9 Great Things to Do in Vienna as a First Time Visitor

Emerging from the subway at 9:30 in the morning, bright-eyed and crazy jet lagged, was like stepping into a different era in time. Vienna’s iconic St. Stephen’s Cathedral loomed ahead, and the City’s eclectic cultural history was visible all around us. Once the seat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the home to the Habsburg monarchy, Vienna (Wien) continues to function as Austria’s political, cultural, and economic center of activity. And everywhere you look you’ll find evidence of the various periods of Vienna’s history.

This historic city is stereotypically known for its music, Christmas markets, sausages, and pastries. There’s even a waltz named for this famed city. But as we dug deeper, we found a rich environment of food and architecture and a level of comfort that I don’t always feel in foreign cities. In short, I could easily just stay here forever. Sorry Jersey. 

And I’m not the only one. Vienna even turned Anthony Bourdein into a believer. The city has also been ranked one of the most livable cities in Europe.

This city is jam-packed with things to see and do and offers something for every type of traveler – museums, palaces, food, architecture, parks, history, music, arts, and of course: wine and beer.

We spent 3 days in Vienna at the front end of our trip and a 4th at the back end. We filled our time exploring the city through its architecture, history, food, and drinks. The following were some of favorite stops, sights, tastes, and smells as we made our way around. We made sure to hit the highlights and pack in as much as we can. The city has a lot to offer and there are so many different ways to approach your trip. We felt like the below stops were a great way to get to know Vienna as first time visitors.

1. Stephansdom (St. Stephen’s)

Stephansdom was located right around the corner from our Airbnb, so this was literally the first place we went after dropping off our stuff and taking a much needed shower. Our first true insight into Vienna. A church has sat at this location in the heart of the city for over 800 years, and the St. Stephens we see today took centuries to complete. 

The building is a living representation of Vienna’s history – architecture and art that span from the Romanesque through Gothic and into the Renaissance, not to mention buried royalty (a little family named the Habsburgs – you may have heard of them – they have a famous jaw) and a tower that wasn’t finished because the architect broke a deal with the Devil and was forced to fall to his death (as one does when they break deals with the Devil). 

The interior is immensely impressive. The ornate Gothic columns draw your eyes upward to the “heavens,” also known as a vaulted ceiling. Who knew the heavens stood at 88 feet high. With 18 altars, stunning stained glass masterpieces, and enough elaborate Christian artwork to last a lifetime, we pretty much just stood there with our mouths hanging open.

We were there during Pentecost (had no idea – bad Preacher’s kid here), so even though it was the middle of the week there was a service going on that kept us from reaching the High Altar, one of the most iconic places in the cathedral depicting  martyrdom of St. Stephen.

We walked past Pilgram’s Pulpit, a 16th century Gothic sculpture depicting the four church fathers – Saints Gregory, Jerome, Augustine, and Ambrose. Apparently. No idea who they are but their pulpit is absolutely breathtaking. 

We took the elevator up the Stefft (spire) to see the views (6 Euros). I suppose we could have walked the 343 steps – but our bodies thought it was 6 in the morning so we took the more relaxing trip in the elevator up to the viewing platform. 

The views you get of Vienna from the top of this tower really are stunning. You also can get up close and personal with the intricate tiled roof, consisting of 230,000 glazed tiles. This feature is really what makes the cathedral stand out from others. 

The cathedral miraculously survived the intense bombings of WWII, where legend says it was ultimately saved by an officer who refused to obey orders to destroy the cathedral in an attempt stop the Soviet Army. But in April 1945 sparks flew from nearby burning homes, setting fire to St. Stephens and causing the roof to collapse. 

It was rebuilt and reinforced with modern materials to ensure its continued existence.

Location: Stephansplatz 3, 1010 Wien

2. Viennese Coffee Houses

Whether it’s Café Landtmann or any of the other well known Viennese coffee houses, a stop at one (or several) makes for a lovely and very civilized break in the day.

Café Landtmann, where we visited on our first day, has been a Viennese staple since 1873. Located near Town Hall, the University of Vienna, and the Burgtheater, this iconic coffee house has long attracted politicians, academics, and artists who have historically gathered under the dark paneled ceilings or nested within the glass winter garden. Café Landtmann was known to be a favorite of the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud.

Viennese coffee houses (or kaffeehaus) are something of legend. As the story goes, coffee was first found in Vienna in the 1680s when Polish-Hapsburg soldiers discovered sacks of beans after defeating the Ottoman Turks and reclaimed the city. The first coffee house opened soon after, evolving over the next few hundred years before becoming the iconic institution it is today. 

