About souvenirs: Don't buy Austrian sweets like Morzartkugeln or Mannerschnitten at some random overpriced museum or souvenir store, just go to a local supermarket like "Billa" or "Spar" instead. All that stuff is so much cheaper there.
But, why? I'm Italian and since I was a child, I watched it many times on TV , especially during the Christmas period and I'm 59 years old. Is there any particular reason?
@@gio7799 Do you know the original movie "Die Trapp-Familie" (1956) and the sequel "Die Trapp-Familie in Amerika" (1958)? They were both very successful in Austria and Germany, so there was not much interest in a more fictionalized american copy of the story.
@@mario27171 that's interesting, I didn't know the existence of a German version and unfortunately I have never seen those films, only the American version arrived in Italy but I imagine that the German language one is better than the American version, often American remakes of European films are cold and soulless as was the case with the French film" Intouchables" or the Italian one "Incompreso" vs "Misunderstood".
@@gio7799no particular reason, a mix of it being branded for foreigners and not getting popular enough. He exaggerates too. Glad that you liked it, I‘m sure most who saw it did :)
Be aware that the 3 day ticket (72 Stunden Wien) for Vienna's public transportation is exactly the same price as a ticket valid for 7 days (7 Tage Wien). Both are 17.10 EUR.
@@Jetlef_B_Toast I think you confuse it with the (way more expensive) Vienna City Card Wolter doesn't recommend. The 72-hour ticket used to make more sense when you could only buy weekly tickets that were valid from Monday. However, you can now choose a flexible start date if you purchase the ticket online.
police shuts down scams real quick. unless its the "free rose scam". but if you know anything about europe tourism you probably know about that already.
So silly right? I live in Salzburg and can confirm that they are fishing the money. Totally overpriced trash tours and everything tourist related is by law not a scam but morally very very questionable
A "kinda" tourist trap in Vienna are those guys in Mozart-like livery selling classic concert tickets. Those tickets either can often be found cheaper elsewhere (also, many places like the State Opera or the Musikverein offer last-minute tickets for dirt cheap), or they are for "no name" orchestras (not necessarily bad, but maybe not what you'd expect).
Yeah, thank you for that! I was wanting to bring that up, too. Vienna is known internationally for its traditional classical music education and entertainment. You can find very high quality concerts everywhere in the city. Highly recommended Musikerverein, Staatsoper, Konzerthaus or the many events produced by Jeunesse, for example.
ive seen the concert 10 years ago because my grandparents from france wanted to see it. yeah.. it was just a no-name small orchestra playing very average and forgettable music in a rented room at castle schönbrunn. nowadays they might not even play at schönbrunn, idk
Most of the time, it's the latter. It’s a no-name orchestra playing one earworm after another at a very fancy location. I don’t think it’s a scam per se, but it’s fair to say that it’s not very authentic. I feel it falls into the same category as watching a tango show in Buenos Aires or a tourist dance performance in Bali-just not very authentic. On the other hand, attending a performance by a much more renowned Austrian orchestra playing only two very specific symphonies by Bach or Haydn, it also isn't to everyone's taste.
@@georghauer7811 Most of these orchestras are comprised of students which make these concerts for some side money. They mostly play some pieces by Mozart or Strauss which everybody knows in some small rented rooms of historical buildings, but these concerts are way overpriced.
As a native Austrian I can say you are right, but that is the job of these people from the agency to sell the tickets. Btw the sellers who are dressed are all foreigners and not Austrians.
By St. Stevens ? From what I know, thats not a scam. They are employees of the Viennese Opera House and are selling tickets at the same prices are you can get them online. The same guys some times stand right in front of the Opera House too, selling tickets.
They're not a scam, exactly. They're just concerts entirely geared toward tourists. I'm a musician and have colleagues who played in those orchestras. They're not bad, but they "only" play crowd favourites, which is a practice frowned upon by classical music nerds. They play in costumes that are not quite historically correct but look like a Hollywood version of Mozart era dress, and the tickets are generally neither cheap nor really expensive. Normal concerts have cheap tickets in the back, two or three medium categories and a few rows of premium seats where you get the best experience. These tourist concerts generally have 2 categories in the medium price range, because it's not really about the best sound, but the overall experience. It's not a scam because you get what you paid for, but it's not something locals would do because it's so obviously made for tourists.
@@easycake3251No, those "Mozart guys" are not employed by the Vienna State opera (the opera house clarifies that on their website). Those guys are usually employed by various small private concert corporations and target tourists. The performances are overpriced in comparison. In addition, there have been cases were "Mozart guys" also sold tickets to the Vienna State opera at a ridiculous high price (like 2 times the price that you would pay if you buy from the State opera directly). In general, I would not recommend to buy from any 3rd party ticket office. The cheapest way to buy opera tickets is to use the website of the opera house.
No Austrian would ever be asked. These guys can tell a tourist from a local and would never ask the latter. I did pass them 1000 times , they gave me a wide berth. and , btw , I dislike Mozart.
@@HerbertSchnurpfeilI agree. Tourists are kinda disliked too. Except for those who make money with them. But for me as a local Salzburger, tourism is kinda annoying.
@@metalslegend Dont mislead people or they might try to bribe police or government workers and get in trouble for it. Never in my life did I have to or had the chance to bribe anyone.
There is (or was) something called "Einkaufskarte" at the ticket machines for the U-Bahn. It was a city card for the day between 08:00 and 18:00 or so and cost less than a day-card. The subway is easy to navigate in vienna, and for anything that needs too much time to walk to, it's fast and easy.
I've got a nice story for ya: some 15 years ago I was on a delivery run in the inner city and had to check some documents before going to my next waypoint. Because of that I was "parked" in a loading zone not far away from St.Stephen's when a little old lady came up to my small 'van' and asked me through the open window if I could give her directions to her hotel (don't remember which one it was). I remember that I knew exactly where she needed to go and because I knew that I didn't need any detour to get to that hotel I offered to drive her. It honestly didn't even occur to me to get something in return for this (it's even forbidden by law to take any kind of compensation for driving someone without having a taxi license, which I learned later) and I was somewhat speechless when she asked me how much money I wanted to have for this kind of service. When I recovered and told her "free of charge" she was the one who was speechless. Afterwards we took this seven minutes ride to her hotel and had a really nice chat. To this day I can only guess where this person came from and we didn't even exchange names.
One tourist trap common in a lot of tourist destinations, not just in Austria are the Euronet ATMs that charge fees and have high exchange rates which can really cost a lot of money if you’re not careful. This is especially important to know since Austria still uses cash very often. I would recommend avoiding these, they are mostly either labeled with „ATM“ or „Cash“. Instead use one from a bank like Erste Bank, Sparkasse, Bank Austria, Bawag, Raiffeisen or at the post offices, they don’t charge any fees except your bank‘s conversion fees.
Yes, those Euronet ATMs do have very high charge fees, I consider them being a scam. They popped up everywhere in the last few years (even in my small hometown). Use the normal ATMs at the banks and not the Euronet ones at the "Spar" Shops and you are fine.
@@juulian1306 The ones in my Hometown. They are privately run Markets, and have EuroNet ATMs in Front. They are not exactly scam, but you pay like 2€ everytime you withdraw money. Did not check if you pay those 2€ already if you only want to look up your account.
Yea, although the government already knows about them and put some restrictions on it, last time i HAD to use on and didnt get charged although im Austrian so maybe its diffrent for other countries banks The first time i used them i did get charged like 2€ and it got charged back so i didnt have to pay👍
As an Austrian, I have never tried the CAT. However, there is one feature - in addition to your video - that makes the CAT practical and justifies the extra charge: you can drop off your luggage at the station and check in for your flight.
Except when I was last there the line was horribly long as tourists did not know about S7 and then they closed that feature suddenly. Only a good deal if you have MUCH luggage. For a trolley even a larger one it is not worth it.
1. There are affordable lockers everywhere. 2. Literally any accommodation lets you store your luggage for free before you go to the airport... CAT is and always has been a SCAM!
I am from Greece and live in Vienna. Your videos about the places I already know, are the ones that convinced me to seek your advice for my other travels! Because I couldn't agree more! :) We are also visiting Sevilla and Barcelona soon, so your latest videos had incredible timing! Thank you!
One thing worth mentioning is, that if you have the ticket for public transport in Vienna, it is not enough to get to the airport in Schwechat. Schwechat, the city, is included. The airport of Schwechat is not. I sometimes work at the kiosk in the train stations, and tourists don't seem to realize that they have to pay for the one additional station. Also, if you have the ticket for the public transport in Vienna, a ticket with a train that goes outside of Vienna might cost a bit less (depends on the train). At the kiosk, you can just click on a box that says "Ab Stadtgrenze" ("from city border", or something similar), top-right on the screen after you chose a destination, and you will only pay for the part outside of Vienna. It's only 2,40€ saved, but still. Especially useful when you go to the airport, because the one station then costs only 2 €, I think. Also, fun video. Kinda funny, that it's not even scams, just some stuff that is somewhat overpriced. And the essence being: Yeah, there are no scams.
@@einmarv It will work. You just need two tickets, one for going to the border, and one for the rest. I know that it works, if I go out of Vienna by train, I do it exactly this way, without switching trains, and don't get punished. You just have two tickets for one train, no problem there.
@@mraaroncruz Yeah, I think this is a tourist trap from the Wiener Linien or ÖBB, whoever gets the money here. It's probably an easy way for that, I imagine quite a lot of people don't realize that you might need the extra ticket there.
