I was fortunate enough to return to Vienna as part of a conference trip I was presenting at. Although green, the long European winter and poor weather conditions meant that the weather was pretty sad for most of the time that I spent there. I was lucky enough to get one day of sunlight, even if it was rather cold and required a jacket when you weren’t exposed to the sun.

If you’re there on a Saturday, take a trip down the Naschmarkt, a market that sells interesting knick-knacks and antiques on one side, and a fantastic selection of deli, local fruit and vegetables, meat and nice little cafe and restaurants on the other.

If you’re a bit frustrated by tiny spaces filled with people, I recommend going early, or avoiding the area altogether since the alleyways aren’t very wide and it’s popular with both locals and tourists. Cafe Neni does a pretty awesome breakfast served on a stack much like high-tea if you manage to nab a table.

After wandering the market, I caught the U-Bahn back to sit for a while and people watch in the gorgeously green Stadtpark. There’s plenty of birds, a couple of lakes and appears both popular with bike riders commuting through the city and runners.

For good vantage points there is always the St Stephen’s Cathedral located in the heart of the shopping district although a good tip that I came across was to pay for a drink at the Skybar just down the road. I’m guessing it also gets pretty crowded but I was lucky enough to nab a good vantage point.

Last time the amusement park was shut down being winter and it’s worth wandering around if you feel like some side-show activities.

Alternatively head out to the palace and do the awesomely fun garden maze.

I’m also sure it is much better when it’s not raining.

Another good recommendation for people visiting Vienna is to go down to the Danube and to walk along the river. Unfortunately with the poor weather, it was all flooded and not really ideal for walking along when I went.

Finally a great market hall for foodies is the Julius Meinl store, which is the Viennese equivalent of the food hall to Selfridges or Harrod’s selling high quality food and groceries as well as food from around the world (indicated by flag). Fun to shop around and compare world treats.