Every six month or so the students in the Tools development team are asking me a lot of questions about Vienna. Which is fine – most of them are from overseas and they want to visit all major cities in Europe and not only stay in Herrenberg 
Most of the time they are asking the same questions and I’m googling for the same links. So why not create a link collection, add some comments now and then and provide a permanent resource for my students and the rest of the world? But primarily for my students, of course 
And hey, you can still ask me questions and contact me, so we can go for a beer or a cocktail…. if you want.
In general wien.gv.at is a very good page about Vienna and you also have a very good city map there.
Arriving and living in Vienna
Ok, the first important thing is how to get from the airport into the city. A taxi costs about EUR 30,-, so the CAT might be cheaper.
Badly the page for public transport in Vienna does not have an English version (or I just don’t find it) and the page is just bad. But here is the basic information from that page:
- One day ticket (24 Stunden Karte): EUR 5,-
- Special Vienna card (Wien Karte): EUR 16,90, valid for 72 hours, cheaper entrance in varous museums
- Week card (Wochenkarte): EUR 12,50, valid from Monday 9am to Monday 9am
- 8 day card (8 Tage Karte): EUR 24,-, valid for 8 separate days
The first one can be sold at any subway entrance, for the others I have no idea yet – please update me.
Another nice page I’ve found is The Vienna Metro with a lot of information about tickets, metro maps and all that stuff…. check it out!
Regarding “living” in Vienna I don’t have any experience, I only know that my flat is nice but too small…. but here is the major killer link regarding youth hostels: Youth Hostels in Austria. The one called Hostel Schlossherberge is very nice, but a bit outside.
If you have stayed in Vienna (Youth hostel, hotel, wherever) please send me a link and a recommondation of that “place”, so I can add it here.
Sightseeing
There is a lot of stuff so see in Vienna, so I even don’t know where to start. One student (Sophie) told me that she just entered the tram 1 (or 2, which is the opposite direction) and jumped on and off wherever she found something interesting. And really, tram 1/2 are following the “ring” so you will see the Opera, a lot of museums, the town hall….
In general you should just walk around in the city – the starting point should be the St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the center of the city. From there you can easily walk to the Hofburg.
“Outside” we have the Schönbrunn Palace, a must-have-seen. Furthermore you should go to the Prater with the Giant Ferris Wheel.
More information about sightseeing can be found here.
Eating and drinking
When you are in Vienna and in the Prater you should go and eat at the Schweizerhaus – mandatory! And I’ll be with you – mandatory!
And you definitely have to go to the Hotel Sacher next to the opera to try their famous cake!
For other good restaurants and bars ask me, don’t want to write more now…. but for going out at night my recommondation is the Volksgarten – does not matter if Club, Pavillon or Tanzcafe!
Shopping
The most important topic, especially for the female students. Maybe I should handover to my girlfriend here?
Anyways, I also have some shopping-experience – being in front of St. Stephan’s Cathedral you can turn to the left and follow down the Rotenturmstrasse to the Schwedenplatz. On the right there is the more important street – the Kärntnerstrasse, which leads you to the Opera (opposite to Starbucks).
Or you can just turn around and walk into the Graben (leave Zara on your right hand side) until you reach the famous Julius Meindl. In the street to the left you will find some very cheap shops (Louis Vuitton, Versace, D&G, Channel….), the right side is a bit better. If you want to know where to find Furla, please contact me.
The other must-be is the Mariahilferstrasse, , the longest shopping-street in Austria. Just start at the MQ and and follow the street until you reach the Benetton super store….
Finally…
That’s it for now – more will come whenever I have the time to write something….
Hopefully this page helps you all a bit – it would be nice if you send me your comments, corrections or ideas, so this page can be improved!
Regards,
Mike
Found a bug? Want to say something? Or just send me an comment? Feel free to do so!
Die Vereinigten Staaten sind ja nicht ganz unwichtig für den Rest der Welt – und trotzdem verstehen wir Europäer die Amerikaner nicht immer und nicht wirklich. Zum Glück gibt es einen sehr lesenswerten Blog names “USA Erklärt” in welchem Scot W. Stevenson auf unterhaltsame Weise über Amerika aufklärt. Das klingt dann ungefähr so:
One of the highlights was the talk about 
