Hey all! In my last post I shared my experiences in meeting new people whilst travelling and making new friendships. I hope you got something out of it that you can use the next time you’re on holiday. My last night in the bar at my Bucharest Hostel was so fun! It is still to this day, a warm memory I have.

In this post I arrive in Vienna and check in to Wombats – a lovely hostel where I make some new friends. Keep reading to find out about my review of the warnings in the local market and to find out about some beautiful locations in Vienna1

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Wombats City Hostel, Vienna

I landed in Vienna early in the afternoon. Using public transport to get to Kettenbrückengasse station isn’t actually too difficult but on arriving in Vienna for the first time it can be a little confusing from the Airport. But I have to say that generally the metro and public transport in most European countries are so much more easier to navigate than the London Underground. 

You have far fewer lines and stops as the cities are not so big so it makes it easy to find where you need to go. On my way to the hostel however, I did use the City Airport Train which is an express train service from the airport to Vienna city. 

This is similar to using Heathrow Express. It is much quicker and more comfortable but at 13 Euros, significantly more expensive. On reflection, public transport would only take me an additional 15 minutes and given how reliable it is, I don’t really think the CAT transport is really worth the money in all honesty. If you’re in a rush or you value the comfort of it, then by all means use it. 

There are ticket inspectors on board unlike general public transport in Vienna so be sure to have paid for the correct ticket. A normal train ticket for public transport will not be valid and as a tourist a 170 Euro fine will need to be paid on the spot.

Once I arrived at Wombats City Hostel. I checked in as usual at the reception. My first impression of Wombats is that it is a very reasonable and comfortable accommodation for everything you would really need. It has a cafe, a lounge area, laundry, communal kitchen and a bar. Everything that you would really need in a stay is there, so it’s not basic but it’s not too premium. My room and bed were on the highest floor so I used the lift to go up with my luggage. What I like about this hostel is that everything is labelled and signposted so you know quite easily where to go. I was on the fifth floor. 

One thing which was not the best was that you were free to choose the bed within the room, whatever was free. It just so happened that people had already taken the beds that were either singular or close to windows. The only one that was free for me was the one outside the toilet/shower door which I wouldn’t have chosen given the choice.

It wasn’t so much a problem and it was still a comfortable stay. My only issue was when people used the toilet and didn’t close the door behind them. This was frustrating which meant I had to occasionally get up from my bed to turn off the light and close the door. Also it may have been uncomfortable for some guests when before you use the toilet, there’s a person on their phone on a bed just outside the door. I can imagine why this might not have been the most comfortable experience for someone when using the loo.

What was convenient about it however was because it was so close and I needed to use the loo in the middle of the night, I could just do so with relative ease without having to walk across the room.

What I like about Wombats is that everything is automated through your key card. So accessing the room and using the lockers is all operated with your key card. This is incredibly convenient and it means you don’t need your own padlock to lock up your stuff. The lockers are quite big as well and sufficient for a two piece luggage pack.

I don’t remember there being anyone in the room when I arrived, so once I locked up all of my things and washed my face a little, I decided to make my way down to the cafe to get a coffee. The WomCafe was a proper cafe, it wasn’t just a little coffee machine like most hostels have. It was fully stocked with a range of drinks, croissants and brownies as well as the usual stuff you’d find in any cafe. 

By this point I had become quite used to talking and making light conversation with complete strangers. It’s not something I feel nervous about anymore and it’s become really natural for me to be able to do this. I do find that I really enjoy making conversation with people and find it easier now to start and maintain a conversation. 

So the waitress that I actually saw and served me at the cafe, I recognised immediately she had an uncanny resemblance to a close friend I have back in the UK who is Lithuanian.

When I saw this waitress, I immediately texted my friend with “OMG I’ve just seen another woman who looks exactly like you”. I said “another woman” because travelling through Europe, her look I’ve found is very common and I messaged her on multiple occasions when I was in Romania to ask if she was there as a joke, even though I knew she wasn’t! 

She replied with a laughing emoji and said “I have loads of twins”, which was very true in a way, based on all my holidays! I said this to the waitress who by this point had poured my coffee. This made her laugh and chuckle when I mentioned that I was messaging a friend of mine who she really looks like. I asked the waitress if she was Lithuanian by any chance but she was actually Romanian. Given I had just come from there I mentioned a few parts of my trip especially the weather. I was sure to say that it is a lovely country which I 100% genuinely feel like, I wasn’t just saying that to her to keep her smiling. She did have a beautiful smile!

