Four Day Itinerary in Vienna - Travel With A Butterfly

This post is a continuation of the blog post Four Day Itinerary in Vienna (Part One), where we will be taking about my itinerary and the things we did on Days 3 and 4. You should read part one as it also included pics of our Airbnb and neighborhood, plus restaurants you should go AND shouldn’t go.

DAY THREE

Schönbrunn Palace (website)

We were awake really early on day three of Vienna, because we expected that there will be a lot of people for Schönbrunn Palace. Fortunately for us, that turned out not to be the case. That being said, it was still good we went early, because we actually have to get a ticket to be reserved a time to enter the palace. We got there around 9am, and this included a 10-15 min walk from the Schönbrunn metro station as well. While there was availability at around 11:30am, we decided to come back at around 2pm so that we had enough time to take photos around its garden but also go to one of our bucket list restaurants for lunch before coming back.

Schönbrunn Palace is an iconic Baroque palace that has played a significant role in the country’s history. Built in the 18th century, it was the summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, including Empress Maria Theresa. The palace is known for its opulent interiors, meticulously designed gardens, and vast parkland, making it a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The architectural grandeur of Schönbrunn Palace consists of 1,441 rooms, including the impressive Great Gallery (a grand hall that was often used for imperial festivities and celebrations), the ornate Hall of Mirrors, and the sumptuously decorated Imperial Apartments. Visitors can explore the various chambers, adorned with exquisite frescoes, gilded carvings, and elaborate chandeliers and furnishings, providing a glimpse into the lavish lifestyle of the imperial family.

In terms of history, we mainly had an audio guide listening about Franz Joseph I of Austria, and a bit about his wife Sisi. Although we did already learn about the life of Sisi in the Sisi Museum from the previous day. (updated notes about Joseph: he was serious about work, and would also wake up from 5am to midnight like Mozart to work)

Beyond the palace walls, the gardens of Schönbrunn are equally captivating. The meticulously landscaped gardens feature symmetrical patterns, manicured hedges, meticulously maintained flower beds, and stunning fountains. The highlight is the Gloriette, an elegant triumphal arch situated on a hill, offering panoramic views of both the palace and the surrounding countryside.

At first glance, this looks like a very romantic gesture of two lovers

But actually underneath them lies a third person who appears jealous that he is the one upholding the woman. This statue seems to indicate that this third person also is in love with the woman and is doing the heavy lifting for her, suggesting he is friendzoned.

Super fluffy clouds and beautiful sky that day

Bit of a walk to get to the back of this gigantic garden. This building is eye-catching when you see it from afar, and it looks like it might house another museum or art gallery or something, but it’s actually just a café.

So I only have photos of the exterior of Schönbrunn Palace because photos again are not allowed to be taken inside. It’s about a one hour tour with an audio guide. The place was very similar to other historical European castles and palaces, in terms of the look, the feel, the vibes, and the structure of the place. Like the furniture and room decorations feel similar to the other European palaces as well. Not gonna lie, the Schönbrunn Palace in my opinion didn’t live up to its hype to be the number one attraction. I felt that the collections we saw in Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien were much more exquisite and luxurious.

Pre-lunch at Café Demel (website)

Known for their cakes, chocolates, and sweets, we came here because we were queuing for Café Central (see below) and because of how long the line was, we split into two groups and decided to queue for another nearby restaurant.

Since the line in Café Central was moving quite quickly, we ordered a bowl of strawberries flavoured with chocolate drip from here, and ate it along the way back to Café Central.

The booth making the chocolate dripped strawberries with cream

Tada! Was yummy

Café Central (website)

From Wikipedia, “The café was opened in 1876, and in the late 19th century it became a key meeting place of the Viennese intellectual scene. Key regulars included: Peter Altenberg, Theodor Herzl, Alfred Adler, Egon Friedell, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Anton Kuh, Adolf Loos, Leo Perutz, Robert Musil, Stefan Zweig, Alfred Polgar, Adolf Hitler, and Leon Trotsky. In January 1913 alone, Josip Broz Tito, Sigmund Freud, and Stalin were patrons of the establishment. The café was often referred to as the “Chess school” (Die Schachhochschule) because of the presence of many chess players who used the first floor for their games.” You can go to the website’s press release PDF for more information about this significant historical cafe.

Lots of beautiful cakes and desserts being showcased near the entrance of the restaurant

I think it’s Vegan pumpkin cream soup with vegan cream of pumpkin seed oil

I think it’s Goulash soup

I think Deep fried chicken “Café Central“ with lemon cut and cream cucumber-potato salad

I think Pan fried fillet of halibut with sweet potato puree, parsley Pain Perdu, pickeld carrot and lime foam

Kaiserschmarrn – torn pancake with stewed plums

This was one of the desserts from the display showcase – I think millefeuille

A sign showing that Alfred Adler was here.

While the ambience of the restaurant felt quite grand, and it does feel quite special to be visiting a place where all these famous intellectuals used to go, the food itself was just alright, pretty decent. I’d still go again, but it didn’t make me feel like wow this place here was incredibly delicious that I must visit here again before I die!