Coffee houses are known for attracting artists, politicians, philosophers, writers, and the like – the romantic 1800s dimly lit coffee houses filled with individuals conversing about the daily issues comes to mind. 

One simply beautiful aspect about Viennese coffee houses is that after you have ordered your coffee from the waiter, as there is always a waiter who is usually dressed to the nines, you may enjoy your coffee and your table for as long as you’d like. You’re allowed to linger, read your book, talk with friends, without feeling rushed to clear your table. 

It’s for exactly this reason why we loved our stop at  Café Landtmann so much. We stopped here on our first day. Our overnight flight from Newark  had us feeling super drowsy so a mid day coffee was very much welcomed, and we fully embraced the “enjoy at your own leisure” atmosphere: John with his Turkish coffee and me with an espresso. 

Location: Universitätsring 4, 1010 Wien

3. Naschmarkt

Whether hungry or not, a walk through Naschmarkt is a fun experience. The market with its 120+ stands showcases the city’s various cultures and histories through their rich and savory foods and sweet delicatessens. We went back here several times over the course of our stay in Vienna and found something new to enjoy each time.

Colorful stands of herbs and spices line one stretch while salty scents of seafood cuisine waft over from the other side. The next stand will be selling teapots or scarves followed by a Thai restaurant.

Running between Linke Wienzeile and Rechte Wienzeile roads, Naschmarkt is situated over the River Wein, which runs underground at this location. Naschmarkt has been the point of sales for goods and products since the 16th century when milk bottles made from ash were sold here. 

On Saturdays there is a flea market extending off the rear of the food market, which we happened to just stumble upon.  

Location: Naschmarkt is nearly a mile long with many entrances into the market. We started at the most eastern point, on Getreidemarkt, between Link Wienzeile and Rechte Wienzeile, and walked the whole length.

Hours: Monday – Sunday: 6:00 am to 9:00 pm; Friday 6:00 an to 6:00 pm; Like many places in Vienna, it is closed on Sunday.

4. Schonbrunn

The Schonbrunn Palace is the heart of the royal aristocratic realm of imperial Vienna. Use of this property by the Habsburgs goes back to the 16th century. While a small hunting lodge was the original building on this site, the palace and expansive gardens that stand today are thanks to the efforts of Empress Maria Theresa during the 18th century. In the 19th century, the palace and its grounds were renovated and refurbished for the next generation of Habsburgs. The “Schonbrunn Yellow” color that is so associated with the palace today likely dates to the mid 19th century.

The palace boasts an impressive 1,441 rooms, about 40 of which are open to the public for tours, and was designed to rival the grandeur of Paris’ Versailles. 

Extending outward from the palace are an immense 435 acres of lush Baroque gardens, which also includes the world’s first zoo. The comprehensive and integrated design of the gardens as a natural extension from the palace creates a sense of one design between building and nature.

As is often the case, the German language has a word for this integrated artistic design: Gesamtkunstwerk. Roughly translated, Gesamtkunstwerk means “total work of art” and is used to describe a work of art or creative process where various art forms come together to create one cohesive design. 

Most of the Palace Gardens are free during operating hours. Individual tickets are required for the Orangery Garden, the Privy Garden, the Maze, and the zoo.

Tickets are also required to view the inside rooms of the palace. There are two levels of tours: the Imperial Tour, which allows you to visit 22 rooms, or the Grand tour, which brings you through all 40 available rooms. Both offer audioguides, so you can move through at your own pace. There are guided tours as well for a bit more per ticket.

We did the Imperial audio tour and felt like we got a lot out of it. Afterwards, we decided to rest our feet in the garden and enjoy some sausage we had purchased at Naschmarkt. Highly recommend this part.

Location: Schönbrunner Schloßstraße 47, 1130 Wien

Hours: The Palace is open every day from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and the gardens are open every day from 6:30 am to 8:00 pm

5. Cocktail Bars

While one side of Vienna offers a rich historic backdrop, another side offers a cocktail scene to be favored by any cocktail lover. The City seems to be lined with elegant cocktail bars, decked out in dark wood, velvet chairs, and intimate low lighting. We visited two while in Vienna, although there are countless others we’ve read are worth patronizing. 

The first we stopped at is likely one of the most famous: Loos American Bar, although it is often referred to as Karnter Bar by locals as that is the street it is located on. While it seems odd to visit an “American Bar” while in Vienna, I can assure you this is worth it, as well as the many other American Bars located throughout this Imperial European city. 

Honestly, when I think of an American bar, I think football, delicious greasy hamburgers and wings, a casual place to sit with friends and enjoy mediocre beers but with fabulous company. 

