Dog-Friendly Vienna
Vienna Waits for You…
Vienna is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited. The architecture is stunning! It is also one of the more dog-friendly cities Alice and I have been to. Dogs are allowed in virtually every restaurant and bar, and on all forms of public transportation. However, dogs are not allowed in most parks and gardens (more on that later).
Another thing I loved about Vienna is how extremely friendly and trusting everyone is! Many bars/restaurants have a place to hang your coat by the door and no one seems concerned about their belongings behind stolen. There are no gates for the underground, nowhere to swipe or scan in. If the metro police come onto your train or are waiting at the exit, you will have to show your valid metro pass, but I never experienced this. At a cash-only bar, (1+1 Bar), I realized I didn’t have enough cash and asked them to direct me to the nearest ATM. The bartender said I could come back and pay the next day if that was more convenient for me. This would never happen in New York - for a regular who knows the bartender, perhaps, but never a stranger during their first time at this establishment! The Viennese also speak English so well. I barely noticed an accent from a few younger people I met. Everyone was exceedingly friendly, and when I told them this they laughed and said the rest of Austria thinks people in Vienna are rude. Reminds me a bit of New York City’s unfair reputation.
Where to Stay
There are many hotels in Vienna that allow dogs, but many of them were outside my ideal price range. I ended up booking an AirBnB (which is usually too expensive for me when traveling solo, but this one was pretty affordable!) and loved this place. It’s a large studio apartment about a minute away from the underground and tram.
The neighborhood we stayed in is called Neubau, and I highly recommend staying in this area! This is the 7th district, which has so many great, dog-friendly cafes, restaurants, and bars. It neighbors the 1st district (the inner city) and the main museum plaza. You can get to the city center by walking in about 20-40 minutes, depending on the exact location. The one downside to this neighborhood is the lack of grass. There is some grass next to the library, Hauptbucherei am Gurtel, which was across the street from the AirBnB, but that’s about it. Like a true New Yorker, Alice is used to peeing on concrete, but some dogs may not appreciate that being the only option.
Second time around we stayed at the Hotel Indigo, which was lovely! We had the coolest room on the top floor with a gigantic window, and the staff was extraordinarily friendly - everyone loved Alice! Had a lovely time reading and drinking in their bar on our last night. I didn’t like this neighborhood quite as much as Neubau, but it is still a good location right across the street from a metro stop.
If you want to stay closer to the center of the city, I would recommend staying near Stadtpark or Rathauspark. Both of these parks have (some) grass where dogs are allowed, and the Ringstrasse (the road that outlines the city center) has some grass too.
Transportation
Dogs are allowed on all forms of public transit, but must be on leash and wear a muzzle. I tried putting a muzzle on Alice and it did not go well… Who can blame her - after fourteen years of life muzzle-free, I expected her to accept this?? So on our longer trips (from the airport, to the trains station) I kept Alice in her carrier on the underground/tram. The other couple of times we took the underground, I held her in my lap without a muzzle, but had a muzzle with me in case I was told to put one on (I was fully prepared to play the ignorant tourist card - not something I usually do, but she hated the muzzle sooo much). But honestly, we walked almost everywhere and didn’t even need public transport too often! Vienna does have a bike rental system, which we took advantage of with Alice’s K9 Sportsac on our final day!
What to Do
Walk! Alice and I go on long walks every day, but we especially love doing long, wandering walks in a new city! Vienna is gorgeous - the architecture is so pretty, I loved walking aimlessly and looking around at all the cool buildings.
Cafe culture is big in Vienna, and dogs are allowed in all of them (as far as I could tell). The Viennese are very into grabbing coffee and pastries with friends and chatting at a cafe, or going alone and reading or working while enjoying a drink and a bite.
Easter Markets!
We were in Vienna over Easter, and there were two fantastic Easter markets in the city center, Am Hof and Freyung. There are also Christmas Markets located here in December. There were several stalls with food and drinks, some shops and crafts, but the most amazing display was the hand-painted eggs in the middle of Freyung. I was blown away by how beautifully detailed they were! Could have stayed there for an hour looking at each unique design.
Eating and drinking!
We also found that dogs are allowed in just about every restaurant and bar. I was also impressed by how friendly and welcoming everyone was - to both Alice and me! We truly encountered the kindest people everywhere we went. I’ll list my favorite restaurants and bars in the next section.
Parks!
