Here’s my own walking tour of gay Vienna – using the map I picked up at the tourism office at the train station. If you are arriving by train, don’t forget to drop by the tourism office and ask what you could do for a day or three in the city. The nice lady recommended and handed me a map of a two-hour walking tour. She patiently answered my questions and even gave a few coupons I could use. But, of course, I didn’t depend on the map alone. I had help from Google maps, too. 😉
I recommend that before you embark on your own walking tour, make sure to find these places in order. It will save you time, especially if you are not good at reading maps – like me. 😀
Vienna State Opera House
There is no better place to start my walking tour but here on a Saturday morning. This is not just a historical Rennaissance building, but this is the center of Austrian arts. Waltz originated in Vienna and world-renowned composers, like Mozart and Beethoven, found their homes here.
One of the best ways to get the most out of a visit to a new destination is to source some local advice and guidance on what’s good – where you should stay, what you should do, what are some of the hidden treats and experiences that only the locals seem to know about.
The Austrian capital of Vienna has long been one of our favorite European cities – with its solid grandeur, stunning buildings, and sense of history, together with a cafe culture and appreciation of the arts that is hard to match.
Here’s a quick guide to some of the essentials:
Coffee
This city is obsessed with coffee. Not in an Italian, fussy-about-quality kind of way, but the Viennese pride themselves on offering all sorts of inventive ways of serving coffee — most seem to come with a huge dollop of cream and a slug of alcohol.
Our favourites were the Mozart Kaffee (a short, strong coffee, topped with some whipped cream and accompanied by a small bottle of Mozart chocolate liqueur that you pour on top); the Maria Christina Kaffee (pretty much the same except the alcohol is an apricot liqueur); and the Franz Landtmann Kaffee (a double espresso with brandy, coffee liqueur, whipped cream and cinnamon).
Cafés
Of course, coffee is served in cafés, and Vienna has an extraordinary café culture. From the iconic but touristy Café Central (where Freud reportedly spent a lot of time); to the locals’ favourite Café Diglas which has the most amazing selection of cakes; to the more commercial Café de l’Europe, Café Mozart or Café Landtmann — you really can while away hours in Vienna’s cafés, eating, reading, and talking.