Like most tourist meccas, Vienna offers plenty of opportunities to spend top dollar on things that won't necessarily enhance your trip. Here are some smart ways to see this beautiful city without blowing your budget.
When to Visit:
Vienna enjoys four distinct seasons, but the climate generally tends to be moderate. An ideal time to visit is in June and July, when the weather is warm but not sweltering (August can be hot). Fall and spring are also pleasant, with mild temperatures and refreshing westerly winds. The high season extends from late spring into the fall, when hotel rates remain high; watch for rates to dip in the midwinter. Find flights to Vienna
Getting Around:
Get around the city with ease by using Vienna's reliable and efficient public transportation network (Vienna Transport), made up of the subway (U-Bahn), buses and streetcars. If you plan to use public transportation, it's a good idea to buy discounted tickets that are good for unlimited travel for 24 or 72 hours. Even better: Purchase a Vienna Card (18.50 euros), which gives you unlimited free travel by subway, bus or streetcar for 72 hours as well as discounts on airport trains. If you have kids in tow, note that children younger than age 15 visiting from other countries ride free on the subway, streetcars and buses during school vacations and on Sundays and holidays. Taxis are also available, but fares can be pricey. If you're feeling ecologically minded and slightly adventurous, hop on a "faxi" pedicab, a three-wheeled vehicle that is perfect for leisurely open-air sightseeing; the cost is 2.50 euros per kilometer.
Where to Stay:
In addition to hotel searches, budget travelers to Vienna can consider a number of reliable hostels as well as good-value apartments for rent. The Apartment Owner Association of Vienna has 250 properties including apartments, vacation rentals and bed and breakfasts -- all of which have been vetted and classified under the criteria established by the Federal Association of the Apartment Owner Organizations in Austria. Apartments have designated edelweiss symbols: two for economy, three for standard or four for premium.
Where to Eat:
You can find inexpensive fare at snack bars all over town that sell pizza, Turkish sandwiches known as "kebaps" and other quick bites. The most popular, called "wurstelstands," sell Austrian sausages and hot dogs. Café dining in the city's landmark coffee shops is not just for sipping cups of Viennese coffee; it's also for nibbling on tea sandwiches and sweet pastries and heavier fare such as Wiener schnitzel or creamy baked noodles with ham. For dinner, take in a hearty meal of Viennese comfort food at an atmospheric "biergarten," or beerhouse, where platters overflow with Viennese sausages and sauerkraut and beer steins are filled with frothy local brews.
Vienna Sights and Attractions:
Like many European Union capital cities, Vienna is far from being a bargain destination. But even budget travelers wouldn't want to miss out on the city's bounty of world-class museums. Luckily, there are ways to reduce the costs of seeing the city's top attractions. One smart thing to do is purchase a Vienna Card. In addition to providing 72 hours of unlimited travel on Vienna's public transportation system, the aforementioned Vienna Card Coupon Book (18.50 euros) offers discounts at more than 200 participating places including museums, major attractions such as the Schonbrunn Palace and the Hofburg Palace, restaurants and shops - and even the giant Ferris wheel (known as the Riesenrad) that was featured in the film The Third Man. The Sisi Ticket (also discounted with a Vienna Card) includes admission to the Sisi Museum and the Imperial Apartments in the Hofburg Palace, the Schonbrunn and the Vienna Furniture Museum.
More Vienna Tips:
- To market, to market. Don't leave Vienna without visiting one of the city's 26 colorful permanent open-air markets. The most popular is Naschmarkt, where market vendors sell fresh fruits and vegetables, cheeses and souvenirs; boutique restaurants ring the market.
- Speak the language. It's true that most Austrians speak and understand some English, but it's also a good idea to learn a few words of German (the official language) to better connect with the locals. Say "bitte" for please, "danke" for thank you and greet people with a hearty "gruss Gotte," meaning "greetings to God."
- Ride a bike. Enjoy touring the city and more than 150 miles of designated bike paths on a bicycle. Citybike Vienna is a dirt-cheap public bike rental service that lets you rent a bike and then return it at any one of the more than 54 rental stations - and the first hour of any ride is free! After that, the second hour is an additional euro, and three hours costs 3 euros. In addition, a number of private bike-rental shops found around the city rent out bikes for 4 euros an hour or 30 euros a day.