@@felixsh9975 to be honest, it's the same with a lot of European cities / airports. Brussels, Madrid, Athens, ... you pay some extra charge to go to the Airport.
Me and a friend had an unfortunate incident in Vienna outside the Opera house. A chap came along with a leaflet selling tickets to the opera show while showing us a little dance in which he said twirled around my friend and next minute he was gone and so was my friend’s wallet. We tried to chase him to no avail and then went to the police who were Fairly friendly. a couple of months down the line did actually even catch hold of that person and sent my friend mugshots to recognise him
I got one tourist trap: the ,,Wiener Christkindlmarkt“ at the Rathausplatz in Vienna. It‘s crowded with lots of tourists, very expensive and there are some pickpockets. Visit smaller christmasmarkets in Vienna (Spittelberg, Am Hof, Maria Theresienplatz, Karlsplatz), Salzburg (Hellbrunn) or visit the Salzkammergut Christmasmarkets instead. They are wonderful! ✨
We were at Vienna's Spittelberg Christmas Market on the first Friday it was open last November and it looked nice but was extremen;y overcrowded to the point of being unpleasant. Also, a stall keeper deliberately tried to short-change me when I was buying a couple of Wurstl (sausages). Fortunately I notice as she was handing me my change and demanded my missing euro!
all of the x-mas markets in Vienna are crowded. Viennese love them and all of them are expensive and Gluehwein is usually diluted haha. It's not a tourist scam though.
I've done a lot of traveling and I can't stress this enough. When you get to a new city or place start out by taking a day tour and follow along with a map. It's a great way to quickly get orientated with a new place and meet people from all over the world....and learn a lot quickly. Many day tours just don't go to tourist areas and you can always go back to the places you liked. I always get to know the guides because they have helpful tips and know the good restaurants where to locals go. Well worth the time and money. People who say they don't want to take any tours because they don't want to be a tourist are only fooling themselves and missing out. Good video.
@@Colki12 The scammers and pickpockets can spot the tourists at a glance. If I can spot them I'm sure they can. Following along with a map on a day tour bus is a great way to get quickly oriented with a new city.
As an Austrian I have to say, spot on as always! 😀 And I completely agree about the Sacher Torte! Most overrated cake ever! There are at least a dozen Austrian cakes that are much better.
The biggest tourist trap in Vienna is essentially the entirety of the first district, although it's certainly worse the closer you are to Stephansplatz. Do take walk and look around there, do take your time and enjoy everything, but when it comes to you wanting to go somewhere to grab a drink or some food, just don't do it in the immediate area. Schwedenplatz for drinks is fine. It's still super close, about 7m from Stephansplatz if you walk, but there are a lot of locals there too and its not a trap, rather a hotspot where there are a lot of bars, and prices there generally are actually reasonable. But when it comes to eating cakes like the mentioned Sachertorte (or really anything else), or buying souvenirs or traditional sweets like, just don't do it in the close vicinity. Whenever I pass Hotel Sacher and see a huge crowd of tourists standing in front of it, I am kind of amused, because from what I have heard (never been there myself, as have most of my friends who live in Vienna) the prices there are ridiculous. The original version of the cake isn't even the best one as there is only one layer of apricot jam in the middle, and there are versions of it out there with 2 layers of jam (which most of the people I talked to actually prefer), and even if you don't want the extra layer of jam, any café in Vienna I've ever been to has had Sachertorte on the menu, so there certainly are a lot of other places where you can eat it, if you are fine with it not being "the orginal" (and therefore costing a fraction of what Hotel Sacher might charge). Enjoy your stay, cheers!
But sometimes you just want this kind of tourist experience and then it isn't about the money. I went to Cafe Central and ate my piece of Sachertorte there. Luckily there wasn't a line at the time I was there (otherwise I surely wouldn't have gone there) but it's a beautiful place. And sometimes that's exactly what you want. This place, this tourist experience. And then you buy a piece of an overhyped cake, knowing it will be pretty average and barely edible without enough Schlagobers. And you pay the money for it. Sometimes it's just exactly the experience you want to have. And let's be real if you actually go for this little piece of disappointment it better be in a very nice location.
I disagree. There are reasonable priced (not cheap) and good/high quality Cafés around the Freyung (last time I checked that was still first district). But for the rest, I agree and you forgot to mention the mental queues in front of Café Central...
As an Austrian, this is pretty good advice. People are usually very helpful if you ask them or if they offer help. Also, I've never once heard of, witnessed or been victim to pickpocketing anywhere in Austria, so being careful is always good but it's not really anything to worry a lot about.
My advice: Do not queue up in front of some famous (or prominent in traveler guides) cafés or restaurants. There are so many other places in Vienna offering good food or cakes. There is absolutely no need to stand in line for half an hour:)
Yeah, places like Café Central... Cafés like Mozart, Schwarzenberg, Prückel etc. are just as good. If you want amazing chocolate, you should check out the Oberlaa cafés, they are all over the city and have fresh confectionery, macarons etc.
As an Austrian, and I mean that in the most respectful way possible, pls if you come to Austria, please stay the hell out off our woods and mountains! There are far too many tourists getting lost, underestimating distance, the rapid weather changes, sudden temperature drops below freezing even in August and the danger of averlanches of the alpes as well as not respecting farming and forestry and getting hurt. And our mountaineers and rescue services have to then risk their own lives going out in the night and searching for them. Like you can stick to the marked trails, and such, but always inform yourselves about difficulty, weather, hiking culture and taboos. And especially in winter respect that all the animals need their resting seasons and with tons of ppl running around, some will die of the pure stress. And don't take your dogs to a hike. Out cattle in the alps are free roaming and mother cows will attack if they feel threatened by what is basically a wolf for them, and tourists have been killed.
Regarding the City Card: Buy the NÖ-Card (NÖ = Niederösterreich = Lower Austria). Lower Austria is one of the nine states in Austria and surrounds Vienna as a whole. With the card you get to see nice attractions outside but also IN Vienna. And it's much, much cheaper than the Vienna Card.
Less of a scam but if you're traveling in Austria via ÖBB trains and they for some reason get delayed and you can't make any connecting trains towards your destination, ask the staff about what you can do if you're stuck for the rest of the day/night. I know that in Vienna in the Hauptbahnhof area, they tend to give out "Hotelgutscheine" which are vouchers you can redeem for a one night stay so you can hop on the next train the day after. Asking doesn't hurt and might save you some money you'd otherwise have to pay for a room. I know this because I used to work as a receptionist at a hotel and had this a lot of times.
In both Salzburg and Innsbruck, my wife and I have invested in 3-day city cards and found that after visiting a couple of museums (and the Nordkettenbahn in Innsbruck), the cards had virtually paid for themselves on the first day! I am not so sure about the 'value for money' of the Graz card but we will be certainly be investing in the Bodensee Voralpen Freizeit card when we visit Lindau and Bregenz in June - the card not only gives you free-entry to 50 museums and a trip on the Pfanderbahn, but also is valid on rail and buses in the Voralpen district as far as the border stations at Lindau (Germany) and Buchs (Switzerland) (I am told it is also valid in Liechtenstein). Although not relevant to this video, if you are visiting the eastern end of Bodensee, bear in mind that guests at Hotels in Lindau get the benefit of being given the Echte Bodensee Card (it's paid for out of the Kurtax, the local guest tax that all guests have to pay) for the duration of your stay which gives you free public transport along the northern (German) shore of the lake and free or discounted admission to a lot of attractions.
Hej, i don't know if that would be something for you if you only wanna visit the "Voralpen"region but if you would like to experience the alps in its beauty I would recommend going to the "Lünersee" for a day, its a visually astonishing site! The only thing that I would recommend to do is check first if the trail around the lake is opened - i checked last week because i plan on going there with a friend in june as well and as of right now it's still closed because there's too much snow. (The lake is situated at about 2500m above sea level) Only downside for you if you are staying in Lindau is that I don't know how accessible the "Lünerseebahn" is via public transport and by car it already is about an hour from there. But with the "REX" (the faster train with less stops) I think that should be manageabele as well. Anyways I think that could be a cool trip if you would enjoy seeing the alps :) Regards from the Voralpenregion, I hope you will enjoy your stay!
Just some tips from me, no touriststraps found. *beggers we have been to Austria every summer for the last 12 years in a row (never in Vienna) and I think I've seen 5 of 6 in total. Innsbruck & Salsburg had them but that's it. The free public toilets are usually very clean and the country overal is very clean. Good roads. Visit tirol in summer (most ppl don't speak English there but are friendly enough to help you using hands and feet) One tip from me, don't visit hallstat the locals hate all tourists, there's plenty more beautiful cities in that big country. (Edit 😂 didn't see the full video, luckaly you agreed) Final note, don't be an idiot while hiking or doing snow stuff. Wear proper clothes etc. Read the weather forecast. And pls don't talk to loud in nature. I've never felt unsafe.
Yes, really don't underestimate the alpine hazards and do your research. UV light frys you. Cows are silent killers. You overconfidence can kill you too. And rescue helicopters cost you at least an arm and a leg.
