Recommendations for your top things to do in Vienna please

[Januaryhere11]

Only have a few days there for a planned trip.
Your recommendations would be really appreciated.
Thanks!

Go to one of the morning rehearsals at the Spanish Riding School - they're fantastic. A tour of the Schonbrunn Palace is also a must.

There's also the zoo, the oldest in Europe - I took dd, but didn't always feel comfortable about the amount of space some of the animals had.

We went for the Christmas markets, so probably missed lots of things as we spent most of our time exploring them. There are lots of galleries we didn't go to.

It's a very safe and easy city to travel around. Enjoy!

The famous painting The Kiss it's there somewhere, a friend sent me a postcard saying "come in for The Kiss"

Eat chocolate cake

Oh, can I jump in and ask of any nice family friendly hotels to stay in please? Ones in the city. My dd wants to go to see the horses and we want to surprise her by taking her for her birthday. It sounds lovely.

Rotating restaurant at Donauturm for coffee and cake or lunch, taste the original sachertorte at Palmenhaus, the fairground for the huge big wheel which gives you amazing views of Vienna and Cafe Englander for dinner: no English menus but the English speaking waiter ran through almost everything and we ordered his delicious recommendations. There was a fabulous ice cream parlour in the centre along the Danube (on the left hand side! Sorry, very vague!) which was well worth the twenty minute queue, it was Italian and the ice cream was to die for. Unfortunately, the name escapes me.

Rotating restaurant, the wooden Ferris wheel... Spanish riding school... the famous cafe with amazing cakes near there!

Eat like the locals:
Coffee house for tea/coffee and cake - Cafe Pruckel (1950s style) or Landtmann. Cafe Dommayer in the 13th district also good if you go to Schönbrunn. Landtmann is really good for Schnitzel and/or Kalbsbutterschnitzel too.
Non-coffee house - best eating in Vienna (again, where the locals eat) - casual: Mochi (Japanese) in the 2nd district, or Cafe Ansari (Georgian) next door. Hard to get a table at Mochi, best bet is to turn up for an early lunch. MuseumsQuartier Halle, 7th district (breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner), Palmenhaus in the Burggarten (brunch, lunch, dinner, 1st district), Fuchs und Trauben (7th). Skopik & Lohn (2nd), slightly smarter for dinner. Schnattl (8th) lovely, lunch/dinner. Joseph (1st, 3rd and 7th) great for breakfast, brunch/ lunch. Check websites for opening times; most places have a special lunch deal, and everywhere is welcoming towards kids.

We really enjoyed the tour and wine tasting at Schlumberger Kellerwelten wine vaults.

Demel really good for tea/coffee and amazing and beautiful cakes.

The Third Man Museum! Not exclusively about the film but lots on post-war Vienna so super interesting.

As pp have stated go to the Sacher hotel for Sachertorte but make sure you have the hot chocolate they make with their own chocolate liquor.

What time of year are you going? At the moment there’s ice skating in front of the Rathaus. In the summer, it’s nice to wander through / have a picnic in the Prater, or go swimming at one of the outdoor pools.

I personally would choose Demel over the Sacher Hotel; both touristy but Demel has more charm. There is a long-standing dispute over which of them actually created the first Sachertorte, btw!

The Belvedere, a wonderful art gallery with several Klimt paintings as well as The Kiss, and its in a beautiful garden setting.

I second Schoenbrunn. There are huge grounds there as well as the palace, so try to go on a day the weather is dry.

Belvedere art gallery is nice, but Vienna has more than its share of world class art, so if you want to visit galleries, you need to decide what your personal priorities are! As PP has said, you can see the orginal of The Kiss in Vienna. Can't now remember whether that's in the Belvedere or a different gallery.

The Prater fairground has the big wheel which features in the film The Third Man.

Schloss Schönbrunn I agree with others on. The main museum and art gallery (Kunsthistoriche museum) is also excellent.