Mozart’s apartment (website)

Initially it wasn’t on our things to do list, but I actually wanted to go because I studied classical piano and Mozart was like the most famous of musicians in the entire history of classical music.

Like other museums, you’re not really supposed to take photos inside, but some rooms were so inspiring I took just a few, but otherwise I refrained from taking more photos.

Mozart’s apartment, located in the central district of the city, was a modest residence where the famous composer spent a significant portion of his life during the years 1784 to 1787. Situated on Domgasse street in the old town, this rental apartment on the third floor was where Mozart and his family lived during a productive and highly successful period of his career. The apartment consisted of a small living space with two rooms, a kitchen, and facilities shared with other tenants in the building. It was in this modest abode that Mozart composed numerous acclaimed works, including his opera The Marriage of Figaro.

Again, you will listen to an audio guide and you will also learn from Mozart’s life how he might have gotten into gambling debt even despite earning a pretty high income considering the times, and how he managed to produce a significant amount of musical works in such a short amount of time. You can also see that he used to have a helper, how he would host parties and events at his place, and friendly rivalries he had with other composers. You will also hear about how he used to be quite hardworking as well, working till midnight and waking up the next day at 5am. Sometimes we associate hard work with only our generation, but after going through the tour, I felt very motivated myself too by Mozart’s work ethics and his tremendous productivity.

You’d be surprised that the apartment isn’t as “huge” as what you’d imagine. It’s quite comparable to the size of the apartments that we live in currently. FYI – each room would feature a distinct furniture of the room, so you see the golden clock featured in this room.

Back then, it was common to list out all your furniture that you had in the apartment (I forgot whether it was for moving or when you pass away) so from the furniture and space layout, historians guessed as to what room was for what purpose.

The ceiling which was probably Mozart’s bedroom

Some other notes I wrote about Mozart – he liked to gamble and would be in gambling debt time to time, he liked to entertain guests at his place, he liked to be famous, he woke up at 5am and worked till midnight, he was restless and liked to move around, and he liked to work on multiple compositions at once

SKY & Roofgarden at STEFFL (website)

At the heart of Vienna is Stephansplatz, a square that is geographically center of Vienna. And that is where Sky & Roofgarden at STEFFL was located, where you can grab a couple of cocktails and enjoy the beautiful views overlooking Vienna. It was still a bit too early for dinner, and we wanted a place to rest, so we came here to grab a drink.

San Carlo Ristorante (website)

A word of advice – do NOT go to this restaurant. It was terrible! We opted to go here since it was nearby and we wanted to take a break from Viennese cuisine, so we decided on pasta. The Google Maps review said this place was okay, but it wasn’t? Everything about it was terrible, we just didn’t like it. Don’t go!

Salmon carpaccio, but the salmon looks semi-cooked? Yuck! Worst dish.

You can’t go too wrong with penne arrabiata, but it was still very mamadei (mediocre in Cantonese). Worse than mamadei actually.

Carbonara, also very worse than mamadei.

DAY FOUR

University of Vienna (website)

The University of Vienna, located in the heart of the city, is one of Austria’s oldest and most prestigious universities. Established in 1365, it is renowned for its rich academic heritage and exceptional research contributions in various fields.

I decided to come here for day four because we had some time in the morning and I forgot how I stumbled upon it, I think it was when we were going to the opera house and while searching for directions to get there, I saw the University of Vienna photos on Google Maps and was like, “wow, this place looks incredible!” and that’s how I decided to walk around this campus. We didn’t spend much time here though since we had a lunch appointment at like 12pm or something and we got to the university by 11am.

Sigmund Freud, who studied medicine in this university

I think it was like the beginning of school semester so there were a lot of these booths scattered across the ground floor

There was even some fair going on

These, I’m guessing, were some of the famous people that attended the University of Vienna

Figlmüller (website)

Figlmüller is a renowned Viennese restaurant famous for its iconic Wiener Schnitzel. Located in the heart of Vienna’s city center, this establishment has been serving its Schnitzels since 1905. Figlmüller’s Schnitzel is known for its enormous size and perfectly crispy breading, encasing a tender and juicy veal or pork cutlet. Since this place was recommended as a must go to restaurant, there was no way we would skip our reservation. There were a couple of Figlmüller restaurants, ours was like a minute away from another (they opened another one since there were always many people). But I think the one we went to, hidden in an alleyway, was the oldest branch and required reservations, whereas the other one was on a main street and was only walk in only. I’m not exactly sure about this, I’m just guessing only.

If I remember correctly the middle was grape juice from Figlmüller’s vineyard. They also have their own vineyard and the grape juice was very delicious.

Potato

Tomato Salad, tomatoes were yummy

Figlmüller-Schnitzel – while they may be famous for their schnitzel, I actually thought this one was okay, but short of spectacular.