Wombats is a lovely hostel chain and their hostels have bigger communal areas than most other hostels I’ve ever stayed at. Next to the cafe, there is a bit of a lounge area where there are tables and chairs but also large raised platforms with cushions that you can just sit or lie on to get a bit of rest. These are by the walls and by the windows. It is a lovely area and a lot of people just sit across here to check their phones and relax. 

I had my coffee and before stepping out for the afternoon, I decided to lie back in the corner of this part of the lounge and took my trainers off just to get a bit of rest. I put my phone on charge as they do have plugs on the walls which is helpful. At this point, I was just catching up on the news and also reviewing my itinerary or plan for Vienna which I had saved to Google Maps.

Naschmarkt – Be Aware

I headed out about half an hour later. The hostel is right beside Naschmarkt which is a market that has a lot of eateries, food, fresh vegetables, and souvenir shops. It is a really lovely market that is quite big. Before I go any further though, just a warning you have to be really careful in this market as a tourist. 

It is built for tourists and a lot of traders will overcharge and try to hustle you out of spending excessive amounts of money. Traders normally offer free samples of sweets and cakes as you walk past. I would strongly advise avoiding these and don’t spend too long in one place looking at the items on display. You will get picked out and essentially get ripped off if you show interest. 

I’ve read reviews online where tourists have got into arguments and faced widespread abuse from traders. So be really careful. Most of the stalls and places within the market I assume are honest and genuine but there are a handful of traders who are mostly small that will essentially con you into paying excessively for their products. It is quite a big shame as it is a lovely market but it’s not a family friendly place if I’m honest.

I did unfortunately fall victim to this by a trader who sold some savoury sweets and sugary nuts. I did have a sample and these were really nice. I only wanted to buy at most say 20 Euros worth of these but the trader despite my protests started to pour a large bag with scoops of the stuff. 

The whole way through I had my hands up to say Stop Stop that’s too much! When it came to weighing the items and giving me the price he initially quoted my 108 euros! I was immediately mortified and said no with no hesitation. This was the first time on holiday where I was very insistent that the answer was no it’s not happening. I am not paying that amount of money for some sweets. 

He then said okay you know what I’ll give you a big discount but just don’t tell anyone. The second quote was at 80 Euros which was still excessive. However, on looking at the guy, I could tell he was getting ready for a confrontation as he had sealed the bag. The bag was quite large and the products were tasty, they weren’t disgusting. At that moment I reluctantly said very reluctantly ok fine and paid. I just didn’t want to create an issue and essentially stain my stay the first day I was in Vienna.  And I knew I could always top up my Monzo account if I needed to so I thought okay just get it out the way.

I went back to the hostel following this to check my bank balance and yes I did quickly think I am going to need to top up, say an additional £150 for the remainder of my trip. My lloyds banking app is on my other phone so I had to load this up and spent the next 20 minutes trying to log into the application and transferring the money into my Monzo account which was such a pain.

During this time however, I met some more travellers that were staying in my hostel. There was a guy staying on the bed above mine whose name I can’t remember at all. But he is Czech and as we talked a bit about travelling I showed him my Prague fridge magnet which made him smile and laugh. 

There were two other women in the room. There was Katie and I think the other was Gia or Ria, I’m not sure if I got this properly. They both entered the room at the same time so I had thought that they were travelling together but this was not the case. Both were from the UK and were doing a series of trips in the summer.

I offered them my bag of sweets as I needed to reduce the weight of the bag to put into my luggage so I could take it home with me. This got us talking and opened up room for conversations starting with what happened at the market and me getting “hustled”, which they found funny but whatever (I suppose if you say hustle, you’re setting yourself up for banter).

Katie is in her final year of uni studying English. Vienna is her first stop and she will be going to a few places after. This was her first hostel experience. Might not have been the best idea if she saw me butt naked, but hey you wanted sightseeing! No no joking aside, I apologise, this was a bit rude if it happened and impolite.

