Prague & Vienna: October 2023
My college best friend and I decided to go on a weeklong trip to Prague and Vienna. I had a short fall break between electives and she is currently applying to medical school. This sort of rare overlapping free time is hard to find, so we had to take advantage! This trip brought back all of our great memories from studying abroad in Brighton, UK together during college.
Prague
Prague lived up to the hype as the most beautiful city in the world. The cobblestone streets and architecture at golden hour were like nothing else. The only guided tour we did was a historical dungeon tour where we learned more about Prague’s darker history regarding basement dungeons and torture. Otherwise, we spent lots of time wandering across the Charles Bridge, visiting the Museum of Communism, seeing Prague Castle, and exploring lots of cafes. My favorite cafe breakfast of all time was at Cafe Savoy, which is located across the river from Prague 1 where we stayed. I definitely recommend staying in this area to anyone planning to visit!
Vienna
In contrast to Prague, which was filled with weekend visitors from surrounding European countries, Vienna is definitely less of a tourist city and mostly filled with people who actually live and work there. I’m told the Christmas season gets busy for tourism because of the Christmas markets, but it was overall not too crowded while we were there. We spent our time exploring the Museumsquartier and checking out famous cafes. Vienna is known for its traditional chocolate cake pastry, sachertorte. We tried this at multiple spots and were hoping to be wowed, but it wasn’t exactly what we were expecting. Still great, but maybe not my favorite pastry from the trip. One of my friends from Chicago connected me with his friend who had moved to Vienna for her new job, and we found time to get dinner and meet— seriously, such a small world out there. Cafe recommendations from both cities are summarized below!
Prague
Cafe Louvre
famous scientists are known to have worked during the 19th century, including Franz Kafka and Albert Einstein.
♡ Cafe Savoy
perhaps my favorite Euro breakfast in my entire life
amazing pastries (try their famous chocolate cake) and croissant entrees PLUS incredible service
make a reservation if possible, but we got a table by just waiting about 30 minutes.
Vienna
♡ Demel
patio seating only, great for people watching but maybe not great in peak winter
get the fudge chocolate cake and not the sachertorte…trust us.
Cafe Central
most famous cafe in Vienna
get here as close to opening as possible— waits get insane