2 days in Vienna

We arrived around afternoon in Vienna and decided to go straight to the Prater, in order to watch the sunset from the ferris wheel.

The Prater is Vienna's amusement park and to be honest it was way larger than I expected! You will not only find the famous "Prater" itself, which is an old ferris wheel, but you will also find many other rides, like ghost trains, rollercoasters and other fun activities. We decided to take a ride on the "normal" ferris wheel and to watch the sunset from there. We only spent around two hours at the Prater amusement park, but if you are into amusement parks, I could picture you spending a whole day there! You have two different possibilities to pay for the rides you want to take. Either you pay every single ride you take, or you can get a day pass. If you are an adrenaline junkie I guess the day pass is the right choice for you! Besides all the rides, there are many food stands and restaurants. I love buying sweets at amusement parks and was super happy that I ended up with a large portion of candy floss.

Even though the food looked super good, we were picture something special for our first dinner in Vienna - a schnitzel. My friend recommended the restaurant "Café Rüdigerhof" for a true Vienna schnitzel. We sat down at the outside area, which is designed with a lot of love. Looking back I do have to confirm, this was the best schnitzel I ever had - and I've had many haha! My boyfriend decided to go with Spare Ribs, which were also super delicious. The size of the dishes was also really good for the price and the service was excellent.

If you are thinking about visiting one of Vienna's castles, I can recommend two to you - Schloss Schönbrunn and Schloss Belvedere. 

The more known castle is Schloss Schönbrunn, located in the south-east of Vienna. You can easiy get there by subway, but it will cost you some time (around 30mins). From the subway station you need another 10mins to get to the castle.

Schloss Schönbrunn is a really huge castle, with an even larger park. All in all it is very impressive and there is a lot to see. You can easily spend half a day there. I would recommend you to take some picknick items with you, sit down at a bench and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere. We did not take a tour through the castle, but decided to walk the park, which is extemely beautiful. 

The special thing about Schloss Schönbrunn is that at the opposite end of the park, you find the Gloriette. The Gloriette is a historic building, belonging to the park. It is located on a higher level than Schloss Schönbrunn and grants you an amazing view over the castle and the park. Walking up there takes around 20mins, but it is definitely worth the view! There is also a café located in the Gloriette where you could stop for a refreshment. Alterntively you could get a scoop of ice cream at the ice cream stand - it is delicous! My favorite is mango sorbet, my boyfriend loved chocolate.

Schloss Belvedere is the smaller castle and it is located within the city center. We wanted to also give this castle a shot on our way back to the city center, because it is my friend's favorite castle in Vienna. And I do understand why!

Schloss Belvedere has less visitors than Schloss Schönbrunn and has a bit more charme. Because of the smaller size, you do not need so much time for your visit and could even squeeze it in a packed day. The park around the castle is very beautiful and accommodated many fountains and flowers. If you did not have a picknick stop at Schloss Schönbrunn, you should now use the time and have a break at Schloss Belvedere. It is less touristy and a bit less hectic, which makes it the perfect spot to relax.

At Schloss Belvedere you will also find another ice cream stand! Perfect chance to try one another scoop :)

For dinner we decided to visit my friends favorite pizza place - Pizza Disco Volante. My boyfriend and I are huge pizza lovers and our standards are high, so it's not easy for a pizza to impress us. But this pizza was SO special, it was literally the perfect pizza. The dough, the sauece, the cheese - just perfection. My boyfriend had a rather simple Pizza Prosciutto which tasted very good. I am that kind of person that loves to try different things at once and Disco Volante had a perfect pizza for that occasion! I was able to order a pizza four ways, where every quarter of the pizza is different. I found this very outstandig and loved the different toppings, where were mostly uncommon, but delicious!

On our last day we decided to walk thorough Vienna's historic city center, which is the first district. The whole district is a sight in my opinion. Wherever you look, you find beautiful architecture. One of the highlights is definitely the Hofburg. The Hofburg in Vienna was the residence of the Habsburgs in Vienna and since the 1950s it has been the official residence of the Austrian Federal President. You will find most of the Austrian National Library there as well as various museums. On top of that you will feel like a princess in a movie scene, because of the charming architecture and the many horse carriages.
Walking further through the first district, you will pass sights like Stephansdom, Graben and Michaelerplatz. Have a look at google maps to not miss any sight :)

If you are looking for a snack, try Trzesniewski! They serve small slices of bread with different toppings and it is super delicious. I can recommend Trüffel-Ei mit Schinken (Truffle-Egg with ham) and Tomate (tomato). I would have loved to try all of them, but still wanted to leave some space for Burger King at the airport haha!