36 hours in Luxurious Vienna
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Clockwise from top: Le Loft, atop the Sofitel in Vienna, has a projection ceiling designed by artist Pipilotti Rist, which appears to extend into the skyline by virtue of its reflection; a new campus for the University of Economics and Business showcases contemporary architecture; and Demel, one of the oldest cafes in Vienna. Chris Carmichael for The New York Times |
The capital of high living is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its famed boulevard, the Ringstrasse.
Not quite a century ago, Vienna was downgraded from being the glorious capital of a sprawling empire to the capital of just one country, Austria. What remains undiminished is the city's reputation as a capital of high living.
Virtually any activity you might undertake in the city - strolling through a museum, sipping coffee or shopping for shoes - will leave you feeling pampered and a little envious of the indulgent style to which the Viennese seem so accustomed. This is, after all, the city where chocolate cake and sparkling wine are an appropriate snack at any hour, where the Wiener schnitzel is typically bigger than the plate on which it's served, and where residents all know how to waltz.
But the place once famous as the crossroads of Central Europe is now getting traffic from farther afield, with influences pouring in from Turkey, the Middle East and the rest of Asia.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Ringstrasse, the grand boulevard that encircles the monument-dense First District, where visitors traditionally find most diversions. It's also a great year to venture into less luxurious but perhaps more lively quarters. Vienna sparkles in any season but has a special appeal in winter when lingering in a cozy cafe or in front of a Klimtportrait of a radiant beauty can feel as luxurious as lying on a Caribbean beach.
Friday
4:00 PM
Meet the Hapsburgs: You can't see everything in this city full of spectacular museums, but this is not the season to skip the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Having lent Rembrandts and Vermeers and Bruegels to other museums over the years, the Kunsthistorisches has called in favors to mount its first exhibition of works by the 17th-century master Velazquez, court painter to the Spanish king, Philip IV. On view through Feb. 15, the exhibition unites signature works by the artist and highlights the links (some might call it inbreeding) between the Hapsburg rulers in Spain and their Austrian cousins. Tickets, 14 euros, or $16.80 at $1.20 to the euro.
5:00 PM
Contemporize: Now that you've checked in with the old masters, it's time to see what 21st-century artists are up to in galleries that are clustered along a few streets in the Sixth and Seventh Districts. Get your bearings at Georg Kargl Fine Arts, one of three galleries run by this pioneering dealer on Schleifmuhlgasse. The groovy, gridlike facade of Kargl's Box gallery was created by the artist Richard Artschwager. There are nearly a dozen other galleries within 500 yards of Box, and zigzagging among them is a cultured way to burn calories before dinner.
8:00 PM
The Viennese table: Sample hearty, traditional Central European fare at Gastwirtschaft Steman, a charming and sometimes boisterous wood-paneled dining room where the schnitzel comes out nearly sizzling, and the goulash is available in two enormous sizes. Dinner for two with a bottle of wine, 70 euros.
10:00 PM
Off the leash: Constantly evolving Gumpendorferstrasse now combines galleries, restaurants, cafes and fashionable bars like If Dogs Run Free, where artists and hipsters mix and drink for hours at a time. Things get rolling around 10 and stay rolling till 2 a.m. Specialty cocktails, like the Boulevardier (rye, vermouth and Campari) cost 9 euros.
Saturday
10:00 AM
The new informality: In a city where coffee and a glass of tap water can be ceremoniously served by a mai-tre d' in black tie, it can be refreshing to interact with a cute waiter in a black T-shirt. No one will address you as Herr Doktor at Ulrich, the year-old cafe-bar-restaurant facing the Baroque parish church of St. Ulrich in the Seventh District. Breakfast can include fresh orange or beetroot juice and a whole-grain and herbed-egg breakfast sandwich topped with spinach, melted Gouda, bacon and tomato relish. Top it off with an apple brownie or pear crumble. Breakfast for two, 30 euros. After your meal, drift past the church to Burggasse 24, a chic vintage clothing store where a faux-fur bomber jacket costs 69 euros and a real-deal 1960s astrakhan coat 99 euros.
11:30 AM
Sweet Style: Steps away is Neubaugasse, a bustling commercial thoroughfare with a great high-low mix of retailers and restaurants. Bootik 54 at No. 54 is a huge vintage clothing store of the packed-rack and slightly aromatic variety, with an entire section devoted to lederhosen (from 40 euros), and dirndls (50 euros) for your next biergarten outing. Jugendstilgalerie Neubau at No. 40 also celebrates Austrian tradition with a two-floor display of sinuous Art Nouveau furniture, porcelain and silver, including a straight-backed Hoffmann settee (4,500 euros). At No. 26 is Wald & Wiese, a honey emporium where everything, including wine, cosmetics and gummy bears (70 grams for 2.50 euros), is made of honey.
