How to Travel Cheap from Dubai
to Europe (Option 1)

How to Travel Cheap from Dubai to Europe
(Option 1)

For me, Vienna is a window from the UAE to Europe. This is because the cheapest tickets you may find from Abu Dhabi / Dubai / Sharjah to Europe are usually tickets to Vienna. Quite often we can find such tickets for as low as AED 199 – AED 359 (plus luggage, which is something you may play with smartly). For this reason, it has become a common practice for many to fly to Vienna, stay there for 1-2 days and then continue the journey on a train (or less preferrably a bus) to other European destinations.

In the article below you will hopefully find some inspiration about why you should go to Vienna, what are the must-to-visit places there during 1-2 day trip, and what are my personal recommendations on where to stay in Vienna.

Quick Intro into Vienna History

Vienna is one of the richest cities in Europe from the cultural, art and historical perpsective. Initially the city was built as a Roman Empire military camp called Vindobona which Marcus Aurelius used to protect the Empire against Germanic tribes. You may actually recall this name Vindobona from the Gladiator movie (Battle at the Colosseum scene), where Maximus is asking his soldiers – “any of you ever served in the army?”; to which one of the men responds “I served with you at Vindobona”.

The fact that this place one day was a part of the Roman Empire was really important to subsequent dynasties, who believed that the Roman past of the place guaranteed them imperial glory in the future. And this actually worked out pretty well – centuries later, Vienna, from being a small boarder town, becomes the headquarter of the Gabsburgh Empire which spanned from Peru to Poland, and from Netherlands to Italy.

For Habsburghs it was critical that their Empire’s headquarter, Vienna, was viewed as the best city in the world in all senses. For this reason, they made an absolutely incredible transformation of Vienna by (i) identifying and supporting local talents and (ii) bringing to Vienna the best foreign talents from all over the world, so that they create the greatest masterpieces of architecture, sculpture, painting, and of course, music, in the city.

Today, looking back to the past centuries – the city is closely associated with such renowned figures as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Gustav Klimt, Zigmund Freyd, Maria Theresa, Franz Joseph I Habsburg, Suleiman the Magnificent, Napoleon Bonaparte, Erwin Schrödinger, and others. The incredible lives of these people have left very unique historical imprints on the city, which are incredibly interesting to explore. But not only the historical places are something which make me to like Vienna, there are a lot of cool modern places as well.

Below, I am going to share with you what are the most exciting things you can do in Vienna on a 1-2 day trip.

Top 5 Must Do Things in Vienna

1. To see the Forester’s Lodge by Gustav Klimt and Path in Monets Garden in Giverny by Clode Monet

Forester’s lodge in Weissenbach I

Gustav Klimt

Path in Monets Garden in Giverny

Clode Monet

The paintings are amongst my favourite art masterpieces and they are both located in Vienna’s Belvedere Palace. Highly recommend to spend at least 2-3 hours around the palace (it has upper and lower parts) so that to get a huge and inevitable portion of emotions and inspirations from the art.

Besides the above 2 masterpieces, you would also be able to find in Belvedere the following incredible paintings:

• Jacques-Louis David – Napoleon Crossing the Alps.
• Gustav Klimt: Forester’s lodge in Weissenbach I; Avenue In Schloss Kammer Park; Mohnwiese.
• Rudolf von Alt – St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna (you would be able to see how Vienna looked in 1830s).
• Vinzenz Fischer – Triumphal procession through the Titus-arch.

2. To Play in the Schonbrunn Labirynth and
walk around the Schonbrunn Palace and Park

2. Play in the Schonbrunn Labirynth (so much fun) and walk around the Schonbrunn Palace and Park

The maze (labyrinth) was built around 1720 and it is one of the coolest places I ever been to. Trust me, when you arrive to Vienna – the first thing you should do is to go to Schönbrunn and find this place. The maze is one of the largest in the world and it has taken me probably around 20-30 minutes to find a way to the center. You would be really surprised how difficult is to find a way to center but just don’t give up and you will make it.

