Vienna – Tourist Tips

Otto Wagner’s plans at the turn of the century provided for a comprehensive urban transport system (tramways). In recent years the most important lines have been replaced by underground lines retaining the Secession-style buildings of the stations at Stadtpark, Karlsplatz, Schönbrunn and Hietzing (which are under statutory protection as national monuments).

The famous Viennese horse-cabs (Fiaker) ply for hire during the summer months. There are cab ranks in Stephansplatz, Heldenplatz and Albertinaplatz. The fare varies according to the type of cab, route, time of day and number of horses; a firm price should be agreed with the driver before setting out.

The principal shopping streets in the central area (Bezirk I) are the Kärnter Strasse (between the Opera intersection and Stock-im-Eisen-Platz and Kohlmarkt), the Kohlmarkt (between the Graben and Michaelerplatz) and Rotenturmstrasse (between Stephansplatz and Franz-Josefs-Kai); and in Bezirk VI the Mariahilfer Strasse (between the Messepalast and the Westbahnhof). (Note: the “Bezirke” are the districts or wards into which the city is divided, each with its own number).

Viennese craft products, following old traditions of craftmanship, are valued for their beauty and quality. Particularly popular are both useful and decorative items of hand-painted Augarten porcelain, goldsmith’s work, fine ceramic ware, enamel and wrought-iron, and leather goods of all kinds.

Collectors and art-lovers will find the antique shops of Vienna an inexhaustible source of treasure trove; and the city’s numerous antiquarian and secondhand bookshops and art dealers offer a tempting range of valuable old books, prints, etchings and pictures. Art auctions are held in the state-run Dorotheum at Dorotheergasse 17 and other art galleries and at antique dealers.

The Naschmarkt is a traditional food market held on weekdays on the covered-over section of the River Wien between the Linke Wienzeile (Bezirk VI) and the Rechte Wienzeile (Bezirk IV).

The Viennese cafe is a famous and historic institution. The first cafe is said to have been established by Frans Georg Kolschitzky, a Pole who is supposed to have brought coffee captured from the Turks to Vienna in 1683 and was granted the right to sell coffee in the city in 1685. (His establishment was at Domgasse 6). The cafe soon developed into a regular feature of public and social life, providing newspapers and games as well as coffee. In the Biedermeier period in particular they developed into luxuriously appointed establishments, and later in the 19th C. the elegant cafes on the Ring were built. These now became the meeting-place of artists, writers, scholars and journalists; and although something of the glory departed with the fall of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy the Viennese cafe is still a popular meeting-place, with newspapers and magazines always available for the use of customers.

Since the Second World War the modern espresso cafe has also become popular in Vienna. This is usually a small establishment patronized by those who want a quick cup of coffee and perhaps a snack.

Places in the city offering particularly fine views include the Türmerstube in St Stephen’s Cathedral, the Upper Belvedere, the Giant Wheel (Riesenrad) in the Prater, the Gloriette in Schönbrunn park, and the outlook terraces on Kahlenberg, Leopoldsberg and Höhenstrasse.