Day 1

On the Saturday, we got the train over to Vienna and started part 2 of our interrailing tour.  We left Budapest very early, getting the 9:40 train from Keleti station to Vienna’s Hauptbahnhof, and arrived around lunchtime. As soon as we arrived, I could tell we were in a completely different place and country. The station was so much more modern and there were lots of cafés, restaurants and shops in the main station terminal that we hadn’t seen in Budapest.

We headed straight for the underground and our hostel, so that we could drop our cases off. We were staying at a Wombats Hostel, which are all over Europe. In fact, there’s actually two in Vienna and we went to the wrong one at first! We took the tube to the Wombats Naschmarket hostel, when we were actually staying at Wombats The Lounge. The lady at reception laughed and said to us that this happened all the time and directed us to the The Lounge.

Once we got over to the Lounge on the tube, we checked in and had a wander around the hostel. The facilities were really good; there was a bar and breakfast buffet area, as well as lots of lounge space. After a spot of lunch at the café across the road and a supermarket visit, we were ready to start exploring Vienna!

We spent the late afternoon and evening sitting in the park and wandering through the old town. I was amazed at how beautiful the streets were; there was Italian-style architecture everywhere and everything was so clean and well kept. There were horse-drawn carriages, musicians playing classical music in the streets and lots of outdoor restaurants.

We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in the centre of the old town, before heading back to the hostel to make the most of the facilities. We stopped at a gelateria for dessert on the way back, where I got to try apfelstrudel! We were in Austria after all, so I had to try the country’s national dessert. It was absolutely delicious and a fab way to end our first day in Vienna.

Day 2

Our second day in Vienna was full of lots of sightseeing! We saw the Austrian Parliamentary building, the University of Vienna, Vienna’s street art on the city canal walls and visited Mozart’s apartment. Mozart’s apartment was fascinating; you learnt so much about his character and his Vienna life, as well as seeing the complete collection of his works! The flat itself wasn’t as big as I’d expected, but it had two entrances: one for the Mozart family and one for their servants.

In the early evening, we got the tube over to the Schonbrunn Palace. We only got to see the outside because it was closing as we arrived, but it was absolutely spectacular! If only we’d found it on the tourist map earlier in the day.

We headed back to the old town for dinner, where I had minestrone soup and salad. I probably should have tried schnitzel or something Viennese, but I didn’t want to take the risk and not like it.

After dinner, we walked back to the hostel and packed our cases for Prague the next day. Vienna was brilliant, I’m so glad I’ve now finally been to the Austrian capital!