How to plan a city trip….

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Booking a city trip is connected to a lot more work and arrangements than an all-inclusive stay at a gorgeous hotel. First of all you need to pick a place you want to visit and a time frame. Then you have to find a way to get there and also transport from the airport / train station to your destination.

For our trip to Vienna we went by car cause it is only about 4 hours away from our home and way easier. Before passing the border you need to get a vignette to be allowed to use the foreign streets but that´s about it. Always check the local customs first like how fast you are allowed to go and so on. 

Accomodations

Booking an accomodation isn´t also always that easy. Do you want to stay at a hotel with breakfast or do you take an AirBnB and do the grocery shopping all by yourself. 

We went with a hotel for ourselves cause with the girls staying and their grandma´s I didn´t want to have anything to do with any kind of meal prep so hotel with breakfast it was. It was a little outside of the main sights and I probably would not pick it again. The hotel itself was fine but in a very questionable neighborhood. Do your background check on city parts before you book anything. 

Transport

If you visit by car you have to find a hotel with a garage or a parking spot and if you are there by train or plane you need to find some kind of transportation to your hotel. Vienna has a metro and a tram so it is fairly easy to get around. You just need to study the plans a little and make yourself familiar with the routes you need. There are sights everywhere and mostly each sight has its own exit. You can also rent bikes or socooter via app to get around. I definitely would have rented a scooter if I wasn´t this pregnant. It is the fastest way to get around. 

We had a parking garage near our hotel and we took the tram on our second day to get out exploring. Navigating the tram was pretty easy and we mostly only sat about 5 to 10 minutes. A daily ticket costs 8 Euro and you can use it for 24 hours. We booked it online and payed via PayPal.

Sights / Guided Tours

You can pick some sights upfront you definitely want to visit and get lower ticket prices if you book online in advance. Of course there will always be some things on the way you want to squeeze in cause you find it interesting when you are there. We visited the museums quarter and there are plenty of things to see without paying any entrance. There is a wonderful garden between the national history and art museum where you can rest. On the backside is the justice building you can visit for free as well. Definitely worth a visit. Never have I seen such an abundance on beautiful and decadent huge buildings like in Vienna.

We visited the building of justice on our first day and had lunch on their panorama terrace. I would definitely recommend to get up high somewhere so you can have an idea on where you are and how far away everything is. You will also find interesting buildings you haven´t seen before and maybe a few more sights you definitely want to visit.

Afer that we went on a guided tour and then had some time left and explored the beautiful gardens and buildings in the museums quarter and also got a New York Roll filled with pistacchio. Then we headed a little outside and went to the very hyped Rollercoaster restaurant for dinner on the Prater area. 

On our second day we took the tram and headed out to city hall. From there we went to the Hofburg and then strolled around Volksgarten. All three of those are for free to visit. Then we went to the National History Museum and had a famous Bosna sausage in a bread as a late lunch. Then we headed back to our hotel and took a long nap cause it was so so hot on that that and just enough walking for me. Afer that we headed to a nearby Indian restaurant. Food was very good. The streets a little sketchy and the restaurant definitely needed an update. 

The third day was mostly dedicated to gettting back home to our girls but we visited the Prater in the morning and took a ride on their famous ferry wheel. It was very nice in terms of views but super hot and I sweat so much it was really embarassing. 

As far as it goes for guided tours I would definitely book these upfront and build your day around them. 

We booked a guided tour into the underground of Vienna and while I was thinking about if we should really go tickets went fast so I got them and it was so so cool. The entrance was through a trap door in the backroom of a very old pharmacy. 

Restaurants 

There are many visitior in Vienna and lots of great food recomendations so if you count two and two together I would suggest to decide your restaurant upfront and definitely reserve a place for you or your group.

I always like to look on Instagram for food recommendations. You can definitely find a ton of different types and price ranges for every city plus you´ll mostly have pictures of the food and drinks and a little review within. It is fairly easy to find what you are looking for just type in the name of the city and food into the search bar. After choosing some I would like, I visit the website to have a closer look at the menu and reservation options. 

 

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A 3 Day City Trip to Prague – What we did, ate and what I wore….

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In the middle of March my husband and I went to Prague for a 3 day city trip. It has been the first time we went somewhere without our two girls and while it was bitter the very first day we had a great time together as a couple and lots of fun.

It was a very short road trip, only took us about 2 and a half hours to get there (but this always depends on where you are coming from). There was no toll on the road but you have to get a vignette before crossing the border (this is a little sticker you need to have in you car to make sure you are allowed to drive on the interstate).

