Day 3 of our Vienna Austria Vacation, it’s winter and as I’ve said it’s our first time to make a tour with this kind of weather. For the whole time, we’re in the exterior expose on a freezing day.

Day 2 was quite long day for us. We visited as many places as we could and went back to our hotel late night. For this day before our last day or shall I say our departure day, we have planned some places to go.

Our Vienna Austria Vacation Day 3

Since the second day is full of northwestern parts of the city. Next ideal visit would be a different angle view from the other side of Vienna. The plan? is to visit the southeastern part of Vienna which we haven’t explored yet.

I have thought about some good places like Karlsplatz, Hochstrahlbrunnen, Palais Schwarzenberg, and Unteres Belvedere that I’ve recently discovered on Instagram (while posting my latest photos). As I’ve mentioned getting to the city center coming from your hotel you should take either a tram or metro depending on your place.

Karlskirche/St. Charles Church

One of the cordial places that you’ll find in Vienna. As part of our vacation posting on social media become one of our habits whilst traveling and by then we learn and get new information through it. Luckily I got mine!

Sometimes getting into social media information is vicious but mine was totally different. I get to know more about the rest of interesting places given as recommendations by locals. How cool right?

Once I’ve seen this photo and information about Karlskirche I’ve rapidly taken down notes and save the area. One of the most engaging churches that I’ve seen. Considered as the most outstanding baroque church in Vienna, as well as one of the city’s greatest buildings.

This place is also known for it Christmas Markets around the area. Tons of artisanal products displayed it was like the world of Alice in Wonderland. You’ll be transformed into a minuscule human and get that feeling of this native atmosphere.

Heldendenkmal der Roten Armee

Continuing to walk from the first destination of our Vienna Austria Vacation, next would be the Belvedere as planned. but in the end, we passed through this another delightful site.

It wasn’t included in the tourist guidebook that we bought so this was a discovery for us!

Heldendenkmal der Roten Armee serves as a Memorial, semi-circular white marble colonnade partly enclosing a twelve-meter figure of a Red Army Soldier unveiled in 1945. Commemorating Soviet soldiers killed during WWII’s Vienna Offensive.

Sadly the fountain wasn’t functioning that day. I guess due to the coldness or perhaps the rain. I should have seen the other side of this place but unfortunately, I forgot to check it again about Palais Schwarzenberg.

Unteres Belvedere

With so much effort of finding ways to visit Belvedere, at last, we have arrived in its place. The entrance located just right beside the Rennweg street for about 5 minutes walk from the park behind it which is the Heldendenkmal der Roten Armee.

Unteres Belvedere will be the first building that you’ll see before getting to the Belvedere Palace. It’s an 8-10 minute walk, quite a long right? but the view is worth it!

Belvedere Garden

Belvedere Palace

One of the remarkable historic buildings in Vienna, with its baroque style. The Belvedere itself is a Palace complex which consist of two Palaces  the Orangery, and the Palace Stables.

The buildings set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district of the city, on the south-eastern edge of its center. It houses the Belvedere museum. this place said to be the summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy.

Admission fee: Upper Belvedere: 15 euros/adult 12,50 euros/student 13,50 euros/group (free admission to children ages 0-18 yrs old)
(Permanent Collection, Gustav Klimt, Kiss
Current Exhibitions)

Lower Belvedere and Orangery: 13 euros/adult 10 euros/student 11 euros/group (free admission to children ages 0-18 yrs old)
(Current Exhibitions)

Belvedere Ticket – Upper & Lower Belvedere: 22 euros/adult 19 euros/student 20 euros/group (free admission to children ages 0-18 yrs old)

Way to Belvedere

During winter Belvedere’s place installs Christmas Markets on its backyard side. We had the greatest opportunity to visit it and get some delicious Austrian food for our lunch and a special wine.

The access to this place is effortless, we went out from the hotel at 10:00 am and directly to Karlsplatz then going here.

Directions to Belvedere:

Since the address is Rennweg 6, 1030 Vienna, Upper Belvedere palace at Prinz Eugen-Straße 27 , 1030 Vienna.

Tram: take the D line to the Schloss Belvedere stop right outside the palace. Other option take the 18 or O line to Quarter Belvedere and walk for around 7 minutes (or go one stop on the D direction of Nußdorf)

Subway: U1 (get out at Hauptbahnhof and walk around 15 minutes to the palace, or catch the 18, O or D trams).

