The river’s great versatility, and what it provides for all of us in Vienna

Donaumonarchie, Donau-City, Donaustadt or Donauwelle – you can hear several designations which include the word Donau while staying in Vienna, as Vienna and the Danube are two terms that cannot be separated.
Although the river connects 10 different countries, Austria is certainly one of the most influenced by it. Countless destinations are connected to the term Donau. Even the most famous composition from the viennese musician Johann Strauss bears the name Donauwalzer. You can read more about its meaning in our blog post Celebrating New Year’s Eve in Vienna. There is no denying that the Danube is really one of the main characteristics of Vienna.

The river’s history and facts

Stretching over 2850 kilometres, the Danube is the second longest river in Europe, and flows through Austria for 350 kilometres. Since the Middle Ages, it has aligned some of the most important European trade routes with significant positions in Austria. Nowadays, it is also used for hydropower plants in order to generate power for the country. In addition, the Danube is the only river in Europe that flows from west to east, and where the source of the river is vague. What is clear is that it originates in the Schwarzwald and leads into the Black Sea.

The Donaukanal and what it provides

Over time, several places along the Danube have achieved cultural significance for Vienna. Since 1870, the Donaukanal is one of the few remaining sidestreams of the Danube. Although the 17.3 kilometre long Donaukanal was once a rather poor area, nowadays several high-end restaurants and bars benefit from their location at the Danube as it flows through Vienna’s historical center. Directly at Schwedenplatz is the Badeschiff, a popular boat now used as a restaurant. As the weather gets milder again, soon visitors can enjoy the outdoor upper deck with its lovely view and pretty atmosphere.
In addition,  six DDSG Blue Danube ships offer tours to explore Vienna’s sights – including specialised tours with different mottos, such as the Heurigenfahrt mit Wiener Liedern or Brunch am Ostermontag. In case it is still cold in early spring, you can choose the City Cruise which is heated and runs all year.

The Old Danube and the New Danube

In the past, it was impossible to build stable bridges across the Danube because of its changing routes after floods. Floods occurred often, and endangered areas like Jedlesee, Floridsdorf and Stadlau. To ensure the prevention of damaging floods, the floodplain next to the main stream was replaced by the New Danube in the 1970s.

Nowadays, the Old Danube is famous for its Floridsdorfer Wasserpark, and it represents an ideal bathing area in the summer; the most popular bath is the Gänsehäufel. You can also take sailing- or surf-lessons at the Old Danube. When the weather gets warmer, you can hire a boat at one of 11 different boat rentals – most open in April. There are also many restaurants, bars and cafés along the shores at the Danube, such as the typical Austrian restaurant Zur Alten Kaisermühle, which offers delicacies such as grilled meat.

The Donauinsel

The best way to spend your leisure time has to be the Donauinsel, an area between the Old Danube and the New Danube. It is approximately 100 to 300 metres wide, and is not only a great relaxing oasis, but also the perfect meeting point for sports activities and adventure sports like waterskiing or wakeboarding. You will also find countless beach volleyball courts and street workout equipment. The routes along the Donauinsel are perfect for biking tours, skating, jogging and many other sporty activities. In spring, the island becomes more and more alive, and many visitors enjoy the mild temperature and beautiful landscape right next to Vienna’s skyscrapers. As you will see, the liveliness of the Donauinsel reaches its peak in the summer, when up to 190 000 guests per day benefit from the 42 kilometre long beach. It also provides many lovely places to wander off on your own, as the Donauinsel has 70 hectare meadows with 1.8 million trees and plants.

But as impressive as this numbers might be, the real highlight and peculiarity of the Donauinsel is the yearly Donauinselfest.

The unique and impressive Donauinselfest

The Donauinselfest, held in June, is the biggest open-air festival in Europe. Visitors can experience countless musicians and bands on 27 stages, and it is three full days long! Around 3 million people visit the festival these days; the record is 3, 3 million people in 2015. The festival is free and entertains teenagers and young adults, as well as children and elderly people. While many performers are Austrian bands, international celebrities such as Sean Paul, Amy Mcdonald, Anastacia or Milow have all performed. But next to musical entertainment, the culinary offerings are diverse and the stalls stretch as far as the eye can see.

This year, the Donauinselfest takes place from the 22^nd to 24^th of June 2018. The first acts are normally announced in April. Don’t miss it!

If you are interested in sporty activities in winter, you can also read about ice-skating on the Danube in our blog post Kickstart your year in Vienna.

Take your time exploring the Danube’s great versatility and enjoying the Spring time atmosphere in Vienna!

]]> https://blog.viennaresidence.com/kickstart-your-year-in-vienna/ Mon, 15 Jan 2018 11:55:07 +0000 https://blog.viennaresidence.com/?p=231 Kickstart Your Year in Vienna

Suggestions on how to be active during January

Welcome to the New Year! We probably speak for most of you when we say that the last month was characterized by drinking punch, eating Christmas biscuits and having a peaceful time (at least after the annual Christmas stress of finding Christmas presents). So, now it’s time to get active again! In this article, you will find the best ways to do so while living in beautiful Vienna. So, let’s have some fun!

