The train from Budapest to Vienna really isn’t that long. It is around 2 1/2 to 3 hours, which in comparison to some of our other journeys, was incredibly short!
Whilst in Vienna we stayed at the Wombat’s City Hostel. It was a bit more pricey than the ones we had been at in the last few countries, but that’s just because we were used to the cheap prices of Prague, Poland and Hungary! It was still reasonably priced for the location and facilities and much cheaper than a hotel. Plus you get a free welcome drink, which is always well received…
The hostel is located right across the street from the famous Naschmarkt, which is a long street market with food stalls and restaurants, as well as stalls selling clothes and Austrian souvenirs. It was fun to walk through the market, experiencing all the smells of various different foods and seeing the variety of local delicacies on offer. We never ate here ourselves, but we are told from reliable local sources that it is a pretty good place to grab a bite to eat!
It won’t come as a surprise to you to hear that whilst we were in Vienna, we visited a palace. I know, shocker. It was called Schönbrunn Palace and was only a few stops on the metro from our hostel. We paid for the grand tour, which allows you into more of the palace than the imperial tour. It was €17.50 for the tour, and you get an audio guide so you’re free to walk around at your own pace. The interior of the palace was beautiful, and you are able to learn a lot about the palace and The Hasburgs.
The palace grounds are just as magnificent as the palace interiors. You can walk up a great hill to the end of the palace grounds, from the top of which you can see out over the city of Vienna. It really is a spectacular view.
Our hostel offered a free walking tour of Vienna. Lots of, if not most of the hostels we stayed at, offered walking tours, however, Vienna is the only city that we decided to take them up on the offer and join the tour. We did this the morning we were leaving Vienna. We stored our luggage at the hostel – most hostels offer free luggage storage – and joined the tour guide in the lobby before heading out for our tour of Vienna. The tour lasted a few hours, taking you around the major sights in Vienna, starting in Naschmarkt, and going to the likes of the Opera house, Hofburg Palace and much more before finishing at St Stephen’s Cathedral in the city centre.
I would recommend going on these walking tours, as they are a good way to see the main sights in a city if you’re only there for a short amount of time, or don’t want to bother with having to navigate your own way around. Plus if you’re by yourself, they’re a great way to meet new people! Even though we only did one ourselves, they are a great option when visiting a city. The tour guide was a local and so she knew all there was to know about the city and offered great advice on where to go, what to do etc. A word of advise though, as the guides are volunteers, they rely on tips, so make sure you have some spare cash to offer at the end of the tour if you can!
Vienna is such a beautiful city, as is Austria as a country, from what I have experienced, and I look forward to being able to explore a lot more of it in times to come!
Next stop…Salzburg!
Introducing Georgia 