Traveling is exciting because as you leave one country or city and arrive in another, you immediately sense the energy of the city. Vienna was one of those cities where I immediately felt at ease when exiting the train station. Its streets, lined with beautiful baroque architecture and cream-colored buildings accented with turquoise and gold, truly captured my heart. The city feels extremely elegant while retaining a cool, young vibe.
While in Vienna, I stayed at Wombat’s City Hostel. There are two locations, “The Lounge” and “Naschmarkt” which as you guessed is conveniently located across from Naschmarkt, Vienna’s most popular market. It is also down the street from the kettenbrückengasse U-bahn station which makes it convenient to explore the city via train and why I chose this location.
After spending quite a few hours in transit to Vienna from Budapest, I was happy to arrive at Naschmarkt with a variety of restaurants and food vendors to choose from. As I walked past each booth, a vendor invited me to try a sample of his falafel and hummus and I was blown away.
The falafel was perfectly crispy and the hummus was full of flavor with a spicy kick. Without hesitation, I can say it was the best falafel and hummus I have ever experienced. I enjoyed it so much that I went back the following day.
I was excited to explore the city so I booked a free city tour with Good Tours Vienna. One of my favorite stops was Hofburg, the former imperial palace located in the center of Vienna. It is stunning!!! If I could add six more exclamation marks without being super obnoxious I would. If you’re in Vienna, I definitely recommend adding this palace to your itinerary.
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where to eat
Throughout my trip, I found gelato restaurants in various European cities that were marked online as Vegan, however, when I arrived I was disappointed to see that they only offered a few flavors. In Vienna, I was over the moon when I found a completely vegan gelato shop called Veganista. The shop was a 15-20 minute walk from my accommodations and offered a lovely stroll along cobblestone streets with these fantastic looking structures that lead you from the lower level streets to the upper.
When I finally reach Veganista, I walked into its quaint shop where I was greeted by two friendly young women who welcomed me to try any flavor my heart desired. The Veganista ice cream is made fresh every morning with natural ingredients.
All ingredients are plant-based/vegan, many of which are also organic and regional. They don’t use artificial additives or pre-filled pastes and offer classic varieties such as chocolate or strawberry as well as innovative varieties such as basil or maple pecan.
They are made with soy milk but there are also varieties for people with a soy allergy. For those varieties, they use oatmeal, almond milk, rice milk or coconut milk. They also have sorbets that do not contain milk. The gelato at Veganista was delicious!!! The flavors were rich and the texture was so creamy that you would never guess that it was 100% vegan.
The streets I passed on my way to Veganista were scattered with inspiring art and adorable streetlights. The traffic lights were created in preparation for the annual Eurovision Song Contest, one of the world’s most popular kitsch cultural events. In 2015 dozens of traffic lights in central Vienna were programmed to show male or female gay couples with hearts in red for stop and green for go replacing the usual single, gender-neutral figure. The campaign was intended to present Vienna as an open minded-city and also to improve traffic safety as the unusual symbols attract the attention of drivers and pedestrians.
MORE SWEET TREATS..
Vienna is known for its famous Sachertorte which is a specific type of chocolate cake or torte, invented by Austrian Franz Sacher in 1832 for Prince Wenzel von Metternich in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties and if you ask any tour guide or local they will tell you that Demel is the place you go for Sachertorte. It was the chosen bakery of the Viennese royal family which means it was also my chosen bakery while in Vienna.
Another sweet treat that Vienna is known for is Eis-Marillenknödel which is a ball of vanilla ice cream with apricot jam in the center. The place to go? a cute ice cream parlor called Tichy. It has a kitschy (haha.. see what I did there) diner vibe with red cushion seats and workers dressed in pink and white pinstripe uniforms. They are known for being the go-to place for Eis-Marillenknödel so be sure to stop by when visiting Vienna.
What to visit
Belvedere Palace
I didn’t have the opportunity to spend much time at Belvedere Palace. As you can see from the sky, the weather wasn’t too agreeable that day but the grounds are fairly small so it doesn’t take long to explore. There is a restaurant in the main building where you can grab lunch before walking into the lovely garden. I only know this because the lobby of the restaurant was where I hid out for 10-15 minutes during a massive rainstorm that took out a few restaurant umbrellas along the way. This was pretty much the only rain I experienced on my entire trip so I’ll count myself lucky, although I can’t say the same for the patio furniture.
Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace was by far my favorite, not only was the weather perfect that day but the grounds are extensive and beyond stunning. If you only have time to visit one Palace, Schönbrunn shouldn’t be missed.
I did quite a bit of walking to get to the Gloriette. To say it’s a hike is an understatement but the view from the top is worth every step. There is a vehicle that you can take up and down the hill (for a fee) but since I live in Los Angeles and hardly ever have the opportunity to walk, my feet are my favorite mode of transportation when traveling.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Vienna but I was pleasantly surprised by its beauty and elegance as well as the genuine kindness that I experienced from the Viennese. If you’re a solo female traveler, Vienna is the perfect city to visit. Aside from its beauty, it is extremely safe and easy to get around the city.