Wilde Child Travel: 24 Hours in Vienna

Vienna is a beautiful city. I didn't know what to expect when arriving, but thoroughly enjoyed my stay, non-the-less. I spent more than 24 hours in Vienna, but if that's all the time you've got here is what I would do with that one day!

(St.Stephen's Cathedral)

Breakfast 

Jausen Station is a small cafe/restaurant near the garden maze of Schonbrunn Palace. It's a peacefully little place to sit down, chill, have some great food and watch birds. What a better way to start your day in Vienna than with a royal breakfast.  

Sacher torte; even after a full breakfast I had to try this famous Viennese treat.

Schonbrunn Palace

Right around the corner from Jausen Station is the sprawling Schobrunn Palace. You can walk around for free or buy a ticket to go inside. There is a zoo and a maze you can walk through, if you're up for it.

(Front of Palace)

(paths leading to fountain, zoo, and maze)

(Back of palace)

City Center

Go into the city center and walk around. Vienna is extremely pedestrian friendly. There are various walking tours to pick from, but with only 24 hours I wouldn't want a walking tour to eat up most of my short time in this city. 

There are plenty of buildings to visit to fill time, but who wants to just "fill time" when you are on a time crunch? I wouldn't want to shell out money to wait in lines. Instead, I would go see the meticulous gardens, little boutiques, and cafes. One thing I did notice immediately, because my family members wanted souvenirs from Vienna, was that the souvenir shops aren't like other souvenir shops. They blend in and look like any other store front. I spent a while looking for them and stumbled upon one thinking it was just a boutique. This city works really hard to keep up the aesthetics and it shows. 

(a different take on the Viennese apple strudel, wrapped like egg rolls with warm vanilla pudding)

*Hard Candy*

Walking around we stumbled upon this adorable little shop. Also, it was cold out, so we went inside. We entered Die Zuckerlwekstatt, a shop that hand makes hard candies. 

 A team of worker take large amounts of ingredients and roll them down to tiny rolls, cuts them up and somehow (magically) the candies have the cute little images on the insides to tell what flavor they are! I would have taken a video or picture of the process, but that was not allowed. 

Vienna is a very walk-able place. If' you're not feeling up to wandering around from palace to palace to museum, the bus/tram is good, too. It's the best way to see most of the city.

The Prater Amusement Park is free upon entry and open to everyone. There are restaurants, beer gardens, and  - of course - amusement park rides! You pay for each ride as you go and it's open all year around. 

I went on the Prater Turm, 117-m high swing carousel, the tallest in the world. They didn't allow visitors to take photos or videos during the ride :( But I had to snap a pic once back on the ground to remember this crazy and very terrifying ride. I am not big on heights, but...when in Vienna! I got through the first few seconds of screaming and once i calmed down the view from the top was incredible! 

Along the Danube Canal is one of the most BEAUTIFUL art galleries I could have ever seen in this city. A graffiti and street art gallery. Artists and writers are allowed to come by the river and painted all over the walls. Traveling both sides of the river would take a long time, don't worry! There are bars, cafes and shops to explore if you get tired. I spent a long time walking around here, with only 24 hours you would have to delegate your time carefully.

(scek 2015)

(hand painted butterflies) 

*Donautrum & Schnapps*

I killed two birds with one stone by visiting the Donautrum (the Danube Tower of Vienna) and trying Schnapps. Now, I wanted to try all things Austrian/Viennese while I was visiting, but Schnapps was the one thing I could not handle. My friends and I got one each and passed the three flavors around so we could try various types. 

 I swear it nearly killed us, it's so potent in aroma, taste, and alcohol level. The portions are small because all you need is a little bit and you can feel it getting to you. Personally, trying schnapps once was enough for me. I'm glad I did it, but never again!

(Donautrum)

The Donautrum is like the CN Tower in Toronto. It's an observation tower that revolves 360. There is a observation deck, a restaurant (which apparently hold magic shows every now and then), a Bungee Jumping platform, and much more. We wanted to catch the sun set and get schnapps for our last night in town. We paid to get up the tower and hung out on the observation deck. The bar was upstairs. We were turned away from the restaurant and even sitting at the bar because there was a show in progress. We begged and begged a host telling him we just wanted one drink. He said no, but at the last minute, just as we were about to walk back down the stairs to the elevator, he relented and found us a table! It had been reserved, but the people never showed up! That is how we were able to enjoy these beautiful views and see the city from a new perspective.

The sun set was great, I loved seeing the river and the sun go behind the mountains. The Schnapps and the revolving restaurant kind of get to your head after a while, but it's a great way to end a 24 hour visit to Vienna, Austria.