← Neusiedler See Marathon·3 nights

Vienna: Three Nights After the Lake

Three nights in one Vienna hotel, with museums from Tuesday, flat walks on the Ringstrasse and in the Prater, coffee houses, new wine in season and a 15-minute Railjet to the airport.

Duration3 nights
TransitBus 290 to Neusiedl am See, then a train to Wien Hauptbahnhof, about two hours
DepartsIllmitz

After the Neusiedler See Marathon: Vienna

The Route: Illmitz → Neusiedl am See → Vienna → Vienna Airport Logistics: Bus and train to Wien Hauptbahnhof, about two hours. One hotel for three nights. The airport is a 15-minute Railjet from the same station. Marathon Month: September Duration: 3 nights

Illmitz ──(bus 290)──> Neusiedl am See ──(train)──> Wien Hauptbahnhof ──(U1 / tram)──> Hotel
                                                           │
                                  Vienna Airport ◄─(Railjet, about 15 mins)────────────┘

Vienna is the obvious way out of the Seewinkel, since the airport is here, but the obvious choice is also a good one. The centre is flat enough for a runner with heavy legs, and there are indoor places to sit down when the weather turns. You need no hire car to get there. The rest of the Monday is for travelling. The museums can wait until Tuesday.

September in Vienna: the heat of summer has gone and the evenings are cooler, which suits long afternoons in coffee houses. This is also the season of Sturm, the cloudy, half-fermented new wine, which is sold at Heuriger taverns and market stalls for a few weeks around the harvest. Availability changes from year to year, so ask.

Getting there

From Illmitz, the usual public route is a bus to Neusiedl am See and a train from there to Wien Hauptbahnhof, about two hours in total according to journey planners. Check the bus connection the evening before; the Monday timetable can differ from the weekend one, and the bus is the link most likely to be thin. If you have luggage and little patience, a taxi to Neusiedl am See's station saves the first change. From Wien Hauptbahnhof, the U1 metro and trams reach the centre quickly.

Nights one to three: Vienna

Choose one hotel and keep it. The Motel One Wien-Staatsoper is a central budget-design hotel by the Opera. The Hotel Sacher, behind the Opera, is more formal. Check availability and breakfast hours for your dates.

On the first evening, walk a short, flat loop. The Ringstrasse is level, and the stretch past the Stadtpark can be done in 20 minutes. The Prater Hauptallee is a straight avenue of about 4.5 km lined with chestnut trees, and by late September the leaves are turning. Walk part of it and turn back.

On Tuesday, go to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which is closed on Mondays outside the summer months. The Bruegel paintings and the Habsburg collections take two to three hours. Check prices and hours at khm.at. The Belvedere shows Klimt's The Kiss, and its opening times differ by building, so check belvedere.at.

Order a Melange and a slice of cake in a coffee house. Café Sperl, at Gumpendorfer Straße 11, dates from 1880, and Café Central, at Herrengasse 14, occupies a vaulted hall. Stay an hour.

For dinner, Figlmüller at Wollzeile 5 is the long-standing schnitzel house; allow roughly €25 to €30 (£21 to £25) for a schnitzel. For Sturm, ride a tram to the wine villages of Grinzing or Nussdorf on the northern edge of the city, and ask your hotel which Heuriger is open on your evening. Expect a short uphill walk from the tram stop.

The Naschmarkt runs from Karlsplatz and sells produce and prepared food Monday to Saturday. It is closed on Sundays.

Getting to Vienna Airport

Vienna Airport is about 15 minutes from Wien Hauptbahnhof by Railjet, with S-Bahn trains running more slowly but more often. Check the timetable on the morning of your flight at oebb.at, and allow time at the station, since platform changes are common.