Weekend in Vienna

Vienna, the most livable city?

We'll see, we're still on a plane for a short Easter trip in rainy 7-degree weather.

We'll report on how we, as tourists, enjoyed the city in 2024 and whether it spoke to us.

How lucky we are!

We're flying back to Vienna after 27 years, and we have glorious weather again – if that's not a good omen...

Today was a relaxed day with the Hundertwasser House, St. Stephen's Cathedral, and Vienna's oldest public toilet. Still entirely in the Art Nouveau style, with gold fixtures and the same stench that surely anyone who's ever had to use such a public place knows all too well. Definitely worth the 50-cent entrance fee.

We had a wonderful end to the day with a delicious dinner at Satori d' Italia, highly recommended.

For Saturday, we booked the "Vienna Underworld Tour" through GetYourGuide. It sounded good and exciting, but it wasn't. We ended up walking above ground from one private cellar to the next. It's an option, but not a must-do.

We were really looking forward to the Naschmarkt: sampling a little here, nibbling on something there, and snacking on a bit... But no such luck! The vendors are so aggressive, pushy, and skilled at ripping off tourists that strolling through them isn't much fun at all. What a shame.

Even we, despite all our good intentions and what we thought was a wealth of life experience, fell for it and ended up with our backpacks much heavier than we would have liked.

But we had an even better ending in a cool riverside lounge with cool drinks, chill music and MEGA BASS, simply awesome.

Today, Easter Sunday, we're taking a tram trip to the 19th district, to the Nussdorf terminus. Incredible: Suddenly a completely different location! From now on, it's uphill...into the vineyards. A really cool view over all of Vienna. Amazing skyline.

Of course, we also stopped at one of the many Heurigen (wine taverns). A Heurigen is more than just wine, women, and song. For Viennese people, it's a piece of their identity. The word "Heurigen" refers to both the wine and the tavern. Unlike other wine taverns, in a Heurigen the winemaker serves his own Viennese wine. All in very simple conditions. We visited, for example, the Wagnerei. A garden with seating, created with the simplest of means, nestled among the vineyards.

They offer a selection of local wines and numerous small delicacies. Highly recommended.

Easter Monday, then before the afternoon flight we enjoyed one last fantastic breakfast in the hotel's rooftop lounge, and then another chilled day in the Prater and once again in our beloved riverside lounge in beautiful sunshine.

Vienna is certainly a great place to live, but we have discovered the most livable city for us so far here.

By the way, the WienLounge in Terminal 1 is highly recommended.

Overall, it was a very relaxing weekend despite the particularly high tourist traffic over the Easter weekend, which we met with an internal "Sigà Sigà". After all, it won't be long now until we emigrate to Cyprus.