Vienna Backpacking Travel Guide

Hostels

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Hostel Ruthensteiner

A very clean and social hostel, the perfect place to stay close to the Westbahnhof train station. The location is well connected to the city centre and all the major attractions are a short tram ride away. Very comfy beds, kitchen & BBQ, lovely gardens, musical instruments and affordable bikes for rent. The hostel has a great atmosphere and the bar has cheap beer. The staff and volunteers are really friendly and helpful with information and are just all round cool people.

Wombats City Hostel Vienna

This Wombats hostel is in a great location overlooking the Naschmarkt Market. It's also a short walk from the Hofburg Imperial Palace and Vienna State Opera, making it ideal for those looking to soak up some culture while in the city. This modern, secure and clean hostel has friendly, helpful staff and a popular and lively bar serving cheap beer. They also offer an all-you-can-eat breakfast for 4.50€. Quite decent value if you want a big breakfast before exploring the city.

Sights and Highlights

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Schönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn Palace is a former imperial summer residence and 1,441-room Baroque palace. It is one of the most important architectural, cultural, and historical monuments in the country. Since the mid-1950s it has been a major tourist attraction. The history of the palace and its vast gardens spans over 300 years, reflecting the changing tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs.

Check out schoenbrunn.at/en/ for information on entrance prices, directions to get there and all other information. The Vienna Zoo is also located within the Schönbrunn Gardens and is worth a visit.

Museums

There are many great museums in Vienna. Many of them are found in and around the Museumsquartier and nearby Maria-Theresien-Platz. A few others, such as the Belvedere and Albertina are located inside historical buildings of Vienna that are many centuries old.

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

Often referred to as the Museum of Fine Arts, this museum in Vienna is the largest art museum in the country. It was opened in 1891 at the same time as the Natural History Museum. The two museums have similar exteriors and face each other across Maria-Theresien-Platz. The two museums were commissioned by the Emperor to find a suitable shelter for the Habsburgs' formidable art collection and to make it accessible to the general public. Notable works include pieces by Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Raphael, Rembrandt and Velázquez.

Museum of Natural History Vienna

On the other side of Maria-Theresien-Platz is one of the most enjoyable museums I have been to. The combination of the building, its ornate decoration, furniture and precious exhibits makes the museum itself an artefact for historical preservation. The upper floor has a very detailed display of precious stones, minerals and meteorites, along with large dinosaur displays and rare fossils. The first floor displays the variety of the animal world, from insects to highly developed mammals including ancestors of the modern human.

Belvedere Museum

The Belvedere Museum is housed in the Belvedere palace and built in the early eighteenth century. Visitors not only encounter artworks drawn from over five hundred years of art history but can also experience the magnificent staterooms of this Habsburg Palace. The collection presents an almost complete overview of the development of art in Austria and, thus, an insight into the country’s history.

Opera

The Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) is one of the most famous opera theatres in the world. Visiting an opera theatre to watch a performance may not be something you would normally consider while travelling but in Vienna it is well worth it. Tickets can be regularly be purchased here for a range of different shows for under 20€.

To Eat

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It is quite easy to find really tasty and cheap food in Vienna. They secret is to find cheap street food vendors. The traditional Viennese street food is the sausage. You can buy hot sausages and hot dogs at snack bars called "Würstlstand" all over the town. The famous Vienna sausage is known as a frankfurter in Vienna, but many inhabitants prefer bosna (with onions and curry), burenwurst, and käsekrainer(with melted cheese inside).

The local snack culture also include the döner kebap. Places that sell kebap often sell take-away slices of pizza too. Good kebaps can be bought at the Naschmarkt. The Naschmarkt gets cheaper the further you get away from Karlsplatz. Another good place to find snacks is Schwedenplatz.

By far the cheapest way to get a fast food meal in Austria is buying a sandwich from a supermarket. Supermarkets with a deli counter will prepare sandwiches to take away at no extra charge. There is a large choice of meat, cheese, and bread rolls available. One of the favourites is the "Leberkässemel", which is like a bigger but less dense version of a high quality hot dog on a bun.

For Drinking

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Viennese Coffee House

The Viennese coffee house is an institution of Vienna that has played an important role in shaping Viennese culture and is listed in the Austrian inventory of the "National Agency for the Intangible Cultural Heritage", a part of UNESCO. A decent blog post on the best cafes in Vienna can be found at TheCultureTrip.com - The 10 Best Cafés and Coffeehouses in Vienna.

7Stern Bräu

A great place for beer lovers. This gastropub is also a craft brewery. They brew 8 types of beer on site and all are available on tap and as a take away order. The food menu is also quite reasonably priced. At only 2.50€ for a soup and 6.60€ for a main course from 11am to 4pm, this is a really good option for an early afternoon meal and dinner.

Fischerbräu

Another highly rated craft brewery gastropub. Great beer, food and service. A 0.5 litre beer is 4€. Beware that they only open at 4pm each afternoon so won't be suitable for lunch or day-drinking. A cheap meal here starts at about 6€ and lots of options are less than 10€. To get here with public transport take the U4 U-Bahn train north and get off at Spittelau.