I don’t think any city is more beautiful when it comes to architecture than Vienna.

My long-lasting impression of Vienna from my brief first visit was just how pristine and immaculate every single building was. I’d walked a lot over the course of the day, and I hadn’t found a single brick out of place. I remember likening it to Disneyland; ironic given that Vienna is such a capital of culture, but true nonetheless, because it seemed a little too perfect.

Last month, it was finally time to go back to get more than just a first impression. I was visiting with my aunt, who was living out a bucket list dream from when she was a teenager: seeing the Lipizzaner stallions perform at the Spanish Riding School.

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It seems quite timely posting this, being that Eurovision has just been held in the city. I did spot a couple of posters around for it!

We made a long weekend of it, with three nights in the city, which meant I’d be doing it a little more justice than my previous day trip from Slovakia.

Three nights was perfect for what we wanted to do. I feel like if you’re a museum person, you could easily spend a week there! But honestly, if you’re not, then a couple of days is dead right, with an extra day to visit Bratislava (because if another country is only an hour away, then why not?!).

Here’s what we got up to, from equestrian delights to architectural phenomena, and of course eating plenty of schnitzel and strudel.

Day 1 – horses & city centre architecture

Spanish Riding School

The main reason for our trip was to visit the highly acclaimed Spanish Riding School, or Spanische Hofreitschule. My family have always been involved with horses, so it felt apt that I’d base a trip with family around them. So when my aunt said this was a big bucket list item for her and that she’d like to do it for her 70th, I of course took it on board immediately and got planning.

We decided to do a tour as well as the performance.

Although you can watch something at the Spanish Riding School any day of the week, the actual performances are only at the weekend at 11am. I always find it a bit odd that a performance is so early in the day, but there we go.

Obviously our main aim was to go to one of the performances, so we made sure to visit over a weekend. Tickets start at 36€ for standing tickets, all the way up to 188€ for the highest category tickets. We got category 6 tickets for 105€ each, which are the seats along the sides, and we went for the middle so that we’d have views of both ends equally, rather than only seeing them up close when they’re at your end. The downside of the side seats is that when the horses are virtually below you, you can’t see them at all without leaning over (which most likely isn’t possible with the standing tickets). So if you can afford it, the parterreloge is probably the “best” section.

The performance lasted 70 minutes, with five different segments. It started with the younger generation of horses so you could see the difference between novices and the long-time pros. There was also an in-hand round which I didn’t expect, and then a long-rein performance! It was much more varied than just a riding performance, but equally if not more impressive seeing the control from people off the horse. The finale culminated in eight horses performing together in sync.

No photos or videos are allowed during the 70 minute performance so I don’t have any footage to share, but it really is phenomenal if you’re into horses! Although we both grew up with horses, I’ve never really been into dressage and this kind of showmanship – but anyone with equestrian experience will be able to appreciate just how good these riders and horses are!

After the show, we headed to the café for a quick coffee before our stable tour at 1pm. The English tours run four times a day and usually in the afternoons. There are also architectural tours twice a week, and something called the Lipizzaner Legends on Sundays.

The performance was excellent, but it was the tour that really surprised us – it was brilliant! Our guide was fabulous and really entertaining and engaging. She was super knowledgeable, which was just as well because there were lots of questions being asked, mostly by my aunt!!

We got to see the inside of the arena from a prime spot, as well as exercise areas, the tack room (the fanciest tack room you’ve ever seen, amirite horse girlies?) and then the stables themselves where we could see the horses up close. You can see the outdoor part of the stables from the road, but we also got to go inside the main stables, which was pretty cool.

We also heard stories of the horses’ antics, learned all about the training process for both riders and horses (it takes a whopping TWELVE YEARS to become a qualified rider!), learned about the stud farm and their breeding program, why it’s only stallions used for the performances, and all sorts of other tidbits.

Oh, and we also got to meet a couple of the stable cats, which our guide said are the most important members of staff, of course. Pictured above is Maximillian, affectionately known as Maxi.

Overall, a brilliant experience. Don’t forget to check out the gift shop too, for some unique souvenirs!

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A wander at Hofburg Palace

The Spanish Riding School is in the Hofburg Palace complex, which is unavoidable on any trip to Vienna.

This is, with stiff competition, one of the most magnificent buildings in Vienna. Maybe the most, to be honest.

