A Tale of 4 Cities (continued)

Author: Hali Wallach

City #4: Vienna, Austria
Vienna was everything that you’d expect from a storied European city steeped in history, art, culture and money.  It was grand, regal, beautiful, opulent and expensive. Overall, it was quite impressive.

We stayed at the Graben Hotel which was also centrally located and very affordable, but bare bones and no frills.  As is the case for the vast majority of European hotels, the room was tiny with limited space to move around. Still, it was clean and the staff was accommodating.  Seeing as we didn’t spend much time in our hotel, it served its purpose.

As with Warsaw and Krakow, we did a City Tour that took us on a double decker bus through the city to Schloss Schonbrunn Palace.  The Schonbrunn was beautiful, and our tour guide gave us some helpful suggestions on where else to go.  We also went to the Belvedere Palace, Staatsoper (Opera House) and Hofburg Palace / Sisi Museum. The Sisi Museum in the Imperial Apartments of the Imperial Palace was our favorite. Had there been more time in Vienna, we would have taken the subway and also gone to Riesenrad (Giant Ferris wheel).

Our Dining Experiences
Plachuttas Gasthaus zur Oper for Veal Schnitzel should be a must!  
Figlmüller for Pork Schnitzel is not necessary.

Do & Co Stephansplatz – Stop by for lunch, snack or just a drink.  Beautiful view of the Stephansdom.

Steirereck im Stadtpark - THE best restaurant in Vienna. Strict dress code.  Hard to get a reservation, but a good travel agent can get you in and it's well worth it! We were so pleasantly surprised by this place!

Das Loft at Sofital Vienna Stephansdom – Go for the view, not for the food.  Restaurant is on the ~18th floor. Amazing views of the first district (old town) of Vienna. Reservation is necessary. Try to get a reservation for ~7 or 8 pm to watch the sunset over Vienna.