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rahrah50

By rahrah50,
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rahrah50

rahrah50

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We will be In Vienna in May of 2017 on AMASerena. We arrive the night before. We are trying to decide if we should do the ship tour or a private guide for the day. There will be 5 seniors in pretty good shape. We want to see Schonnbrun Palace, St Stephen's Cathedral, City Center, and Gustav Klimt art. This is the list so far. Looking for suggestions from someone who has been there, as none of us have been to Vienna.

 

Thanks

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ewizabeff

ewizabeff

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If you arrive the night before the cruise, your first day in Vienna will likely not include any excursions, since that will be the arrival day for most passengers. That would be a good day to get a private guide, being sure to focus on whatever is not included in AMA's standard tour (which I'm not familiar with, because I visited with Uniworld).

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garycarla

garycarla

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We will be In Vienna in May of 2017 on AMASerena. We arrive the night before. We are trying to decide if we should do the ship tour or a private guide for the day. There will be 5 seniors in pretty good shape. We want to see Schonnbrun Palace, St Stephen's Cathedral, City Center, and Gustav Klimt art. This is the list so far. Looking for suggestions from someone who has been there, as none of us have been to Vienna.

 

Thanks

 

A couple of other questions that might change the answer. When you say arrive the night before - is that after flying and will you be ready to take a tour?

 

Also, what does the ship tour involve and include? Until you have that detail, it is hard to say.

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Roz Great Review Rare

Roz

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The morning tour I did with Uniworld in Vienna didn't include the Belvedere, so three of us got together and took a taxi and spend a few hours there. Would something like that be a possibility? It was less expensive than skipping the included tour altogether and booking a private tour.

 

Roz

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Got2Cruise "Live from...." Rare

Got2Cruise

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We were on AmaSonata in July. The AmaSerena was rafted to us while in Vienna. You are docked outside of Vienna on a canal. You spend a total of 24 hours in Vienna. I believe we arrived around 7:00 pm and left 7:00 pm the next day. The first night was the wine party at a wine tavern in Vienna woods. The next morning was the Overview tour which was first by bus and then a walking tour of old town with perhaps 45 mins free time before returning to the ship. If you wanted to stay longer you could take the subway back to the ship. Afternoon there was an optional tour to Shoenbrunn Palace. Of course between the two tours you return to the ship for lunch. I would say you could do more with a private guide but you would be exhausted. In the evening there is an additional optional concert in Vienna we did that too. One thing I would have loved to see was a performance of the Spanish horses but in the summer that really wasn't an option. Truthfully one day is simply not enough in Vienna, it is a marvelous city

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texasstar Great Review Rare

texasstar

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We are on AmaSonata in 2014. We did the ships Vienna city tour, then headed out on our own. We ate lunch in the square, toured St. Stephen's cathedral, the Hofburg palace, ate Sacher torte at Demels (a disappointment, too dry) and walked past where the Lipizzaner horses were stabled. We wanted to tour the opera, but it closed early for a performance. We took the subway back to where the ship was docked. I read Rick Steve's guide books, and he says you don't need to see the Hofburg and the Schonbrunn Palace as they are similar. We chose the Hofburg because it is in town and allowed us to do more. Enjoy your trip.

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rahrah50

rahrah50

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Thank you Got2Cruise and texastar!!! Exactly the info I was looking for. I will talk with our group and make a decision. I realize 24 hours in Vienna isn't enough....We will have to decide our priorities and go from there. I really want to see Schoenbrunn and the Klimt paintings.

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ewizabeff

ewizabeff

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We arrive in Vienna the night before on AMASerena. I don't believe we will arrive in time to do anything that day. The ship tour does not include the Schoenbrunn Palace or the Klimt art at the Belvedere.

 

Sorry, I misinterpreted your original post. Thought you were arriving in Vienna via plane, not on the boat. My bias was to think that, since my cruise started in Vienna.

 

Whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!

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Floridiana

Floridiana

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I read Rick Steve's guide books, and he says you don't need to see the Hofburg and the Schonbrunn Palace as they are similar. We chose the Hofburg because it is in town and allowed us to do more.

 

Rick is totally wrong when it comes to the two castles, they sure are as different as Boston and Chicago. Schoenbrunn is a garden palace similar to Versailles. It is well worth a visit and can easily be reached by public transport. Somebody posted beautiful pictures in another thread on Vienna.

