Ro's Recz

This is my own personal list of my 15 favorite cities in the world to visit. I have ranked them in 10 categories on a scale of 1-10: local cuisine, non-local food, public transportation, safety, scenery/beauty, history, price, cleanliness, tourist friendly, and walkability.

These are my own personal opinions, and I am sure that many people would disagree with the rankings. These are only cities that I have personally visited, so if your city is not on here, that may just mean I have not been yet.

Local Cuisine (how good the cities local cuisine/food was): 8/10

The local food in Vienna is pretty good, but it is a little heavy. One of their main dishes is the Wiener schnitzel, so it is similar to German food. However, if you are willing to splurge, there is an AMAZING restaurant in Vienna called Steirereck Restaurant; it was ranked #17 on The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list, and it definitely lived up to the hype.

Non-Local Food (how good food from other places was): 7/10

The non-local food in Vienna was also surprisingly good. They have some Vietnamese restaurants, as well as some other decent Asian restaurants. It is nothing spectacular, but it was fine.

Scenery/Beauty (how pretty/cool the sites and nature were to look at): 9/10

Vienna is a super nice city, and it is historic looking but well maintained. All of the buildings have their own charm and unique look, and it is a great city to walk around and explore.

History Monuments (how the city’s historical monuments are): 10/10

Vienna has some incredible historical monuments. The Schonbrunn Palace was an incredible site to see, and the size of it will blow you away. Additionally, sites such as St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Belvedere Palace, and The Hofburg are worth a visit.

Public Transportation (whether they had trains, subways, buses, etc. and how accessible they were): 9/10

I mostly used Lime Scooters to get around the city. If scooters are not your thing, they also have buses, trains, and subways that are very reliable and clean.

Safety (how safe I feel the city is): 9/10

Austria is a very safe country, and Vienna as a city is also very safe. I was never really worried about getting anything stolen, and it seemed like most areas were very safe.

Price (how expensive it was to visit the city, not including airfare (lower score means more expensive, higher score means good value)): 6/10

Vienna is not among the most expensive cities in Europe, but it is still relatively pricey. It is less pricey than cities such as London and Zurich, but similar in price to Germany.

Cleanliness (how clean the city was in general): 8/10

The city is a bit old, but for its age it is very well maintained. The streets are clean and all of the buildings are still in very good shape.

Tourist Friendly (how accessible and accommodating the city is for tourists (mainly English speakers)): 8/10

Vienna is the main city in Austria, so there are plenty of people visiting from all around the world. While most Austrians don’t speak perfect English, they do speak some at least. It is relatively easy to navigate and get around if you are a tourist in Vienna.

Walkability (how easy it is to walk around the city): 8/10

Vienna is a very flat city, and some of the sites are right within the city. While Schonbrunn Palace is far and definitely not within walking distance, some other attractions are within the city.

Conclusion: I was impressed by Vienna. I actually prefer Vienna to cities in Germany (although I have only been to Frankfurt and Munich). I think Austria sometimes gets lumped together as a lesser version of Germany, but that is not the case (they do have similar food and culture though). I would recommend staying in Vienna for between 3-4 days (you can take a day trip to Salzburg for one), and this US News article says the best time to visit is between April/May or September/October.

Total Score (Combined Score of all the categories): 82/100