After our tour, we took a walk through the various buildings, though to me nothing beats the front of the palace itself, pictured above. The library is a close second – but I’ve written more about that below!

Coffee & cake at Sluka

In the Saturday madness, we found ourselves in endless crowds of people on the main shopping street, the Graben. We eyed up the outdoor seating but everywhere was rammed, and I turned to Google Maps to find a decent bakery nearby. I found Sluka down a side street, which turned out to be a mainstay of our trip.

Sluka has a big cabinet of cakes and pastries, plenty of seating, and it was tucked away from all the chaos outside. Big win! It was also our first experience of fun waiters, which was a surprise given Vienna’s reputation for curt and slow service. In fact, we had such a nice time in there that we told them we’d be back the next day. And when we DID go back the next day, the same waiter called over excitedly to say hello.

It’s a huge café too, and on our first visit we completely missed this lovely glass-covered section! It’s not quite Café Central, but it was very nice and probably less pricey.

(Just to note: I’d planned Café Central for a less busy day, but it was actually CLOSED for renovations while we were there! Luckily I got there on my last visit, but it was a shame not to be able to take my aunt there.)

Dinner: Pürstner

I’d booked dinner at an Austrian restaurant called Pürstner. It had a really rustic feel to it, like we were in a cabin in the middle of a forest! The food was great, and it was reasonably priced.

I’d planned to live off schnitzel, mostly to compare it to Figlmüller (more on that below!), but Pürstner immediately drew me in with an interesting menu, and I ended up having pork in a blue cheese sauce with croquettes instead! It was soooo good.

In fact, there were so many things on their menu that sounded good, I could easily have come back. My aunt had something with dumplings which was delicious but there was way too much of it. Maybe a good sharing plate!

Day 2 – museums & churches

Austrian National Library

On Sunday morning, it was my turn to make plans, and the one place on my list that I didn’t get to visit last time was the Austrian National Library.

Which turned out… to be a HUGE oversight.

Is this the most spectacular library you’ve ever seen?!?

I think it’s got to be one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever set foot in!

This was a highlight of our trip to Vienna. There is just so much detail to look at, it is unbelievable. I spent ages just staring at the ceiling, not to mention the scenes around the done.

As well as the architecture and paintings and endless shelves of books, there are also cabinets with more books on actual display – the oldest I have ever seen. There’s at least one from the 12th century!

The library is part of the Hofburg Palace complex, which is where the Spanish Riding School is – as well as the Sisi Museum, which we didn’t go into. That means it’s really easy to combine a visit to the library on the same day as the Spanish Riding School, but we had decided to split up the experiences a bit.

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The Globe Museum

The library runs a few museums, but to my surprise, when I asked where the Globe Museum is, it turned out to be several streets away! Not even part of the same complex.

And so we trotted off to find it – another place that was very much my choice, being a self-confessed map addict.

The Globe Museum is reeeaalllyy cool. Unsurprisingly, there’s a huge collection of globes on display. What I loved were the historic ones where you could see the differences between then and now, from the shapes of countries to the names of regions. If we’d been allowed to turn the globes, I could have spent way longer in there looking at them all!

That’s its only downside, really. I’d love to be able to see more than just one side of each globe.

The Globe Museum is 6€ but includes a second museum, which we actually ended up not going into because coffee was much-needed at this point. (I’m a map addict; turns out my aunt is a coffee addict.)

After a coffee and swinging by the hotel for a second layer of clothing, it was time to check out some churches. We’d been past Stephansdom (St Stephen’s Cathedral, the unavoidable centre of town) several times already, and although we popped in, it’s definitely not the most impressive. In all honesty, it’s WAY more spectacular from the outside – see above. But it’s free to go in (you only have to pay if you’re going up the tower) so you might as well.

I loved these pictures and detailing at the bottom of the pillars. Also the light when we went in made the seating look really cool (because that’s what you want in a church).

If you want *spectacular* churches, though? Check these out…

Jesuit Church

This unassuming church was about a minute’s walk from our hotel, so we made a beeline there. It is, genuinely, up there with the best churches I’ve ever been into! It’s BEAUTIFUL.

I really loved the colourful pillars.

Seriously, how amazing are these? The green speckled ones AND the pink marbled ones; both effects are gorgeous.

St Anne’s Church

St Anne’s is quite similar, but not *quite* as impressive as Jesuit, in my opinion.

