I’ve been to Vienna already, but it's so beautiful and full of different activities and monuments, that I couldn't miss to go and see it again. This time the reason was a friend from university, who I didn't meet for 5 years. What a great excuse to revisit this extraordinary European capital and to get reunited with my friend.
My boyfriend and I arrived on Friday evening and left on Tuesday midday. This long weekend was certainly not enough to fully explore and enjoy everything Vienna has to offer, keeping in mind that the weather was awful - raining most of the time, and Sunday was planned for Bratislava.
On Saturday we went first for brunch as it was pouring outside. The place we chose for brunch is called Café Telegraph. There are also some vegan options there, which made it the best choice for me. After brunch, we did a city walking tour with our local guide, who was actually the boyfriend of my friend. Some buildings like the Parliament and the Rathaus (the city hall) were in renovation, but luckily I've seen them already in their full beauty, so I wasn't disappointed.
Later on this day my friend joined us after work and we continued the tour with her, but this time it was more of a drinking tour - kidding, but ''Cheers!'' anyway. We also stopped for a coffee at a very cute place, where they sell all kinds of coffee beans - Alt Wien Kaffee. We finished the day with pizza in the Riva restaurant.
What not to miss, when in Vienna:
- Museums Quartier - baroque district - The Hofburg - Karlskirche - St. Stephen's Cathedral - Belvedere Palace - Schönbrunn Palace / Zoo - Prater - public park with iconic giant wheel - Vienna State Opera - unfortunately, we couldn't go
- Hundertwasser House and many other
Bratislava
On Sunday morning we took a bus to Bratislava. The departure was around 9 am from Vienna train station with arrival around 10:30 am as we did a stop at Vienna airport to pick up more people. Otherwise, the distance between Vienna and Bratislava is only 60km. And the bus in one direction costs 5 euro, so in total is 10 euro for both directions. Incredible, isn't it? We used a company called RegioJet, but there are some other options like Flixbus or you can even go by boat. Keep in mind that going by boat is more expensive - 24 euro single, 39 euro return ticket. In RegioJet busses, you get free WiFi, screen to watch movies or play, and a hot drink included in the price.
The first thing we did when we arrived in Bratislava is to have another brunch as we were very hungry. The place we chose is called Urban House and is situated not far from the bus stop, but anyways - everything that has to be seen in Bratislava is at a walking distance. The city is very compact and everything is concentrated in one place, except the ''Blue Church''/St. Elisabeth church, which is also close, but you have to go slightly out of the very centre. This church is one of the most special places and a must-see when exploring Bratislava. I highly recommend to visit the city, but not to stay longer than a day if you have limited time. I loved it, but we saw all the monuments so quickly that we even had time for a massage before heading back to Vienna.
My tip for Bratislava is - just go as much as possible in the different streets to feel the spirit and also don't skip the view from the castle on the hill. If you are a vegan go to eat in Foodstock, it's an inexpensive self-service restaurant with an Asian influence and very good taste. We also had plenty of time to drink some wine in Wine o'clock. They have a good wine list, so why not trying it as well. After that, we went back to Vienna. Monday was our last full day in Vienna and as such, we tried to cover as much as possible from our list - we passed again some of the monuments we liked on our first day as it was not raining as much, but it was quite cold and windy. As you've might already notice, we like brunching when we travel, so the choice of the day was Café Ulrich. The food was delicious.
Last day in Vienna I wanted a picture with St. Stephen's cathedral, but it was very crowded as usual, so we decided to go to a bar with a view of it and I took my picture there. The bar is called Onyx and it's in Do & Co hotel. And as a great finish of the trip, we went for dinner to Motto am Fluss. The service, the food and the view over the river were great. On Tuesday morning we went to see Schönbrunn as we didn't have time to visit it the days before. So this was how our trip finished. I wanna go back to Vienna again and again.
Now I know why it is called ''City of Dreams'' and it's ranked first in the best cities to live in the world for 10th year in a row. Go see yourself why.. Xx
Pictures: 1. The Hofburg, Vienna
2. Belvedere Palace, Vienna
3. House of the Good Shepherd, Bratislava
4. Streets of Bratislava