Day 1: Snowy arrival

We arrived in Austria from Slovenia in the evening, crossing the mountain border at Loibl Pass. It started snowing as we were crossing and heading down, which was not great with rear-wheel drive.

Since it was the end of November, it was freezing cold at night. We also didn’t know how easy it would be to find camping or if we would face any fines in Austria, so we decided to spend the first night in a small guesthouse outside of Graz. We still cooked our own food to save some money.

Day 2: Graz and the drive to Vienna

I can’t remember if we had breakfast, but since we were looking for the cheapest place possible, I think we skipped it. Because we planned to see Graz in the morning and then drive up to Vienna, we were up early to have enough time, as the daylight was short by then. We also wanted to save on parking and found a free parking lot on the north side of town (P+R Weinzödl). All the reviews said to be there early as it packs quickly; luckily, we managed to get a spot.

The walk was long and chilly, but that didn’t stop us from making a few detours. We didn’t walk directly to the city center, but instead walked 5 km to Schloss Eggenberg on the west side of the city before turning towards downtown. We could see the castle from the road and walked through the front gate, but we didn’t fancy paying to go in.

It was another 4 km east to reach the Mur River crossing through the heart of the city. We walked past the Kunsthaus Graz (Art gallery) and across the river via the Murinsel—a floating island which has become a contemporary architectural landmark of the town. Continuing through the streets, we passed Grazer Landhaus, visited the Christmas market, and passed the Opera House.

After we visited the Graz Cathedral and passed the Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II, we climbed up the Schlossberg—a historic hilltop park overlooking the city. There used to be a fortress there (it was demolished by Napoleon’s forces in the early 19th century), but nowadays it is better known for its iconic 13th-century clock tower (Uhrturm).

After all the walking, it was time for lunch. We were craving Chinese for some reason, and voilà, there was an all-you-can-eat Chinese and sushi restaurant in the center of town called Koko. It was only 12 Euros, if my memory serves me well! You can imagine that the walk back wasn’t the easiest, as we always get our money’s worth at buffets.

It was afternoon and almost dark by the time we got back to our car, and we had over a two-hour drive ahead of us to Vienna.

I forgot to mention that we paid for tolls in Austria. Not that we really wanted to, but it was relatively cheap, and we didn’t have enough time to waste on country roads. We bought a 10-day vignette for about 10 Euros.

Again, we weren’t sure if sleeping in our car in Vienna was a good idea, so we pre-booked a cheap Airbnb on the outskirts. We had a kebab from a nearby shop for dinner while watching the World Cup.

Day 3: Vienna and a late split to Slovakia

It was another busy day of exploring ahead of us, and we wanted to find some cheap parking. We couldn’t find anything free like in Graz, but we found an “almost” free parking lot near the airport called Parktiger Flughafenparkplatz. It was booked online, self-service, and right next to the Schwechat train station. We just needed to jump on the S7 train to make it to the city. Tiredness can be a bitch sometimes, so I had a wee meltdown when we missed the train because we couldn’t buy the tickets fast enough—only to find out there is one every 15–30 minutes!

The parking situation seems complicated, and I didn’t even mention that we had to cross the whole town to get there. However, the prices in town for a whole day of parking were mad, and since we were heading to Slovakia next, being on the east side of Vienna was perfect.

We didn’t go all the way to the city center, but got off at Rennweg to first walk to the Belvedere Palace and its surrounding gardens. We then passed Karlskirche (St. Charles’s Church) and the Vienna State Opera on the way to the city center. We strolled through the streets and ended up at the Hofburg, where we found a cart selling Glühwein (mulled wine). Next stop was Wiener Rathaus (City Hall) and the park in front of it, which at this time of year was taken over by Christmas stalls. We got more Glühwein and some sausage.

Then we walked past the museums at Maria-Theresien-Platz and down to the Wien River. Since we had a whole day for Vienna, we decided to walk to Schönbrunn Palace. As we followed the river west, we stopped for lunch. Wiener Schnitzel was a must since Clare had never had one, and I got roasted pork with sauerkraut and a dumpling. No need to mention (but I’ll do it anyway) that we got a beer as well and watched a bit of football.

We reached Schönbrunn Palace when it was already dark, turned around, and started walking back again. We were back downtown after 8 pm, walked around the markets a bit more, and visited Stephansdom (St. Stephen’s Cathedral).

This was us, done with exploring Vienna, but we didn’t want to leave too early since we wanted to sleep in the car that night and didn’t want to be spotted. So, we stopped for one more beer and watched a bit more football. We then caught the train back to the car.

In hindsight, we could have just slept in the parking lot in Vienna. But since we didn’t know ahead of time what it would be like, we planned to cross into Slovakia at night and sleep somewhere in or near Bratislava. The border was less than an hour’s drive, but there was an issue at the crossing, and we were diverted to a different one. We got into Bratislava after midnight, found a dark alley near a park, and slept there.