Saturday

4) 8 A.M. Garden of Good and Evil

Open to the public since 1775, Augarten is the city’s communal backyard, where leafy paths take you past girls in hijabs playing soccer and Hasidic men on bicycles. Home of the Vienna Boys’ Choir and Europe’s second longest-running porcelain manufacturer, this 129-acre park also harbors two Nazi-built flak towers that stand as a reminder of one of the city’s darkest chapters.



5) 10 A.M. Eat Your Vegetables

The unpretentious Karmelitermarkt caters to the city’s diverse palate. On Saturday morning, when the food market is at its liveliest, you’ll find traditional Austrian sausages alongside kosher cuts; next to old-school veggie vendors thrive young entrepreneurs like Isabella Lindinger, who sells seasonal jams and chutneys. Drop by the brick-and-mortar store Kaas am Markt for a wide range of regional cheeses and hams before heading out to explore the surrounding area, which is in the process of being transformed with businesses like the homeware and fashion purveyor Der Affe und der Bräutigam, the vegan-friendly bakery Fett und Zucker, and the bring-your-own-container grocer Lunzers, which bolsters Austria’s green cred.



A statue of the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II at Stadtpark. Credit Franz Neumayr for The New York Times



6) 1 P.M. A Sense of Wonder

Designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by Unesco, Vienna’s many historic coffeehouses transport guests to an era when visionaries like Freud mingled over Mélange, Vienna’s answer to cappuccino. No other Kaffeehaus has perfected anachronism like the three-year-young Supersense. In addition to hosting indie concerts and letterpress workshops, this cafe-cum-store stocks vintage stamp kits and record players. Quirkier items on sale include a Smell Memory Kit (€99) that captures scents in tiny ampoules. You can also print your own LP inside an Art Nouveau elevator repurposed as a recording studio (€15 for 90 seconds). In addition to hand-ground coffee and home-baked strudels, try the Schlipfkrapfen, or potato-filled Tyrolean ravioli (€7.50). No worries, Supersense isn’t strictly for Luddites: it also offers Wi-Fi.



7) 3 P.M. It’s a Big World After All

Squeezed between the imperial splendor of the Hofburg complex and the gleaming MuseumsQuartier, the ethnological World Museum reopened this October after three years of soul-searching and renovation. Eschewing yesteryear’s circus-act approach to anthropology, this smart institution displays folkloric items from around the world while interrogating the West’s role in championing or stealing artifacts. The exhibition “World in Motion” questions what objects we preserve in order to chronicle our ever-changing world. Entry €12.



8) 7 P.M. State of the Aria

In order to make an entrance at the Vienna State Opera, you don’t need a coveted — and exorbitantly priced — ticket to the Opera Ball in February, one of the more than 400 lavish parties making up Vienna’s ball season. The Staatsoper’s over 300 performances of more than 60 operas and ballets are more approachable than ever, thanks to the free Opera Live Outdoors program that projects performance in real time on an LED screen on dates around New Year’s Eve as well as April through June and in September. If you want to admire the opera house’s gasp-inspiring foyers and intricate frescos in person, standing room tickets start at all of €3.



Käsekrainer is served at Bitzinger, near the Vienna State Opera. Credit Franz Neumayr for The New York Times



9) 10 P.M. Schnitzel and the City

Few things induce tourist trap anxieties more than ordering off a bilingual menu in the city center. But tucked around the corner from the chevron-roofed St. Stephen’s Cathedral are two restaurants equally beloved by the local suit-and-tie set. Lugeck serves Austrian classics like Schnitzel (€20.80) and glazed veal liver (€13.90) in a convivial space of enamel tiles, beech dividers and chandeliers made of beer steins. More chic yet is Labstelle, where ingredients that are responsibly sourced around Austria make their way onto the always-changing menu of dishes like smoked duck with quince mustard (€27.90) and Spaetzle egg noodles, gooey with Tyrolean gray cheese (€14.90).



10) 1 A.M. An American in Vienna

The exhaustive cocktail menu is just the beginning at Dino’s American Bar, where the bartending team that includes a trained pharmacist prides itself on customizing drinks after asking clients’ favorites. From here, a few minutes on foot will take you to Roberto American Bar, where the celebrated mixologist Roberto Pavlovic-Hariwijadi packs the smoky room with revelers from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. Complete your boozy tour at the Art Deco gem Kleinod, where a see-and-be-seen clientele slides in and out of leather banquettes swilling concoctions like wasabi martini (€9.50) and Earl Grey tea-infused gin fizz (€10).

