Tag: Austria

Austria in Euro 2020

Posted on by worldcityguides

Austria is coming to Euro 2020 with some great players and with a good chance to qualify for the knockout stage. The truth is, many expected Austria to perform well in Euro 2016 as well, but then they ended up last in their group, and it all started with a 2-0 defeat against their neighbors from Hungary. Will Austria play better during the European Championship in football in 2021? When will Austria play their matches? Where will Austria play? You will find all this and more information in this article!

Austria has a very good squad, and they performed very well in the Nations League, and they have played many good matches in a row. But, when it is time for a big tournament, nobody cares about the past and how well they played some months ago. If Austria don’t play well during the tournament, nobody cares!

But, who will Austria play against this time? Do they have a better chance than in 2016?

austria euro 2021

Austria in Euro 2016

During the European Championship in football in 2016, Austria had to play against Iceland, Portugal, and Hungary. It didn’t sound like a hard group before the tournament, but Austria still ended up at the last place.

Austria in Euro 2020

This time Austria will play against the Netherlands, Ukraine, and North Macedonia. To be honest, the group feels quite similar to the group from 2016. It isn’t an easy group, but it shouldn’t be the hardest either. Everyone will expect North Macedonia to loose all their matches, and that the battle for most points in the group will be between the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Austria.

What is interesting about the group is the fact that Ukraine, Netherlands, and Austria often remind us of a rollercoaster. On a good day, they are on the top and play awesome football, but on the next day, they are at the bottom and play lousy football. As a result, this group is a very open group and I believe anything is possible.

When and where will Austria play their matches?

The European Championship in football in 2021 will be played all across Europe. But, there will not be played any matches in Austria, meaning that the Austrian team will have to travel to other destinations in order to play their matches.;

  • Austria will play their first match against North Macedonia in Bucharest on June 13 in Bucharest (Romania).
  • Austria will play their second match in Euro 2020 against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on June 17 at 21.00.
  • Austria will play their third match in the group stage against Ukraine in Bucharest on June 21 at 18.00.

It is quite interesting that once again Austria will play against the potentially “weakest” team in the group in their first match (just like in 2016). Hopefully, Austria will get a better start on the tournament this time, because it is needed for the atmosphere in the team to get right from the first moment on.

euro 2020

Where will you watch the matches?

Austria will play their matches during the group stage in Amsterdam and in Bucharest. These are both cities that will only allow the stadiums to be used at 25% of the capacity. That might be a little disappointing, but it is still way better than playing in front of empty arenas.

So, where will you watch the matches? Will you be watching them at home on your TV, will you sit in front of a computer and stream the European Championship in football online, or will you find a local pub or a big screen somewhere and watch the matches there?

And do you believe Austria will perform better during the European Championship in 2021 than they did back in 2016? I would love to hear your thoughts!

A short stay in NH Hotel Wien City

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Are you going to visit Vienna and dream of spending a lot of time in Mariahilferstrasse, the most popular shopping street in Vienna? NH Hotel Wien City might be exactly the hotel you are looking for!

NH Hotel Wien City is a four-star hotel, located just by the popular shopping street. The hotel doesn’t have their main entrance from the street, but walking through a short tunnel you can get to the main entrance, and living in the hotel, it feels like you live in the shopping street.

NH hotel Wien

The hotel is perfect if you want to spend most of your time outdoors, but if you are looking for a hotel with lots of indoor services, you should probably book a room somewhere else. But, as a four-star hotel with a perfect location in Mariahilferstrasse, this hotel will be more than enough for most people.

The rooms are nice (and not that small), and the people working in the reception are nice. The hotel has a parking lot available, but they do not have space for lots of cars, so you might be unlucky and discover that the parking lot is fully booked upon arrival.

The biggest minus with NH Hotel Wien City

Before arrival, we read that NH Hotel Wien City has splendid free WiFi available in the hotel, but that is very far from the truth. They have free WiFi, but it is so slow and terrible, that I would not even dare to call it free WiFi. It reminded me of the days when I used a modem to connect to the Internet, only slower. There were times when I couldn’t even download my emails due to the speed.

There was, of course, a way to get faster Internet, but you would have to pay 10 Euro a day for that service. In other words, what NH Hotel Wien City call free WiFi is similar to calling a dog-poop a chocolate.

NH Hotel Wien City summary

The hotel was perfect for some days of shopping and sightseeing in Vienna. We had a great stay, and we would have no problem returning. But, the WiFi was a big disappointment, so if that is important to you, prepare to pay or to live somewhere else.

Pieter Bruegel in Vienna

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The Museum of Fine Arts (Kunsthistorisches Museum) in Vienna will host the most fantastic Pieter Bruegel exhibition ever in the period between October 2nd (2018) and January 13th (2019). 

