How to eat your way around... Vienna
Eagerly following in the footsteps of Rick Stein, who opened mine and my husband’s gluttonous eyes to the idea of short gastro breaks to the continent, we hot-footed it over to the former capital of the once-ginormous Austro-Hungarian Empire inspired by schnitzels, strudel, sausages and more.
Arriving on a wintry January morning last year, the first thing that struck me was not the delicious food but the freezing streets of a post-New Year Vienna. Rick Stein had described sightseeing in this city as ‘feeling like a mouse trapped inside a giant wedding cake’, and with huge grandiose palaces, stately buildings and statues looming over us, I kind of took his point.
Water froze where it met the air on slippery streets and out of drain pipes and it’s the first time I’ve genuinely considered the merits of a balaclava.
Cold weather aside, we were on a mission, and spurred on by our taste buds (and a need to keep warm), we started our tour of Vienna in one of its most iconic offerings, its grand coffee houses. Here, you step back decades where you could easily be rubbing shoulders with Freud, Trotsky and even Stalin and Hitler. Unchanged over the years, with polished parquet, dark furniture, newspapers clipped to wooden boards, the gentle chime of classical music and charmingly austere service, these are the places to while away several hours people-watching and imagining the conversations these walls have heard. You’ll find these institutions dotted across the city, and we visited a few over the days, enjoying Vienna Coffees (strong coffee infused with whipped cream).
Our stand-out favourites were Coffee House Landtman where we tucked into warm apple strudel topped with plenty of vanilla saus (custard), and Hotel Sacher which for us totally pipped Demels to the post in the battle for the best Sacher Torte. Hotel Sacher was a total find with a 24/7 queue groaning outside the door to the main café, and a chance discovery of a cosy side lounge offering up a leisurely and tourist-free take on the main café experience.
Vienna is easy to navigate with a tram taking you around it’s regal Ringstrasse, lined with magnificent buildings like the Imperial Palace, State Opera and Parliament with the atmospheric old town at its centre. Half-way round the loop, you’ll need to swap onto a separate line with the short wait being high-time for trying another of the city’s famous treats, a huge wurst (sausage) in bread dripping with either sweet or spicy sauce. It’s impossible to look remotely glamourous whilst eating one of these, and as a kiosk food-phobe I was dubious to say the least – it was however, delicious.
When in Vienna, a Wiener Schnitzel is an absolute must. We’d discounted Rick Stein’s choice (Hotel Imperial) as it was eye-wateringly expensive, instead opting for a café that wasn’t recommended but was across the road from one that was. Like with lots of European cities, the famous haunts had queues a mile-long, and we had stomachs to fill. Here, flattened veal was served hot and crisp in breadcrumbs with a delicious potato salad and wedge of lemon.
One thing you’ll quickly notice in Vienna is that veggies are a bit of a non-starter. It’s a great destination for some serious carb-loading, washed down by steins of Austrian beer. If something a little healthier is on your agenda, we had the best night at the newly-opened Therme Wien, a massive spa and swimming complex a short drive out the city. Where we didn’t walk or tram, Uber was cheap as chips and very reliable. With 26 pools from family-friendly splash pools to romantic grottos and – our favourite – al fresco bubbling springs set under the stars, this was a lovely chilled respite from days of pounding the pavements. And, a three-hour ticket starts from just €18 each.
If you are in Vienna over a weekend, a visit to Saturday’s Naschmarket is a must. This colourful flea market is just the right mixture of food stalls offering up exotic delicacies from around the world, and trendy pop-ups cooking everything from Israeli-Oriental to organic fare. For us, it was one last opportunity to tuck into the area’s famous kasekrainer (another sausage, but this time oozing with cheese) before, half a stone later, making our way back to the airport reflecting on a fantastic, and delicious, adventure.
Wherever you choose to go in the world, I’ll help plan you a trip that makes the very best of your destination. So why not see give me a shout?