Vienna has many beautiful parks and gardens. Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed in most of them! This is so strange to me, coming from NYC where dogs are allowed in nearly every section of every park. Vienna has something called a “hundezone”, or dog zone, where dogs are allowed and sometimes able to be off-leash. We went to two of these in the city center. The first, Hundezone Heldenplaz, is a fenced-in, bark mulch dog park next to the Hofburg Palace. But I guess the grass around it was dog-friendly too, if on leash. The second hundezone we went to was in Stadtpark. You’ll see “hundeverbot” signs on many of the park entrances, but the paths along the canal are off-leash areas! Rathauspark does not have a hundezone, but I didn’t see any hundeverbot signs and there were several other dogs in this park as we walked through admiring the spring flowers and surrounding architecture.
The Ringstrasse.
This street along the edge of the city center passes many of the historical buildings including the opera house, the university, several beautiful government buildings, museums, and churches. There is a walking and biking path that goes all the way around.
A small canal reaches from the Danube toward the city center of Vienna. We loved walking along the canal, and saw many other doggos walking there as well. I could tell that in the summer there is a lot of activity here - restaurants and bars that weren’t yet open in April, as well as sculptural art and street art, and boat tours.
Things to Do without Your Dog
If you are into opera at all, you have to go to the Staatsoper! I am not a huge opera fan, but since Vienna is one of the opera capitals of the world, I wanted to go. The opera house itself is stunning - the inside looks like a place, it’s so beautiful. My seat was in a box on the side and I could only see about 20% of the stage… so I left at intermission (the first act was two hours, so still got enough of the opera experience I think).
Schönnbrun Palace doesn’t allow dogs in any of the buildings or any of the grounds - which is such a shame because the gardens are gorgeous! The palace itself is also incredible, I’m so glad I paid for the full tour. After walking around the grounds, go up to the Gloriette for a view of the palace and all of Vienna!
Where to Eat/Drink
Rooftops
I am a sucker for a rooftop bar - I always search for lists of the best rooftop bars when planning trips. We went to three in Vienna!
The food was fantastic, and from our table we could see the sunset over the city on one side, and the steeple of the Stephansdom on the other!
A gorgeous top-floor restaurant and bar. They also have a rooftop bar, but our weather didn’t cooperate.
A fun, hip vibe with good 80s/90s/00s American music! I got pretty crowded and loud after 9:00pm on a Saturday night, so if your pup doesn’t handle that well go earlier.
Restaurants & Cafes
This cafe in Hotel Sacher is very well-known. We arrived about 10:30 on a Saturday and there was already a line (the line is outside, something to be aware of if weather isn’t great). We had to wait about half an hour before getting a table. The space is beautiful, and the hot chocolate and Sacher tort were great.
Ristorante Settimo Cielo (see above in rooftops)
Chez Bernard (see above in rooftops)
This place only has German menus, which made it seem legit to me! It was recommended to me by a local, and the menu seemed authentically Austrian but I have very little to base that on. The goulasch was very good, but so filling! Dogs are allowed in a certain section of the restaurant.
This place is well-known for their reasonably-priced schnitzel! There may be a long wait.
A really good Indian place, run by a lovely family!
A great spot for brunch and a chai latte! They brought Alice a bowl of water immediately.
Had a delicious caramel latte, and their pastries and cakes looked good too.
An adorable, laid-back coffee shop, where Alice got so much attention and several slices of ham!
Cute, spacious café with lots of tables - quite popular!
Bars
Dachboden at 25 Hours Hotel (see above in rooftops)
I went here on my first night and made friends almost immediately! The bartender and two regulars I spent a few hours chatting with were lovely - this is the kind of place I would frequent in New York! And the cocktails were good too.
The bartender, Ben, quickly became Alice’s favorite person. He made sure we found a table where she was most comfortable, and brought her many puppy treats throughout the night. Everyone there was super friendly, and in trying to convince me to stay longer, they gave me free wine (I was, indeed, convinced to stay).
You can get coffe and food here, or drinks! Alice and I met a local who brought us here for a wine spritzer (an extremely popular drink in Austria) and it is such a cute place! It was quite busy on a Saturday afternoon, but we found a spot sharing a table with another group.
This is a hip, fun bar that does allow dogs, but the music and environment may be too loud/overwhelming for some.
A tiny, trendy bar with good cocktails. Alice made a Yorkie friend here.Get there right when they open, it fills up quickly and there are only a few tables!
A beautiful “American” bar with lots of cocktail options.