During this amazing event in the most famous of all museums in Vienna, you can see more than half of the extant works of Pieter Bruegel the Elder on display. All in all, a total of forty paintings, sixty drawings and eighty prints can be attributed to him today. This exhibition is taking part in commemorating this fantastic artist, as it is 450 years since his death in 2019.

One of the most famous works of Pieter Bruegel - The Tower of Babel
One of the most famous works of Pieter Bruegel – The Tower of Babel

This exhibition will put pictures and works on display that has never ever been exhibited outside their own “hometowns” earlier.

What makes Pieter Bruegel so interesting is the fact that his images are easy to like and enjoy. He was a storyteller, a social critic, and a satirist at the same time.

There will be daily guided tours presenting this exhibition at the museum at 11.00, 12.00, 13.00, 14.00, 15.00 and 16.00. This is ideal for those who want to get an even deeper dive into Pieter Bruegel and his works during this exhibition.

Enjoy this fantastic exhibition in Vienna. For more information about other exhibitions, events, and interesting things happening in Vienna, read in our Vienna Guide. You can read more about the Museum of Fine Arts in Vienna here.

Vienna Night Run 2018

Posted on by worldcityguides

Do you want to discover the beauties of Vienna while running? Join in on the Vienna Night Run as it is arranged on September 25th in 2018!

There are running competitions and marathons arranged in most big cities in Europe every year. But, if you don’t feel like running a marathon (as it is too long), or you would rather run when it is dark outside, then the Vienna Night Run might be exactly what you are dreaming about! It is arranged annually in Vienna, and it is one of the best running competitions there is.

Vienna Night RUn 2018
Join the Vienna Night Run on September 25th in 2018 – Source

Vienna Night Run is arranged by Erste Bank, and it will be arranged on September 25th in 2018. The first run will start at 19.50 (for those who can and will run 5km in less than 25 minutes). Those who believe they will run slower can join in on a later start time, and at 21.00 it is time for those who want to do the race in nordic-walking style to give it a try. Everyone needs to reach the finish line by 22.30, as that is when the streets will be used for normal traffic again.

Vienna Night Run will start from  Universitätsring/Ecke Grillparzerstraße. The route will be along the ring, and it will let you see some of the most beautiful areas of Vienna as you run.

The route of the Vienna Night Run

The full route is Universitätsring – Schottenring – Franz–Josefs-Kai – Stubenring – Parkring – Schubertring – Kärntner Ring – Opern Ring – Burgring – Dr.-Karl-Renner-Ring.

Doesn’t that sound like a fantastic route for an evening run on September 25th? I feel tempted to join myself, but I cannot promise anything. If you sign up at the very moment, the price is approximately 30 Euro to take part. More information about the race (in German) and a sign-up site can be found here.

The winner in 2017 ran the 5km track on 15:39 minutes, giving him an average pace of 3:08/km. Can you beat that? Join in this year to find out!

Want to know more about other events taking place in Vienna? Check out our Vienna events calendar.

Discover Vienna in 12-hours

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Are you going to have a one-day stop in Vienna? Do you have 12 hours in which you want to discover as much as possible? Here is our suggestion for a 12-hour program in Vienna.

You can discover large parts of Vienna in 12 hours if you have a well-planned program. You can jump on a hop-on hop-off bus, and within a few hours, you will have seen the most significant places. Do you want to discover Vienna on your own in 12 hours using nothing but your feet and public transportation? Here are some suggestions from us on how to discover Vienna in 12-hours.

Why 12-hours and not 24-hours? You will often meet articles on how to discover Vienna in one day or 24-hours. The reality is however that most people sleep quite a lot, meaning that you do not spend 24 hours discovering the city, but rather 12-hours. For that reason, our guide is on how to discover Vienna in 12-hours.

Vienna in 12-hours

Discover the city center at first

We will recommend starting the tour from the State Opera in Vienna. The building in itself is a real beauty, and from here, you can walk into the city center of Vienna. Start your walk in the Kärntner Strasse, and just keep walking. This part of the walk will show you the famous shopping street of Vienna, and after some minutes (depending on your speed), you will end up at the Stephansplatz. Here you can look at the Stephansdom (and maybe even visit it), and even eat a little piece of cake before you move on.

Start your 12-hour tour in Vienna from the State Opera
Start your 12-hour tour in Vienna from the State Opera – By Noppasin / Shutterstock

As you finish your business at the Stephansplatz, walk back to the end of Kärntner Strasse, and walk left. You will then walk in Graben, another beautiful street. Here you can marvel at the beautiful architecture, the big squares, and a beautiful inner city.