It was also deathly quiet while a few people prayed, and having been in a lot of churches in my lifetime, this was the first time I felt a little awkward about being there as a tourist. I took one (1) photo. Good thing I wasn’t so enamoured by all the pillars! The ceiling is a work of art, though.

Karlskirche (St Charles Church)

From there, we wandered down to the ring road, past the Opera House, and into a park. It suddenly felt very local, with kids play parks and sports facilities. I had somehow *completely* missed this on my first visit, despite the fact I could have easily walked that way.

The park wasn’t why we were there; it was to see yet another church, Karlskirche. This one has an entrance fee so we didn’t go in, but its setting in the park is lovely, especially because there’s a pond in front of it.

Unfortunately part of the church was in scaffolding, but it was still beautiful, and even more so with the reflections. The park might not have been what we’d come for, but it was the reason we stayed for longer. In fact, we enjoyed the atmosphere so much that we sat on a bench nearby and just chatted as we soaked it all in and the late daylight set in.

Read more: Churches, Parks & Saunas: What To Do In Helsinki If You Only Have One Day

Diversity traffic lights

I’d read about these pedestrian lights, no doubt on Atlas Obscura, and discovered they were introduced because of Eurovision being held in the city in 2015. Fittingly, we saw a few things to do with this year’s Eurovision which was also held in Vienna!

Anyway, how cute are these lights? We spotted both male and female versions, mostly around the ring road.

Dinner: Zwölf Apostelkeller

We’d been debating over different places to eat, and had settled on a restaurant next to our hotel. When we passed Zwölf Apostelkeller, however, we decided to pop in to have a look.

I’d read about it online, and while it’s probably not “the best” place for food (the schnitzel was better at Figlmüller, for example), the atmosphere is soooo cool!

It is basically a big bier keller with live music and a million rooms. In fact, our hilarious waiter even gave us a tour before we left!

I decided to try a cheese curd strudel for dessert instead of an apple one, which is another traditional type that I hadn’t had before – delicious.

More on the live music… we couldn’t see the performers where we were sitting, so I assume they play a proper set. However, between these, they appeared at a table nearby. “I swear to God if they come to our table…” I said in a low voice, leaning in towards my aunt.

Slowly, tables cleared out, and the musicians seemed to be packing up. But oh no… suddenly here they are beside us, asking where we’re from! I say Scotland, and they immediately belt into Auld Lang Syne. Then they start serenading my aunt with Daisy (which they decided to call her) and finish on an Austrian song. Complete madness!

I assumed they were going to ask for money, especially as they had notes very conspicuously tucked in to their instruments, but they got up, said goodbye and left without any suggestion of it!

I’m really glad we popped in here on a whim! What a fun night.

Day 3 – palaces & schnitzel

Walk to Belvedere Palace

We’d decided to skip Schönbrunn Palace altogether due to the insane – and confusing – prices, and instead repeated something from my last visit and walked to Belvedere Palace. Belvedere is an art gallery rather than state rooms, so not something we were particularly interested in and we contented ourselves with a walk around the spectacular exterior instead.

The south side of the garden is much more beautiful than the larger north side, in my opinion. This side has the lovely pond which may or may not have reflections (they were perfect when we arrived but soon disappeared!) as well as much more curated flower beds and lawns.

This to me is a highlight of Vienna, and a must-see, especially if you don’t want to travel out to Schönbrunn Palace (or pay the ridiculous entrance prices – yes, that’s plural).

Palace of Justice

A little off the tourist track in Vienna, the Palace of Justice is a government building near the Ring Road, and close to the Natural History Museum.

It may be a government building, but just LOOK at this. I wanted to go inside for this foyer alone, but the best part is you can go up to the canteen to enjoy a lovely view over the city from the rooftop terrace.

While the 20 or so people ahead of us were all in the foyer taking photos, we made a beeline for the lift, grabbed some lunch, coffee and cake, and took in the views for most of the hour that we were in there.

This is a pro-tip, because by the time we got back to the main section of the building, the foyer was completely empty. I’d almost messed up the timing though, because we spent so long on the terrace that the next lot of visitors were about to arrive, so we only had about five minutes of emptiness! It was enough, thankfully.

I’d read that this is one of Vienna’s best kept secrets, but the cat appears to be out of the bag, as we had to queue for quite a while to get in. Not only that but they limit visitors to 25 per hour, at half past each hour – so luckily we *just* got in, otherwise no way would we have waited another hour!

