This is a travel vlog I made about my visit to Vienna, Austria – I visited there during April 2019:
Where I stayed?
I stayed at the Arcotel Wimberger Wien hotel, and you can read my full review of this place.
The Arcotel Wimberger Wien is located in Neubaugürtel, which appears to be a safe & accessible area.
Where I did my shopping?
Right next to the hotel is the Lugner City, a small shopping center. The place offers a nice food court (including KFC, Burger King & several buffets restaurants) and Media Market (electric chain store).
If you’re really into shopping while visiting in Vienna, then you should check SCS (Shopping City Süd), which is the biggest shopping mall in Austria.
This is a great place with all the familiar brands and chain stores, such as Primark, Nespresso store and about every brand that you could think of.
To me, the prices seemed reasonable in most stores, and though I didn’t plan to do much shopping, I managed to find several bargains, so although the place is modern & fancy, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go bankrupt.
It took me about 30 minutes to get there by train from the center of Vienna. If you arrive by car then there’s a lot of parking space outside.
The bottom line is that it was the closest shopping experience to US shopping malls that I recently been to.
How I traveled around Vienna?
Vienna’s public transport system is top-notch – You probably heard of it, but seeing it in action made me really appreciate it.
I didn’t get to drive there, only took taxis from the airport to the hotel and when I did the opposite way back to the airport.
But there are so many ways to travel across the city, so you should ask yourself if there’s a real reason for you to travel by car if you’re visiting in Vienna.
There are plenty of electric scooters all over Vienna by Lime, Bird & several other companies. I’m not a big fan of electric scooters, but discovering Vienna by riding an electric scooter with my entourage was one of the highlights of my trip. Riding the Danube river was a memorable experience that I recommend you to try if you get to Vienna.
It is quite safe to ride them since in most areas you’ll have a designated path for this type of vehicles. And the price wasn’t that expansive as I thought.
Did I eat in a worthy restaurant?
My hotel was 3 minute walk from Mariahilfer Straße, one of Vienna’s main streets, that offers many shops & restaurants. I used Mariahilfer Straße as my “benchmark street” to figure out where I’m located compared to other locations around Vienna.
Because I really like burgers, some people recommended me to eat at “Peter Pane” restaurant that is located on Mariahilfer Straße. I read some reviews about the place and it only raised my expectations towards my visit there.
Well… the initial impression was promising indeed. The restaurant’s design is modern, inviting & contributes to the positive atmosphere. If you go to the bathroom you can listen to the tale of Peter Pan (in German if I recall correctly), and the menus are designed as a big old book – but only the version in German…
The service was OK, the prices were relatively reasonable and the menu offered interesting courses. Usually, when I visit restaurants such as this, I lose my head and order a special course. But I decided that if I visit in Vienna and choose to skip a schnitzel, then it should be only for a worthy burger. So I decided to test Peter Pane’s burger in its purest form, without all their tempting toppings.
The burger wasn’t that bad, but to be honest, I would prefer a McDonald’s hamburger over the one I ate at Peter Pane.
Different people have different preferences, but I think the hype around the burger itself isn’t justified, and the truth has to be told, which is the moral of another fairy tale (The Emperor’s New Clothes…).
But what really annoyed me was all the reviews I read towards this visit on Google maps by other reviewers. As an experienced reviewer & a burger enthusiast I want to ask Google’s permission to ban those who claimed “This is the best burger I ate in my life” from writing any reviewers ever again.
You know what!? those people should be banned from the internet and that’s it…
Walking through Mariahilfer Straße towards the Danube will eventually get you to the Innere Stadt, also known as Vienna’s 1st district & the center of the city.
The architecture in this area is mesmerizing. There are numerous historical & cultural attractions almost everywhere you look at, and some of Vienna’s most famous shops & restaurants.
What I liked the most about walking around Vienna was that although there were so many people in the streets, the atmosphere was calm & quiet, which is not something that you usually encounter in central cities – during the day and especially at night.
Among the attractions you can find in this area are the astonishing St. Stephen’s Cathedral (that I chose to see only from the outside) and the well-known Café Central (that I chose to skip because there were so many people waiting in line to get a seat).
But don’t feel sorry for me – I found other places to go instead…:
Bermuda Bräu – This restaurant bar offers great food for reasonable pricing, the staff was professional and I received good service.
I planned to eat Schnitzel that night, but the “must go” Schnitzel restaurants were booked out, so my entourage & I came here.
There were positive vibes all over the place. We chose to sit on the second floor inside since we didn’t want to be next to where people were smoking.
We began with a warm soup (that also warmed our hearts…) and got several classic Austrian dishes.
My choice for the main course was a salad with Schnitzel stripes, which was very good. The other dishes (as you can see in my video) were good as well.
One thing I’m sorry for is that I didn’t get to try their spare ribs, but from a brief look at the neighboring table, it seemed like an interesting choice as well.
Café Landtmann – This cafe-restaurant is located near the famous Café Central, and can be a good alternative if you don’t like to wait in line for the “real deal”.
My entourage & I enjoyed enjoyed excellent coffee and tasty desserts that weren’t expensive at all.
I ate Marzipan Orb which is a ball of sponge, filled with Parisian mousse, covered with apricot jam and marzipan and rolled in cocoa – I wasn’t sure what it would taste like, but from the first bite I knew I hit the jackpot.
My entourage was more into fruit-based desserts…
One member ordered Strawberry Slice, a fine curd cheese creamy filling between sponge layers, topped with fresh strawberries, which was well executed.
The other member ordered Kaiserschmarrn, which is basically fluffy pancakes served on a pan along with 2 types of jams on the side. It was a big dish that was served hot. It is tastier when its hot, and most chances you won’t be able to finish it on your own.
Ulrich – This is a fashionable bar-cafe-restaurant that appears to be popular among locals & tourists.
The place was OK but didn’t justify the recommendations I received about it. Nothing was really special about the food, the service was a bit slow and if you’re looking for value-for-money there are probably better alternatives.
What is the one place you must visit in Vienna?
Overall Vienna is an impressive city, that has a lot to offer while visiting there, but if you ask me what it is the one place that you should go to, then I would say the Schönbrunn Palace.
The place looks dignified and those Austrians sure know how to preserve their heritage…
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