Thursday, 19 January 2017

Viennese Whirl
































(All Vienna 14-16.1.2016 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)



I've just returned from a long weekend in Vienna. Despite visiting the city twice before, both times were very quick visits, just a couple of hours. Each time I got to photograph the trams, but I really got into this last weekend!

Vienna still has a very large network of trams, and has recently opened new routes. Most are end to end routes but they also merge to run around part of Vienna's famous Ringstrasse. What this means is that you can plonk yourself anywhere on the Ring and there is a constant procession of trams, sometimes runnimng just a few feet apart. There are cheap day and multi-day tickets which you can use to hop on and off the trams (plus local trains and buses). 

Also along the Ring the light railway to Baden has a station, this line uses the tramway to exit the city but then runs as a heavy railway until it reaches Baden, where it regains the street. Sadly I didn't get the chance to travel on this - you really need a week in Vienna to even see a small amount!

Vienna is a fantastic city with amazing buildings from the days of Empire, and of course great coffee shops! 3 days simply wasn't enough ... in the words of a famous Austrian 'I'll be back!'

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