The appeal of the Sachertorte is its long shelf life. Unfortunately that's also the reason why it cannot really compete with freshly made cakes or pastry featuring cream or fruits. So while I (and any other person living in Vienna I know) would always prefer something else when visiting a cafe, it is common to recommend Sachertorte as a souvenir or to take one with you as a gift if you're visiting friends abroad. It's a problem of expectations, compare it to fresh cakes or pastry and it just doesn't hold up, compare it with prepackaged cakes from the supermarket and it is a very good competitor in that league, maybe the best.
Not really warning of scams. But as general advice that every tourist that goes anywhere always gets. Also go places that arent necessarily touristy (or ar maybe places of national tourism). If you wanna see a lot of nature and go hiking or swimming, finding some austrians and asking them about good places is probably a good idea. I personally live in Carinthia. And while i cant deny that vienna and other bigger places have a lot more stuff to offer, you can find a lot of stuff to do here. Especially for kids. Like tours through caves, "Affenberg" where youre essentially taking a non-barricaded tour through a olace with a bunch of monkeys that can show you how smart they are, torture museum, reptile zoo-planetarium-miniature world wonders park all in the same place right next to a big park and our biggest lake. Like, it's fun. (This isn't meant as an ad for my state. Just wanna put it out there that there's a lot of cool stuff to see all over austria. So once you've seen Vienna there's a lot of other places you can go.
it depends what you consider rip-off. like I read from some music critic, that the musicians of those concerts are very skilled, it's more the choice of music they have to play that is nothing for real fans of classical music, because they play like the 3-4 real famous songs from Mozart & other Austrian composers which don't really fit together well. if you just want to hear those and are happy to pay the price, it's not really a rip-off
These chaps sell unauthorized tickets which are even more expensive than the original ones. I heard it's a gamble if they allow you in with these tickets, you may get lucky ... or not.
@@petevandijckstra3720 Not really. They usually play their own (much smaller) concerts. They aren't just worth their price compared to the reputable (and subsidized) ones.
I really enjoyed visiting Austria. Didn't feel scared or anything. A lot of the things you mentioned, as you said, aren't really scam because the price is upfront. So a little bit of comparison, analysis, and planning is involved, but it's all good. At this point, I don't even consider pickpockets anymore. The reason is that there were people going around the local grocery store stealing things from shoppers in my USA hometown! It only happened one time and it was a group of traveling criminals. But my point is, people should be vigilant (but not stressed, there is a big difference between the two!) no matter where they are. The criminals are very good at reading people. They are more likely to stay away from you if they realize that you are aware of your surroundings and keep track of your belongings.
Dude! I help people all of the time (with the ticket machines), I'm not a scammer, I'm a nice person (who happens to live near some ticket machine places).
one very specific scam is a new ticket they introduced in Schönbrunn Palace, the "State Apartments", where you just get to walk through 3 rooms (including the great ball room, but still not what most people expect for 22 Euros)
Yesss this was so bizarre .... Austria in general was so weird ... It looked like a Hollywood movie set where one facade of a building looked one way and you turned a corner and it was whole different aesthetic on the other side ... But the palace was completely empty but for a few rooms ... Although we did see a fabulous concert in the ball room ... They do take their music seriously and they ended with the blue Danube which in Austria is green lol but hey I live in Chicago and it's all green here too
@@HelenShaghaghi when you've seen a concert, it was probably towards the end or after the opening hours for standard visitors, so that could've been a reason why it was empty
one more thing about what seems like a scam but really isn't: Its the people in the cities selling "Augustin" newspapers - they might ask you for some money but usually never in an aggressive way. The sellers often come from socially disadvantaged families, had drug problems in the past, or are homeless. They earn very little, so it is perfectly fine to give them some change without buying a newspaper. There is also a very famous guy on the Mariahilfer Str. in Vienna - he always collects money for concert tickets and festival passes.
No idea if there is a ticket scam in Austria, but I myself have offered clueless looking people/tourists help at the ticket machines. I have sometimes struggled with machines too and asked for help.
Best Sacher Torte in Austria: Go in SPAR, its a supermarket, to the freezer, there are a Sachertorte for 5,99 Euro its the best! Real! Nice greetings from Vienna
As for Vienna Airport trains I also recommend the Railjet express trains, don‘t just use the suburban trains which usually are more crowded. They stop at Hauptbahnhof and Meidling, so it depends where in Vienna you want to go. Tickets are the same for regional and express trains (everywhere on ÖBB) - just be aware that the airport is not in the city zone - so you will have to get an extra ticket for the part outside of the Vienna core zone if you have another ticket for city transport.
I once had a colleague from Venezuela visit for a company event and he was shocked that you can just walk around the city at night without being afraid you get robbed or worse.
Something I can recommend is the "Oper im Steinbruch". Pricey? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely. The whole scenery is breathtaking, especially if you are lucky with the weather. But I have also been there in pouring rain, still amazing.
Not a tourist trap but a warning, if you plan on going to the Opera House know that the "obstructed seats" can actually be absolutely no view of the stage. We picked those seats because we weren't sure that the better seats (at 3x the cost) would be worth it for us as opera newbies. It was our biggest regret as even without a view it was a magical evening and I can only think how wonderful it would of been in the better seats!
There is one scam i know of, but its been 10 years, no idea if its still happening, but there were people who give you a rose and as soon as you take it, they demand money for it. And there is this woman at the marierhilfer street, vienna who pretends to be pregnant, a friend of mine fell for it. If a scamer doset leave you alone, just threaten to call the police.
Great video! We were in Innsbruck Austria 2 years ago. I a 125# 66 year old woman was body slammed intentionally by a big man in an uncrowded walk way. He clipped my front shoulder hard. I checked by back pack on my back & it was unzipped. Nothing of value..so nothing taken. But caught off guard to have it happen in such a safe country.
Don’t take the sound of music tour bus, it is VERY expensive and you can get to basically all theses sites by public transportation. The bus 25 goes to the hellbrunn palace for example 😉 It needs a little bit of planing but it’s just a fraction of the cost.
I took The Sound of Music tour in Salzburg some years ago. I was alone, but I still loved it! We did go out in the countryside. It was October so the leaves were changing, but there was also snow and it was beautiful. The Sound of Music sites were a little disappointing, but I still liked it, and I usually hate hokey stuff. I even went along with the “Doe a Deer” sing-along! In conclusion, yes it was touristy but if you like the Sound of Music, it’s a fun little romp.
Vienna is one of my favorite cities, I spent a week there in 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed everything the city has to offer. If you are a classical music fan don’t hesitate to buy a ticket to one of the many concerts at the Musikverein or one of the churches, these are generally high quality and entertaining and the venues are spectacular. I was scammed by an olive vendor at the Naschmarkt, it wasn’t a big deal but watch out for those guys. Planning a trip back to Austria this summer for a week in Salzburg and a week of hiking.
Yes- those olive vendors at Naschmarkt rip you off. If you want to see a more authentic market with good prices go to Brunnenmarkt (especially on Saturday there is also a farmers market)
Innsbruck might be my favorite place in Europe so far. It was absolutely magical for Christmas 2023. The people are wonderful and incredibly warm. The access for winter sports is really nice as well. Several peaks nearby with buses that come very often throughout the day. Not to mention getting the city pass with our stay at the hotel (you just have to fill out paperwork ahead of time). Oh, don't forget to brush up on your Italian before your trip! Couldn't recommend Innsbruck enough.
Vienna resident here - as far as sweet cakes go, I recommend the Esterhazy Torte or Schnitte (hazelnut biscuit layers with hazelnut creme and sugar icing on top - you can even get a decent Esterhazy Schnitte at the McDonald Cafés). I agree that Sachertorte is severely overhyped. Creme Schnitte is great, too (vanilla pudding creme between flaky pastry layers with sugar icing on top). Or you can visit a pastry shop-Café like Aida, Heiner (highly recommended!!), or Kurkonditorei Oberlaa and just point at whatever you like from the display counter.
The biggest advantege of the CAT (Citty Airport Train) is, you check in at Wien Mitte (in the Center of Vienna) and get rid of all your luggage! So, when you arrive at the airport you dont need to carry around your luggage and search for the right check in counter with all the others. Tis is verry relaxing! 😊
As an Austrian, please dont give beggars any money. I get it, you feel bad and it seems like the right thing to do, but our social security system is *way* past the point where anyone needs to be begging, so the people who do it are consciously chosing to beg over finding a proper job. Also, be aware that it is illegal for them to approach you.
If you are planning to go on a horse-carriage ride in Vienna, don´t make advance bookings for the carriages online! Because the thing is, if you book a carriage for example for Wednesday at 11:00, then you will go on that trip on Wednesday at 11:00, if its raining or the sun is shining. You can not decide to wait for an hour or maybe two because of bad weather conditions. And, believe me, it is very much better when the weather is good. Just go to the places where the carriages are parked in the city and ask the driver. It is cheaper and you are free in your choice.
CAT Train: only Advantage is that you can check in your flight luggage in the city. Might be good If you wanna have a stroll in your day of departure and you have some time between Checkout and your flight. (Please Double check that before you do it!)
Regarding "mustard/bird sh..."-scam - Unfortunately THAT one can happen to you in Austria, particularly at train stations and/or other public transport stations (particularly underground in Vienna). I myself (as a native Austrian) fell for that one about 15 years ago, when arriving with the airport bus at "Westbahnhof"... - The guy who pulled that one on me was from Romania....
