Vienna Food Tour

Tour Details

Duration: 3 hours
Product Type: Tour
Venues: Various local specialty shops and restaurants

Photos & Highlights

Vienna food tour led by local food expert or food writer
Features tastings of unique regional specialties and local Viennese products, such as cheese, sausage, and baked goods

Select a date

Tour Description

Vienna’s taste for indulgence permeates the city, reaching from the palaces and surrounding vineyards into the very shops and streets of the city. On this Vienna food tour, we'll join a local food expert to explore traditional Austrian foods and new trends in this exciting gastronomic destination. We'll dive into specialty food shops, enjoy some tastings, and learn how Austrian food today is evolving with an eye to tradition.

This walk will usually start by sampling some traditional Viennese goulasch and dumplings, a dish that highlights the history of Vienna as the center of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. We may discuss the regional variations between goulashes from different countries and how the unique Austrian version evolved.

Our next visits vary from tour to tour depending on our appetites. Stops may include a local cheese specialty shop to sample a variety of cheeses, from silky and mild to full and complex; savory snacks or sausages at a local cafe; a famous local confectionery shop that once had a branch on Fifth Avenue; an Austrian wine cellar; or a street food stand, to relish hearty favorites like Leberkäse—a type of sausage popular throughout Europe’s German-speaking nations. While walking the sidewalks of Vienna, we'll develop a sense of gastronomy's role in the everyday lives of Austrians and the important relationship between a city and its gastronomic traditions.

We'll finish our sensory tour with a sweet treat in a local pastry shop or cafe, getting a glimpse of the cafe culture for which Vienna is known. It is not uncommon for patrons to buy a Wiener Melange - coffee with milk foam - and then simply spend the whole day in the coffeehouse. As gathering places for Vienna's intelligentsia, cafes have historically served as a mise en scene for political, artistic, and social movements. As our walk draws to a close, we'll consider the importance of these intellectual gathering places and how they provide a tableau of Viennese Gemütlichkeit - that famed coziness.

At the end of this walk, we’ll have a greater understanding of how the contemporary food scene in the city converges with tradition and how culinary craftsmanship has shaped the way of life—and we will have indulged in true Viennese fashion.

Learn more about this experience in our Context Stories.

FAQ

Can I participate in food tours if I have food allergies or other dietary restrictions?
This tour may be possible to adapt to vegetarian diets, however, Viennese cuisine is very meat-heavy so the tastings would be more limited. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be possible to adapt for vegan diets. Please note when you are booking the tour if you have any dietary restrictions.

Is this walk suitable for people with limited mobility?

Yes, it is. There is mild walking, with the possibility of some type of seating in most of the venues. There are no staircases. There may be wheelchair-accessible washrooms available.

Experts

Katharina

Art Historian

Jan

Architect

Regine

Historian / Art Historian

Katharina

Historian

Alexa

Art Historian

Where You'll Start

(4.9) – 57 Reviews

Reviews can only be left by Context customers after they have completed a tour. For more information about our reviews, please see our FAQ.

This is one of the best city tours I’ve ever done! Regine was a wonderful, knowledgable host who showed us everything that Viennese cuisine has to offer and more! Starting at a wonderful Viennese Deli, we sampled some of the city’s most famous dishes. The Spinatknödel with Parmesan and butter were a particular highlight! We then ventured to a beautiful wine cellar, under a super cool fine foods store for a curated tasting of some of Austrias finest wines. We were particularly pleased as Regina went above and beyond here - knowing that one of our party members runs a pub tour business, she made sure to include some local beers in the tasting - which was most unexpected and appreciated! We finished the afternoon at an opulent Viennese Cafe (via a sausage street food stand and an extra stop at the world famous Altmann & Kühne candy store), sipping on delicious melange coffee and tucking into some decadent strudel. Regina was kind, engaging and fantastic company. She was a fountain of knowledge on Viennese cuisine - she found spots for us that we simply wouldn’t have found without her guidance, exhibiting the best Vienna has to offer without subjecting us to tourist traps. Even more impressive, she also gave us some brilliant stories about the history of Vienna itself! What a treat to be shown around one of Europe’s great city by a full time historian and author with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the place! I would recommend this tour in the strongest possible terms - if you’re interested in food, history or want to experience Vienna as the locals do, this is for you!

Michaele

Jul 18, 2023

Regine was an awesome host and guide who is friendly and full of knowledge. We learned a great deal and felt like old friends almost immediately.

Greg

Jul 15, 2023

Katharina was absolutely fantastic. Not only did she teach us all about the food, but she also shared her extensive knowledge about the history and culture of Vienna and Austria. We visited places we wouldn’t have found on our own, and everything was delicious. Katharina was also such a lovely person to spend an afternoon with, and we felt so lucky to have met her.

Katherine

Feb 11, 2023

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