Initially the maze was designed as a place of amusement for the imperial family and their guests (pre-internet time). Gossips say it was also commonly used for courtly intrigues ) The maze is open to the public from April to October.

After playing in the Maze, I would highly encourage you to walk around the Schönbrunn park and get a tour inside a palace (it is definitely worth it).

The restaraunt was founded in 1447 (more than 500 years ago!). Just imagine what kind of time it was: Europe is undergoing a Rennaisance cultural movement (e.g. Vinchi, Mikelangelo, Kopernik), Jeanne d’Arc is leading the French army against England, the Mongol and Byzantine empires are falling down, Christopher Columbus is yet to discover North America and Vasco da Gama is yet to reach India by sea, the Spain Empire appears on the map, etc. And at that highly turbulent times a guy (reportedly from the current Middle East) decides to open a tavern in Vienna which is now more than 500 years old.

Today this restaraunt is very much associated with one of its customers from the 17th century, the famous musician Mark Augustin as well as with a popular Octoberfest song about him (you must have definitely hear it before) – Oh du lieber Augustin.

In different periods of the history the restaraunt was a common place for eating & meeting of Marc Twen, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Otto von Bismark, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Strauss, and others.

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4. To visit Mozart Orchestra concert
in Vienna State Opera.

Vienna Opera was established in …

Let’s do a quick experiment – click on the video below, close your eyes, and remove any thoughts from your mind. Listen the music for a minute and then ask yourself three questions. Do you feel like this music is enriching you with incredibly inspiring emotions? Do you feel like it is making you to feel more relaxed and in the meantime more happy? Do you feel like really grandioze and kind ideas are starting coming to your mind?

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If the answers are Yes, then you need to visit Vienna Opera (one of the most famous operas in the world) and it is likely to be a really deep and emotional experience.

If the answers are No, then don’t worry. You might just not yet fully fallen in love with the classical music. However, I have some good news for you ) There is really amazing TV series called “Mozart in the Jungle” and trust me, after wathching it your answers to the above questions would be Yes, Yes and Yes. Once finished the first season, you would likely plan a trip to the nearest opera as soon as possible.

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Please note the ticket prices to Vienna Opera reach triple digits, but if you want to save money you can visit even the major performances for up to 15-18 euro. For such money you will have to stay (rather than set), but in the meantime you can watch the performance right in front of the stage. Just keep in mind that tickets to the opera at these prices sell out instantly. Don’t miss the moment and book in advance.

5. To visit the Museum Quarter and Specifically Vienna Museum of Natural History

The museum quarter is …. Initially it was Empiror Hourse Stable place. After the First World War and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the court stables ceased to function, and most of the property was sold off.

In 1921, an exhibition was held for the first time on the territory of the former court stables, and in subsequent years the building was rebuilt and renamed the Exhibition Pavilion. Reconstruction and completion of the complex continued until the 1960s. In 1985, the Vienna Festival was held here for the first time. In the mid-80s. The first projects of the Museum Quarter appeared, the core of which, modeled on the Pompidou Center in Paris, was to become a museum of modern art.

Highly recommend to visit the Vienna Museum of the Natural History, one of my favourite ones in Vienna.

Where to Stay in Vienna

When we travelled to Vienna we stayed in the Hotel Indigo Vienna – Naschmarkt, an IHG Hotel, and I would be really happy to stay there again. It is less than 2 years old, in a very calm & green area, with super comfortable beds, very close to the metro and around 7 minutes taxi drive to the city center. We were also really impressed that the reception team gave us a free early check in at 6am.

As option No. 2 I would consider renting a house in a village near Vienna to stay closer to the green nature. This is something that can give you a such a lovely sleeping, and getting up there early and having a breakfast in the yard near the house is something that can give you so much inspiration and positive energy. Please see a few example before (I have not stayed there yet).

Other hotels that are on my Vienna shortlist: Melia Vienna (the tallest building in Austria), Hilton Vienna Park, Ruby Hotels (Sofie, Lissi, Marie), Andaz Vienna Am Belvedere.

Thank you for reading the article and hope you’ve enjoyed it!