller ones on a large plot of land quite close to the Ring. (I saw a fine exhibit of French Impressionist paintings located, perhaps with a bit of Austrian humor, in the stables.)
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug
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Epinions.com ID:
masonbarge
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Reviews written: 22
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