 

Where we stayed

This was our second time in Prague (we have been there eight !!!! years ago) and we stayed at the Astoria Hotel, a cute little boutique hotel. There was parking in front of the hotel but we ended up reserving a parking spot in the parking garage around the corner. Breakfast was included and our room was pretty big and the best it was right across the street from an awesome Indian restaurant.

The staff at the hotel was very nice and helpful. Also our hotel was very central. It was just about 5 minutes walking distance to the astronomic clock (right in the middle of the city).

What we did

Day 1

Rooftop Bar TerasaUPrince for Lunch

Saint Nicholas Church (one of the prettiest churches I have ever been too – the chandelier !!!!)

Speculum Alchemiae

Ribs of Prague for Dinner

 

Day 2

Castle of Prague 

Wenceslas Square

Lunch at Restaurant SV Vaclava for traditional czech beef stew

Astronomic Clock – it plays a music and the figurines move every hour

Indian Jewel for Dinner

 

Day 3

Carl´s Bridge

Trdelnik – the sweetest czech treat

 

What we ate

BBQ marinated ribs at Ribs of Prague

 

Traditional beef stew (Gulasch) at Restaurant SV Vaclava

 

Chicken Tikka Masalla at the Indian Jewel

 

Pistacchio Trdelnik with vanilla ice cream

 

Outfits I have worn

It was a little cold when we got there but the weather improved throughout the first day. Nevertheless we still had Winter coats with us and ended up wearing them at night.

I had a full plan of outifts and loved everyone I was wearing. Initially these have been planned for Rome but we switched cities last minute cause I didn´t want to fly this early in pregnancy. 

 

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24 hrs in Stuttgart – What to do?

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With my husband´s birthday and also our wedding anniversary we are trying to find something great to do every year and most of the time we just go out for dinner which is nice, don´t get me wrong. This is a lot of fun for us cause we love people watching but it´s not that special. So for this year we decided to take a city trip, just the two of us. Spending quality time as a couple has become pretty hard since Emilia is here but at least we appreciate the little time we have.

It was our first night away from our little baby and it was so hard for the two of us. We kept busy so that we wouldn´t miss her that much but of course it didn´t work. 

But let´s get started on recaping our trip. We started driving on Saturday morning and got to Stuttgart around noon. It is a three hour drive so it´s totally manageable to get there without a break. 

24 hours in Stuttgart

Day 1

Our first stop was the Wilhelma. A HUGE zoo and botanical garden area and I mean huge. I am very sure you can spend an entire day and more there. They have everything from plants to desert animals to rainforest animals and bugs and fish. It is truly incredible and so neat.

After that we went to another famous for Stuttgart place. The Porsche Museum. The Porsche is designed and built in Stuttgart so that is definitely another must. My husband is not super interested in cars but he liked it as well. The history, the earlier cars and lots of modell drawings. 

Since it was already late afternoon we went to check-in to our hotel and have some coffee there while getting ready for our dinner reservation. We stayed at the Kongresshotel Europe in Stuttgart. It is a business hotel and not the newest anymore but the rooms are roomy and clean and the staff is very nice and helpful. But be warned since the Coronavirus is still very present the bar and café is still closed. This was very disappointing and we had to get our cup of coffee from the nearest gas staion. Other than that our stay was totally fine.

For dinner we went to Vale, an amazing Italian restaurant. I had the Parmesan noodles with truffle. Such a special dinner for a special night and my husband went with pizza but he loves pizza so everything all right.

To end the night really special we decided to go to the Spielbank Stuttgart, a very high-end casino and play some roulette. We had drinks at the bar – I had a Cosmopolitan and it was glorious and then we gambled the night away. Lost everything we changed into chips but had such a great time together. I think we even stayed out ´till after one which is huge for us.

Day 2

So the next day, after little sleep we got ready, checked-out and headed to brunch to one of our favorite spots – the Gardener´s Nosh. We had one here in Regensburg but it sadly closed. I ate the croffle and an eggwhite omelett and my husband the breakfast burrito and a waffle on a stick. Everyhing was delicous.

As full as we were we rented two e-scooter to do some sightseeing downtown Stuttgart. I have never been on an e-scooter before and it was so cool. Probably the best about our whole stay 😉 Just kidding.

We went to the castle district. This is where the castle is of course and a huge old library plus a so many cute cafés to sit outside. It is so nice to see that live has picked up where it left after Covid. People need normality. 

