Vienna recommendations

[Plomnskems]

Please give me recommendations about things to do here. I love historical stuff, good food and I'm a fan of scenic walks.

Also please give me honest views on safety.

Bumping for you.

Vienna is one of my favourite cities and a very safe place for tourists and locals. Public transport is excellent and the city centre (first district inside the Ringstrasse) is very easy to walk.
it is very lovely to take a walk in the vineyards or to Kahlenberg. All very easy to reach by public transport.
A very interesting atmospheric and somber place is the former mental hospital designed by the influential Jugendstil architect Otto Wagner. Also very interesting is the huge social housing complex Karl Marx-Hof.
if you have specific interests (music, Habsburgs, Jewish heritage, "red Vienna" etc), please let me know.

UmcachorroVerde is it worth paying more to stay closer to the centre in your opinion. Or is public transport relatively cheap and plentiful?

Public transport is cheap and plentiful (excellent underground and overground trains, trams and buses). It can be a lot cheaper to stay 5-10 mins by public transport outside the very centre, or even a bit further, so I’d do this. Also hotels often seem to charge a bewildering amount for breakfast buffet (€25+) so I don’t bother and just get breakfast at one of the many cafes or kiosks around. My only caveat with public transport is that the overground trains to the outer suburbs, airport and beyond have been a bit messed up since the floods in September so were behaving more like British trains last time I was there (delays, cancellations), but the transport around the city itself was fine.

It’s a very safe city - same as any major European capital. Don’t flash your valuables on the street, don’t go down any dark alleys late at night, and you’ll be fine.

Loads and loads to see. The Kunsthistorisches Museum is a world class art gallery and museum. St Stephen’s Cathedral is stunning. Lots of art deco stuff (Sezession) if you’re into that. I love just wandering round the streets and soaking up the atmosphere and then having a coffee and cake somewhere nice (Cafe Hawelka is a classic). It’s easy to get out of the city into the countryside too; can be worth visiting a vineyard (Heurigen). It’s also usually easy (though check the state of the trains) to do day trips to other cities like Salzburg or Bratislava if you’re there for a while. And if you like thermal spas I thoroughly recommend Therme Wien, out near the airport (like most Austrian spas it’s no clothes, but there is a huge family swimming bit that is costumes compulsory and an amazing rooftop spa that is no costumes but women only). Shopping in the city centre is also good.

Thank you all for this

Get a Vienna Pass, it gives free public transport including the hop on hop off buses as well as free/discounted entrance to loads of museums. As well as the big museums there are some fascinating quirky ones. I went to the Esperanto Museum, the Globe Museum and a museum with some of the oldest papyrus writings. Each only took about 1/2 hr and were free with the card.

All of the above!
Definitely Cafe Hawelka.
Albertina Museum.
Hofburg.
Belvedere Museum.

So much to see, and very safe.

I was in Vienna last November

I did the Guru walk round the city center on the first day

its was good as she gave lots of tips where to eat, drink and what to visit along with plenty of history

she recommended visiting the royal apartments in the city center and visiting the gardens of the summer palace - rather than the palace itself which take 4/5 hours

the summer palace gardens have great views of the city and a cafe at the top - I walked up on a Sunday morning

the trams are great for getting about and a 3 day pass is very economical as it covers tubes, buses and trams

Very informative, thank you.

I stayed at hotel outside the center which was a tube or tram ride, it took 10 minutes and never waited more than 2 minutes for a tube or tram