Drink a Heurigen at the Heuriger! Cheers!

It's raing cats and dogs - yes - this weather these days in Vienna is similar to the UK.

Rainy all day, damp, greyish - all in all, not a summer weather to go to the lakeside or to climb a mountain.

But Vienna has that much to offer, dont mind the weather!

Even if it's damp and not sunny, as long as there are no gusty winds and no rain why not pop into a Heurigen and chill the Viennese way!

The definition Heurigen comes from the german word 'heuer', which means this years'.

We use it for 2 meanings:

-  Heuriger can be the wine, which is harvested this year

-  Heuriger can be the place, where the winemaker sells his wine

It is a typical Viennese vocabulary, as more in the West of Austria, in Styria for example you would say Buschenschank, if you mean the winesellers place.

That said, Viennese people go to the Heurigen, sit at the Heurigen, often in the private garden of the winemaker and drink Heurigen! Got it?

It was in 1784, when Kaiser Franz Joseph allowed the winemakers to sell their own wine in their own house without any special licence. 

Until today the tradition Heurigen is allowed  to open for a special period of time during the year only, while selling their Heurigen together with a small variety of traditional and local food.

This is why in a good Heurigen you will find only some small amount of cold, rarely warm food and almost never a menu card.

Sometimes local pastries are sold, which are home-made and delicious. Like this "Kardinalschnitte"

To know when the Heurigen is opened, just look out for the Buschen, a green bunch of pines hanging above the entrance of the Heurigen. If it is out it is "ausg'steckt", meaning the Heurigen sells it's Heurigen. Go for it!

A Place with a View

FROM AN EAGLE'S VIEW

Have you ever wondered what it's like to fly free,

To see the world as far as the eye can see,

To view the surroundings from high and from low,

To hear only the sound of a distant echo,

To float in the air with the wind being your guide,

To admire many rainbows that the trees tend to hide,

To see the misty mornings over a beautiful mountaintop,

To glide over a flowing river that never seems to stop,

To watch the animals from over a mile away,

Or to rise above the treetops that glisten in the day?

If you were an eagle you would wonder no more

For it can see things you have never seen before.

Next time you look into the sky of blue,

Think of what it's like from an eagle's view.

© 1998 Stacy Smith

Vienna has, like many other major capitals, a place too, where you could feel like an eagle!

Don't miss to make your way up there on a bright day! Either by hiking up or by driving the long and winding road with bus or car. You definitely will not be disappointed. People love this spot not only in summer, but also on New Year's Eve!

Up there you can visit either the Kahlenberg with it's new trendy Coffeeshop and a posh brandnew hotel

or if you like it more private go a little further to Leopoldsberg. Unfortunately you won't find anything to drink or eat there, so bring along your picnic!

Leopoldsberg is 425m high and overlooks Vienna's posh 19th district on one side and Klosterneuburg on the other side. Around 1120 Leopold III built an impressive castle up there, which currently undergoes an owners dispute.


Another Leopold, namely emperor Leopold I, donated the construction of a chapel, after a vow for prevention of the plague in 1679. The finished chapel was destroyed 4 years later by the Turks. But after our siege over the Turkish invaders this chapel was rebuilt in 1693.

It's nice to mention that even Turkish people nowadays find their way up there and seem to remember this part of history!

And on your way back home you may stop in Grinzing, the touristy approach to vinyards, wine and Viennese tradition.

We recommend a stroll through the old cobbled streets!

1,80 € for a trip through Vienna

Public Transport in Vienna - a short instruction manual

Definitely you will have experienced that in many cities the ways to use public transport are different.
Vienna compared to London for example has some major difference, though you also will achieve the main goal: to get from A to B

So what's the difference?

Let me start with listing the types of "vehicles": In Vienna we have

• the U-Bahn - which is equivalent to the tube in London
• buses - they even look similar in colour and, if we forget about the doubledeckers, are quite the same anyway
• the train - whilst in London more than one operator, in Vienna only the so called S-Bahn (S for "schnell", meaning "quick")
• the Strassenbahn, the tram - what a surprise, no similarity in London

Ok, Vienna has only 5 U-Bahn-Lines, while London Underground has 11, but never forget: we have 1,7 Million people moving around in the city, whilst in London 8 Million hustle through the streets. A wee bit of a difference .... and while here in Vienna 2 Mio passengers use the tunnel system daily in London 3,4 Mio squeeze through the access gates.
Interesting ratios.

But let's forget about numbers. I am here to write about how to get on with the public thingy.
Ok then, let's set the scene:

You want to leave from bluedanube apartments and want to visit the Heurigen in Grinzing. On the way there you want to make use of your time and circumnavigate the Ring with it's impressive historic buildings.
Easy peasy! You just buy a ticket for 1,80 Euro at the station Praterstern, only 1 minute away from the apartment and validate it at the blue box which is situated just before you move down with the escalator to U1. No worries, you don't get the ticket back as in London, but you have to keep it anyway.

After 3 stops you'll climb up to earth at Karlsplatz, and will be happy to find yourself on one of the nicest spots in Vienna, only 5min apart from the apartment.

Now just hop on the tram Nr 1 and enjoy the easy travel alongside the Ring. You'll pass by the museums, the Hofburg, the Rathaus, the cafe Landtmann, the Burgtheater and finally get off at Schottentor. Here again change to another tram, Nr 38, which will take you directly to Grinzing!

And this is it: you'll never have to buy a ticket again nor have to validate it again, just enjoy your trip! 1,80 Euro is the price from bluedanube apartment to the Heurigen in Grinzing - if you're keen on a touristy but nice place for wine and authentic food.
NOTE: you pay from A to B 1,80 with no limitation of changes, it's just necessary that you always move in one direction!

You also can opt for the Vienna Card, 18,50 euro for 72hrs tram, bus, u-bahn, plus additional benefits and discounts.

Finally for your planning, here is a tram map and a u-bahn map!
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/metro/m/largemap-tram.html
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/metro/m/largemap-s-wien.html