Second Stop: 24 Hours in Vienna

Due to some bad planning/ incorrect train timetables online, we only had around 20 hours to spend in Vienna. We did a complete whirlwind tour of the city and managed to see some of the main sites - albeit very quickly! We arrived into Vienna in the late morning and by the time we had booked our on-going train to Ljubljana and checked into the hostel, it was mid-afternoon.

Our hostel wasn't that central, so we decided to wander into the centre in the hope of seeing some of the city. This wasn't the most successful venture, but I'm pretty sure we managed to see some of the main sights. However, we had absolutely no idea what these sights were, which wasn't ideal. In an attempt to see and learn more about the city we headed to tourist information and they recommended a one-hour tour.

The guided tour was on a tram, cost 9 Euros and lasted just under an hour. To be honest, it was pretty pants. I had to sit on the floor of the tram as they'd overbooked the tour, which meant I couldn't see out of the windows. Not great when the whole point was to see the city. The route incorporates the Vienna State Opera, Imperial Palace, Parliament and City Hall, so you're guaranteed to see Vienna's main attractions (unless you too are stuck on the floor). If you've got plenty of time in Vienna then I really wouldn't recommend doing this tour. However, if (like us) you're really time-limited and want to at least see bits of the city then it's probably worth it. The tram tour starts and ends in the same place, Schwedenplatz, and runs daily 10am to 5:30pm. The tram is bright yellow and pretty hard to miss.

After the riveting tour we headed back to the hostel to freshen up before heading back out for the evening. I was really keen to try some traditional food, but wasn't expecting there to be much vegetarian choice. However we found a lovely little Austrian restaurant just off the main square, that actually had a few veggie options. I went for the Kasespatzle which is very similar to macaroni cheese except it's made with doughy-noodles, Austrian cheese and topped with dried onions. It was delicious and I'd highly recommend trying this if you're ever in Austria or Germany!

After our meal we headed to a few bars, recommended to us by the waitress that weren't too far away. While the evening started off well, with us sat outside enjoying some cocktails, it ended on a disappointing note. In the last bar/ club we went to a group of Austrians kept bashing into one of the girls in our group. We decided to move to a different part of the club, yet they followed and carried on with this behaviour. When we finally asked them to stop they pushed the same girl to the ground and told us all to "F*** off, you're not welcome here Brexit Brits".

For a group of girls who all unanimously supported the remain campaign and were truly devastated to leave the European Union, this came as a complete shock. Never before have I experienced behaviour like this while visiting European cities, and we were all seriously upset by what happened. Sadly, this was one of several anti-Brit/ anti Brexit incidents that happened on our trip, which is something I never thought I'd experience.

Despite this, I'd love to go back to Austria as I don't think I got to see enough of Vienna or really experience the culture there.

Have you ever visited Vienna? What would you recommend?