FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Upon your arrival in Vienna, take the time to wander the Innere Stadt, Vienna’s historical center. If you’re hungry, grab a sausage from one of Vienna’s many Wurstelstands. Unlike the thin, tasteless hot dogs of most cities, Vienna’s Wurstels taste more like meat than plastic. The Kasekaner, in which cheese is literally injected into the sausage before it is sliced, is most highly recommended. Take a walk around the Ringstrasse, the road that girdles the central area, for an elegant promenade past the opera house, Stadtpark, Imperial palaces, and more, or turn into the winding streets for a more intimate view. Make sure to stop at Stephansplatz, Vienna’s gorgeous Gothic cathedral.

DINNER: Highly recommended is Zum Roten Elephant (”At the Home of the Red Elephant”) for creative takes on classic Viennese cuisine.

FRIDAY NIGHT

Catch an opera at the Staatsoper on the Ringstrasse. Tickets can be ordered in advance online, with blocked-view and student tickets as low as ten euro, but no matter what row you’re sitting in, take care to dress up: this quintessentially elegant affair means that your clothes shouldn’t look out of place in the building’s nineteenth-century opulence.

SATURDAY MORNING

Museumsquartier - Photo by flickr's Gastev

Head through the Imperial area of the Hofburg. While it’s well worth going inside, today we’re saving time, so continue on to the Museumsquartier, one of Vienna’s trendiest districts. There, see a fantastic Schiele and Klimt collection at the Leopold-Statler and some equally thrilling modern art at MUMOK.

SATURDAY LUNCH

Photo by flickr's magnusfranklin

For lunch, head towards Karslplatz to the Naschmarkt, an array of open-air food stalls and outdoor restaurants with a distinctively Turkish influence. Choose one of many restaurants in the fresh Viennese air and enjoy exotic foods at bargain prices.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Take the U4 Metro (Rossaeur direction) to Schonbrunn for an excursion to this beautiful remnant of Habsburg splendor. Visit both the elegant antechambers and intimate bedrooms of Emperor Franz-Josef and the notorious Empress Sissi. The audio tours are informative and lively, and well worth purchasing. If you have children, consider taking them to the adjacent Tiergarten (Zoo), the world’s oldest.

SATURDAY NIGHT

Rathaus - Photo by flickr's charley1965

If you’re there in summer (or around Christmastime) visit the Rathaus. In the summer, there’s a food court for a lovely picnic dinner and projection screen showing everything from opera to old films, while winter hosts a lively Christmas market. If neither of these options is available to you, consider heading to the trendy Mariahilf or Neubau districts for a walk and night on the time – Schnitzelwirt Schmit on Neubaugasse has a reputation for excellent traditional Viennese fare.

SUNDAY MORNING

Karlsplatz - Photo by flickr's roryrory

Take the metro to Karlsplatz and visit the golden-domed Secessionist building near the Naschtmarkt, a museum of the classic nineteenth-century Jungendstil art movement (roughly analogous to the “art nouveau” movement elsewhere) Then head up Getreidemarktgasse to Gumpendorferstrasse, one of the city’s loveliest streets, to Cafe Phil. This retro-chic record store-cum-bar-cum-cafe-cum-bookstore-etc. has free wifi, a sleek white decor, hip clientele, and best of all, a selection of delicious all-day breakfast platters (everything from fruit and yogurt to meat and cheese to all of the above) for super-low prices. Have brunch there and observe the thriving Viennese social scene.

by Tara Isabella Burton