More Stops in Vienna

That evening once it was a bit later in the day and it was starting to cool down, I went through the town centre and visited St Stephen’s Cathedral which is quite large. It is a beautiful cathedral which when I visited there was a mass or religious event taking place so the majority of the cathedral was closed off to tourists. 

However despite this, it was packed full of tourists and generally a lovely place to be and the architecture was beautiful. The streets around the cathedral were kind of like the area around Oxford Street with many shops and bars. A very lively area which I do wish I had visited again but never quite got round to doing.

My evening was quite laid back this night. I found a vegan burger place next to my hostel called Swings Kitchen. It’s more like a fast food joint that sells vegan takeaway food. I had a burger which was really lovely actually. 

I picked up a leaflet whilst I was there as I now understand that they are a small franchise that are looking to expand and open more franchise stores. I would like to open my own business so I’m always looking for new ideas or opportunities so I took the leaflet with me as I thought it was worth exploring.

After almost a week of holidaying so far, I really needed a fresh pair of clothes and wanted to get my clothes washed. I had bought some t-shirts and shorts from Primark in the UK which is a discounted clothing chain. All of these were primary colours so blue, green, red, black. I looked like a new Power Ranger every day!

Luckily at Wombats there is a laundry room with washing machines and dryers. For the evening this would really be my focus. 

I had been filling up my wash bag every day throughout my holiday which was now full to capacity. I went down to the laundry room after getting showered and changed into some casual night clothes. Unfortunately I realised that they don’t offer any detergent as part of the wash which is a bit stupid I think. I doubt many tourists would buy or carry this with them on holiday. 

Once I loaded in my clothes however and was ready to start the wash I did get into a brief conversation with an Asian woman whose name is something like Shi-Zuu. I’m very sure that’s not entirely correct but that’s what I could really pick up. She wasn’t a fluent English speaker in my opinion but when I asked if detergent was available she did say no you have to use your own. I can’t remember exactly what I said after this but it would’ve been something along the lines of oh man I don’t have this, that’s not great or maybe just complaints. 

She was very kind enough to say that I could use one of her throw-in detergent capsules. This was very unexpected and it wasn’t something I was asking off of her but she was incredibly nice to offer me one. I made sure of course to check if she wouldn’t mind and if it was ok and I waited for 5-10 minutes for her to come back from her room to throw it into the washer. 

I started the programme after this which took about 50 minutes. I never saw her again, but I talked to her briefly when she was leaving by getting onto the elevator. I think it’s really important to have a sort of “debrief” with new people that you meet before they depart. So even though she didn’t speak English very well I still spent two or three minutes making a real sincere effort to understand her and her travelling plans. 

I think in situations like these, your body language communicates a lot more than anything verbal. So again smiling, leaning in to listen, holding the elevator door while she’s speaking and using hand signals is so important and so effective. Despite her very visible nervousness when I asked her the first few questions in the laundry room, she did really smile at me by the time she left. She was a lovely woman and if in the remote chance she’s reading this, I just want to say Thank you.

I left the clothes in the dryer overnight whilst the programme ran, I didn’t really see the point in waiting for it to finish since it was getting late and I woke up early anyway. Picking up the clothes in the morning was great and I could have a shower without reusing anything that I had already worn which happens a lot with travellers on holiday I think. No one really smells or has an odour so it’s fine, but it’s just not entirely comfortable. Fresh clothes are always better.

The next day my first stop was Belvedere palace. This was about a 20 minute walk away from my hostel and as I left quite early in the morning, the roads were reasonably empty and nothing had as yet opened up. One thing which I don’t like about Vienna is that a lot of shops are closed over weekends and supermarkets are not open on Sundays at all. This is inconvenient to say the least, especially for a tourist where you’d just like to get a few snacks without paying over the top at vending machines. 

My breakfast that morning was at the hostel cafe and I settled for a brownie which isn’t something I can normally have given the sugar content but you know what I’m on holiday, I’m just going to enjoy. 

The Palace itself and the area is really beautiful. The courtyard of the palace is a small park with a lake in the middle. I walked around the park and this is actually used by joggers quite frequently as you can get a lot of shade from the trees in the park. It was a beautiful palace which filled up a lot with tourists after a while. 

Stay tuned for my next post where I visit a very unusual place for most people – an FKK resort. I had my reasons for going which are quite personal to me but will share with you.

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