Hippo x Graz & Vienna Austria Travel Blog

Vienna, I first heard of this romantic place from my sister.
She is a piano teacher, and has been to Vienna one time for her summer music courses.
When she came back from Vienna in 5 years ago, she shared with us how beautiful Vienna is, and how much she was in love with this city.
She said to us that we must visit this fascinating place one day.
Since then, I always dreamed of travelling to Vienna, and oh yea my Vienna dreams finally came true and left me a wonderful memories.
My first impressions of Vienna were fantastic; a mixture of old and new architectures are stunning and massive, the streets are packed crowd of people, an abundance of beautiful scenery to explore.
If you want a romantic getaway with your special someone, Vienna is really a choice you won't regret later. :)







From our last destination in Ljubljana, it took us about 5 hours driving to Vienna in Austria.
The ride wasn't very long, but we had a stop to experience a half day tour in Graz.



Graz, happened to be a cute little town in Austria because it has many vibrant, colourful buildings around the city.
It's a nice town, not too big, but very nice to walk and relax.






 

I realized there are many places throughout the Europe named old town, and this is the Old Town of Graz.
It's a beautiful yet friendly old town under the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
When you are there, you can see the town is rich with secret courtyards and narrow alleyways, which make it worth for wandering around.



In the heart of the Old Town, you will see the Graz City Hall, which featuring lots of towers on it.



Also the Monumental Erzherzog Johann Fountain at the center of the old town.



See the big Clock Tower?
If you googled the main attractions in Graz, Clock Tower is one of it.
We didn't go up to the hill because we didn't have enough time for it.





The Murinsel, an artificial floating island made of steel and glass that connecting the city and river.
Our tour guide said there is a cafe there to enjoy a cup of coffee.



Good lunch at a decent Austrian restaurant, Glöckl Bräu for pumpkin soup, pork chop and apple strudel. :)







Then, we sit for another 2 hours plus to meet in Vienna!
The sky was pretty dark by the time we arrived even though it was only 4pm; that's because the time was getting closer to winter, the sky gets darker quicker.





First thing to do in Vienna is to get a sign on my travel passport in front of the main attraction at the St. Stephen's Cathedral.



St. Stephen's Cathedral is the symbol of Vienna.
Unfortunately, the outside was under repair during our visit, also we didn't pay to go to visit inside because my parents prefer spending time outside for fresh cool air. :)



First day in Vienna was rather short, can't wait to explore a little bit more on the next day. :)





Early the next morning, went to the Schonbrunn Palace, another main highlight in Vienna.



Yea, another chop and sign on my travel passport in Vienna. :)



Schonbrunn Palace is one of the most important architectural, cultural and historical monuments in Austria.
It is a former imperial summer residence which involved total 1441 room in a huge compound.
We took about 1 hour to visit 25 different rooms.
No photos were allowed inside, but I can say all rooms are so luxuriously decorated with unique themes to emphasize the past stories such as how the rich and poor people lived, and also the stories of the emperors, queens and kings from the old Austria.







The entire palace complex is huge, also attached with a big beautiful botanical world which filled with many flora and fountain at the back.
In my opinion, 3 hours certainly not enough to visit the entire palace.




I mentioned earlier that I was on GTT tour for this trip.
One of the disadvantages of taking a tour is you gonna follow the itinerary planned by your travel guide and follow his directions while on the tour.
You can't go to the places you wanted to, or stay longer at a particular place no matter how much you want to.
The morning after the Schonbrunn Palace, we finally had our own sweet times to walk around Vienna by ourself as the tour group wanted to go to the designer outlet.
For me, I think it's such a waste to go for shopping as the city of Vienna has so much to explore and experience.



It's very easy to walk and wander around from one attraction to another one.
We started from the Vienna State Opera House where the tour bus stopped us before they on their way to the designer outlet.





From the Vienna State Opera House, we walked to the monument of Mozart, which situated inside the Burggarten, the Imperial Palace Garden.



Love the red flowers arranged in a treble cleft. #socreative





It's worth to walk to the statue, and I think not to be missed it because Mozart is one of the icons of Vienna.





The Welt Museum Wien











It was 10 minutes walking distance from the Mozart statue, then we arrived at the Hofburg Palace, the former imperial palace that lies at the centre of Vienna.



It was a bit far to walk to the Museum of Natural History and Art History which located opposite the Hofburg Palace.



The great bronze statue of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria Hungary situated in between the Natural History Museum and Art History.



Went back to Graben Vienna, a shopping street in the heard of the inner city for a cup of Cappuccino.
It's a nice walk over there though you do not plan to shop anything, because the street is fulled of elegant yet traditional look of buildings, alleys, streets and shops.
Graben is also the right place for you to hunt for souvenirs during your Vienna's trip. :)





It's a long walk to the Beethoven Statue from Graben.
The bronze statue is located at the Stadtpark, which is another side of the Mozart statue.
My sister was super excited to meet Beethoven Statue because she missed that out during her last visit.
Glad that we found it even though it took us sometimes to walk down.





It was a long day in Vienna!
We finally ended the wonderful day with a great dinner at a happening restaurant, Melker Stiftskeller with live music performance.
Oh! That's my most favourite food in Europe, Pork Knuckle. #hehe
Give my 5-star ratings on the overall environment, food, and services under this restaurant.
Worth paying!



I think that's pretty much summarize my travel story in Vienna.
I hope you enjoy reading it and don't forget to watch my Hippo x Graz & Vienna travel vlog too ya! #muacksss



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