First Full Day in Vienna: A Journey Through History

Patricia had purchased a travel guide in advance to help us navigate the city’s many viewpoints. We typically opt for printed travel books for our trips because they are convenient and provide recommended city tours. This particular guide even included GPS tracks within their app, making navigation easier. The guide suggested a couple of different routes with different topics.

For our first day, we decided to take a route through the city center. Along this route, we encountered quite a number of interesting buildings that showcased Vienna’s illustrious past. It was evident that Vienna was once the heart of the KuK Monarchy, as the architecture was strikingly impressive all around us. We made sure to enter some public buildings along the way because they were not only magnificent from the outside but also offered remarkably impressive interiors!

Ups- and Downs

While I won’t share many photos from our walk, as there tended to be a lot of people around, we did notice one downside of our visit at mid-November: The parks were already prepared for winter, which meant the fountains had been winterized and the trees had lost most of their foliage. I could only imagine how vibrant these places must look in spring or autumn. We agreed to return to experience the parks in a different season. In several parks and places we talked about how those spots must look in other seasons.

Near the town hall, I stumbled upon another advantage and disadvantage of our spontaneous trip: Christmas markets! It was delightful to see all the little huts filled with goods, displaying a variety of offerings. The offerings were a little bit distinct from the markets we were familiar with back in Germany. However, the markets were set up right in front of magnificent buildings, and such spectacles also meant crowds of people. Well, I suppose one cannot have everything, so we would just had to deal with it. We walked over the markets and just simply enjoyed being there.

The Parliament building also caught my attention with its incredible details. The fountain in front of the building, The big pillars. Even the little statues on top of the streetlights. I wanted to take some photos there and kept walking around to find a proper perspective. Of course, I tried to cover the whole building, but that’s hardly possible – except taking a photo directly from in front of the building. But I didn’t like the rather flat perspective. After a bit of walking around, I found a good spot a bit aside the main building. Suddenly I realized that the ramp and according walls provided a beautiful S-curve, leading up to the building.

Another highlight of our day was the museums, and there are so many to visit! Well it’s called Museums-quarter .. So I shouldn’t have been surprised. We walked into the front hall of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien and were blown away by the breathtaking interior design. A colleague had recommended that I visit this museum, and just by looking at it, I could see why. It was just super impressive. We didn’t go there this day but wanted to see if it was worth visiting. – Of course we didn’t know about the exhibitions – but simply the architecture was worth taking a visit another day. By the way: There’s also a reason why the museum was so impressive. it wasn’t just built as a museum but also as a representative building / institution. And well – it works – even for us nowadays. Sometimes I just try to imagine how this must have been for the people 100 years ago.

Viennese coffee house culture

After all the walking and exploration, we needed a break. We decided to stop in a coffee house to relax and recharge. I must emphasize that visiting cafés in Vienna is a must-do. The ambiance is truly hard to describe and adds to the overall experience of the city.

After enjoying our coffee break, we made our way to the Wiener Prater. One of our stops there was Madame Tussauds, where we had quite a bit of fun taking photos and enjoying the exhibits. As the day came to a close, we headed back to our hotel, feeling pleased with all we had experienced. We ended our day at a nearby restaurant, reflecting on the memorable moments and beautiful impressions we had gathered throughout our adventurous first day in Vienna.