As someone who works at ÖBB, I like the Focus on railway gorgeous video scenes from Innsbruck/Salzburg. Also most American still thinks there are kangaroos here and the other half thinks everything is like in the film sound of music which isn't guys. Thanks for the video 😊
It's still fine even compared to other places in Western Europe, but sadly it's not "super safe" anymore. Just be cautious at larger train staitions in the main cities and in Vienna also in the subway stations. Not that it's actually dangerous, but there are more sketchy people around.
Good video and interesting to watch from a local perspective 🙂Regarding cakes, I can recommend the Linzer Torte in all the variations if you like raspberry and are not allergic to nuts, but to be fair, it's like in many countries, there is a lot of great stuff for sweet-tooths.
My wife and I were in Vienna in June of 2019. Stopped at a little food cart on StephansPlatz for a "frankfurter" They hollowed out the middle of a fresh baked roll, put in some mustard, then the "frank" . It was the MOST incredible street snack we ever had. I'd fly back to Vienna (from NJ USA) just for that. Vienna is also our favorite city in the world now for many other reasons.
I completely agree with you about the airport train (CAT - green color), you should rather take the normal train (ÖBB - red color). Depending on the type of ÖBB train, it will take you between 30 - 60 minutes to get to the city for much less money than with the CAT. That's how we locals do it too ;) As a native Austrian, I can say that almost all pickpockets come from Eastern Europe and are organized groups. Unfortunately, every year at Christmas time we are flooded by these people in the cities and Christmas markets. The same applies to the beggars at the markets. Please do not confuse this with real Austrians, we appreciate tourists and want to make your stay as pleasant as possible.
wiener wurst is a sliced cold served sausage you would put in a Semmel (white bread) typically without mustard, more likely with pickles. what americans would call "wiener" is a Frankfurter which is served hot with mustard and horseradish.
Hallstatt is indeed very impressive looking BUT it is relly small and definitely not worth going there if you're not allready somwhere near. If you want to go there, plan to visit tha salt mine and the Mausoleum as well and plan other locations nearby for your trip. For example you can visit Bad Ischl (where the summer residence of the former Emporer is located), Bad Aussee (middle point of Austria) and other smaller villages with historic background and beautiful mountains, woods, rivers and lakes - depending on the season you can go swimming, hiking, skiiing or just relax....
What belongs to Sachertorte, it is the taste of childhood for me. But only the original one, because Sachertorten what you'll get somewhere else, are for barfing.
i'm a musician who moved to Vienna years ago... maybe I'm too much of a snob, but the guys in Mozart outfits selling you concert tickets here, they're not the best quality of music the city has to offer 😅
That's a fact 😊 But for some visitors, an evening with a "best of" Viennese music including dinner at the Kursalon sounds just fine. My cousin from the US and his wife bought tickets before we talked about it, so I said nothing. They enjoyed their evening and that is all that matters. 😉
As an austrian. Never in my live have I or would I eat Sachertorte ina restaurant or cafe. It's not bad. We regularly make a simplified version of it at home. And sometimes relatives make it or bithdays and such. But most of the time there is mcuh more exciting options to choose from.
The Cat train is useful sometimes. 1. It's a non stop train from Wien Mitte 2. They bring your luggage to the airport on the plane hours before you're on the airport. This could safe you a lot time. Anddd.. a lot of people help you with buying tickets at the ticket machine ive never seen a scam about that.
well, not really scams here. I have seen scams of a different level in Istanbul and Tiflis where people really want your money and it is hard to get out the situation once they have you on the hook.
Just let me add three issues to the list: 1. Vienna - go to Naschmarkt, stroll around, but don't buy olives and other stuff at the stalls run by Turks. I'm sorry if this is unfair against the one or two exceptions, but they trouble and intimidate you until you buy whatever a kilo instead of 100g or so. Go to Brunnenmarkt in Ottakring, you have the same offers, but in a relaxed atmosphere 2. Add St. Wolfgang as a whole to the scam list: from parking to service, be prepared to be ripped off as soon as you just breathe their air. 3. Tyrol: Innsbruck is really nice. Only problem: better bring your own food and your own coffee. Speaking about Innsbruck coffe: the best coffee in town you will get by crossing the border to Italy and have one in Sterzing/Vipiteno: BTW the very best one there you'll find at the highway gas station. If you need to recover from Tyrolean/Innsbruck food: take a train to Merano or Bolzano across the border. Coffee and food in Innsbruck are the main reasons why my fellow Southern Tyroleans never ever want to break away from Italy and rejoin Austria. Period.
At the Öbb ticket machines there might be helpers working officially for Öbb (no scam here!) that will happily assist you buying the right ticket especially around holidays. They are wearing some kind of uniforms like a bright red coat or white shirt that says Öbb on it. Not everyone offering help is a potential beggar or scammer. As for the CAT you are right: not needed but convenient and sometimes quicker depending on departure times that are available for you. Plus it is the train that is travelling between the airport and the city exclusively... so that train runs on time. As for trains of Öbb, they could be delayed just because they come from somewhere else (Germany, Hungary or other parts of Asutria) and therefore more can happen on the way. Depending on where you are the S7 is also an option getting to the airport without changin trains. What makes the CAT convenient though is the possibility to check in your luggage right at the train station and you don't have to it at the crowded airport.
About souvenirs:
Don't buy Austrian sweets like Morzartkugeln or Mannerschnitten at some random overpriced museum or souvenir store, just go to a local supermarket like "Billa" or "Spar" instead. All that stuff is so much cheaper there.
still overpriced
@@SalamanderS337 Food usually is more expensive in Austria than in Germany or the US.
@@christapulmon8443 im am from salzburg i know that but there are cheaper more tastyer options still
Buy the cheaper Mozartkugeln, because they taste a lot better.
Mozartkugeln at Fürst are delicious tho.
Especially for the Americans watching: Regarding "Sound of Music" be prepared for the fact that 99% of us have never seen that movie 🙂
But, why? I'm Italian and since I was a child, I watched it many times on TV , especially during the Christmas period and I'm 59 years old. Is there any particular reason?
@@gio7799 Do you know the original movie "Die Trapp-Familie" (1956) and the sequel "Die Trapp-Familie in Amerika" (1958)? They were both very successful in Austria and Germany, so there was not much interest in a more fictionalized american copy of the story.
@@mario27171 that's interesting, I didn't know the existence of a German version and unfortunately I have never seen those films, only the American version arrived in Italy but I imagine that the German language one is better than the American version, often American remakes of European films are cold and soulless as was the case with the French film" Intouchables" or the Italian one "Incompreso" vs "Misunderstood".
@@gio7799no particular reason, a mix of it being branded for foreigners and not getting popular enough. He exaggerates too. Glad that you liked it, I‘m sure most who saw it did :)
@@gio7799 I never even saw it on TV. At school we discussed musicals like cats or west side story, but never the sound of music.
Be aware that the 3 day ticket (72 Stunden Wien) for Vienna's public transportation is exactly the same price as a ticket valid for 7 days (7 Tage Wien). Both are 17.10 EUR.
The 3 day ticket has other things included not only Public Transport as far as I know at least.
I might very well be wrong*
@@Jetlef_B_Toast I think you confuse it with the (way more expensive) Vienna City Card Wolter doesn't recommend.
The 72-hour ticket used to make more sense when you could only buy weekly tickets that were valid from Monday. However, you can now choose a flexible start date if you purchase the ticket online.
@@to_loww oh yeah that should be what I thought about
Video title: "Tourist Scams in Austria"
Video content: There are none, some things are just expensive or unusual.
police shuts down scams real quick. unless its the "free rose scam". but if you know anything about europe tourism you probably know about that already.
So silly right? I live in Salzburg and can confirm that they are fishing the money. Totally overpriced trash tours and everything tourist related is by law not a scam but morally very very questionable
@@denis2381We Austrians know that Salzburg is overpriced.
@@christianschneider880nice try! you are not austrian obviously with that name. On the other hand, my name is an ancient austrian name.
@@denis2381 Denis or Dennis is not a typical name, mine yes. Oida, homs da ins Hian gschissn?
Troll woanders 😁
A "kinda" tourist trap in Vienna are those guys in Mozart-like livery selling classic concert tickets. Those tickets either can often be found cheaper elsewhere (also, many places like the State Opera or the Musikverein offer last-minute tickets for dirt cheap), or they are for "no name" orchestras (not necessarily bad, but maybe not what you'd expect).
Yeah, thank you for that! I was wanting to bring that up, too. Vienna is known internationally for its traditional classical music education and entertainment. You can find very high quality concerts everywhere in the city. Highly recommended Musikerverein, Staatsoper, Konzerthaus or the many events produced by Jeunesse, for example.
ive seen the concert 10 years ago because my grandparents from france wanted to see it. yeah.. it was just a no-name small orchestra playing very average and forgettable music in a rented room at castle schönbrunn. nowadays they might not even play at schönbrunn, idk
Most of the time, it's the latter. It’s a no-name orchestra playing one earworm after another at a very fancy location. I don’t think it’s a scam per se, but it’s fair to say that it’s not very authentic. I feel it falls into the same category as watching a tango show in Buenos Aires or a tourist dance performance in Bali-just not very authentic. On the other hand, attending a performance by a much more renowned Austrian orchestra playing only two very specific symphonies by Bach or Haydn, it also isn't to everyone's taste.
@@georghauer7811 Most of these orchestras are comprised of students which make these concerts for some side money. They mostly play some pieces by Mozart or Strauss which everybody knows in some small rented rooms of historical buildings, but these concerts are way overpriced.
