2 days in Vienna

We went to Vienna State Opera first. To see it from inside and have taste of opera without sitting through 3-hour opera show or ballet, we bought standing tickets for a Mozart orchestra which was scheduled for 8:15 PM. Reach at the gates atleast half an hour before the scheduled time so that you get a better place to stand.

From here we walked down to Stephanplatz, the old town square of Vienna. It is named after St. Stephan Church. You can reach here by metro as well. Metro station is located right infront of the cathedral. This cathedral is huge and elaborately decorated. Its roof is unique and quite colorful. Tinted window panes of assorted colors provide colorful hues to the whole church. Entry is free but incase you want to climb up the towers to see beautiful city views then tickets are needed.

Next on our list was Hofburg Palace/Imperial Palace. It was the main center of Habsburg Dynasty. While walking around this gigantic complex you can still feel the majesty of Imperialism. The outside of this complex is beautiful, impressive and daunting while the insides offer so much in terms of displaying, preserving and showcasing what made the Austrian Empire great. This spawning muIti-wing complex seems like a little city in itself! It comprises of following:

1. Austrian National Library: Our first stop in this complex. One of the most stunning and old libraries of the world! Besides floor to ceiling bookshelves, frescoes on ceilings, arches and marble statues are exquisite. I highly recommend this place as I have never seen any library like this!! Entry is free with Vienna Pass (which we did not buy).

2. Joseph Square (Josefzplatz): As you come out of library you will enter this square. It has large statue of Emperor Joseph II in Roman clothing riding a horse. It has Augustiner Monastery in one corner which is a small and simple chapel.

3. Imperial Treasury of Vienna: It has jewels of the Holy Roman Empire, including the Imperial Crown and the Holy Lance, gems including one of the world’s largest emeralds, jewels and ceremonial clothing which are many years old. Separate entry ticket is required which includes audio guide as well. It has Imperial Music Chapel (Hofmusikkapelle) as well inside where the famous Vienna Boys Choir performs on Sunday masses. More information and tickets can be found here

4. Hofburg Imperial Apartments: You will see 3 exhibitions here included in 1 ticket with audio guide.

a) 1st one is Imperial Silver Collection exhibition which showed all kinds of cutlery, silverware, glassware, crystals objects, china/porcelain cutlery, etc. that were used by the court. The most interesting part for me was the golden centerpiece spanning the entire length of the table.

b) The 2nd part is Sisi Museum. It tells the story of Sisi, Queen Elizabeth, wife of king Franz Joseph 2. Her life from a small child, through the pressures of being Empress, her struggle with maintaining beauty, to her unfortunate death. It displays some pieces used by her like lavish dresses, shoes, books, her own notes and a replica of her private chambers when she traveled by train.

c) 3rd part is Imperial Apartments where you will see rooms of Franz Joseph, Sisi, their kids, conference rooms, family dining rooms and many more with their original furniture, furnishings and decorations intact.

Highly recommend this tour! Important: Combined Ticket: The Sisi Ticket is the best deal as it includes Schönbrunn Palace, Imperial Furniture Collection, Hofburg with the Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum, and the Imperial Silver Collection. More details can be found here.

5. Hero’s Square (Heldenplatz): This is a huge beautiful square having Neue Burg (New Castle) in background. Some part of it is a museum and rest is a government office. We skipped New castle. Infront of this square lies large exquisite gardens called Burggarten & Volksgarten.

6. Spanish Riding School: We did not go here because of lack of time. This is the oldest horse riding school in world which gets its name from white Lipizzaner horses from Spain. You can watch Morning exercises here starting at 10 AM for which tickets can bought at its ticket center in morning. The full dressage show performances typically happen on Saturday and Sundays at 11am and can sell well in advance. More details and tickets can be found here.

Post this we went to Rathaus to grab some dinner. This is where City Town Hall is present. It’s a magnificent building which actually looks like a fairy tale castle. At night when it is all lit up it looks even more mesmerizing. It has vast beer garden in front where multi-cuisine food stalls are put up serving food, beers and wines. It is always bustling with people. At night, full sized screen goes up and free outdoor movies are showcased with ample of sitting arena around and looks like an amphitheater. Free guided tours are conducted for those who wants see city hall from inside. More details can be found here. Also, one can climb up the towers to witness city views from top!

Our last stop of the day was Opera house to see the Mozart Orchestra performance for which we had already booked tickets in morning. Duration was 2 hours but we watched it only till interval and post that we wandered around the whole building to soak in its beauty. We had seen such a place and performance only in movies so it was a pleasant experience to witness this for real!

From here we went to Schwedenplatz to do Ringstrasse tram tour. It’s a yellow color tram and a special ticket is needed to ride this tram for one time. You will get audio guides which narrates history of Vienna in general and all the important monuments it passes by. Last one leaves at 5:30 PM. It’s a very short trip and we did not find it much useful! Austrian Parliament house is quite astonishing as it looks like some Roman Temple e.g. Pantheon in Rome! Free guided tours are available at the top of the hour Monday-Saturday at 11am-4pm.

We spent rest of the day roaming around in old town of Vienna. It is crammed full of beautiful old buildings and never-ending architecture. you will find the famous café Sacher here. Well, we found its chocolate cakes to be over-hyped! Pedestrian and famous streets like Kärntner Strasse and Graben are lined with showrooms of luxury brands and various souvenir shops. Look anywhere and you will find amazing number of grand buildings, statues and wonderful squares.