First time in Austria, and Vienna is the first stop of three locations. I know very little about Vienna, although through my research it’s a city that seems most famous for its cafe culture. If it’s anything like Sweden’s Fika, it’s going to be a good stay! It’s a late October/autumnal break, although looking at the weather forecast it’s going to be a very mild one for the 36 hours of my stay in the city! I’ve packed t-shirts, long sleeved t-shirts, hoodies and a light rain jacket, so lots of layers!
Lastly, I recognise Austria being famous for Mozart and indeed the opera. I wanted to book a ticket to the opera, not because that’s what I’m into, but for the cultural experience. However, tickets are so expensive and that’s just for standing room, so I’ve not pre-booked anything.
My main reason for visiting Austria is to visit the world-famous alpine village, Hallstatt. It’s central Austria and only accessible by train.
Lastly a final day in Salzburg where I will catch my flight home.
Autumn 2022 
5 DaysAfter dumping my bags at the hotel and getting a quick shower to freshen up, it’s mid-afternoon, sun is shining and it’s 19 degrees. I leave the hotel in shorts and t-shirt and it’s incredibly mild for late October (everyone else is weaning thick coats!). I walked towards St Stephen’s Cathedral where I know you can climb the tower for some amazing views (passing the main shopping area and the impressive town hall buildings on route).
It seems incredibly difficult to get a decent shot of the cathedral as it’s so big. Inside it’s just another cathedral/church (to someone who isn’t really into churches). The cost is 5 euros to climb the tower, 343 steps to the top (one long continuous spiral staircase), I swear that climbing these structures are getting harder as I get older! Unfortunately, once at the top, it didn’t feel like the views paid off. There are 4 small windows at the top to peer out from and because Vienna is flat and non-descriptive from a Birds Eye view, it was disappointing. However, the cathedral has some impressive colourful tiles on the roof, which you do get to see close up from the top. So luckily this provided me with some decent photos.
Someone recommended this place as somewhere to go for drinks with a view, Das Loft is a cocktail bar and restaurant on the 18th floor. I went up here an hour before sunset, and the views from here by far beat those from the cathedral. Obviously having a gorgeous blue and pink sky helps any photos, but you actually get the cathedral in shot. Cocktails are very pricy, 18 euros just for a basic gin based cocktail, so I stuck to beer! Would highly recommend this over a harsh climb up the cathedral if it’s a good view you’re after.
Friedensreich Hundertwasser was an Austrian artist born in 1928 and died in 2000. Google suggests; throughout his life he opposed the "straight line" and any standardization, which is particularly important in his work in the field of building design, which is characterised by imaginative vitality and individuality, but above all by the inclusion of nature in the architecture.
I had seen on Instagram two crazy looking painted buildings, and which were close together so on the second day, first thing in the morning I went in search of these. Clearly a tourist attraction as there were many people at the base of one of these buildings taking photos.
Apparently, there are many buildings across Austria and even in other places around the world designed by him, I’m thinking he is Austria’s answer to Gaudi!
The Danube River runs through Vienna, and after a couple of hours walking decided to rest my feet by taking a 75 minute “City Cruise”. Calling it a “City Cruise” is stretching it a bit, as during the 75 minutes they only manage to point out 3 buildings of interest, the rest of it is just trees and water.
I never seem to learn my lesson when it comes to boat cruises as they are always (with one exception) underwhelming. The exception being the Amsterdam canal cruise.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to go into one of the famous/posh cafes. The biggest one “Cafe Central”, that I had pinned to my itinerary, had a long queue, and even though there is no apparent dress code, the greeter in the door was all suited and booted and I had shorts and t-shirt on. So, I didn’t go inside, and the opportunity didn’t occur again to go back. However, this didn’t stop me from sampling other Austrian delicacies.
Vienna is big on street food, on almost every major street there is a cart or permanent food hut selling Curry or Bratwurst. The famous market area “Naschmarkt” has many stalls selling fresh fish, meats and cheeses but also sit-down areas to eat. It was here I tried, for the first time, a Wiener schnitzel. Lastly, of course tried their world famous Apfel (apple) Strudel and ice cream.
18th-century summer palace with tours of lavish rococo ceremonial rooms, plus gardens with a maze.
The palace was stunning and it’s where I spent the majority of my second afternoon. The price to go inside was 20 euros which was a bit steep, I thought, as it was a short tour of the inside and you weren’t even allowed to take photos. The public gardens are free, which isn’t actually all that clear, and to be honest I’d have been happy just visiting and walking round the gardens.