As a native Austrian I can say you are right, but that is the job of these people from the agency to sell the tickets. Btw the sellers who are dressed are all foreigners and not Austrians.
you forgot the mozart guys trying to sell you overpriced concert tickets. no Austrian would go to those
By St. Stevens ? From what I know, thats not a scam. They are employees of the Viennese Opera House and are selling tickets at the same prices are you can get them online. The same guys some times stand right in front of the Opera House too, selling tickets.
They're not a scam, exactly. They're just concerts entirely geared toward tourists. I'm a musician and have colleagues who played in those orchestras. They're not bad, but they "only" play crowd favourites, which is a practice frowned upon by classical music nerds. They play in costumes that are not quite historically correct but look like a Hollywood version of Mozart era dress, and the tickets are generally neither cheap nor really expensive. Normal concerts have cheap tickets in the back, two or three medium categories and a few rows of premium seats where you get the best experience. These tourist concerts generally have 2 categories in the medium price range, because it's not really about the best sound, but the overall experience. It's not a scam because you get what you paid for, but it's not something locals would do because it's so obviously made for tourists.
@@easycake3251No, those "Mozart guys" are not employed by the Vienna State opera (the opera house clarifies that on their website). Those guys are usually employed by various small private concert corporations and target tourists. The performances are overpriced in comparison. In addition, there have been cases were "Mozart guys" also sold tickets to the Vienna State opera at a ridiculous high price (like 2 times the price that you would pay if you buy from the State opera directly). In general, I would not recommend to buy from any 3rd party ticket office. The cheapest way to buy opera tickets is to use the website of the opera house.
No Austrian would ever be asked. These guys can tell a tourist from a local and would never ask the latter. I did pass them 1000 times , they gave me a wide berth. and , btw , I dislike Mozart.
@@HerbertSchnurpfeilI agree. Tourists are kinda disliked too. Except for those who make money with them. But for me as a local Salzburger, tourism is kinda annoying.
Incredibly safe. Love Austria
Its high in corruption 😂, but I couldn't think of a more safe country atm. Greetings 🇦🇹
@@metalslegend In corporate corruption, not in everyday corruption.
@@fairphoneuser9009 Corporate landscape, politics all the good stuff
@@metalslegend Yeah, but it's not like you have to bribe a cop on the street...
@@metalslegend Dont mislead people or they might try to bribe police or government workers and get in trouble for it. Never in my life did I have to or had the chance to bribe anyone.
I'd recommend just walking around Vienna if you're there for the day - super walkable city, and you can see all the great sites in just a few hours
Very little supermarkets
There is (or was) something called "Einkaufskarte" at the ticket machines for the U-Bahn. It was a city card for the day between 08:00 and 18:00 or so and cost less than a day-card.
The subway is easy to navigate in vienna, and for anything that needs too much time to walk to, it's fast and easy.
@@Fintanflaherty 😅
@@Fintanflaherty wait fr? thats little for you?
@@Fintanflaherty i guess for americans they are small but billa plus will have everything you could possibly want to eat
Austria is absolutely lovely. We’ve visited a few times and would go back again in an instant.
Glad you experienced a nice time over here :)
i dont trust you anymore since you said austrian beer is bad
Austrian beer is very divierse. Every village has its own beer. Kaiser and Gösser are bad, but there is good beer, too.
@@katzensindweich3505 I agree, kaiser and gösser are not good. 😅
Freistädter all the way. Haha
Gösser not being good is a myth. In fact I prefer it as my daily driver over Puntigamer, Stiegl, Murauer,...
@@agenttank Tell me where you are from without telling me 😂
@@katzensindweich3505 well, it is very obvious - so not funny :-P
As an austrian: we may look a little bit grumpy, but we're mostly friendly and always helpful 😉
As an austrian also: that is not true. we are grumpy and often not willing to help
I've got a nice story for ya:
some 15 years ago I was on a delivery run in the inner city and had to check some documents before going to my next waypoint. Because of that I was "parked" in a loading zone not far away from St.Stephen's when a little old lady came up to my small 'van' and asked me through the open window if I could give her directions to her hotel (don't remember which one it was). I remember that I knew exactly where she needed to go and because I knew that I didn't need any detour to get to that hotel I offered to drive her.
It honestly didn't even occur to me to get something in return for this (it's even forbidden by law to take any kind of compensation for driving someone without having a taxi license, which I learned later) and I was somewhat speechless when she asked me how much money I wanted to have for this kind of service. When I recovered and told her "free of charge" she was the one who was speechless. Afterwards we took this seven minutes ride to her hotel and had a really nice chat. To this day I can only guess where this person came from and we didn't even exchange names.
@@nesnimu The Viennese especially
taxi drivers in vienna are born grumpy. waiters in restaurants in vienna sometimes as well. depends. this is their own kind of character.
@@44r0n-9 As a Viennese: Yes, that is true. Other austrians are way more friendly.
One tourist trap common in a lot of tourist destinations, not just in Austria are the Euronet ATMs that charge fees and have high exchange rates which can really cost a lot of money if you’re not careful. This is especially important to know since Austria still uses cash very often. I would recommend avoiding these, they are mostly either labeled with „ATM“ or „Cash“. Instead use one from a bank like Erste Bank, Sparkasse, Bank Austria, Bawag, Raiffeisen or at the post offices, they don’t charge any fees except your bank‘s conversion fees.
If they have a B-shaped sign in green and blue they are fine.
Yes, those Euronet ATMs do have very high charge fees, I consider them being a scam. They popped up everywhere in the last few years (even in my small hometown). Use the normal ATMs at the banks and not the Euronet ones at the "Spar" Shops and you are fine.
Huh? What Spar exactly has a Euronet ATM? I've only ever seen legit ones there by Bawag or Raiffeisen for example...
@@juulian1306 The ones in my Hometown. They are privately run Markets, and have EuroNet ATMs in Front. They are not exactly scam, but you pay like 2€ everytime you withdraw money. Did not check if you pay those 2€ already if you only want to look up your account.
Yea, although the government already knows about them and put some restrictions on it, last time i HAD to use on and didnt get charged although im Austrian so maybe its diffrent for other countries banks
The first time i used them i did get charged like 2€ and it got charged back so i didnt have to pay👍
As an Austrian, I have never tried the CAT. However, there is one feature - in addition to your video - that makes the CAT practical and justifies the extra charge: you can drop off your luggage at the station and check in for your flight.
Except when I was last there the line was horribly long as tourists did not know about S7 and then they closed that feature suddenly. Only a good deal if you have MUCH luggage. For a trolley even a larger one it is not worth it.
1. There are affordable lockers everywhere. 2. Literally any accommodation lets you store your luggage for free before you go to the airport... CAT is and always has been a SCAM!
@@PascalGienger Absolutely!
@@PascalGienger Just wanted to add that there is also the faster REX7 line and several Railjet connections from Wien Hauptbahnhof (Hbf).
Yes, for parents with small kids this is very convenient. I take it since I have babies/toddlers
I am from Greece and live in Vienna. Your videos about the places I already know, are the ones that convinced me to seek your advice for my other travels! Because I couldn't agree more! :) We are also visiting Sevilla and Barcelona soon, so your latest videos had incredible timing! Thank you!
Sevilla is beautiful!
@@platinum11110 We have been to Spain twice already and absolutely love it! We keep getting back and explore!
One thing worth mentioning is, that if you have the ticket for public transport in Vienna, it is not enough to get to the airport in Schwechat. Schwechat, the city, is included. The airport of Schwechat is not. I sometimes work at the kiosk in the train stations, and tourists don't seem to realize that they have to pay for the one additional station.
Also, if you have the ticket for the public transport in Vienna, a ticket with a train that goes outside of Vienna might cost a bit less (depends on the train). At the kiosk, you can just click on a box that says "Ab Stadtgrenze" ("from city border", or something similar), top-right on the screen after you chose a destination, and you will only pay for the part outside of Vienna. It's only 2,40€ saved, but still. Especially useful when you go to the airport, because the one station then costs only 2 €, I think.
Also, fun video. Kinda funny, that it's not even scams, just some stuff that is somewhat overpriced. And the essence being: Yeah, there are no scams.
That with the "Ab Stadtgrenze" won't work with railjet, there you need a extra ticket, because its a non stop train vom Vienna main station.
The checkers are ruthless with this too. Really bad for tourism imo. Terrible last impression and completely unnecessary.
@@einmarv It will work. You just need two tickets, one for going to the border, and one for the rest. I know that it works, if I go out of Vienna by train, I do it exactly this way, without switching trains, and don't get punished. You just have two tickets for one train, no problem there.
@@mraaroncruz Yeah, I think this is a tourist trap from the Wiener Linien or ÖBB, whoever gets the money here. It's probably an easy way for that, I imagine quite a lot of people don't realize that you might need the extra ticket there.
@@felixsh9975 to be honest, it's the same with a lot of European cities / airports. Brussels, Madrid, Athens, ... you pay some extra charge to go to the Airport.
Me and a friend had an unfortunate incident in Vienna outside the Opera house. A chap came along with a leaflet selling tickets to the opera show while showing us a little dance in which he said twirled around my friend and next minute he was gone and so was my friend’s wallet. We tried to chase him to no avail and then went to the police who were Fairly friendly. a couple of months down the line did actually even catch hold of that person and sent my friend mugshots to recognise him
Thats sad but glad they caught him eventually
I got one tourist trap: the ,,Wiener Christkindlmarkt“ at the Rathausplatz in Vienna. It‘s crowded with lots of tourists, very expensive and there are some pickpockets. Visit smaller christmasmarkets in Vienna (Spittelberg, Am Hof, Maria Theresienplatz, Karlsplatz), Salzburg (Hellbrunn) or visit the Salzkammergut Christmasmarkets instead. They are wonderful! ✨
St Wolfgang for the win!
