An Afternoon in Vienna

An afternoon in Vienna will give you a taste of this elegant city. You may visit here on a cruise or as a stop along the way. Or you may arrive here midday and wonder where to begin exploring. As a first-time Vienna visitor, I wanted to take in some of the sights by walking the center of this historic city. If you find yourself arriving in Vienna with an afternoon to spend, I recommend this short itinerary to get a taste (literally! Yummm!) of this genteel place.

Start in the Center on the Ringstrasse Road

We trained from Budapest, then took the U-bahn to Stephansplatz. You emerge onto the street right in the heart of the city. The famous Ringstrasse Road surrounds Vienna in a circle, and here you are in the middle of the ringed streets. After checking into our hotel, the Graben, we set out to explore.

Vienna impresses right off with its elegance. Yes, tourists filled the wide boulevards. No problem if you look up, though. And Vienna offers plenty of artistic expressions to enjoy. My favorite was the Plague Column rising up from the ground, topped with gold. This is the memorial to the victims who died in 1679 of that disease.

Walk by the Imperial Hofburg Palace

We meandered along lanes offering upscale shopping, and we found the Imperial Hofburg Palace. Once home to the Hapsburgs who ruled here, it’s now the residence and offices for the Austrian president. The Spanish Riding School, where the Lipizzaner Stallions are trained, is part of the complex.

Savor Cakes at Demel

Cakes and coffee are a must when you visit Vienna. Demel is a tradition here, dating back to 1857. Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife “Sissy” loved Demel.

You can observe the creation of the sweet delicacies through a large glass window. This is where the magic happens.

Visit Magnificent St. Stephen’s Cathedral

Next we retraced our steps back to our arrival point because we wanted to see the giant spire of the magnificent Gothic cathedral, St. Stephen’s.

This is one of Vienna’s most popular landmarks, attracting more than a million visitors each year. A fun fact is that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart got married here in 1782. We did find the inside so crowded that we cut our time there short, but it is a place of hushed beauty.

We headed outside to find the entrance to the winding stairs up to the viewpoint. This is definitely worth the climb, if your knees cooperate.

Up here, we found this intriguing carved note in the stone wall.

A man who lives in Vienna saw us and immediately started telling us the meaning. He seemed pleased to find someone interested. We learned that an Allied bomber aiming for a nearby industrial plant dropped a bomb on the church by mistake on April 11, 1945. Fire ravaged the church for 4 days. One casualty was the giant bell. Here’s the empty place where it hung. A bell is now in another tower. The roof of the cathedral was also destroyed. It’s been rebuilt with lovely mosaic tiles.

The sun was setting as we came out, glowing gold on the top of the cathedral.

Wrap Up Your Afternoon in Vienna with an Evening of Memorable Dining

All that climbing made us hungry. We found a perfect restaurant for dinner, Osteria d’Atri, near the Palace. The specialty is wine, and the Italian cuisine was light and delicious.

End Your Day with Dessert at Historic Cafe Central

We passed up dessert here because we wanted to visit one more famous cake and coffee restaurant, Café Central. Opened in 1876, the café has served patrons famous and infamous, including Sigmund Freud, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, and Adolph Hitler. It closed after World War II but has now reopened and welcomes everyday people like you and me.

I chose the signature chocolate cake, and my husband enjoyed the apple strudel. If you eat in only one place in Vienna, I’d recommend this one!

Coming from Budapest and arriving in Vienna, I noticed so many differences, some stemming from the fact that one had been behind the Iron Curtain and one was free after World War II. Vienna received funds to rebuild, and its people donated to reconstruction, too. It’s difficult to imagine that Vienna was bombed 52 times in the war and rubble reigned at war’s end. Vienna today is clean, with modern shops lining these central streets. Yet the history of the city is apparent, too. And the cakes alone are worth the trip.

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