The un-tourist’s guide to Europe: Vienna

Editor’s note: Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan has long been one of our favourite writers and people. She also has the greatest virtue of a traveler: a wide-ranging curiosity and interests. Meenakshi is most serendipitously living in Berlin—so we shanghaied her into writing a series of personal, unique, ‘un-tourist’ guides to cities in her backyard. 

In this installment, she tells you where to eat (beyond the schnitzel), live, and look at art and shop in Vienna. From authentic Thai food that she found in the city, to guided walking tours, and some pro-tips on flea markets and vintage stores. We hope you enjoy these guides as much as we do. Please offer comments, suggestions etc over at talktous@splainer.in—and we will send them on to her. 

ICYMI: Check out Meenakshi's cool insider guide to Berlin and her awesome guide to Rome—in which she tells you where to live, eat and drink like a Roman—while ducking those tourist traps. 

Written by: Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan is the author of eight books, across genres: literary fiction, mythological reinterpretations, young adult and short stories. Her latest book is ‘Soft Animal’, published by Penguin Random House in 2023. She lives in Berlin and writes about it in her newsletter The Internet: Personified. 

What’s the first thing you think about when you think about Vienna? For me, travelling there this past November, it came in the form of an earworm. You know that Billy Joel song ‘Vienna’? There’s the chorus that goes, ‘when will you realise, Vienna waits for you.’ Was it waiting for me? It was a last-minute addition to the itinerary I had made when travelling with my mother, only chosen for its proximity to Berlin, which we’d be returning to. From Rome (which I wrote about last time) to Vienna was only a short flight and then we could take a train and loop back to Berlin. It was a lovely train ride as well, cutting through Southern Germany, taking about eight hours, but I’d recommend also paying extra to reserve your seats, otherwise you won’t get a nice window. 

What else did I know about Vienna? I knew geniuses lived there (Mozart, Freud) and madmen (Hitler). I knew that they prided themselves on being cultured and intellectual. I knew that despite Austria sharing a border with Italy, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary, somehow only their neighbours in the West (Germany) had impacted their language. The country has been in continuous use since the Paleolithic period, had some Celts living there in 400 BC, was annexed by the Romans, then became Christian and saw the arrival of many Germanic tribes. You probably know it for being the centre of the Habsburg reign, whose palaces still remain, large and Gothic, sprinkled all over the city. It is a jewelbox of a town, small and contained, with so many beautiful things to look at that you’ll have to make a top ten list—luckily, that’s where I come in. 

Where to stay

Vienna is a small city and extremely well-connected by public transport. This means you don’t have to worry about where you’re staying, you’ll probably never be more than thirty minutes away from the tourist attractions. We chose a business hotel called Hampton by Hilton (map), a property of which I had stayed at in England, and was pleased to choose again because they have incredible breakfast buffets to go with basic but comfortable rooms. About a five-minute walk away was the metro and on the other side, the Prater amusement park (map) which you can see from some of the hotel windows, is only three minutes away and might be a fun break if you’re not feeling art-and-history-y that day. 

Feeling more like being in the centre of things? Try hotels and Airbnbs in zone 1, which the Viennese call “Innere Stadt.” You won’t find many locals there as it is quite a touristy area, but it’s good for walking through the attractions. If you’re looking for a more trendy, arty neighbourhood, Neubau is full of international restaurants and also the MuseumsQuartier (map)  is one of the largest spaces for contemporary art in the world. 

Some other hotels I looked at while researching are San Souci (map) (luxury, has an in-house spa which is apparently very good), 25 Hours (map) (funky cool rooms), and Kugel Hotel (map) (old school Viennese charm).  

Getting around

Like I said, it’s a small city and if you’re staying in one of the first seven zones, getting to the centre is not difficult at all. There are trams and U-Bahns conveniently located in every major neighbourhood. You could take a taxi, but I don’t think it’s worth it unless you’re in a great rush. Pro tip passed on to me by the Pakistani taxi driver who got us to the hotel from the airport: get the weekly pass even if you’re only staying for five days, it works out cheaper than the other offerings for tourists. 

What to see

Around Vienna’s centre, stretched like a girdle is the Ringstrasse, the pet project of Emperor Franz Josef. It is 5.3 kilometres long, contains many of the city’s architectural treasures like the opera house, the art history museum and the natural history museum. A fun (and budget-friendly) way to see all of it is to get on Tram Line 1 at the Statsoper, and go in a circle towards Schwedenplatz. Then change to Line 2 and go in the opposite direction. (There used to be a sightseeing tram but it’s fallen victim to the pandemic so this is the best way to do it.)

While you’re on the tram, hop off at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (map), the largest art museum in the country. Right opposite is its twin, the Natural History Museum and both host the Habsburgs own collections. We tried to do the Kunsthistoriches without an audio guide, but quickly realised our mistake and went back for two, and yet there wasn’t enough time to see the whole thing. I’d recommend making your way up to the picture gallery first, and then coming back, if there’s time, to the ground floor to take in the objects—panels, salt cellars and the like—because the paintings are spectacular. I spent a lot of time with the art of Pieter Breugel the Elder, of which the museum has the largest collection in the world.