The American Bars of Vienna are far from this homespun image. 

The Loos American Bar is 290 square feet of mahogany wood, marble, onyx, and mirrors strategically placed along the walls to make the room feel larger. The drinks are classics. Pre-prohibition masterpieces that never get old – the Manhattan, the Sidecar, the Martini. All perfectly mixed and ready to bring you back to the early 20th century. Even timeless jazz geniuses like Dizzy Gillespie play over the speaker system.

The second cocktail bar we visited was the Roberto American Bar. Founded and owned by a bartender trained in the Loos bartending fashion, the Roberto is a cozy space with an impressive list of drinks to be enjoyed under a stunning crystal chandelier.

While they say Paris is for lovers, I say Vienna is for the sentimental. Even the cocktail bars bring you back to a romantic era that was fantastically, if not ignorantly carefree during a time of tumultuous global events. Or perhaps it was a time that never really existed at all, except in the minds of today’s hopeless nostalgics. Escapism at its finest, personified through this city’s intimate cocktail scene. 

To paraphrase a slightly overused cliché, we’ll always have Vienna. 

Location of Loos American Bar:  Kärntner Durchgang 10, 1010 Wien

Location of Roberto American Bar: Marco d’Avianogasse 1, 1010 Vienna

6. Street Fairs

During our short time in Vienna, we stumbled upon three different street fairs that offered food, drinks, and handmade items, showcasing some of the best of Viennese and Austrian culture. There seems to always be something going on in the streets of Vienna. We were there mid-May, but there seems to be events focused around food, drink, and art happening all year round.

The first street fair we found was surrounding the side of St. Stephen’s, called the Steffl Kirtag, Steffl being the nickname for St. Stephen’s (Stephansdom) and Kirtag translating roughly to “fair.” So literally, Steffl Kirtag means the St. Stephen’s Fair. The whole fair has an old-timey feeling and offers music, drinks, food, arts and crafts, and even a carousel for kids. The original Steffl Kirtag happened in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of the cathedral reopening after WWII.

The dates change from year to year – we were there in May and the 2023 dates are April 18th and 19th. No admission or tickets needed. Feel free to wander through the overtly traditional Austrian world. 

Location: Square outside of St. Stephen’s Cathedral

Admission: Free

The second street fair we stumbled upon was the Waldviertelpur Regional Festival, a celebration of the food, drink, and culture of Waldviertel, a region of Lower Austria where Viennese often vacation. Waldviertelpur showcases all Wadviertel has to offer. The region is known for its poppy seeds so if you happen to be there during the festival, make sure to try a poppy seed treat. Also – lots of great wine.

Coincidentally, we spent time in Waldviertel later in our trip.

It was here that we saw the same dance Clark Girzwold did in European Vacation. Unlike Clark, we were not asked to join.

The festival typically happens in mid-May and is located in the Rathausplatz (the square in front of Vienna’s City Hall). There is no cost to get in. To get to Rathausplatz, take the U2 subway to Rathaus, or the U3 to Volkstheater.

Location: Rathausplatz

Admission: Free

The third street fair we came across was the Internationaler Designmarkt – known as the WAMP Design Market. Stands and vendors boast Austrian and international artists selling jewelry, art, accessories, and lots of hand crafted items. We came away with a pair of earrings and a print of downtown Vienna.

Location: Museumsplatz (Museum Quarter)

Admission: Free

If all else fails and you don’t happen to be in Vienna when any street fairs are happening, we highly recommend grabbing a glass of wine at one of the many outdoor bars and enjoy it with your feet hanging out over the Danube Canal (Donaukanal).

Tip: You get real glassware at these outdoor drinking venues. If you return your glass in an unbroken fashion, you get a 1 euro back. Win win!

7. Grinzing

A quick tram ride on Line 38 takes you out of central Vienna and into Grinzing, an old wine village known for its numerous Heurigen (wine taverns) and quaint architecture. 

Vienna is one of the only cities in the world with vineyards inside its city limits. In case you haven’t had enough schmoozy cocktails and fancy wines yet, hop on the Line 38 tram for the 22-minute, $3 ride out to Grinzing to try out a few of the dozens of Heurigen taverns. The area is also known for its beautiful natural landscape, including many hills.

Each Heurigen offers its own distinct history and food, and many have charming garden areas to enjoy your wine and food from. 

There are lots of vineyards located within walking distance, many of which have walking paths for pedestrians, which we took full advantage of. 

How to get to Grinzing: Take either the Line 38 tram from Schottentor to the Grinzing stop, or the 38A bus from Heiligenstadt to the Grinzing stop.

