Why Vienna, Austria, Is a Wonderful Place to Live
Vienna is a clean, safe, vibrant and international city with delicious things to eat and drink!
I saw recently that the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has published its annual ranking of the best cities around the world to live in. To make its decisions, the EIU considers such factors as stability, healthcare, culture, education and infrastructure.
The 2023 Index covers 172 cities, and once again Vienna, Austria, has been deemed the most livable city in the world. In fact, this is the eighth time in ten years that Vienna has been ranked number one. According to the report, Vienna has an “unsurpassed combination of stability, good infrastructure, strong education and healthcare services, and plenty of culture and entertainment.”
All of which is true. Vienna is the city of music, it has wonderful concert venues and museums and art galleries and exclusive shops selling beautiful clothing, hand blown glassware and much more. But those are broad categories that don’t really tell you much about what day-to-day life is like in Vienna. So I thought I would share some of the things I loved about the city for the five years that I lived there.
Vienna is clean.
The first thing you might notice is that Vienna is clean. The streets are clean, public restrooms (even in the Vienna International Airport) are clean, public transport is clean. This requires the help of numerous people, who work hard to keep it this way. The city also makes it easy for people to dispose of whatever they have in their hands by placing garbage cans everywhere you need them.
Public transport is amazing.
Vienna’s fantastic network of subway trains, fast trains, buses and streetcars takes you wherever you want to go. Public transport is on time, runs frequently, is safe and comfortable. Most buses and subway cars are air conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter.
And—did I mention?—public transport is clean. While I was living there, the city decided to ban food on the subways, which has helped to keep things even cleaner.
One feature that makes public transport different in Vienna from anywhere else I’ve traveled is that it runs on the honor system. You can get on the subway, buses, streetcars, etc. without having to present a ticket to a person or machine. And the purchase of one ticket entitles you to use any form of transport (or a combination of all of them) within the specified time and date.
I love it that the city treats you like a trustworthy and responsible person. If you are tempted to take advantage of the system, however, it is important to know that transport officials randomly set up blocks on the subways where they check to see if you have a ticket. If you don’t, the fines can be hefty. Not to mention embarrassing.
Vienna feels safe.
As a woman, I have ridden subways alone at all times of the day and night and walked through streets all over Vienna, and I have never felt threatened or unsafe. This is often a topic of conversation among women in the international community, who feel the same way I do. I imagine crimes do occur occasionally, but it certainly feels safer in Vienna than any other city I have been to.
One thing that influences this is that Vienna does not have slums. Some districts are definitely wealthier than others, but thanks to Vienna’s fantastic health care and social system, no part of the city is truly impoverished.
Vienna has delicious drinking water.
Vienna’s water is among the purest and most delicious in the world. This is because the city’s water supply comes directly from the Alps.
Using a gravity-based system that requires no pumping, 400,000 m3 of fresh spring water flow to Vienna every day through two pipelines. (The first one was opened in 1873, and the second in 1910.) The areas in the mountains where the water comes from are in protection zones that have no significant industry and few people. In fact, Vienna was the first city in the world to place drinking water under constitutional protection.
Another plus is that as the water flows to Vienna it goes through hydroelectric power stations that generate 65 million kilowatt hours of power, which is enough to power a small town.
Vienna has tailors in almost every neighborhood.
My mother was a wonderful seamstress. When my sister and I were children, she made most of our clothes, my father’s cowboy shirts, and beautiful evening dresses for herself. Unfortunately, I did not inherit this skill. About the most I can manage is sewing a button back on when I absolutely have to.
Also unfortunately, most of the ready-made jeans and trousers I find are too long by at least an inch.
Therefore, I was delighted to discover that Vienna has tailors in almost every neighborhood who alter and repair clothing. Some even make clothes for you from scratch.
Vienna has plant shops on almost every corner.
I love house plants and so—clearly—do the Viennese. You can find plant shops in all the neighborhoods as well as at subway entrances. Every shop offers a large variety of healthy plants in multiple sizes. You can also find pots in a myriad of colors and styles. All of this makes it so easy to bring nature into your home.
Since moving to County Kerry, I have discovered that the Irish have a completely different culture when it comes to houseplants. There are shops that sell cut flowers—mostly for weddings and funerals—but they do not sell house plants. Grocery stores offer a few plants at their entrances, and distant nurseries sell some plants, but they have nothing on offer like Vienna. And none of these places have pretty pots for sale.
So when I am in Vienna, I go from one shop to another, drinking in all of the choices, smells and beauty!
Vienna has wonderful options for fresh fruits and vegetables.
If you love fresh fruits and vegetables as much as I do, you will be in seventh heaven in Vienna. Many shops sell only fruits and vegetables, and the choices are fresh, varied and of the highest quality.
