What I Wish I Knew Before Going to Vienna, Austria

Austria… the land of classical music, ballroom dancing, psychoanalysis, castles and palaces galore… is everything you would expect and everything you wouldn’t.

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I foolishly thought that I knew everything there was about Austria – from the history to the monuments to the traditions, but was as thrown off as I was when I studied abroad in England and then in Greece.

While there is no true way to prepare yourself for living abroad for any period of time, here are some things that I wish I knew before I went to Vienna, Austria:

Supermarkets won’t supply you with plastic bags – so bring your own!

As of January 1, 2017, no big-name supermarkets (Bipa, Billa, Merkur, Penny to name a few) won’t supply you with plastic bags as they did before – they do have reusable bags as well as paper bags for purchase, but your best bet is to bring your own.

I did end up getting a rolling shopping bag after a while (looks like this). They are incredibly popular in Vienna – you can get one in a lot of corner stores for around 10 to 15 euros, and are fantastic when you make larger grocery trips or when you need to buy a lot of heavy items. A lot of people had just regular reusable bags or used backpacks for their food items.

I luckily had a day bag that folded up in my suitcase (similar to this one) which was just dumb luck that I had it. It became super useful throughout my time in Vienna, because I would just throw it at the bottom of my purse whenever I knew that I had to run to the grocery store after coming back from a lecture or walk in the park. After a few weeks, especially after my first trip to a clothing shop, it just LIVED in my purse. Because huge surprise: a lot of clothing shops don’t provide plastic bags either.

You can never know enough German.

After studying in Greece, I foolishly found myself expecting a similar experience in Vienna. Since Greek isn’t a wide-known language, a lot of people in Athens know English as well. It was not the case in Vienna.

Although you will find a lot of people who know English – or at least have a limited knowledge of it— the more German you know, the better. Not a whole lot of people in Vienna are too fond in speaking English, and prefer German if you can.

You will also find all the signs, brochures, back of boxes in German… and the alternative languages are languages spoken by nearby countries. Think Italian, Slovenian, Turkish. With time and with practice, you will at least find yourself visually familiar with German words if you are not already.

Stores close early and close on Sundays.

Without knowing this at all, I booked to arrive in Vienna back in January on a Sunday. I arrived around 11 a.m. to my housing, and I was starving. Much to my surprise, even though there were four supermarkets nearby, all of them were closed. In fact, pretty much everything was closed. Luckily the nearby train station had a Billa (supermarket) inside that was open on Sundays. But unluckily, it was also incredibly busy. I settled on ordering takeout – which does still run on Sundays but took an awfully long time.

It took a few weeks to get used to it, but what feels like everything is closed on Sundays. Think grocery stores, clothing shops, government buildings. What is open though are places that are considered touristy (i.e. mostly everything in the 1st district, where the Hofburg Palace is located, museums, etc), as well as most restaurants. Pro tip: avoid going to any grocery store on a Saturday before it closes, it is when most people go to get food to last them until Monday.

Stores close early as well – closing time varies from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (normally until 6 p.m.), and they open normally around 8 a.m. So, before you head out or plan your grocery shopping trip, check the time of your local store before going!

Bring your best reusable water bottle!

It is difficult to find a fantastic water bottle once in Vienna, so be sure to pack one in your suitcase. You will use it constantly, because Vienna has the best tap water…. which I know is a weird thing to say about any city, but it truly is. The water you get from your sink in Vienna comes straight from the mountain springs in the Styrian/Lower Austrian Alps. It is both good for you and tastes fantastic! There are even a few places – mostly near touristy spots – where you can refill your water bottle. So no need for water filters of any kind when you are in Vienna!