Vienna

Step inside the one-room hotel! This trending accommodation concept is catching on around the city. I love the underlying philosophy: converting vacant ground-floor retail spaces into stylish hotel rooms and serviced apartments. All equipped with macs and other cool stuff and ideal for the urban adventurer who loves to dive right into the city!

Vienna’s fifth district is slowly but surely being “gentrified” and is now one of the trendiest in the city. One of the most recent additions is this small, but very cool place for fresh and regionally sourced food. My favorite breakfast fix from Wednesday to Sunday. Try the caramelized French toast. It’s amazing!

The Naschmarkt has been around since the 16th century. And these days, it extends even further along the Wienzeile to an area that hosts a flea market every Saturday. It’s a real magnet for bargain hunters but worth battling the crowds to hunt down that unique piece of vintage memorabilia you’ve always been looking for!

Christian “Johnny” Huemer got the inspiration for this contemporary fashion store from visiting dozens of (other) world fashion capitals! With a focus on minimalist trends in men’s and women’s wear, it features all my favorite brands like Wood Wood, Soulland, YMC, Minimarket, Bibi Chemnitz, BLK DNM, Samsøe and R.T.CO.

Like sneaking around, like me? Sneak into “Sneak In”: one of those places where you can find new stuff all the time! The shop features new shoe collections you won’t get anywhere else in Vienna. Everytime I go in there it seems there’s a new pop-up shop for one of its street brands. And when you get tired of trying on new shoes, just stroll on over to the bar for a drink and a snack. Lesser-known fact: come here on Sunday for the best breakfast in town!

Into burgers? But not cheap fast food? You’re gonna love this place! They’re all about high-quality, fair-trade and organic burgers and fries served with all kinds of home-made sauces, buns and lemonades! And as an added bonus: they don’t use any plastic in their packaging for burgers that are as eco-friendly as they are delicious!

If you’re visiting Vienna’s famous Mariahilferstraße shopping street, chances are you’re going to need an extra bag or two! Luckily for you, the best address is also right here! Check in for the latest in luggage and day packs. Including, of course, some funky Eastpak collections you may not find so easily elsewhere.

It’s worth skipping across the Danube Canal into the second district just for this! This café/store/analogue photo studio/museum/restaurant is a one-of-a-kind shop with a real living room atmosphere that features everything from impossible-to-find camera film to stamps and notebooks.

No visit to Vienna would be complete without some afternoon coffee and cake at a classic Viennese cafés! But if you get tired of the typical dark wooden interiors, try this quirky alternative with its high ceilings and huge windows that bathe the place with light. Despite the obvious 60s vintage flair, this café has actually been around for more than 100 years and is a genuine institution in Vienna. 

Ready for the ultimate shopping experience? Peng contains the archives of a fashion stylist who has spent the last 15 years collecting pieces from design houses such as Acne, Ann Demeulemeester, Comme des Garcons, Dries van Noten, Damir Doma, Givenchy and Maison Margiela… along with some unique and exclusive pieces by local designers! Dive into this colorful and crazy shop and be prepared to be wowed.

Need a quick art and culture fix? The Leopold collection offers a roof to some of the most important works of modern Austrian art. Over 5000 works by the likes of Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt offer a unique glimpse at one of the country’s most influential cultural movements. 

After a lightning-fast tour of the city, it’s time for some genuine “slow food”! Even the smells from the kitchen here remind me of my grandmother's cooking. And it’s right in the middle of one of the hippest neighborhoods of Vienna. Come for dinner and order the vegan hot pot with curry coconut soup. I promise you will love it!

Ready for a big night out? That’s what I thought! This über-cool local bar is a great place to start. No need for fancy frills like humidors or vans or crazy cocktail creations! It’s faithful recreation of the earliest years of American bar culture is more than enough to draw an artsy crowd. So enjoy a proper drink, made the proper way, in this classic interior.