Same goes with the clear beef broth – the beef was very tough and difficult to chew

You might be surprised (or might not since I’m pretty honest and won’t say what is commonly said) but the food here was just okay, and I would NOT recommend coming here. I think its reputation is overhyped, and you can definitely go to other Viennese restaurants for better food. Yes it does give off a very traditional, home cooking vibe, but taste wise I think there are better places.

Belvedere Palace (website)

The Belvedere Palace in Vienna is a magnificent historical landmark and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Comprised of two Baroque palaces, the Upper Belvedere and the Lower Belvedere, it is known for its stunning architecture, opulent interiors, and extensive art collection. Built in the 18th century as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy, the palace complex now houses one of the most important art museums in Austria.

The Upper Belvedere showcases works by renowned artists such as Gustav Klimt, including his famous masterpiece “The Kiss.” Visitors can explore the lavish state rooms, grand halls, and beautifully landscaped gardens that offer breathtaking views of Vienna. The Lower Belvedere features a diverse range of temporary exhibitions and also houses a museum dedicated to Viennese Baroque art.

Our ticket only allowed us to visit the Upper Belvedere, which was enough for us. The Lower Belvedere would have been too much for us (energy wise) and we had seen enough of Baroque art anyway.

It was good we went to the Belvedere Palace, because people actually travel to Vienna specifically just to see “The Kiss”, which we during that time didn’t know it was that famous. We knew it was famous within the museum, but didn’t know it had such a strong reputation globally.

Also by Gustav Klimt

Napoleon

The gardens weren’t as pretty as the one in Schönbrunn Palace, but they were also very huge. You see that building at the far end? That’s the lower Belvedere Palace. Yeah, you have to walk through the entire garden in order to go to the lower section.

Cafe Goldegg

We needed a break from all the walking at Belvedere Palace, so we looked up Google Maps again and found this café called Cafe Goldegg and went there to sit down and have a quick drink.

The only thing I can say about this place is – don’t go! Drinks were bad, and pricey.

Hundertwasserhaus (Wikipedia)

Hundertwasserhaus is a unique and iconic residential building in Vienna. Designed by the visionary artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the building is characterized by its vibrant and colorful facade, uneven floors, and the absence of straight lines. It was also one of our things to do in our Vienna bucket list, and this was the last chance we had to go take a look. It was still early, like before 4pm, when we finished Belvedere Palace, so we took an Uber to come here.

Uber sights

It’s actually pretty photographic, but the area is much smaller than you would expect. Like just a couple of buildings, and that’s it. The rest of the area were pretty much just tourist shops and souvenir shops. So the attraction itself was just okay, but it felt so touristy because of all the souvenir shops. Come if you have time, but it’s definitely not a priority.

Before Sunset Film Location

Have you ever seen Before Sunset? So apparently, some of the romantic scenes were shot in Vienna. While we didn’t go precisely where they filmed the scene, we chose a bridge that was quite similar to where they filmed the bridge.

OK you can’t really see the bridge we’re on because we’re standing on it, but trust me it looks like the one in Before Sunset

Würstelbox

Wanna get good hot dogs and sausages? Come to Würstelbox. I forgot why, but I wanted to eat sausages, and luckily there was a hot dog stand really close by our airbnb. It was literally right out of our Pilgramgasse station. Recommend!

Polyklamott (website) Mollardgasse 13, 1060 Wien

So I was looking to do some shopping in Europe but haven’t had the chance to do it after all because of our tight schedule. Anyway, I still managed to squeeze in to visit this vintage clothing shop because it was literally, like literally, right next to our airbnb building.

At first glance when I entered the shop, it didn’t seem really appealing to me. But then I started trying on different jackets and some of them were quite good, and I ended up buying one jacket for a brand that’s usually 10x as expensive.

Dinner at Thai Isaan Kitchen (website)

We were tired of eating too much western food so we opted to get some Asian food, and the closest place near our airbnb was a Thai place, which was about a 6 minute walk. The place was managed by some Thai people. But that’s not what was the most important! Most important is of course the food taste, and I have to say, despite eating Asian in Europe, yeah this place was pretty good! If you’re looking for some Thai food in Vienna, you can come here.

For some reason I only have a photo of the dog that I petted

And that’s it! Four days was just enough for us to feel like we’ve seen enough of Vienna as a tourist. Any more days and we’d be forcing ourselves to visit lesser popular tourist attractions. And I think some of us were starting to be tired of eating wiener schnitzel again and again (I personally didn’t mind though).

My few thoughts about Vienna was that it was a very fantastic city to visit as a tourist, in fact probably one of the top cities I would recommend thus far. It feels safe, it’s extremely clean, all the gardens and plants are well maintained in both public and private properties, and if you go to the right places the food there was pretty good. The fact that it was a rich country probably contributed to the amazing art and antique collections that they have, and because they were so rich, you get to learn about all these famous people that used to visit here as well. It gives you insight as to how these emperors and empress became allies with other countries, which then made them an alliance and contributed to the pact in world war I. So as a tourist, there were so many historical and cultural aspects of the city that you get to experience. I would definitely want to come again – it’s a marvelous city.

RANDOM PICS IN VIENNA

Rolex, Vienna