As I sit on the first part of my 5 hour train journey from Vienna to my second destination (Hallstatt) I’m finding it hard to think of the words to sum up Vienna (or at least my experience of it). I don’t have anything bad to say by any means, but I remain indifferent. In many ways the city felt a lot like Berlin, not just because of the spoken German language, but the architecture, the oversized streets and pathways (the feeling of lots of space) that you certainly don’t get in other European countries.
36 hours was enough, if I had stayed there another day, I’m honestly not sure what I would have done. All the tour guides do over play the café culture perhaps because there isn’t many other things for the tourist to see or do. There is a museums quarter (which I didn’t go to), and the palace (which I did), but other than that, the main things to do is soak up the culture and eat your way through the city.
Lastly, I will say, Austrian’s don’t seem to like payments by card! It was a little bit like stepping back in time. I’m used to the Scandinavian way when I go abroad where everywhere is card, and more and more places are ‘card only’. In Vienna it seems the other way round, not everywhere takes card, and most places that do have a 15 euro minimum spend. It became quite frustrating if I’m honest.
I get up early on my third day to board the train to Hallstatt. There are 2 changes in total and a journey time of 4.5 hours. The train tickets were all booked through the Omio app, tickets completely issued in German. Great, as if catching trains in foreign countries isn’t hard enough, right?! However, I did OK! Figured out where to find seats that weren’t booked, as I didn’t reserve a seat.
As I get closer to Hallstatt (via the train from Vienna), the mood changes and the views outside certainly start to feel more alpine. The sky fills with more and more clouds and the mist is very apparent, just how you imagine the alps to be. I can’t wait to see this magical place.
Hallstatt, is often cited as one of the most instagramable places in the world. The Chinese have even built an entire replica in China of the village.
This is the main viewpoint where all those picture postcard shots are taken. I use this phrase a lot in my blogs, but honestly, this really is picture postcard!
After taking some photos and videos I stand here for a good 10 minutes just taking in the views as they are so surreal. Very few times I’ve felt like this, and can only think I’ve felt the same when on the Glacier in Iceland or Ground Zero memorial pools of the 911 attacks in New York. My pictures are stunning, but they still don’t do this view justice.
There are two main things to do in Hallstatt (other than roaming the village), the Ice Cave and the Salt-mine. Because my visit was in the autumn, with shorter operating hours and only a day and a half here, I had to choose between the two. I choose the Ice Cave. On the way up to the salt-mine there is a viewing platform “sky walk” which over hangs the alp/mountain of Hallstatt, which I was still able to visit. Views are amazing and my pictures don’t do this justice. I got the funicular up to the top, like hell was I walking up!! However, I did walk down, a zig-zag path which took about 40 minutes. Couldn’t recommend this more, even if you didn’t plan to go to the salt-mine.
After seeing this little alpine village so many times on my Instagram feed, it feels very surreal to be here. My hotel right in the centre ‘Weisses Lamm’ was lovely and they put me on the top (third floor) with a balcony overlooking the village and church (highly recommend this hotel). The village, you can walk from one end to the other in 20 minutes, it really is small.
I had read in my research that many tourists do day trips here, so the best times to explore the village is first thing in the morning of after 5pm once the coaches leave. Being the end of October, it was out of peak season so even nicer to walk around with far less tourists. My evening spent here was a Friday, which you’d expect to be fairly busy. At 6:30 on the evening I was walking though the village to my hotel and realise that hardly anywhere was open! I hadn’t eaten very much and planned to go for a nice meal later on. I walked into one restaurant and they told me they had already closed their kitchen! I asked if anywhere else was open, and the waitress looked a little surprised and said “everywhere else is open”, to which I responded and told her that I had just walked through the village and it was like a ghost town. Luckily, I did find somewhere to eat (one of only two places open) and they stopped serving at 7:30pm!
From Hallstatt there is an hourly bus that goes to Dachstein, which is there the visitors centre is for the ice cave, five fingers look out and cable cars. The bus takes around 15 minutes, however when I got in the bus the driver claimed the ice caves were closed. From the end of October, they usually close for the winter but luckily, he got it wrong and they were still open.
I went up the cable cars, on a fairly cloudy and rainy day, but in all honesty, it added to the experience. I loved seeing the clouds and being above them, I loved the damp in the air within the autumn backdrop.
Once at the top there is a very steep climb to the entrance of the cave. The cave tour is approximately 45 minutes and reaches around minus 2 degrees inside, so it’s cold! Loved seeing the ice that was formed in the ice age, lit up in colours.
From the ice cave, you get a second cable car up further into the alps. When purchasing the tickets at the bottom, the cashier said we wouldn’t get a good view because of the clouds. Well as you can see from the pictures, I’m glad I went on my own initiative and went anyway. The views were amazing and certainly not blocked by clouds. The clouds that there are, only enhance my pictures in my opinion.