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My birthday spent in Vienna – Austria – Day 2 and 3 – what we did and where we ate…

^The Prater – Vienna´s amusement park with rollercoasters^

^the famous ferris wheel^

^Hundertwasser museum^

^Hundertwasser house^

^Vienna opera building^

^worlds famous Sacher cake^

^Sacher coffeehouse^

^Addicted to Rock – Restaurant^
^Cheeseburger^
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^Schönbrunn castle^

^Ronacher theatre where Dance of the Vampires is playing^

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Hi guys,

let´s move on with the travel guide for Vienna. You can read the first part here.
Day 2
On Monday our second day – and also my birthday – we went to see the Prater straight after breakfast. The Prater is like a small amusement park area with rollercoasters, candy stores and also a big ferris wheel with wooden cabins. It is famous for its old wooden cabins which makes it the real sight of the Prater. I wanted to take a ride on it but unfortunately it was closed for maintenance.
The Prater also had a Madame Tussauds but since we where at the London exhibition we didn´t want to spend so much time in there (altough they probably would have had Sissi).

After our pretty short stay at the Prater we took the Underground and went straigth to the Kärntnerstreet – one of the biggest shopping streets in Vienna. The buildings are all really old and beautiful so they had some shops like Douglas and also H&M in the most beautiful builidings I have ever seen. I got some lip products from MAC I wanted and also some pieces from the H&M store cause it was pretty cold and we didn´t bring any scarves, gloves or beanies with us.

Dressed like for a Canadian Winter we took the Underground and went a little outside of the old town to visit the Hundertwasserhaus and museum. Friedensreich Hundertwasser was an Austrian architect and artist. He designed several buildings all over the world with his signature style including lots of colors and crooked floors and walls. Also his paintings are very famous.

Afterwards we went to the Sacher café to enjoy some of the traditional Sacher cake as my birthday cake. The location was beautiful and so traditional with old coffee grinders, red velvet sofas and seats and marble tables. The staff is really nice and attentive so there are no long waiting times. They also serve other delicious cakes and sweets but we sticked to a classic chocolate cake with cream.

On another note – Austria has its own drug store chain called Bippa. They do have their own make-up bruh line and I really love them. They are really affordable and in a good quality and also they are white and pink so there is nothing wrong about that. But they sell out fast so you might have to check different stores.

After our afternoon coffee we went to the opera of Vienna to take some photos of the beautfiul building but you can´t go in without a ticket at all.

So since it started snowing/raining afterwards and got really cold and uncomfortable we decided to go back to the hotel and to get ready for the evening.

We reserved a table at the Addicted to Rock restaurant. Every city we visit there is always one day we eat burgers for dinner and which day would be a better cheat day than my birthday. The restaurant had a great atmosphere and a very modern touch. With a big bar as the centerpiece of the room with metall walls and bulbs on ropes hanging low. With wooden boxes as tables and brown armchairs and sofas. I have to admit although I liked it very much it is hard to eat properly by sitting so low and soft on a sofa.


Day 3
This was our last real day so we took a final stroll through the old town to have a last look at the tiny alleyways and the cute old shops. 

After that we took another ride on the Underground and went to the Schönbrunn castle. This is the castle where the imperial family including Franz and Sissi spent most of their time. The area really is huge so after walking around we went inside the castle and took the tour through the castle. 

To get a better impression of how big the city really is we decided to go on a hop-on-hop-off tour which was really great. The city is huge and has some really nice spots and some which you shouldn´t set a foot into. We had a closer look at the main train station which is super modern all made of glass and huge. There are so many shops in there it could be a shopping center too. 

There is lots of building going on in Vienna. Huge appartment and office complex are stamped out of the ground. Highly architectural and super modern. Everything built of concrete and/or glass. 

After riding around in the bus for over an hour we got of and took a ride back to our hotel cause we had to get ready for the musical. We watched The Dance of the Vampires. It was awesome. The music, the singers, the costumes and the scenery. 
 It took place at the Ronacher theatre which was a total match. A old building with marble floors, high and wide doors, beautiful wooden staircases and soft red armchairs.
 They offered a special service for the break between two sets to set up champagne for you cause the break is only about 15 minutes and you wouldn´t get ready in time by standing in line.  


The musical took about 2 1/2 hour but it was totally worth it. It wasn´t boring a minute.


We decided to go back to the hotel once the musical was over cause we still needed to pack and we wanted to leave as early as possible the next day cause the weather was about to be really bad.


Overall it was a really nice getaway. 4 days or 3 full days are enough if you aren´t as museum interested as other people might be (cause museums take a lot of time).


If your birthday isn´t in January you should go there a few months later in Spring I think it would be really pretty since there are so many parks. 


Wow this was one heck of a long post but I wanted to tell you as much as possible since anyone is interested. 
You can also mail me directly if there is anything else you want to knwo.


As always thanks for stopping by. Take care. see you.

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