At the end of Graben turn left. You will then walk along the Kohlmarkt. At the end of the street, you will discover the entrance to Hofburg. We do however recommend a stop at the famous Confectionary Demel, located on your right-hand side as you walk towards the Hofburg entrance (in Graben). Be aware of the fact that Demel is often full, so you might have to spend quite some minutes waiting to order.

Walk across the Michaelerplatz and enter into the Hofburg complex. This is yet another architectural beauty. Here you can find the riding school, the Royal palace, fantastic outdoor areas, and so much more. Walk around, sip in of the air, and continue straight ahead until you leave the Hofburg area, and continue your walk on the big ring in Vienna.

Hofburg Vienna
Hofburg in Vienna – By UKRID / Shutterstock

Now is the time to visit a museum if you want to

As you leave Hofburg, you will look straight onto the Maria-Theresien Platz. Here you will find the two most famous museums in Vienna, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Natural History Museum. These are both fantastic museums, so if you want to visit a museum during your 12 active hours in Vienna, now is the time.

As you leave Hofburg and look towards the Maria-Theresien Platz, turn right. Walk along the Burgring, and as the ring starts turning right, you will soon discover the Austrian Parliament. Make a few photos, and then walk on, because you are just about to discover the magnificent City Hall (Rathaus). The Rathausplatz is the location of the most famous Christmas market in Vienna. As you keep on walking, you will see a university next to the City Hall, and after this, you get to the metro station named Schottentor.

Here we would jump on the metro and travel with the metro to Karlsplatz. There you change lines for the red line and travel to VIC (Vienna International Center). From there you either walk or travel by bus 20A to get to the Danube Tower. Travel to the restaurant floor where you grab yourself an something to eat while enjoying the view from the tower towards the city of Vienna.

You are not finished discovering Vienna

Time is flying, meaning that you do not have so many hours left in Vienna. But, before finishing the day, you need to get back to the metro. You are now going to visit the other Palace of the Austrian Emperor back in the days, Schonbrunn. Get back to the Karlsplatz metro station, and travel with the green line to the Schönbrunn stop. Leave the underground, and walk for a few minutes until you get to the Schönbrunn entrance.

Schonbrunn Vienna in 12 hours
The magnificent Schonnbrunn Castle – By Muellek Josef / Shutterstock

When you get to Schönbrunn, there are several exciting programs available. If you travel with kids, they will for sure be happy to visit the zoo by now. If you want to visit the building itself, do a castle tour. If you want a nice overview of the area, jump on one of the sightseeing “trains” taking you around the entire area. You can of course just walk around on your own to see the area and the park as well!

Would you like to do some more shopping?

If you still have some energy left after Schönbrunn, head back to the metro and travel to the stop Langenfeldgasse. Change for the brown metro line and travel to Westbahnhof. Now you leave the metro system, and you are now at the end of the super-famous Mariahilferstrasse. This is a giant shopping street in Vienna. Walk down Mariahilferstrasse, and as you get to the end of the street, you will arrive at the Maria-Theresien Platz again, in the heart of the city of Vienna.

Did you enjoy your 12 hours in Vienna?

You might do all these activities in 6-7-8 hours, but most people will probably find 12 hours to be too little for all these activities. Try it, then come back and tell us what you think!

Are there any other places, attractions or activities you would add to this list? Use the comment field beneath and let us know.

How to watch Netflix in Austria?

Posted on by worldcityguides

Do you live in Austria and want to make a subscription to Netflix? Or do you have a Netflix subscription in the UK or maybe in the United States and would like to watch it while in Austria, but you are unable because Netflix tells you that their services are unavailable at your location?

This is a very typical question we receive from our readers and from travelers coming to Austria. Luckily there are tons of websites out there explaining how to watch Netflix from abroad, so instead of inventing the wheel over again, we would rather recommend that you go ahead and visit one of the following article:

To sum up the contents of the two sites, the goal is to get an IP address in the nation where you want to watch Netflix. Since you are searching on this content in English, you probably want to sign up for a Netflix account in either the UK, in Ireland, in USA or in Canada. To do so you need an IP in one of those nations. If you already have a Netflix account, it is important that you get an IP address in the same nation as in which you have your already running Netflix account.

To watch Netflix in Austria

To watch Netflix in Austria we recommend that you sign up for a Netflix account in the UK. That is easy and works great and all you need is a UK IP address. We recommend that you use a VPN provider to get such an IP address and one of the best VPN providers on the market is HideMyAss. They run their services from the UK, meaning that the company behind the product do their uttermost to give all users the best service possible in the nation in which they are actually located, in the UK. Their services can therefore warmly be recommended if you are looking for a UK IP address.

So, to get started watching Netflix in Austria all you need to do is to visit the HideMyAss website, sign up, download their VPN client and visit the Netflix website again after restarting your browser. You can now sign up for a free 30 day trial and enjoy the full register of programs and shows available in the Netflix system.