The last entry is 3.30pm, and it’s only open Monday to Friday. We arrived just before 1pm on the Monday, so waited just over half an hour to get in. Like I said, we got very lucky as I think we were 21st & 22nd in the queue!

It’s yet another stunning building in Vienna, which in this city just seems to be the norm.

We decided to continue along the Ring Road because once again, architecture was drawing us to it like a magnet. We’d seen the Parliament building and the Rathaus from the terrace, and they are equally spectacular. The Natural History Museum building, much like the one in London, had blown me away. And these were buildings that I hadn’t even known about!

The museums in particular were a reminder that you could spend endless days in Vienna. However, as we headed back into the city centre, we were coming to the end of our long weekend.

A quick note on Palais Daun-Kinsky

I’d read that Palais Daun-Kinsky is a fantastic free palace to visit right in the centre of town. Well, we visited twice (at a weekend and on a week day) and the first time we weren’t allowed inside at all, and the second time we could get as far as the first floor corridor before the rest was roped off for a private event. We also spoke to someone else who had tried to visit and she had been told that you can’t, and that it’s for private events only. I’m baffled by everything I’ve read online. Basically: don’t bank on being able to go, but see if you can pop in if you’re passing anyway.

Dinner: Figlmüller for schnitzel

I’d tried to book Figlmuller for Saturday night, but even weeks in advance, it was booked up. I knew we had to try their legendary schnitzel, so I booked it for a couple of hours before we needed to leave for the airport. This was a mistake, but not because it made us late. In fact, we actually got there early and they managed to squeeze us in, which was even better.

Figlmuller serves schnitzel that is bigger than the plate it comes on. Coupled with delicious, rich potato salad (a must!), I would say that yes, it does live up to the hype!

However, every single table around us took some away with them, and we had to admit defeat and do the same. Which is fine, except there’s not much you can do with it when you’ve got a flight to catch!

So I would recommend going to Figlmüller when you’ve got plenty of time later to scoff the leftovers.

We did manage to eat some before heading through airport security, mournfully throwing the rest away.

A quick note about airport transport: there’s an expensive express train to Wien-Mitte, but you can easily take the S7 train which also stops at Wien-Mitte (it’s MUCH closer to the Old Town than Wien Hbf) – it’s 5.40€ each way but when I selected for two people, it charged me 10€ total.

Much better than the 14.90€ each way on the CAT! Literally a third of the price for less than 10 minutes longer.

Where we stayed: Hotel Kärntnerhof

We stayed at Hotel Kärntnerhof, which is actually a popular one that we use at work for our clients, so I was excited to stay somewhere much nicer than my usual budget breaks.

Ideally located in the centre, just a five minute walk from Stephansdom and less than a fifteen minute walk from the Wien-Mitte train station, I don’t think you could do much better than this hotel without breaking the bank. We stayed in a “small” twin room, but actually it wasn’t that small at all, so I’m willing to bet the standard rooms are great.

Breakfast is a good buffet spread – I got addicted to their bread rolls, of all things. Everyone we met, including the breakfast staff and housekeepers, was really friendly and helpful. And my favourite thing? The elevator!! It’s one of those old ones in the middle of the spiral staircase, with a manual door to open. It’s been modernised from the original feature so it’s nowhere near as clunky as the older ones, but I loved it!

Book Hotel Kärntnerhof here!

I can’t think of a more beautiful city when it comes to architecture – it is just absolutely stunning! Even on the most mundane streets, every building is immaculate, and you turn a corner and stumble across something that in any other city would be an architectural highlight – but here, it’s just another beautiful building.

Would I go back for a third visit, given that Ash hasn’t been yet? Yes, I actually would – for the Christmas markets! A winter visit would definitely encourage me to go into a museum or two as well.

Vienna is just a really, really nice city, and to me it makes for a perfect city break, with endless architecture, museums, concerts, and coffee culture. It’s kind of got everything you need.

Read more city break & central Europe posts:
⭐ Bratislava: The Unexpectedly Pretty Capital Of Slovakia
⭐ Three Days In Fairytale Budapest, One Of My Favourite Cities
⭐ Slovenia: Loving Ljubljana & Visiting Lake Bled In March
⭐ A Spectacular 10 Day Rail Itinerary In Switzerland & Liechtenstein
⭐ Milan & Lake Como: Two Days In Northern Italy
⭐ Highlights Of Venice – On & Off The Beaten Path