Winter sports in Austria

As most of you already know, Austria has its greatest sporty successes in winter sports. Austrians celebrate their biggest victories in skiing and ski jumping. For instance, Marcel Hirscher and Anna Veith are one of Austria’s most famous skiing legends. 2017 was also a great year for Wolfgang Kindl, who is now world champion in luge (Rennrodeln), while Anna Gasser triumphed in snowboarding.

Austria maintains more than 800 ski resorts with up to 22,000 kilometres of perfectly groomed ski slopes and 16,000 kilometres of trails for cross-country skiing.

Cross-country skiing and sledding in Vienna

Although most skiing trails are set in other federal states in Austria, Vienna prepares 8 paths in total just to have the possibility to go cross-country skiing within our capital. But, there’s a requirement for this to happen: the snow cover has to be at least 20 centimetes high to groom it properly. Once this is the case, you can start getting active and choose your route!

A real experience is the path through the Prater Hauptallee, but each trail has its own special features. Check them out here.

Another winter sport Austrian children love is sledding, and adults are often surprised by how much fun this still is. Actually, you can go sledding on every place where you don’t endanger yourself. You don’t even need a real sled – a small and cheap version called Schneerutscher (or snow slide) is absolutely sufficient in that case. But please make sure to dress properly; otherwise, you will get really, really wet.

A great idea: make an adventure in finding the best sledding-places! Meanwhile, check out some of the best public places to have some sledding fun here.

Ice skating in Vienna

Besides cross-country skiing and sledding, Vienna’s ice skating options are certainly outstanding. Many ice skating areas are opened just at the beginning of the year, but there are also several indoor ice skating options that you can use permanently. But as long as the weather is fine, you can visit an outdoor ice skating area. It will not be easy to decide between all the ice skating rinks that are built up during this season, but there is one in particular that one must visit at least once while staying in Vienna: The Ice Dream at the Wiener Rathausplatz.

Outdoor ice skating at The Ice Dream

For many natives, it has become a real tradition to meet friends and family at this place every year to enjoy the special ice skating paths that lead right through the trees of the park. In addition, various markets that offer food and drinks were built directly beside the ice skating rink. You can find more information about The Ice Dream on our blog post Christmas spitit in Vienna.

Indoor ice skating

Of course, ice skating is just half the fun when it’s foul weather. While bright sunshine warms your face even when it’s cold, strong wind and rain make it unpleasant to be active outside. If that’s the case, I would recommend an indoor ice skating rink.

Vienna provides several of those, for example, the Albert-Schultz Halle or the ice skating rink at the well-known Wiener Stadthalle.

Ice skating on the Danube

The one and only thing we are all waiting for every winter is to have a really long and continually freezing period. Only then is it possible to go ice skating on our beautiful Danube. You can easily imagine what a huge and special adventure that can be. Rarely is it possible to use several miles of ice while enjoying your surroundings and seeing pure nature in the middle of a capital. Nonetheless, you can also have a glance at Viennese characteristics like the Donauturm or the DC-Tower, which is Austria’s largest building.

Keep in mind that there is no guarantee that the ice is safe! It is indeed permitted to go ice skating, but the city of Vienna doesn’t take responsibility for any harm. Our recommendation: the easiest way to see if the ice is safe is to observe if others are using it. On beautiful and sunny days, especially on weekends, hundreds of people are standing or walking on the Danube. Most are ice skating, but you will also see parents wheeling their babes in buggies along the road or dogs playing on the ice. Many skaters also create their own ice hockey area and play the whole day.

As you can see, the variety of activities is fascinating. You can find everything you need to know about Vienna’s ice skating rinks here.

Dance ball season in January

If you would like to have an active evening while exploring parts of Vienna’s lifestyle and culture, attending a dance ball is the perfect idea. Dancing the whole night is the ideal alternative to more passive undertakings like going to the cinema or to a restaurant. We can ensure that dancing inside of Vienna’s most famous buildings will sweep you away. The events are numerous – you can attend glamorous and elegant balls as well as fancy and unusual ones. At the Jägerball (Hunter’s ball) at the Wiener Hofburg, for example, most people are dressed in Austrian native dresses, so you can have a glance at traditional Austrian fashion like elegant dirndls. A totally different experience is the Zuckerbäckerball, which is also at the Wiener Hofburg. Here the focus is on culinary arts, especially sweets of every kind and shape; the masterpieces of Vienna’s bakers and confectioners are a real highlight. The Blumenball at the Rathaus offers a lovely decoration: thousands of flowers are perfectly arranged and turn the Rathaus into a real flower-field.

As you can see, the totally different offers, locations and characters of the countless winter sports and balls ensure that everyone can find their very own favourite activities during January.

Finally, we wish you a great kickstart of the year and a wide-ranged program for the winter months.

Have a lot of fun while exploring Vienna’s possibilities!