As someone who has been in psychoanalysis for three years now, of great interest to me was the Freud Museum (map). Built in Sigmund Freud’s old house, this text-heavy museum moves you through his set of rooms and his office, showing how he developed his theories, as well as what a committed family man he was; a loving father and a good husband, from all accounts (that the museum had collected anyway.) It goes on to show the slow dread that built up with the arrival of Hitler and ends with his family fleeing Vienna and the house in which he had lived for 47 years. There’s even a lovely set of home videos they show on a loop, with Freud laughing in a garden with a dog and his family. Downstairs there’s a great shop full of books about psychology, a subject which I truly believe everyone in the world is interested in, at least to a certain degree.

For extra creepy vibes—and also a quick run-down on who’s who in the Habsburg empire—there’s the Imperial Crypt (map). We only ducked in because it was raining, but wound up spending a large chunk of time just wandering between the sarcophagi. Since 1633, the Imperial Crypt is where the Habsburgs are buried; at present, it holds the bones of 145 royals, plus a few assorted hearts and urns with cremated remains. They do have guided tours in English, which might be worth going for because on their own they just become a mass of graves and not 400 years of history. NB: Download the free Vienna tourism app when you’re in this area, it offers suggestions for self-guided walks and also places of interest. 

We hadn’t had enough of art, so we quickly popped in to the Albertina (map) before we left. I say “quickly” but this took about three hours (however, if your companion is taking ages and you’re waiting, there’s a nice hallway at the entrance with lots of benches and light where you can wait, as I did, with a book.) Of special note is their permanent exhibition called the Batliner Collection, which moves through the history of contemporary art, from the Impressionists to the Expressionists and finally ending up at Picasso. They also have a terrific collection of Chagall, so all in all, worth checking out as a nice contrast to the old masters in the Kunsthistorisches. Below is a painting by Ferdinand Holder.

Definitely go on a guided walk to learn about both the modern and ancient history of the city. We took a nice one (free but with a suggested donation) with Guruwalks which basically works as a directory for independent tour guides to list themselves on. Our particular guide told us about the things he loves about the city including the fact that a lot of the housing is owned by the government so it is affordable for everyone (once you fulfil a certain set of requirements that is.) 

Where to eat

I am not a huge fan of stodgy Austrian food (schnitzels are just so large and boring after you’ve eaten the first quarter of them), so my focus here is on the other restaurants I discovered. Vienna is also a terrific place for international food so once you’ve had your schnitzel fix (a quick Google of best schnitzel in Vienna should get you where you need, opinions are divided), maybe you’ll be pleased to have other (vegetarian-friendly) recommendations as well. 

Right by the Freud Museum is the charming Sentepe Bistro and Cafe (map) which serves Turkish meals of the day (rice, a sort of curry, etc) as well as the usual suspects (kebab, pide). Run by a father-daughter team, we liked this place so much we wanted to visit again, but alas,we  were never on the same side of town. 

If you’re desperate for Indian food, I read a lot about Der Wiener Deewan (map), which interested me because they have buffet dining and a pay-what-you-want model. Perhaps one of the best surprises of my trip was finding super authentic Thai food in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Kamala Thai Imbiss (map) (right next to all the vintage shops—more on them below--so a good stop if you’re shopping.) 

I didn’t not try any Viennese food, I had two kinds of sausages, eaten the best way, at a stand on the pavement. The käsekrainer is a sausage stuffed with cheese (yum), and the bosna is a hot dog on a bun with relish, onions and spicy sauce (double yum). You’ll find these in almost all street food stalls, but here’s a list that marks out special places to try them. 

If it’s a sunny day, make your way to Vienna’s most famous market, the Naschsmarkt (map), and pick up food from different stalls to eat as a picnic while watching the world go by. 

Where to shop

It might seem counterproductive to recommend this as summer is just beginning, but Vienna has some of the most gorgeous Christmas markets in the world, visited also by guests from all over the world. I went in November and they were already in full swing. Christmas markets are fun (but overpriced) places to pick up trinkets or specialty food while walking in the cold and enjoying a hot mug of glühwein (like mulled wine but German/Austrian). 

There’s also a large pedestrianised zone in the centre of the city, winding past the opera and Stephansplatz (home to the soaring Stephansdom, Vienna’s most famous cathedral). Kärtnerstrasse is worth walking through, the buildings are gorgeous and the window shopping is incredible. 

Vienna has a lot of flea markets; here’s a list of what’s open on which day. We personally went to the one by Nachsmarkt (as mentioned above), which was so fun. I scored a bunch of vintage Asterix comics in German and my mum bought a painting, all for under ten Euros. Besides the fleas, there are also a lot of vintage stores. I had great luck at Humana (map) (on Lerchenfelde Strasse to distinguish it from the others). I also loved Purple Cave Vintage Fashion (map).  

Servus as the Viennese say! Have a wonderful time.