To get to the five fingers it’s about a 30-minute hike from the last cable car. The five fingers is a metal structure hanging over the edge of the cliff, whilst that’s OK, you get some amazing views just on the walk up. You don’t actually need to visit the five fingers.
I absolutely loved Hallstatt, and my first stay in an Austrian alpine village. I was here for just over 24 hours, and I’d loved to have stayed another day. Another day would have allowed me to visit the Salt-Mine as well as spending another evening in the village soaking up the atmosphere. The problem is that when you book trips, for somewhere you’ve never been and especially given it’s remote location, the last thing you want to do it stay for too long, as I get quite bored and it starts to put a downer on the trip.
I’m also glad I came outside of peak season, I fear the summer would have been far more overrun with tourists and it would have spoilt the experience. Plus also I look back on my photos and I just love the golden colours on the trees.
After the last busses leave at 5pm, the place really does close up and become a ghost town, so if your reading this and planning an overnight stay, find out during the day what restaurants are open and what time they stop serving. Visit the one supermarket (located near the bus stop), and get a few essentials (i.e. beer, wine and chocolate) for your room! Be prepared!
After leaving Hallstatt on the train, only one stop this time and a total journey time of 2.5 hours, I arrive in Salzburg around 9pm, just enough time to have hours stroll through the old town and to find a McDonalds! I’m hungry!
The stroll through the old town and indeed crossing the bridges of the Salzach river is beautiful. You can see the castle all lit up.
The following morning, I head out of my hotel (after a small sleep in) and back into the old town to check it out in the day. My weather app is saying a high of 22 degrees today, which is crazy for late October and especially since yesterday I was wearing 3 layers, including a rain jacket, freezing my bollocks off at the top of Dachstein mountain! But I am not complaining!
The old town is pretty much as you’d expect it to be, a smaller/quainter version of Vienna. It’s Sunday morning so things are fairly quiet here.
I think I’ve got a bit of a love/hate relationship with castles. They always seem to be high on lists of things to do for cities but always seem to disappoint. Exhibit A; Edinburgh castle. This was much the same, just under 20 euros entrance fee, and little more than an hour inside the compound. The views were fantastic from the observation tower which for me made it worthwhile, but if that’s not what you’re into…
After a trip to the castle, I’m ready for lunch and a drink. I had decided to not drink alcohol today, until I saw a little restaurant/bar outdoor area in the middle of the market square and spotted a young couple drinking aperol spritz. Well, it’s the last day of my holidays and you only live once etc etc!
Writing this, I think this is starting to become a ‘thing’ and something I’m going to do in every city stay, and that is to have a drink (possibly a meal) in their market square.
Salzburg seems popular for 3 reasons, salt-mining, the movie: The Sound of Music and of course Mozart. Toying with the idea of going to a ‘Konzert’ at 6:30pm at the cathedral, but really classical music holds no interest for me. But this is the birthplace of Mozart.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in 1756, his parents must have found it very hand to have a Spar shop right underneath their apartment!
Arguably one of the most photogenic pieces for me here, although I must admit that Salzburg is stunning, possibly… no, definitely more so than Vienna. The sunshine and 22 degrees at the end of October certainly helps matters.
I think I stood on this bridge looking over the river for about 20 minutes, listening to a busker play some lovely music.
As beautiful as Salzburg is, there isn’t much more I want to do here. Perhaps Salzburg is a little lost on me as I’m not into Mozart, and The Sound of Music means nothing more to me than a Christmas movie from my childhood (that I actually didn’t like). But I’ve seen the stunning old town and castle, so my day of “not drinking” should quite rightly finish with some mojitos and a chocolate mousse on the 6th floor Sky Bar, right opposite my hotel? It was either that or visit the Toy Museum! Well, no contest.
So, what is a Wiener Schnitzel? Traditionally, a Wiener Schnitzel is a cutlet of veal pounded thin by a meat tenderizer, then dipped in flour, egg and breadcrumbs (in that order), and fried until golden. The first one I tried was pork (not veal) and it was very nice and came with a cold potato salad, back in Vienna. I later went on to have this again in Hallstatt and Salzburg (with Veal). Having it three times suggests that I loved it! I mean, it’s like fish and chips but with meat battered and fried instead of fish! The second two times I tried it, there was a portion of cranberry sauce on the side which gave it a sweet flavour. The third time it came with fries instead of potato salad. And what better dish to end my five amazing days in Austria?
Ending the trip in Austria with a visit to the Red Bull Hanger 7, located right next to the airport. Perfect when you have some time to kill!