 

The Hofburg is a huge inner city palace in which you find government offices, a museum, a chapel where the Viennese choir boys sing if you can catch a Sunday concert, a library, the Spanish Horse show, and various other venues. You will see this palace from the outside if you are in downtown Vienna and you have to pick which part you want to visit.

 

A personal guide would be able to put together an itinerary that combines highlights of this culturally rich city.

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rahrah50

rahrah50

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I forgot about Hofburg!!! I am leaning toward a private guide for the day. Hoping we can take in more places. If we are exhausted at the end of the day that is not a problem....we can rest!!!! We will have a meeting of the five minds and try to work this out.....

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Floridiana

Floridiana

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Schoenbrunn also has a special exhibition about Sisi (Marie Therese, sp?) starting mid-March.

 

Empress Elisabeth (German spelling: Sissi), born as a Bavarian princess, lived in the 19th century. She was married to the Austrian Emperor, the ruler of the vast empire.

 

Empress Maria Theresia lived in the 18th century and was herself the ruler of the empire. One of her daughters became queen of France and was executed during the French Revolution.

 

Website of Schoenbrunn Palace

https://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/sights/imperial/schoenbrunn-palace

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Floridiana

Floridiana

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Thanks to a movie about Sissi - a love story.

Scandal 1: The emperor and she fell in love although he was scheduled to be married to her sister.

Scandal 2: Her only son's loves story ended in suicide.

Sad story 3: Her assassination

 

Maria Theresia was more accomplished, but nobody made a movie about her. Her marriage was one of the rare loves stories among the high nobility of the past.

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jpalbny "Live from...." Rare

jpalbny

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Having toured both sites, Schönbrunn and Hofberg, I would agree that there are some similarities between PARTS OF these sites. Floridiana is correct that there are unique parts of the Hofberg complex that deserve to be visited in addition to Schönbrunn, but IMO you need to pick and choose.

 

The Hofberg is a large complex that contains the Imperial Apartments, the Imperial Treasury, and the Sisi museum, as well as a few other sights. I think that there was some redundancy between the interior rooms of Schönbrunn, and the rooms of the Imperial Apartments. For example, each has a room that Franz Josef used as an office, which is set up similarly. Each has courtrooms, living quarters, etc. This makes sense, as they were both used for similar purposes, and they both were lived in and worked in. It's not like the imperial family lived out at Schönbrunn and commuted into the Hofberg to work every day.

 

Totally agree that the settings are vastly different, and the Schönbrunn gardens are not to be missed. The Sisi museum is adjacent to, but separate from, the Imperial Apartment, as is the Treasury. So each site has something similar (the rooms) and something different (the gardens, vs. the other sites)

 

So - I think that given the choice between the Imperial Apartments part of the Hofberg, vs. Schönbrunn, I'd prefer Schönbrunn. After exploring the Palace, you must take time to wander in the gardens which are gorgeous. Then come back into town to finish your day.

 

If time is short, you could then skip the Imperial Apartments in favor of a visit to the Sisi museum (very interesting history, including her autopsy report in French, which showed that the assassin's pick punctured her heart and she died of pericardial tamponade). Floridiana's post only scratches the surface of her very complicated life. She actually set up her husband with a mistress so that she could be free to travel for years at a time without feeling guilty about abandoning him! You could also visit the Treasury (we weren't crazy about it, but if you like flashy silverware, china, etc you may like it). Each of these could be wandered through in less than an hour.

 

There is a ton of stuff within 5 minutes of the Hofberg that I'd prefer to do instead of the Imperial Apartments, just for variety's sake. The Spanish Riding School is neat, for sure, especially if you can time it so that the horses are performing.

 

Behind the Hofberg, in the Neue Berg, there are several museums to visit that are off the first-tier of "must-see" places, yet interesting. There is a museum of medieval arms and armor, a museum of Greek statuary including many pieces from Ephesus, and a museum of antique musical instruments including many owned by top-name musicians back in the heyday of Vienna.

 

The Neue Berg also holds a public library, and in the basement there is a papyrus museum. The State Hall of the Austrian National Library is also next door.

 

And after all this, I haven't left time for lunch in a cafe, or time to wander one of the food markets. Or the beautiful gardens, or the interesting and varied churches. Or the (small) Roman museum. Or the Prater wheel, which is one U-Bahn stop from the boat dock. Or the Donauturm.

 

So - IMO, there are so many different things to do in Vienna, that you have to decide what to see and what to cut out. Good luck! We'll be back to finish our list...some day!

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