We were at Vienna's Spittelberg Christmas Market on the first Friday it was open last November and it looked nice but was extremen;y overcrowded to the point of being unpleasant. Also, a stall keeper deliberately tried to short-change me when I was buying a couple of Wurstl (sausages). Fortunately I notice as she was handing me my change and demanded my missing euro!
How do you know it was deliberate?@@DeannaAllison
all of the x-mas markets in Vienna are crowded. Viennese love them and all of them are expensive and Gluehwein is usually diluted haha. It's not a tourist scam though.
@@fridaytax St. Wolfgang used to be nice but unfortunately it's become completely overcrowded in the last few years!
I love it, thanks and liebe Grüße aus Österreich ❤
I've done a lot of traveling and I can't stress this enough. When you get to a new city or place start out by taking a day tour and follow along with a map. It's a great way to quickly get orientated with a new place and meet people from all over the world....and learn a lot quickly. Many day tours just don't go to tourist areas and you can always go back to the places you liked. I always get to know the guides because they have helpful tips and know the good restaurants where to locals go. Well worth the time and money.
People who say they don't want to take any tours because they don't want to be a tourist are only fooling themselves and missing out. Good video.
Holding a map infront of you is the same as holding a sign that says "rob me"
@@Colki12 The scammers and pickpockets can spot the tourists at a glance. If I can spot them I'm sure they can. Following along with a map on a day tour bus is a great way to get quickly oriented with a new city.
As an Austrian I have to say, spot on as always! 😀
And I completely agree about the Sacher Torte!
Most overrated cake ever!
There are at least a dozen Austrian cakes that are much better.
Me and my partner are from Austria and we LOVE your videos!! :)
Its nice to see austria from a tourist perspective :) !
Greetings from Vienna.
The biggest tourist trap in Vienna is essentially the entirety of the first district, although it's certainly worse the closer you are to Stephansplatz.
Do take walk and look around there, do take your time and enjoy everything, but when it comes to you wanting to go somewhere to grab a drink or some food, just don't do it in the immediate area.
Schwedenplatz for drinks is fine. It's still super close, about 7m from Stephansplatz if you walk, but there are a lot of locals there too and its not a trap, rather a hotspot where there are a lot of bars, and prices there generally are actually reasonable. But when it comes to eating cakes like the mentioned Sachertorte (or really anything else), or buying souvenirs or traditional sweets like, just don't do it in the close vicinity.
Whenever I pass Hotel Sacher and see a huge crowd of tourists standing in front of it, I am kind of amused, because from what I have heard (never been there myself, as have most of my friends who live in Vienna) the prices there are ridiculous. The original version of the cake isn't even the best one as there is only one layer of apricot jam in the middle, and there are versions of it out there with 2 layers of jam (which most of the people I talked to actually prefer), and even if you don't want the extra layer of jam, any café in Vienna I've ever been to has had Sachertorte on the menu, so there certainly are a lot of other places where you can eat it, if you are fine with it not being "the orginal" (and therefore costing a fraction of what Hotel Sacher might charge).
Enjoy your stay, cheers!
But sometimes you just want this kind of tourist experience and then it isn't about the money.
I went to Cafe Central and ate my piece of Sachertorte there. Luckily there wasn't a line at the time I was there (otherwise I surely wouldn't have gone there) but it's a beautiful place.
And sometimes that's exactly what you want. This place, this tourist experience. And then you buy a piece of an overhyped cake, knowing it will be pretty average and barely edible without enough Schlagobers. And you pay the money for it.
Sometimes it's just exactly the experience you want to have.
And let's be real if you actually go for this little piece of disappointment it better be in a very nice location.
The best Sachertorte I ever ate was a deep-frozen one by the German brand Coppenrath& Wiese, that you can buy at any suoermarket.
I disagree. There are reasonable priced (not cheap) and good/high quality Cafés around the Freyung (last time I checked that was still first district). But for the rest, I agree and you forgot to mention the mental queues in front of Café Central...
As an Austrian, this is pretty good advice. People are usually very helpful if you ask them or if they offer help. Also, I've never once heard of, witnessed or been victim to pickpocketing anywhere in Austria, so being careful is always good but it's not really anything to worry a lot about.
My advice: Do not queue up in front of some famous (or prominent in traveler guides) cafés or restaurants. There are so many other places in Vienna offering good food or cakes. There is absolutely no need to stand in line for half an hour:)
Yeah, places like Café Central... Cafés like Mozart, Schwarzenberg, Prückel etc. are just as good. If you want amazing chocolate, you should check out the Oberlaa cafés, they are all over the city and have fresh confectionery, macarons etc.
As an Austrian, and I mean that in the most respectful way possible, pls if you come to Austria,
please stay the hell out off our woods and mountains!
There are far too many tourists getting lost, underestimating distance, the rapid weather changes, sudden temperature drops below freezing even in August and the danger of averlanches of the alpes as well as not respecting farming and forestry and getting hurt.
And our mountaineers and rescue services have to then risk their own lives going out in the night and searching for them.
Like you can stick to the marked trails, and such, but always inform yourselves about difficulty, weather, hiking culture and taboos.
And especially in winter respect that all the animals need their resting seasons and with tons of ppl running around, some will die of the pure stress.
And don't take your dogs to a hike. Out cattle in the alps are free roaming and mother cows will attack if they feel threatened by what is basically a wolf for them, and tourists have been killed.
Regarding the City Card: Buy the NÖ-Card (NÖ = Niederösterreich = Lower Austria). Lower Austria is one of the nine states in Austria and surrounds Vienna as a whole. With the card you get to see nice attractions outside but also IN Vienna. And it's much, much cheaper than the Vienna Card.
Less of a scam but if you're traveling in Austria via ÖBB trains and they for some reason get delayed and you can't make any connecting trains towards your destination, ask the staff about what you can do if you're stuck for the rest of the day/night. I know that in Vienna in the Hauptbahnhof area, they tend to give out "Hotelgutscheine" which are vouchers you can redeem for a one night stay so you can hop on the next train the day after. Asking doesn't hurt and might save you some money you'd otherwise have to pay for a room. I know this because I used to work as a receptionist at a hotel and had this a lot of times.
In both Salzburg and Innsbruck, my wife and I have invested in 3-day city cards and found that after visiting a couple of museums (and the Nordkettenbahn in Innsbruck), the cards had virtually paid for themselves on the first day! I am not so sure about the 'value for money' of the Graz card but we will be certainly be investing in the Bodensee Voralpen Freizeit card when we visit Lindau and Bregenz in June - the card not only gives you free-entry to 50 museums and a trip on the Pfanderbahn, but also is valid on rail and buses in the Voralpen district as far as the border stations at Lindau (Germany) and Buchs (Switzerland) (I am told it is also valid in Liechtenstein). Although not relevant to this video, if you are visiting the eastern end of Bodensee, bear in mind that guests at Hotels in Lindau get the benefit of being given the Echte Bodensee Card (it's paid for out of the Kurtax, the local guest tax that all guests have to pay) for the duration of your stay which gives you free public transport along the northern (German) shore of the lake and free or discounted admission to a lot of attractions.
Hej, i don't know if that would be something for you if you only wanna visit the "Voralpen"region but if you would like to experience the alps in its beauty I would recommend going to the "Lünersee" for a day, its a visually astonishing site! The only thing that I would recommend to do is check first if the trail around the lake is opened - i checked last week because i plan on going there with a friend in june as well and as of right now it's still closed because there's too much snow. (The lake is situated at about 2500m above sea level)
Only downside for you if you are staying in Lindau is that I don't know how accessible the "Lünerseebahn" is via public transport and by car it already is about an hour from there. But with the "REX" (the faster train with less stops) I think that should be manageabele as well. Anyways I think that could be a cool trip if you would enjoy seeing the alps :)
Regards from the Voralpenregion, I hope you will enjoy your stay!
Just some tips from me, no touriststraps found.
*beggers we have been to Austria every summer for the last 12 years in a row (never in Vienna) and I think I've seen 5 of 6 in total. Innsbruck & Salsburg had them but that's it. The free public toilets are usually very clean and the country overal is very clean. Good roads.
Visit tirol in summer (most ppl don't speak English there but are friendly enough to help you using hands and feet)
One tip from me, don't visit hallstat the locals hate all tourists, there's plenty more beautiful cities in that big country. (Edit 😂 didn't see the full video, luckaly you agreed)
Final note, don't be an idiot while hiking or doing snow stuff. Wear proper clothes etc. Read the weather forecast. And pls don't talk to loud in nature.
I've never felt unsafe.
Yes, really don't underestimate the alpine hazards and do your research. UV light frys you. Cows are silent killers. You overconfidence can kill you too. And rescue helicopters cost you at least an arm and a leg.
The appeal of the Sachertorte is its long shelf life. Unfortunately that's also the reason why it cannot really compete with freshly made cakes or pastry featuring cream or fruits. So while I (and any other person living in Vienna I know) would always prefer something else when visiting a cafe, it is common to recommend Sachertorte as a souvenir or to take one with you as a gift if you're visiting friends abroad.
