On our way to a conference, we scheduled a super short stop to Vienna, Austria: we were in town for about 24 hours. At first, I wasn’t that impressed with the city itself but the more I think about our time there, the more fondly I remember it and I would like to go back and spend more time in this city. Still, even with only 24 hours in the Austrian capital, we did a few things that I would highly recommend anyone do when they are so short on time in a new city.

City Tour

Vienna is a beautiful city and we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see as much of it as we did without taking a city tour. The tour took us around the city by both bus and boat and we even got a small glimpse into the beauty that is the Austrian Alps before stopping for some coffee at a small cafe. We will absolutely be making a special visit to the Alps one day. We passed the shopping district as well s the financial district; unfortunately, our pockets weren’t prepared for shopping at the time.

Usually we opt not to do tours like this but I’m glad that we decided to try one in Vienna because it is one of the few cities where I did zero research before visiting. The bus tour gave us a great layout of the city and an opportunity to take notes for our next visit.

Explore by Night

This is something that I am well aware is the privilege of not traveling with a little one in tow but I highly recommend exploring a city by night. If you feel safe enough, do it. If anything, you’ll get to see an interesting array of characters to write home about.

In Vienna, we were starving when we first arrived so we decided to go hunting for some spot we’d found on google maps through the wifi in our hotel. After walking several blocks, we lucked up on a place that we weren’t even looking for (which, let’s be honest, makes for the best meals when you’re super hungry). I think to this day it is still one the strangest ways I’ve seen a sausage prepared but whatever. The vendor took a baguette, cut a hole inside of it, threw in some mustard (or onions, ketchup, whatever you wanted) followed by a bratwurst. It was odd but delicious and we have the memory that now starts out, “Remember that one night in Vienna?…”

Visit at least One Tourist Spot

My first time in a new city usually means that I’m going full out tourist. It’s not until I’ve been there a couple of times that I kinda start to chill out and take my time. So our first time in Vienna, I had to visit the castle nearby: Schonbrunn Palace served as the summer home to Marie Antoinette. “Let them eat cake” Marie Antoinette. This was a pleasant surprise to me because, like I mentioned, I hadn’t done any research about Vienna and Austria before we visited. I found myself even more interested in the Palace once I heard a name that I recognized.

To get to Schonbrunn Palace, we took a train that let us out almost right in front. We’d purchased our tickets before we arrived but there weren’t too many people there when we went in late May. As always, audio guides were our tour of choice for this visit and it was great. It was here that I decided that I probably need a palace some day too. Why not?

How do you spend your time in a city when you only have a small amount of time?