12:30 PM
Imperial luxury: A visit to the imperial furniture storerooms, known as Hofmobiliendepot Mobel Museum Wien provides a fascinating glimpse of both imperial Hapsburg luxury and the Archdukes' overarching sense of frugality in palace decoration on a need-to-use basis. For centuries, furniture was shuttled between the royal "seats of pleasure," so most palaces sat empty when not in use. Before the imperial family's arrival at Schonbrunn palace for a few weeks each summer, as many as 1,000 rooms would be furnished and decorated with the inventory in these storerooms. A video in the galleries highlights the furnishings' star turn when many of the pieces were used on the set of the 1950s "Sissi" films starring Romy Schneider about 19th-century Empress Elisabeth, wife of Franz Josef I.
2:00 PM
Hot buns, holistic beauty: For a cosseting Asian lunch at Mama Liu and Sons, start with steamed crab and shrimp shumai and a hot sake or Musashino premium beer. Daily specials include a soup bowl, dense with meat and veggies, as well as an even heartier shabu-shabu. Lunch for two with drinks is about 50 euros. Just opposite are two outposts of the Saint Charles beauty and wellness chain. Apotheke sells custom beauty and bath products, and the new Complementary offers massages and private fitness sessions.
4:00 PM
Back to school: In an impressive display of municipal dispatch, Vienna's University of Economics and Business has just built a campus next to the Prater in the Second District. The campus is a veritable museum of cutting-edge architecture, with buildings by Zaha Hadid, Atelier Hitoshi Abe, London's CRAB studio, and Madrid's NO.MA D Arquitectos. Two-hour tours are offered by the Architecture Center Vienna or you can stroll through the campus on your own.
5:30 PM
When you feel down: Head to Song for fashion. Song is a serenely stylish boutique curated by the South Korean emigre Song Myung-il, who has created a tranquil universe in Vienna purveying fashion for body and home. Among the cult Austrian, Belgian, Dutch and French brands, one finds fetching accessories by Bradaric Ohmae that mix buttery leathers with woven-cane details created in collaboration with the historic Viennese furniture maker Thonet.
8:00 PM
Cathedral view: Vienna has piles of luxury hotels that draw well-heeled tourists, business titans and heads of state. But guests and residents alike have always tended to shun hotel restaurants en masse. That changed in 2012 with the arrival of the Sofitel Stephansdom, a Second District property designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel and located nowhere near the city's beloved St. Stephen's cathedral, from which it takes its name. But the hotel's spectacular restaurant and lounge on its top floor-known as Le Loft and featuring a vibrant video projection on the ceiling by the artist Pipilotti Ristoffers inspiring views of St. Stephen's spire. Add a seasonal menu by the globe-trotting French chef Herv�� Pronzato and Le Loft has quickly become a favored destination of the city's stylish set. Tasting menus begin at 78 euros a person.
Sunday
9:00 AM
Push and glide: Be the first out on the ice at Vienna Ice World, the giant municipal skating rink (actually a series of rinks and serpentine paths totaling more than 1.7 acres of ice) set up each year on the Rathausplatz in front of Vienna's glorious City Hall on the Ringstrasse. Stalls along the rinks' periphery sell hot chocolate and mulled punch. Reservations are required; tickets (6.50 euros) can be booked at www.wienereistraum.com.
11:00 AM
Chocolate revenge: Refuel at Demel, among the city's most storied cafes and pastry shops, which sells edible souvenirs on Sunday when most of the city's other such shops are closed. For 22.50 euros a person, the Big Demel Breakfast includes eggs, ham and other cured meats, croissants and breads along with coffee, tea or hot chocolate, orange juice and sparkling wine.
If you go
Daily direct flights provided by Air China and Austrian Airlines from Beijing/Shanghai to Vienna take about 10 hours with a price that varies from 4,000 to 7,000 yuan. Vienna has the one of the finest public transport system in Europe. A network of bus and tram routes combines with a subway system that is still being developed and extended and suburban rail lines extend some way into the countryside. Moreover, transport within Vienna city limits is integrated, meaning that one ticket is valid on any form of public transport.
Ticket acquisition: Tickets are bought from ticket offices or machines situated in railway and underground stations and at larger bus/tram stops. Single-journey tickets can be bought on board, but cost a little more. Tickets are also available at most Tabaks (shops selling newspapers, cigarettes etc.-easily found as each has a sign " TABAK" outside). Tickets can be bought online. You can print them yourself or download to a phone. You can also buy online your ticket to and from the airport which saves having to struggle with a ticket machine on arrival.
China Daily - NYT
The New York Times