Vienna also has several farmers’ markets that are open all year round and offer an amazing selection of fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, cheeses and ethnic foods. The most famous is probably Naschmarkt, which has more than 120 stalls and a wide variety of restaurants that sell food from all over the world. Naschmarkt also has a large flea market on Saturdays that is fun to visit.
My favorite farmers’ market, however, is Hannovermarkt. It is located in the 20th district (Brigittenau), which is a bit out of the way from the center of town, but you can find produce and other types of food here that aren’t available anywhere else in Vienna. As opposed to Naschmarkt, which is quite touristy, Hannovermarkt has a local, down-to-earth feeling that reminds me of markets throughout the Middle East.
Vienna has the best bread in the world.
I love crusty, whole grain bread with seeds and nuts still warm from the oven. If you do, too, you will find that Vienna is the best place in the world to be. I have not eaten such delicious bread anywhere else. Not in France. Not in Italy. Not in Germany. Only in Austria.
The wheat used in Viennese bakeries is grown in Austria or nearby countries such as Hungary. Austrians have been growing their traditional wheat for centuries, which makes it particularly healthy and delicious. Furthermore, genetically modified grains are banned in Austria (as they are throughout the European Union).
Numerous chains, such as Anker, Ströck and Der Mann, have shops throughout the city, as well as at the entrances to subway stations and in the underground shopping corridors that connect one subway line to another. Most supermarkets (even the discount chains) bake bread on-site several times a day, so there is a good chance what you buy will still be warm and fresh.
My favorite bakery is Gradwohl, which only sells whole grain breads. And among these, my favorites are kornspitz, which are long, slender, crusty rolls that come either plain or covered with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds or oats. You can get kornspitz at every bakery, but Gradwohl’s are particularly delicious.
Vienna has a myriad of delicious options for beverages
I may be prejudiced, but I think that Austria has the best coffee and wine in the world. I don’t drink beer very often, so I cannot comment on Austrian beer, but I imagine it is good, too!
Vienna, of course, has the lovely tradition of coffee houses, where you can buy one cup of delicious coffee and then spend hours reading local newspapers and talking with friends.
In addition, Vienna has the wonderful tradition of heuriger, which are simple taverns where local winemakers serve their new wine. The heuriger often have beautiful, tree-shaded gardens where people sit at tables enjoying their wine and eating simple traditional foods while socializing with each other.
In the fall, when the apples are harvested, traditional Austrian restaurants and heuriger sell most, which is a yummy cider made from fermented apples.
Fall also brings sturm, which is a fermenting juice made from white or red grapes that is on its way to becoming wine. Because sturm has not yet become wine, Austrians do not toast each other when they drink it. Therefore, instead of saying prost (cheers), they say Mahlzeit, which means enjoy your meal!
Austrian wines are absolutely delicious. I have a hunch that they are not as famous as their French or German counterparts because the production is smaller and the best wines are consumed by Austrians themselves. I don’t actually know if this is true or not, but I do know that most Austrian wines you find outside of Austria are not nearly as good as those you find within it.
When it comes to refreshing nonalcoholic drinks, Austria also stands out. As an American, I am used to having the choice of soft drinks (coke, pepsi, sprite, etc.)—which I do not like—and iced tea or lemonade.
But in Austria, your choices are delicious and varied. I just checked one restaurant in Vienna, and these are the options on offer: a) pure apple, grape, apricot and prune juice; b) soda water mixed with lemon, raspberry or elder flower juice, and c) iced tea made with lemon, apricot, mango or current juice. Many restaurants have even more options!
Vienna has a huge international community.
Numerous international organizations have headquarters in Vienna, including the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). This means that thousands of people from around the world are living and working there.
Which is a good thing if you were not born and raised in Austria because it can sometimes be hard to meet and make friends with Austrians. This is not because they are inherently unfriendly, but because they have their own lives, family and friends and do not generally reach out to strangers.
Even if you speak German, it can sometimes be hard because Austrians—and Viennese themselves—speak different dialects of German that can be difficult for foreigners to understand if they have only learned standard German (hochdeutsch) in universities and language schools. Austrians learn hochdeutsch in school and can use it if they have to, but they naturally prefer to use their own dialects with each other.
The fact that Vienna is so international helps a great deal when it comes to making friends and participating in social activities. Meetup Vienna is a great place to find people who want to do sports, get together after work, go on cultural outings, practice speaking different languages, travel together, learn new skills, etc. Most of the events take place in English, and Austrians often participate in them as well.
What about You?
Have you lived in Vienna? Do you think it deserves its number one ranking as the world’s most livable city? If so, what did you like about living there? If not, what other city would you rank as number one?
What a wonderful city Vienna is, no wonder it is considered to be the most liveable city in the world. Who is actually in charge of making sure everything is clean and runs on time?