Optional Detour: If you have an architecture interest as part of your Vienna trip, the Karl-Marx-Hof is a 25-minute walk from Grinzing in the Heiligenstadt neighborhood and right at the U4 subway stop. The Karl-Marx-House is a municipal housing complex that was completed in 1930 and designed by city planner Karl Ehn, a student of Otto Wagner.

The community of over 1,250 apartments offers a plethora of amenities, including a library, kindergartens, pharmacy, doctors offices, and business officers, making it a city planning poster child for post-WWI public housing initiatives.

8. Self-Guided Architecture Tour

Speaking of architecture, Vienna is home to some stunning examples of late 19th and early 20th century art and architecture. Discussion of the various styles of the city’s architecture could be a whole book. While there are thousands of years of architectural styles and ruins throughout the city (lots of Roman ruins have been found here), we loved the Viennese Modernism and Art Nouveau buildings and features that stood out against the city’s imperial backdrop.

The architecture and art from this period, roughly defined as 1890 through 1918, are decorative in style and represent a time of new discovery and advancements in art, architecture, philosophy, and literature.

We recommend working these buildings into your walks as you explore the streets of Vienna.

• Looshous – Built 1909 – Architect: Adolf Loos
• The American Bar – Built 1908 – Architect: Adolf Loos
• Karlsplatz – Built 1899 – Architect: Otto Wagner
• Maiolica House – Built 1898 – Architect: Otto Wagner
• Ankeruhr (Anchor Clock) – Built 1914 – Designer: Franz Matsch

While not of the Viennese Modernism and Art Nouveau period, the Hundertwasserhaus is another interesting stop. The Hundertwasserhaus is another apartment building. This one completed in 1985 and designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, a painter who was interested in developing an apartment building without straight lines, and architect Joseph Krawina.

9. Indulge in Vienna’s Finest Foods

It’s impossible to go to Vienna without sampling the many delightful creations Austria and Vienna are known for – Sachertorte (decadent cake), Wiener Schnitzel (if you know one food from Vienna, it’s Wiener Schnitzle), Goulash (a stew), Apfelstrudel (crispy pastry) – the list goes on and on.

There are many many incredible blogs and writings out there about the foods of Vienna. At length, we may write our own, but this blog has an excellent descriptions of 10 iconic Viennese foods to try.

Our last night in Vienna, we treated ourselves to a wonderful meal at a restaurant called Pramerl & the Wolf. They are a small restaurant with a small staff, and while we were there they only hosted two seatings a night. There is no menu to choose from here, rather a new menu is created based on what is available and served to each guest. We also did a wine pairing, which we recommend whenever such option is available.

It was an intimate environment, which started outside at out 8:00 pm seating. At 10:00 pm, everyone was moved inside to newly set tables as Vienna has a noise ordinance that requires everything to move inside at that time. The staff was young and highly knowledgeable and the food was completely original and delightful. One of our top meals on vacation.

Location: Pramergasse 21, 1090 Wien

Reservation: Required

Bonus Stops!

As I mentioned at the beginning, there there are so many options of sites and sounds to experience in Vienna. We did not have time to do everything. The below are a few other stops that we cannot vouch for personally but that Vienna is known for.

Museums in Vienna

We did not have a chance to visit any museums on this trip as we were focusing more on outside activities, but there are literally dozens to choose from – art museums, history museums, science museums, music museums, cultural museums – pretty much any topic you can think of where someone might say “hey lets design a museum around that,” there will be one.

Here is a great list of museums for you to peruse through while trying to decide which ones you want to pin for your next trip.

Music in Vienna

Some of you have probably gotten this far wondering how we haven’t talked about music yet. Vienna’s musical traditions and heritage are world renowned, and with the likes of Mozartz, Strauss, Beethoven, Schubert, and more calling Vienna home at one point or another, it’s hard to deny the musical fame bestowed upon this city. The waltz was even born here.

Even though we didn’t get to see a formalized musical performance, there is music everywhere in Vienna. We saw lots of street performers during our time there, including a string group posted outside of the WAMP Design Market.

Check out this site for a list of music venues and information on how to get tickets.

Trip Summary

The few days we spent in Vienna were filled with good food, drinks, and a ton of walking around. We planned out many of the bigger stops, but just like any good bohemian city, some of our favorite sights were the ones we just stumbled on. The street fairs were a great way to get to know Vienna and taste some local delicacies. I really could go back here to live. There are so many things to do in Vienna as a first time visitor, but the list we compiled above worked well for us to get to know the city. We hope it helps you plan your trip, too. Let us know in the comments if you have any other suggestions to add to the list!

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