It's a problem of expectations, compare it to fresh cakes or pastry and it just doesn't hold up, compare it with prepackaged cakes from the supermarket and it is a very good competitor in that league, maybe the best.
The shelf life is the only reason its famous because you could ship it per train in the 19. century
Sacher actually has delivery to the US. When I spent a few months near San Francisco for an internship, my mother sent me a cake for my birthday.
Linzer Torte also has a long shelf life, but tastes much better!
Not really warning of scams. But as general advice that every tourist that goes anywhere always gets. Also go places that arent necessarily touristy (or ar maybe places of national tourism).
If you wanna see a lot of nature and go hiking or swimming, finding some austrians and asking them about good places is probably a good idea.
I personally live in Carinthia. And while i cant deny that vienna and other bigger places have a lot more stuff to offer, you can find a lot of stuff to do here. Especially for kids. Like tours through caves, "Affenberg" where youre essentially taking a non-barricaded tour through a olace with a bunch of monkeys that can show you how smart they are, torture museum, reptile zoo-planetarium-miniature world wonders park all in the same place right next to a big park and our biggest lake. Like, it's fun.
(This isn't meant as an ad for my state. Just wanna put it out there that there's a lot of cool stuff to see all over austria. So once you've seen Vienna there's a lot of other places you can go.
hey thanks for the vod very helpful!
I'm missing one rip-off, those are the Mozarts who offer tickets for concerts on Kärnterstrasse and Stefansplatz.
it depends what you consider rip-off. like I read from some music critic, that the musicians of those concerts are very skilled, it's more the choice of music they have to play that is nothing for real fans of classical music, because they play like the 3-4 real famous songs from Mozart & other Austrian composers which don't really fit together well. if you just want to hear those and are happy to pay the price, it's not really a rip-off
These chaps sell unauthorized tickets which are even more expensive than the original ones. I heard it's a gamble if they allow you in with these tickets, you may get lucky ... or not.
@@petevandijckstra3720 Not really. They usually play their own (much smaller) concerts. They aren't just worth their price compared to the reputable (and subsidized) ones.
Vienna used to be a super save place
I really enjoyed visiting Austria. Didn't feel scared or anything. A lot of the things you mentioned, as you said, aren't really scam because the price is upfront. So a little bit of comparison, analysis, and planning is involved, but it's all good. At this point, I don't even consider pickpockets anymore. The reason is that there were people going around the local grocery store stealing things from shoppers in my USA hometown! It only happened one time and it was a group of traveling criminals. But my point is, people should be vigilant (but not stressed, there is a big difference between the two!) no matter where they are. The criminals are very good at reading people. They are more likely to stay away from you if they realize that you are aware of your surroundings and keep track of your belongings.
Dude! I help people all of the time (with the ticket machines), I'm not a scammer, I'm a nice person (who happens to live near some ticket machine places).
one very specific scam is a new ticket they introduced in Schönbrunn Palace, the "State Apartments", where you just get to walk through 3 rooms (including the great ball room, but still not what most people expect for 22 Euros)
Yesss this was so bizarre .... Austria in general was so weird ... It looked like a Hollywood movie set where one facade of a building looked one way and you turned a corner and it was whole different aesthetic on the other side ... But the palace was completely empty but for a few rooms ... Although we did see a fabulous concert in the ball room ... They do take their music seriously and they ended with the blue Danube which in Austria is green lol but hey I live in Chicago and it's all green here too
@@HelenShaghaghiAustria in general? Sounds like Salzburg, Hallstatt and tourist Vienna.
@@HelenShaghaghi when you've seen a concert, it was probably towards the end or after the opening hours for standard visitors, so that could've been a reason why it was empty
@@fairphoneuser9009 yes tourist Vienna sorry
The higher priced ticket to see everything is mostly a ripoff.
I spent months in Salzburg in 2017 and 2018 and visit there once or twice a year now. Totally safe, nothing to be worry about.
Wonderful video from beautiful Austria. I always enjoy my time throughout Austria:): Thanks Mark. :).
Thanks Darion!
Was in Vienna and Salzburg in 2022 and really enjoyed the trip and felt totally save from scams and pickpockets, etc.
one more thing about what seems like a scam but really isn't: Its the people in the cities selling "Augustin" newspapers - they might ask you for some money but usually never in an aggressive way. The sellers often come from socially disadvantaged families, had drug problems in the past, or are homeless. They earn very little, so it is perfectly fine to give them some change without buying a newspaper. There is also a very famous guy on the Mariahilfer Str. in Vienna - he always collects money for concert tickets and festival passes.
No idea if there is a ticket scam in Austria, but I myself have offered clueless looking people/tourists help at the ticket machines. I have sometimes struggled with machines too and asked for help.
One legit scam are ATM fees on some private ATMs in Vienna and other tourist hotspots.
As an Austrian, I’m watching this video because I’m curious whether I’ve fallen for some of these tourist traps.
Thats my hometown! Hope you had a fun time and enjoyed it here :)
Hey nice to recognize views from my Daily workplace town Innsbruck, Hope you had some nice days here in Tyrol.
Best Sacher Torte in Austria: Go in SPAR, its a supermarket, to the freezer, there are a Sachertorte for 5,99 Euro its the best! Real! Nice greetings from Vienna
As for Vienna Airport trains I also recommend the Railjet express trains, don‘t just use the suburban trains which usually are more crowded. They stop at Hauptbahnhof and Meidling, so it depends where in Vienna you want to go. Tickets are the same for regional and express trains (everywhere on ÖBB) - just be aware that the airport is not in the city zone - so you will have to get an extra ticket for the part outside of the Vienna core zone if you have another ticket for city transport.
I once had a colleague from Venezuela visit for a company event and he was shocked that you can just walk around the city at night without being afraid you get robbed or worse.
That is no longer true.
Something I can recommend is the "Oper im Steinbruch". Pricey? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely. The whole scenery is breathtaking, especially if you are lucky with the weather. But I have also been there in pouring rain, still amazing.
The Carriage is not expensive! The price is for one! If you more people, it’s cheap, if you are alone, than it is.
Not a tourist trap but a warning, if you plan on going to the Opera House know that the "obstructed seats" can actually be absolutely no view of the stage. We picked those seats because we weren't sure that the better seats (at 3x the cost) would be worth it for us as opera newbies. It was our biggest regret as even without a view it was a magical evening and I can only think how wonderful it would of been in the better seats!
When I was younger, we used to get standing tickets and then would sit down on free seats. Not sure if this is still possible.
There is one scam i know of, but its been 10 years, no idea if its still happening, but there were people who give you a rose and as soon as you take it, they demand money for it.
And there is this woman at the marierhilfer street, vienna who pretends to be pregnant, a friend of mine fell for it.
If a scamer doset leave you alone, just threaten to call the police.
Thank you, always appreciate your wisdom!
Hi Mark, thanks for the tips. Me and my kids love Austria, we’ve to Salzburg and Innsbruck loads of times and your videos are super helpful 😮
Great video! We were in Innsbruck Austria 2 years ago. I a 125# 66 year old woman was body slammed intentionally by a big man in an uncrowded walk way. He clipped my front shoulder hard. I checked by back pack on my back & it was unzipped. Nothing of value..so nothing taken. But caught off guard to have it happen in such a safe country.
Wolters, great video, please do a video on Secondhand / thrift / preloved clothings shops in Europe
You make me want to visit there! ❤
Don’t take the sound of music tour bus, it is VERY expensive and you can get to basically all theses sites by public transportation. The bus 25 goes to the hellbrunn palace for example 😉
It needs a little bit of planing but it’s just a fraction of the cost.
I took The Sound of Music tour in Salzburg some years ago. I was alone, but I still loved it! We did go out in the countryside. It was October so the leaves were changing, but there was also snow and it was beautiful. The Sound of Music sites were a little disappointing, but I still liked it, and I usually hate hokey stuff. I even went along with the “Doe a Deer” sing-along! In conclusion, yes it was touristy but if you like the Sound of Music, it’s a fun little romp.
Check out the Laufhaus version of the Sound of Music. You'll be singing afterwards.
Vienna is one of my favorite cities, I spent a week there in 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed everything the city has to offer. If you are a classical music fan don’t hesitate to buy a ticket to one of the many concerts at the Musikverein or one of the churches, these are generally high quality and entertaining and the venues are spectacular. I was scammed by an olive vendor at the Naschmarkt, it wasn’t a big deal but watch out for those guys. Planning a trip back to Austria this summer for a week in Salzburg and a week of hiking.
Yes- those olive vendors at Naschmarkt rip you off.
If you want to see a more authentic market with good prices go to Brunnenmarkt (especially on Saturday there is also a farmers market)
Innsbruck might be my favorite place in Europe so far. It was absolutely magical for Christmas 2023. The people are wonderful and incredibly warm. The access for winter sports is really nice as well. Several peaks nearby with buses that come very often throughout the day. Not to mention getting the city pass with our stay at the hotel (you just have to fill out paperwork ahead of time). Oh, don't forget to brush up on your Italian before your trip! Couldn't recommend Innsbruck enough.
As an Austrian, I agree that the Sachertorte is not the best Torte there is! It’s good, but there are so many more!
Very good review in my opinion.
Also the original Sacher Torte from Hotel Sacher is one of the worst ones you can get, they use way too much chocolate imo
My favourite in die Anna Torte from Demel.
