Vienna - Part 11 - Let's Take A Ride

Today I'm going to show you a different image of Vienna. Something that you don't find in every city.

If you're roaming around the streets of Vienna, at some point you're going to see these horse carriages taking tourists on a ride around the city.

You can see these fiakers, or fiacres are horse-drawn four-wheeled carriages for hire, cabs basically. Back in those days when the Habsburgs were ruling, these fiakers were the only vehicles to transport people. You most likely have seen these in different movies.

This one was passing by the Hofburg Palace taking tourists around the city. They have a station there if you're interested.

I don't know how many there are in total but there's one no matter where you go.

There were fully covered fiakers but also open ones.

Unfortunately that day it was raining but it looked like these tourists don't mind the rain.

This is another type that can b adjusted according to the weather. It can be made open or half covered in case it's raining like the day we were visiting Vienna.

The "drivers" all had hats and long raincoats. The hat is a must, it's part of the uniform as back in those days fiaker drivers were wearing hats and the long raincoat is also styled to match those time's fashion.

These are not original fiakers though, must be replicas as the originals are most likely stored and displayed in museums.

These trips however are not cheap. I did a search to see some prices and the cheapest trip (22 minutes) costs €55 and it's bookable daily from 9.30am until 10.30am.

I don't know about you but as much as I would like to try one, €55 is too much for me. Maybe for a whole day it would be reasonable of maybe the price is for the whole fiaker and if you share it, it's cheaper per person.

This photo was taken a day before when the weather was still nice.

There are special stations for fiakers and this is what the drivers life look like while waiting for tourists :)

This is a cheaper version, you can share this "cab" with other tourists eager to visit the city and pay only 9 euro for adults and 5 for children.

It's nice to see them on the streets, it reminded us of the past and it must be fun to ride one, I'm sure of that. The downside is that there's smell that you have to deal with.

I saw buckets attached to every fiaker and I'm sure they clean up after the horses but in the Sisi museum and in front of it you could feel the smell.

However, this doesn't mean I'm against them, not at all. I'm glad they kept the service alive and tourists can enjoy a ride around the city.

You can take a different type of ride this this eco taxi called Faxi. Faxi is the Pedicab that is at your service. I've seen similar ones in Hamburg.

You can also take this electric citybus.

It's ecological, emission-free, works with green energy.

Austria is paying attention to environment and pollution, you can see these wind turbines all over the country and electric and hybrid cars as well.

If you're not satisfied with the offer i presented you above, you can choose a Royal E-Car like this.

I don't know about the prices but I believe these are not cheap either. Someone must pay for all the waiting time they are having each day.

Next offer is the scooter :)

And there's this one. As you can see, there's plenty to choose from for every category, no matter how old or young you are. You just make sure to have plenty of money to spend.

Feel free to read the other episodes here :

Vienna - Part 1 - Public Transport
Vienna - Part 2 - Hospitality
Vienna - Part 3 - St. Michael's Church
Vienna - Part 4 - Schönbrunn Palace
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part I.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part II.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part III.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part IV.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part V.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part VI.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part VII.
Vienna - Part 5 - Hofburg Palace - Silver Collection - Part VIII.
Vienna - Part 6 - St. Stephen's Cathedral
Vienna - Part 7 - Food
Vienna - Part 8 - The Ferstel Passage - Part I.
Vienna - Part 8 - The Ferstel Passage - Part II.
Vienna - Part 9 - Mozart Everywhere
Vienna - Part 10 - Sisi Museum