Bus: 13a (get out at Mommsengasse and take a short 10-minute walk or catch trams from Hauptbahnhof)

Donaukanal

After the lovely visit in Belvedere, we opt to visit another place. Our next destination is Donaukanal or “Danube Canal”. It was an adventure to arrive at this place, at first we took a local train, however, we took the wrong one instead of verifying the destination so we took the first one that came.

Instead of arriving at the Donaukanal the train brought us to Matzleinsdorfer Platz. Apparently, the one that we took was going to the opposite direction. At first, I panic cause we didn’t know where we are but in the end, we took the right train to go back to Vienna Central Station and from there to Schwedenplatz.

Donaukanal is a water channel within the city. A former arm of the river Danube, 17.3 kilometers (10.7 mi) long and, unlike the Danube itself, it borders Vienna’s city center, Innere Stadt, where the Wien River (Wienfluss) flows into it.

Interesting places to visit? well, Vienna is a huge city, in terms of museums, churches and other tourist attractions you have a long list to consider. By the canal side you can visit several places such as The Austrian Postal Savings Bank, Saint Barbara Catholic Church, Alfred Adler Haus, Dominican Church, Rare secular gothic façade and many more.

Dominican Church

Getting around the area, we found the closest church to visit. The Dominican Church was the easiest to reach, it’s 10 minutes walk from Donaukanal. But unfortunately, the church has no lights inside. It’s dark and not so clear even for us to see where we are stepping.

I’ve seen some photos online and this church caught my attention. It has a marvelous ceiling and its interior is impressive as well. Unluckily that day we didn’t have that luminous effect to savor the moment. Otherwise, the experience was fantastic still.

Last Destination

After a long walk, we decided to go back to the center and end our tour. We ended up adoring the Christmas Markets in Stephanplatz where you’ll see different artisanal products for sale, local foods, as well as local drinks.

I invited my partner to buy some delicious local food. The special bread with soup inside was my target, I saw it on our second-day tour where a lot of people buying it. Finally, I get to taste one but I will discuss it further in a separate article featuring about foods in Vienna. So watch out for it! 

Next destination? Our beloved Hotel to return there? this time we took a bus from Stephanplatz which is right in front of the cathedral. The bus stop station is found on the right side of it.

Our stop is at Schottentor Bus Station and from there we took a tram to our Hotel. Super easy right? and for public transportations ticket, we bought 3 days pass for around 20 euros per person so we can use all kinds of public transportation including their local train. What a great way to visit this city!

Other Places to Visit

Our Vienna Austria Vacation has come to an end, I must say this city has a bunch of places to visit. If you are an Opera lover? this city is perfect for you. As I have said the best way to please yourself while traveling is to visit those places that fit your taste.

As for us, we had a lot of options but we followed our guts and instinct in terms of choosing places to explore. Sometimes others where just places that we bump into without any intentions.

Here are some other best rated places to visit: 

The Hofburg,                                                                         The Spanish Riding School,
Schönbrunn Palace, and Gardens,                              The Vienna State Opera House,
The National Theater,                                                        Vienna Zoo (Tiergarten Schönbrunn),
Prater Park and the Giant Ferris Wheel,                    Hundertwasserhaus,
Kärtner Strasse and the Donner Fountain,              The Imperial Crypt and the Capuchin Church,
The Famous Demel: Vienna’s Ultimate Café,          The Franciscan Church: St. Jerome,

Verdict: 8.5/10

All in all, we had a great stay in this marvelous city. We visited places the ones that we like and just set aside the rest (based on schedules) since Vienna is a big city there are tons tourist attractions.

Including it’s more than 40 museums only in the city centre, about 15 churches, Operas, and many sightseeing areas. Indeed the city having a bunch of options.

Food was really nice, prices weren’t that much expensive (Europe’s standard price) Public Transportation was top except for car (Do not use car if you want to explore the city center) Would I recommend you to visit this city? It’s a big YES!!

Thank you so much for staying tuned on Vienna Austria vacation and adventures. I hope this one pleases you and don’t forget to follow my next post! It’ll be out soon.

Vienna Austria Vacation Day 3