Wohnst du in Wien? Dann bitte nicht so einen Schwachsinn verbreiten
Na, wohn i ned. Is aber wurscht wo i wohn. Sachertorte is nirgens mei lieblingstorte. Red anständig mit mir oder garned!
@@katrinarthur7790 sonst was?
Some people complain about austríans are not friendly! Its because we dont beat around the bush! We say whats going on! That safes time!
Germans are even more "efficient" in that regard.
Nah, we Viennese are just a grumpy lot. But we mean it in a really nice way.
If we wouldn't complain all the time, things wouldn't get better.
Vienna resident here - as far as sweet cakes go, I recommend the Esterhazy Torte or Schnitte (hazelnut biscuit layers with hazelnut creme and sugar icing on top - you can even get a decent Esterhazy Schnitte at the McDonald Cafés). I agree that Sachertorte is severely overhyped. Creme Schnitte is great, too (vanilla pudding creme between flaky pastry layers with sugar icing on top). Or you can visit a pastry shop-Café like Aida, Heiner (highly recommended!!), or Kurkonditorei Oberlaa and just point at whatever you like from the display counter.
those poor residents of Hallstadt, way too many tourists.
The biggest advantege of the CAT (Citty Airport Train) is, you check in at Wien Mitte (in the Center of Vienna) and get rid of all your luggage! So, when you arrive at the airport you dont need to carry around your luggage and search for the right check in counter with all the others. Tis is verry relaxing! 😊
As an Austrian, please dont give beggars any money.
I get it, you feel bad and it seems like the right thing to do, but our social security system is *way* past the point where anyone needs to be begging, so the people who do it are consciously chosing to beg over finding a proper job. Also, be aware that it is illegal for them to approach you.
If you are planning to go on a horse-carriage ride in Vienna, don´t make advance bookings for the carriages online! Because the thing is, if you book a carriage for example for Wednesday at 11:00, then you will go on that trip on Wednesday at 11:00, if its raining or the sun is shining. You can not decide to wait for an hour or maybe two because of bad weather conditions. And, believe me, it is very much better when the weather is good. Just go to the places where the carriages are parked in the city and ask the driver. It is cheaper and you are free in your choice.
CAT Train: only Advantage is that you can check in your flight luggage in the city. Might be good If you wanna have a stroll in your day of departure and you have some time between Checkout and your flight.
(Please Double check that before you do it!)
Regarding "mustard/bird sh..."-scam - Unfortunately THAT one can happen to you in Austria, particularly at train stations and/or other public transport stations (particularly underground in Vienna). I myself (as a native Austrian) fell for that one about 15 years ago, when arriving with the airport bus at "Westbahnhof"... - The guy who pulled that one on me was from Romania....
Thank you for posting this. I am visiting Vienna and Salzburg later this year. This is very helpul.
As someone who works at ÖBB, I like the Focus on railway gorgeous video scenes from Innsbruck/Salzburg. Also most American still thinks there are kangaroos here and the other half thinks everything is like in the film sound of music which isn't guys. Thanks for the video 😊
We Austrians know,that tourists are ripped off here,but yet,they always keep coming back!
It's still fine even compared to other places in Western Europe, but sadly it's not "super safe" anymore.
Just be cautious at larger train staitions in the main cities and in Vienna also in the subway stations.
Not that it's actually dangerous, but there are more sketchy people around.
Pickpocket 'bumped' into me at Hbf in 2015. I shoved him off before I got robbed, but they're definitely there.
Spot on! I live in Austria.
Most of the beggers in Austria are actually not homeless but only start appearing, when the tourists come
Good video and interesting to watch from a local perspective 🙂Regarding cakes, I can recommend the Linzer Torte in all the variations if you like raspberry and are not allergic to nuts, but to be fair, it's like in many countries, there is a lot of great stuff for sweet-tooths.
We love mustard and the sausage is not called "wiener wurst" its called "Frankfurter". Everywhere else its wiener wurst.
My wife and I were in Vienna in June of 2019.
Stopped at a little food cart on StephansPlatz for a "frankfurter" They hollowed out the middle of a fresh baked roll, put in some mustard, then the "frank" . It was the MOST incredible street snack we ever had. I'd fly back to Vienna (from NJ USA) just for that. Vienna is also our favorite city in the world now for many other reasons.
Gladyou had a nice time
Nice to see you in Innsbruck :-) Even nicer to here that you have a fine taste in "Torte" ;-)
The biggest scam is the CAT train to the airport in Vienna.
I completely agree with you about the airport train (CAT - green color), you should rather take the normal train (ÖBB - red color). Depending on the type of ÖBB train, it will take you between 30 - 60 minutes to get to the city for much less money than with the CAT. That's how we locals do it too ;)
As a native Austrian, I can say that almost all pickpockets come from Eastern Europe and are organized groups. Unfortunately, every year at Christmas time we are flooded by these people in the cities and Christmas markets. The same applies to the beggars at the markets. Please do not confuse this with real Austrians, we appreciate tourists and want to make your stay as pleasant as possible.
thank you so much for the good words about my country, much love to you my friend
i would like to confirm that the sacher torte is our 28th best cake.
And S-Budget (Spar's own brand) beats Hotel Sacher in taste.
I live near Hauptbahnhof and genuenly love helping out tourists though. 🥺❤️
I swear, I‘m not a scam! 😄
Nor am I! I help tourists because it is really hard to find them at Hauptbahnhof.
wiener wurst is a sliced cold served sausage you would put in a Semmel (white bread) typically without mustard, more likely with pickles. what americans would call "wiener" is a Frankfurter which is served hot with mustard and horseradish.
Hallstatt is indeed very impressive looking BUT it is relly small and definitely not worth going there if you're not allready somwhere near. If you want to go there, plan to visit tha salt mine and the Mausoleum as well and plan other locations nearby for your trip. For example you can visit Bad Ischl (where the summer residence of the former Emporer is located), Bad Aussee (middle point of Austria) and other smaller villages with historic background and beautiful mountains, woods, rivers and lakes - depending on the season you can go swimming, hiking, skiiing or just relax....
What belongs to Sachertorte, it is the taste of childhood for me. But only the original one, because Sachertorten what you'll get somewhere else, are for barfing.
i'm a musician who moved to Vienna years ago... maybe I'm too much of a snob, but the guys in Mozart outfits selling you concert tickets here, they're not the best quality of music the city has to offer 😅
That's a fact 😊 But for some visitors, an evening with a "best of" Viennese music including dinner at the Kursalon sounds just fine. My cousin from the US and his wife bought tickets before we talked about it, so I said nothing. They enjoyed their evening and that is all that matters. 😉
@@inLmgb I agree completely^^ ;)
As an austrian. Never in my live have I or would I eat Sachertorte ina restaurant or cafe. It's not bad. We regularly make a simplified version of it at home. And sometimes relatives make it or bithdays and such. But most of the time there is mcuh more exciting options to choose from.
As someone who lives in a city with horse drawn carriages, I think are very pricey everywhere
As they were when they were a normal thing.
The Cat train is useful sometimes.
1. It's a non stop train from Wien Mitte
2. They bring your luggage to the airport on the plane hours before you're on the airport. This could safe you a lot time.
Anddd.. a lot of people help you with buying tickets at the ticket machine ive never seen a scam about that.
Thanks, Mark! Valuable insights for a safe and savvy visit.
well, not really scams here. I have seen scams of a different level in Istanbul and Tiflis where people really want your money and it is hard to get out the situation once they have you on the hook.
There are no scams in Austria.
Just let me add three issues to the list:
1. Vienna - go to Naschmarkt, stroll around, but don't buy olives and other stuff at the stalls run by Turks. I'm sorry if this is unfair against the one or two exceptions, but they trouble and intimidate you until you buy whatever a kilo instead of 100g or so.
Go to Brunnenmarkt in Ottakring, you have the same offers, but in a relaxed atmosphere
2. Add St. Wolfgang as a whole to the scam list: from parking to service, be prepared to be ripped off as soon as you just breathe their air.
3. Tyrol: Innsbruck is really nice. Only problem: better bring your own food and your own coffee. Speaking about Innsbruck coffe: the best coffee in town you will get by crossing the border to Italy and have one in Sterzing/Vipiteno: BTW the very best one there you'll find at the highway gas station. If you need to recover from Tyrolean/Innsbruck food: take a train to Merano or Bolzano across the border. Coffee and food in Innsbruck are the main reasons why my fellow Southern Tyroleans never ever want to break away from Italy and rejoin Austria. Period.
At the Öbb ticket machines there might be helpers working officially for Öbb (no scam here!) that will happily assist you buying the right ticket especially around holidays. They are wearing some kind of uniforms like a bright red coat or white shirt that says Öbb on it. Not everyone offering help is a potential beggar or scammer.
As for the CAT you are right: not needed but convenient and sometimes quicker depending on departure times that are available for you. Plus it is the train that is travelling between the airport and the city exclusively... so that train runs on time. As for trains of Öbb, they could be delayed just because they come from somewhere else (Germany, Hungary or other parts of Asutria) and therefore more can happen on the way. Depending on where you are the S7 is also an option getting to the airport without changin trains. What makes the CAT convenient though is the possibility to check in your luggage right at the train station and you don't have to it at the crowded airport.
BTW: There are actually a lot of locals in the CAT as airport and airline employees may use the trains too.