Photo: Vindobohann, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 19th district
Döbling
Grinzing, Kahlenberg, wine taverns. Wine, views, old Vienna up close.
About this district
Döbling is Vienna with vineyards: in Grinzing and the surrounding villages the Viennese spend their evenings at Heurige wine taverns among the vines, from the Kahlenberg you look out over the whole city to the Danube, and in between lie village centers you would never expect in a city of millions. The district is also home to the Karl-Marx-Hof, an icon of social housing. Staying in Döbling is a deliberate choice for a different Vienna - one of wine rather than waltz kitsch.
The range of places to stay is small, and that is precisely its charm: a house like Villa Kumpf, a turn-of-the-century villa on the edge of Grinzing with high ceilings and stucco, makes you feel like a guest of well-off Viennese relatives. Chain hotels barely exist here. Prices are fair for what you get - you pay for quiet, greenery and atmosphere instead of proximity to the center.
The travel times are the honest price of this idyll: tram line 38 links Grinzing with Schottentor on the Ring, line D heads towards Nussdorf, and the U4 terminates at Heiligenstadt - reaching the center takes 20 to 30 minutes depending on where you stay. A bus takes you up the Kahlenberg. In exchange, vineyards, wine taverns and walking paths on the city's edge are all on foot - things no city-center guest ever sees.
Döbling suits you if you already know Vienna, if on summer evenings you would rather sit in a wine garden than a hotel bar, or if your idea of a city break includes sleeping in and going for walks. Drivers also find the district refreshingly uncomplicated. For a first, short Vienna trip with a packed itinerary it is impractical - commuting to the center several times a day costs too much time. And in winter, when many Heurige close for a break, it gets very, very quiet up here.
Wine-tavern hills. You'll find 1 hotels and 1 sights here.
