It was once the heart of an empire but today, although it retains the title of Imperial city, its importance in the future of the history of the world is a memory. Vienna It is only the capital of Austria, although the legacy of that golden age is its most important tourist attraction.
Vienna is a city with an elegant, stately urban layout, of palaces, squares and boulevards and museums, cafes and art galleries, parks, ferris wheels and monuments. Can we enjoy it in three days? Yes!
Vienna, first day
We will consider the first day as the first morning in Vienna. If you don't want to have breakfast at your accommodation then you can go out and find a cafeteria. There are many cafes in Vienna, from the most traditional to the most modern. Among the latter is Ulrich, for example, on Ulrichplatz.
It opens at 8 am and the most expensive breakfast menu costs 9, 80 euros. The menu is modern, numerous and varied. This cafe / restaurant is close to the Museum Quarter or MQ which, in addition to its own offer of places to eat, contains the two most important art museums in the city: the Museum of Modern Art and Leopold Museum dedicated to Austrian Impressionism.
The first, the Mumok, contains a permanent collection of classical modernism and contemporary art exhibitions that are changing, while in the second where you will see, for example, Gustav Klimt. While these two are the most important museums there are also the Los Niños Museum and the Austrian Architecture Museum.
If museums are not your thing, with one or two you can spend a couple of hours. I prefer the Leopold, Impressionism is my favorite current. Once this is done you have two options: or you can take the hop on-hop off bus tour or you can walk to the most famous boulevard in Austria: the ringstrasse.
The tourist bus is a good option: it has about 50 stops throughout the city and you can choose between six routes. There is WiFi on board and you can also sign up for a free guided walk or combine with a carriage ride or a boat ride on the Danube. If you choose the bus and do it conscientiously, you will be a good part of the day busy.
Otherwise you can walk to the ringstrasse. It demands taking time to appreciate the elegant buildings that line it: the Operato the Town Hall, Parliament and several palaces. Going through it all involves walking four kilometers or taking the tram and seeing everything from the wagon. After noon you can take a break to eat something in another cafeteria or in a park, the public garden, for example, part of the Hofburg Palace, or in front of the palace itself the Heldenplatz.
As you are, you can visit the Hofburg Palace and the Sissí Apartments and all its elegance. If you like horses, you have time to visit the Imperial Spanish Riding School. The guided tour costs 18 euros but if you really don't want to miss it, you should schedule it because the tours are at 2, 3 and 4 pm depending on the day. By then the afternoon will be ending and a snack at Demel, an exquisite confectionery dating back to the XNUMXth century, can be your great culinary moment of the day.
If you have energy left, you can add one more museum, the Albertina or the Natural HistoryBut if you are tired you can go back to your accommodation, take a shower and go out to dinner.
Vienna, second day
It's amazing that after visiting so much on the first day there is still a lot in the Viennese inkwell, but that's the way it is. The St. Stephen's Cathedral It was founded in 1137 and combines the Romanesque style with the Gothic. You can climb the tower, 343 steps, and sign up for the tour to get to know it better. Do not miss it.
If the day is good it is time to know the Schönbrunn Palace and take a trip to the XNUMXth century. This is the imperial summer residence and you can get to know it inside and stroll through the gardens. You can also visit the Imperial Carriage Museum, a beauty, and with children or if you like animals you can add a visit to the Palace Zoo, the oldest in the world since it dates from 1752.
If you want to have a picnic in the open air there is the Prater with its giant Ferris wheel, another Viennese classic. After watching the sunset from the Ferris wheel, you can have an early dinner in a Bavarian restaurant, something highly recommended, and go to sleep. The truth is that on the second day of going from here to there you want to slow down. The palaces and museums are the ones that take the longest and you end up shot.
Vienna, third day
Speaking of palaces we have one left: the Belvedere Palace. They are actually two palaces in the middle of a park that were built on the orders of Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Rococo style. They are in the third district of Vienna, not far from the center, and you arrive by tram D. In both palaces there are museums, the Austrian Museum of Baroque Art, with XNUMXth century art, and the Austrian Gallery with art from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries.
The park is also worth a tour, there are more than four thousand alpine plants, so hours go by and time flies. Back in the center of Vienna you can have lunch somewhere on the banks of the Danube canal. If you go in summer they set up a beach, but if not there are always cafes or bars to eat something. For example? A site called Motto am Fluss.
You can also stroll through the most famous open-air market in Vienna, the Naschmarkt in district 6 (you take the U-Bahn and get off at Karlsplatz). Here there are hundreds of stalls to eat and everything is very colorful and alive. I don't want to forget about Central Cemetery where will you see the tombs of Schubert, Strauss or Beethoven.
Of course we have been left out but in reality the itinerary must always be adjusted to the tastes of the traveler. If you like old churches there is also the Church of St. Peter and the Karlskirche, if you like museums there are many more, if you like palaces you will spend hours touring these elegant buildings and the day will disappear.
In addition, there are typical culinary delights to try and regional restaurants, pubs, winebars and beer bars, if you go in summer, the same is the artificial beach that I told you about before. Getting around is easy, you have the Wiener Linien 72-hour public transportation or Vienna Card that adds attractions and restaurants. Here everything flows, even the weather, so although three days are enough to enjoy Vienna, I would say that a couple more are necessary to get to know it much more.