54 Hours in Vienna

My quest to explore as much of Europe as possible continues! This time around, my partner Kae and I went on a long weekend endeavor to Vienna, Austria, or Wien, Österreich to the locals (and again, I think it sounds cooler). We left Friday morning and intended to leave early Sunday afternoon, but we felt the city had so much to offer that we booked a later train for Sunday night, which proved to be a great decision. 54 hours in Vienna is definitely not enough, but we did see a whole bunch of fun and amazing things while we were there.

Sightseeing in Vienna

A good chunk of our time in Vienna was spent walking around the city, looking at how beautiful the city and its architecture were. We walked around the city so much to the point where our feet ached badly by the end of it, but it was worth the fatigue I felt the next day.

Stephansplatz

Stephansplatz is the geographical center of Vienna, and within the city center is the city’s tallest cathedral, the Stephansdom. This building and city center were very unique and something that I hadn’t really seen before. It’s not common for a city in the United States to have a cathedral sitting in a booming area (Times Square, NYC should get on that).

We had seen this building our first night in the city, and again in broad daylight, and I personally think that it was better in the nighttime. It looked ominous and spooky in a good way, which I know isn’t the premise of a cathedral but I mean it as a compliment. 

Schönbrunn Palace

The Schönbrunn Palace was absolutely beautiful. It was, of course, a palace, but also had a garden surrounding it and one of the greatest views of the entire city. There were guided tours that took place within the museum, but we decided to focus more on the sight itself, which was still worth it. The walk to oversee the entire city did kick my butt and I had to take quite a few breaks, but it was absolutely breathtaking (literally).

Museums in Vienna

The museums in Vienna happened to be some of the fanciest and coolest museums I have ever seen, which I’m noticing is the case with every museum I’ve been to in Europe so far, whether that be in Brno, Prague, or Vienna.

Albertina

The Albertina was actually a museum suggested to me by my boss at Foreigners, Kateřina, and it did not disappoint at all. We visited the main Albertina, which consisted of art, and the Albertina Modern, which consisted of modern artwork, sculptures, and things of the sort. Personally, I enjoyed the main Albertina museum a lot more than the modern museum, but the experiences I had walking through these museums were amazing and learning deeply about art, both old and new, was something I didn’t think I’d be truly interested in, so thanks Albertina!

Haus Des Meeres

I’m from Atlanta in the United States, which has a cool aquarium that I’ve been to a few times growing up, but that aquarium is nothing like the Haus Des Meeres in Vienna. The Haus Des Meeres is more than an aquarium, it was a zoo filled with ocean animals, birds, monkeys, and more from all over the world. The building was very unique as it was located in the middle of a park and went up about twelve stories. The monkeys and birds just roamed free to the point where a bird nearly flew into my head and I almost took a monkey back to Brno with me. This aquarium was such a unique experience that I don’t think I could find back in the States, so I’m glad we took a trip over to see it. There was a cool rooftop restaurant on top of the aquarium, but we unfortunately didn’t eat there (next time, maybe).

What’s next?

Similarly to Prague, we did not explore a whole lot of Vienna in the short amount of time that we were there, so we definitely will take another trip or two before my time in Europe is over, but that won’t be for a while. Vienna was fun, but unnecessarily expensive, so my wallet needs a little break.  I’ve been planning more weekend trips to cities that are slightly farther away than a mere hour or two, so stay tuned for that.

I’ve also been to Prague! To learn more about my weekend trip there, check out my previous blog right here!