Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in Central Europe comprising nine federated states. Its capital, largest city and one of nine states is Vienna. Austria has an area of 83,879 km2 (32,386 sq mi), a population of nearly nine million people and a nominal GDP of $477 billion. The terrain is landlocked and highly mountainous, lying within the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 m (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 m (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country’s official language. Other regional languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene.
Vienna
Vienna is the national capital, largest city, and one of nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria’s primate city, with a population of about 1.9 million (2.6 million within the metropolitan area, nearly one third of the country’s population), and its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union.
Vienna is rich in history and world renowned landmarks but what is surprising is that they are mostly placed within walking distance of each other. After arriving in the early afternoon we decided that we would find our Airbnb then just wander around to get a feel for the city and get over the jet lag from a long day of travel.
Today we had a full day to explore Vienna so we thought we would follow the ring road around the city centre and deviate when something caught our fancy. We had a few places that we wanted to make sure we saw, such as the Opera House, the Lipizzan stallions and climb St. Stephen’s cathedral. It started out as a crisp, cool morning which we were fine with as it kept us walking at a brisk pace. It didn’t take long to realize just how historic this city is compared to cities in North America. We would marvel at the architecture of a building thinking it must be a museum or some other building of significance just to find out it was “just an apartment or office building”.
One day was not enough time to really explore the city or take in a show but it did give us a feel for the friendly and hospital people of Austria.
Our route is below in case you are curious, can you spot where we stopped for breakfast and lunch (yes, strudel was consumed)?
Our last day in Vienna, just a few hours in the morning before we were scheduled to meet up with our Austria hiking group, we headed out to climb the stairs in St Stephen’s cathedral and enjoy one last view over this legendary city.
Vienna is definitely a city that needs a few days to explore and I hear such great things about the rest of the country so hopefully I will get a chance to go back and explore more of Vienna and the Austrian countryside.
Logistics
This trip was a two day visit to Vienna before the hiking trip in the Czech Republic. That trip actually met in Vienna and then drove directly to the Czech Republic so two friends and I decided to arrive early and explore Vienna. We planned these couple of days ourselves and for accommodations we used airbnb and found an apartment in a centrally located historic building. This worked out much cheaper than getting multiple hotel rooms.
Have you been to Vienna? What did we miss seeing?
Cheers, Nigel
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