Spittelberg was our "go to" area for many dinners, as our apartment was relatively close by. It's a…read moresmall district, maybe 4-5 blocks total - located right behind the Museumsquartier and entirely pedestrianized. Back in the day, this was the "red light" district for the soldiers serving the Hofburg palace. Most of the buildings are original, dating from the 18th and early 19th century - so you really get a feel for "old Vienna" here. The streets are cobbled and quiet so you don't feel like you're in the middle of a major city. During the day, there are cute (and pricey) boutiques, shops and art galleries. At night, there are a good number of restaurants and gasthauses to explore. We especially liked Boheme and Witwe Bolt but there are many more to pick from. If you're visiting during the Christmas season, the neighborhood hosts a popular Christmas market in the "village square" area.

This was the closest station to our hotel so we became familiar with it over the course of a week…read more It is much larger (underground) than I initially realized. One arm extends away from the main terminal to the west for a few blocks. This is a good option to avoid having to cross multiple surface streets or avoid inclement weather. The furthest exit comes out near the Succession art museum. Another arm extends north a few blocks to the State Opera House. This is again convenient for avoiding street traffic, but this arm also has a number of shops and small eateries as well. The central nexus (where you change subway lines) has a number of food options as well. If you are going to be in this area much, it is worth exploring this station as a means of saving yourself transit time on the streets.

This is a beautiful church. There is a small admission fee. The exterior is pretty to explore and…read morethere's a great Christmas market out front. It has only handmade items, Art Advent.

Yelp Review 2023 #270:…read more Hochstralbrunnen is a small part of a park (Schwartzenbergplatz). It's looks nothing special in the winter months for a reason. They drain the water and turn off the pipelines. The fountain is only operating in the spring, summer, and beginning of fall. It's a powerful fountain that shoots up water like a jet and sprays people - you wouldn't want to get sprayed with water in the winter, would you? However, you can still make this fountain look more interesting and worthy of a visit during the winter. Do a light show...something! So, this fountain's pipelines are connected to the Central Eastern Alps so the water is supposedly potable. I'm not about to get pelted by water to test that. I ended up here while I was at the Karlskirche and trying to get to Belvedere. It wasn't part of my itinerary at all. I watched YouTube videos of what it looks like in the summer - and it's quite nice. So, go in the summer!

Beautiful and meaningful! We stopped by as we meandered through the city. Read about it online.read more

Ringstrasse is the street where most of the culturally important landmarks and tourist sites are…read morelocated. I recommend hopping on a tram/bus and taking it all the way around this circular boulevard so you get a sense of where everything is located in relation to each other, as well as to get a feel for the city. It's a main street, so it is extremely busy with both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. It was built on what was once the old city walls, hence it being a ring (same word in German). Hubs and I took the tram around it AND walked most of it, just to get up close and personal with some of the buildings, like the Parliament and City Hall. The best shopping and restaurants are inside the ring, the Innere Stadt, but you can find a few decent place on the outskirts. 72/2025

Nice park for walking or a workout and views of the Hofburg complex. Also check out the Volksgarten…read moreacross the street for lilacs and roses.

It's kind of creepy that this is where 200,000 Viennese gathered in 1938 to welcome Adolf Hitler…read moreand to celebrate the Anschluss. Interesting to stand here and to marvel how Austria could embrace Hitler and Dollfuss four years earlier.

This is a delightful little corner of Vienna you could easily miss even if you spent your while…read morelife in the city. But you definitely don't want to miss it! Over the years Yppenplatz has developed into a lovely place for people to come together. There are wonderful restaurants, a couple of artsy places and the classic Viennese Staud's marmelade store. You can spend an enjoyable morning or afternoon here and finish it all off with a trip next door to the Brunnenmarkt, an authentic market which, unlike many markets in Vienna, hasn't lost its ethnically diverse character. Personally, I like to treat myself to breakfast at An-Do or Rasouli, buy some fresh fruit and veg at the market and then stop by Halis Börek to pick up some sweetpotato börek for my kids. The wonderfully old-fashioned (in the experience-a-piece-of-history sense of the word) Kaffee Putz is a great place to stop in, too. Yppenplatz is an ideal example of true local character.