Why Vienna Should Be Your Next European Destination

About a year ago, I visited Vienna and let me tell you one thing: I wasn't ready for what I was about to witness. I've always wanted to go, and as a child I remember being utterly obsessed with the story of Empress Sisi, movie I may have watched a gazillion times during my childhood. So visiting the capital of Austria just made sense and I'm telling you, I have no regrets. Vienna is one of the most jaw-dropping cities I've ever seen in my entire life. In this article, I will list a few reasons to why you should visit Vienna, and I'll drop a couple of pictures — but not everything, I have to leave some for the travel diary I'll be posting soon.

This is my personal reminder that I still have to get the photo developed. When travelling, I always take my film camera with me. It's now been fourteen months — I even went to Rome can you imagine? But you'll have to forgive me for that one as I also had to plan 2 moves and I bought a flat as well, so I've been a busy bee. Nonetheless, I really have no excuse, cause it takes a couple of minutes to drop the film to the shop.

I'm also going to list the price of everything I paid for, so you can have an idea of the budget for a 4 days trip, including flight, airbnb, transport, food and activities! I flew with Austrian Airline, that I don't really recommend, mainly due to the flight being late, both ways. 

Flight: £130,99

Airbnb: £113,27

Transportation: £15

Eating out: £80

Activities: £10

Total: about £350

(Please note the transportation, food and activities were originally in euros, and I converted. It's also an approximated amount, as I had to buy more things like souvenirs, bottle of water and this and that.)

That being said, here's why I think Vienna should be your next European destination:

1 | VIENNA'S STUNNING ARCHITECTURE

I don’t know the first thing about buildings and architecture but I know a lot about beautiful and aesthetically pleasing things. It’s the Libra Venus in me. It is a mix between modern, imperial, and baroque. I cannot talk about Vienna's stunning architecture without talking about the cathedrals and churches as well — like the St Stephen's Cathedral or even St Charles Church. However, my lack of knowledge for the architecture will definitely make this first point shorter that I'd like to, as I can only refer to it as either modern, or older, and beautiful, or amazing. Nonetheless, it definitely is one of the main reasons to why once should visit the Austrian capital. You won’t regret it, even in the streets further from the center of the city, like where my Airbnb was. Vienna is also a city where you will find picturesque parks, not just a grass type of parks. The ones where you have monuments, statues and even rivers sometimes. It's the case of the Stadtpark, where I took this picture (on the left). Did you know that this monument is the most photographed in the park? It's the Johann Strauss one, where you can see him playing the violin. I can totally see why, as it's a proper masterpiece, and I remember staring at it for a whole 10 minutes, it was reflecting the sun at the end of the day and the shadows of the surrounding trees were making it look even more interesting.

2 | THE RICH HISTORY

We cannot talk about Vienna without mentioning its history-filled past. As I mentioned it above, I was utterly obsessed with Empress Sisi's story, it just made sense. Yes, of course it was that period of my childhood where I wanted to be a princess, but it wasn't just wearing elegent and breathtaking dresses. The castles, and their gardens as well. Mainly. Vienna was the empire of the Hassbourg for centuries, and played a major role in the European history, and it shows. Every place has an history. Outside the imperial side of things, Vienna is also the city of Mozart, or even Strauss. Classical/baroque music lovers will understand this one. There's often concerts that are organised in the city, and it's the occasion to celebrate the impact it still has on us. I'm still sad I haven't attended the Four Seasons concert that was taking place when I was in Vienna (and I know, Vivaldi is italian, but the Four Seasons still gives me goosebumps). The list of historical sites you should visit, or at least see, is long but worth it, and I'd definitely recommend the Schloss Schönbrunn and its garden, also the view from Gloriette is spectacular and it only costs 5,5€ to walk up there. I did it right after drinking a hot chocolate on my last day in Vienna and I can only recommend. Visiting the castle itself would have been really long, but I really have enjoyed the gardens. Also stop by the Belvedere Palace and the Parliament. In additional to being places full of history, they're also architectural gems. 

3 | ART AND MUSEUMS GALORE

Every point are pretty much the same so far, but I'd like to take a minute or so to talk about the art and museums in Vienna. Not only that but pretty much everything is open to the public in the city, that's how I discovered the Justizpalast (Palace of Justice), that is so impressive. It's open to the public, you can go in for a stroll and you can even go upstairs. It's where I took the picture on the right, and let me tell you: it is one of the most beautiful (but random) places I've been during this trip. The University of Vienna is also open to the public if you want to walk around, and it is aesthetically insane, it almost made me wanna to move there to become a student. And when strolling around the city, I also bumped into the Kinsky Palace You would be wrong not to stop. Go in, take the stairs and on the first floor, you'll be able to witness one of the most impressive fresco ceiling. And I've been to the Sistine Chapel. The mirrors, the statues and the decorate staircase are making this place a must if you have an extra 30 minutes to spare. Also, if it free to access. And as I am a nice person, I'll leave you with a picture of the upper room, including the ceiling (both taken with my phone and not my camera).

4 | THE OUTDOOR SPACES

I know I already talked about parks and architectures, but I didn't mention that there are numerous outdoor spaces that are really cool. Outside the Stadtpark, I can think of one specific: Prater Park. I went there on my last day in Vienna. There's over 250 different attractions I believe, including a ferris wheel, and there is a certain nostalgia linked to it. Do you remember when you were a kid and you were going to the amusement park with you family? It gives the same vibes. The Prater is also a park, where you can go for a long walk. You also have the Volksgarten (People's Park), that is one of Vienna's most beautiful outdoor space. Or the Burggarten — picture on the right, that is located between the Imperial Palace and Albertina. It's a quiet oasis of nature and you can also stop by the Palm House Café, for a sweet treat. I did. It was a rainy day and it started showering outside, so I decided to treat myself with an affogato. The place is absolutely gorgeous.

5 | EASY TO NAVIGATE PUBLIC TRANSPORTS

This is a must when you travel to a city you don't know. And Vienna's public transport is clean, reliable and so easy to use and navigate. I paid 17€ for a 72-hours pass, that I could use on pretty much everything if I remember well and the journeys were so easy. Even switching lines at Stephansplatz (if you know, you know). 

6 | CENTRAL LOCATION

I didn't have the chance to do so but from Vienna, you could travel in a lot of other European cities, such as Bratislava or even Budapest. I was only there for 4 days, but it's something I like to do when I am travelling — going to as many cities as I can. I also know that if you come from places like North America or Asia, it can be interesting to squeeze as many places as you can on a tighter schedule. It's an extra point, short but to consider!

7 | SAFE & FRIENDLY

As a solo traveller, I always make sure I'm visiting safe places. Vienna is one of them, and at no point I felt unsafe or even not welcomed (even though I don't speak a single word a German). I walked at night on my own, without being bothered of even followed. It is important to mention it to my fellow travelling girlies.

If I'm being honest, I wasn't going there with any expectations, as I didn't really know a lot about the city, but turns out it was an amazing trip and Vienna is on the list of places I'd love to go back to at some point. I could talk about this city for hours, and I have a couple of extra articles planned to say the least. It's one of those magical places you end up falling in love with and as a traveller, I can tell you that even though it happened a lot, no places are coming closer to that one. Vienna, on a warm or rainy day, is worth it. And you will have a blast! I could list more reasons to visit it: the coffee culture, the people, the music, the culture, but this article would be too long. I'm just going to add one thing: if Vienna is on your list, do yourself a favour and book that trip!

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