Vienna itinerary help?

Going for the first time to Vienna for a week - Any tips would be appreciated
What must-see palaces and museums - Best value and non tourist trap for concerts - Best mid range restaurants - What tip can you give me on public transport around the city for the week. I am not sure if the Vienna Card is really worth the money. Thanks kindly

Lots to see and do in Vienna, one of our favorite cities! Where are you staying? If you are in the downtown area I recommend taking the S-Bahn from the airport, half the price of the CAT train and just as easy.

http://www.viennaairport.com/en/passengers/arrival__parking/s-bahn__suburban_railway

The inner city (inside the Ring and even just beyond to the museums) is very walkable. But you may want to consider a transit pass to use the trams.

http://www.viennaairport.com/en/passengers/arrival__parking/s-bahn__suburban_railway

Here is a great website for all kinds of Vienna info:
http://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing

Our favorite sites inside or walkable near the Ring include:
St. Stephens´s Cathedral (Stephansdom)
Imperial Palace - Hofburg
Belvedere (Klimt museum)
Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art Museum)
Imperial Crypt (beneath the Capuchin Church)
Try to see a concert at the Grand Hall of the Musikverein (where they hold the famous New Year’s Concert). We did the really touristy Mozart Concert there (which is looked down upon by many classical music aficionados) but we loved it. Just sitting in box seats in that beautiful hall was worth every penny.
We also liked the touristy Waltz King, Johann Strauss concert (held in different locations around town).
If you like Opera you’ll probably want to check out the schedule at the Opera House (or just take the guided tour of the hall, it’s really beautiful).

Other music related sites are the Mozart House museum, the Beethoven House museum and the House of Music Museum is excellent.
And many smaller churches in the center, several have free concerts (organ or choir), check the tourist brochures when you get there for current schedules.
We never had the chance to hear the Boys Choir (or see the Lippizaner Horses) but hope to do that someday.

Outside the city center the must see is the Schönbrunn Palace (easy to get to on public transport) and the Prater where the famous Ferris Wheel is (rent the movie The Third Man before you go!).

Stop in at the many coffee houses, all are different, very historic and beautiful. Two of the restaurants we liked on our last trip (both inside the Ring) were Fratelli (Italian) and the 1516 Brew Pub.

I am staying in town at the Cordial - booked with Interval. thanks for the money saving tip about transport

Just back from there! A few highlights:

Best music value: Sunday mass at St Augustine Church - it's free and includes orchestra and choir.

Standing room tickets at the opera, only a few Euros each. Go to the door on the back side opposite the front entrance, line up around 6:30 maybe? (ask) and the first 100+ or so get an area that is much closer than the nosebleed upper level seats which cost 4x as much at a last-minute discount. Bring a scarf to wrap around your spot (it's the tradition) because you have to leave and then will be ushered back in. We aren't avid opera fans, so stayed for 2 curtains. We were glad to see the place, and were also glad we hadn't paid more so we wouldn't feel obligated to stay for the whole thing

The strudel-making demo at Schönbrunn Palace - fun and includes a sample to eat.

I concur about the House of Music Museum, many interactive displays, it's really different and fascinating.

Natural History Museum houses the original Venus of Willendorf and is totally impressive, contains one of the largest collections we've ever seen.

We needed metro every day of our 5-day stay, so bought some kind of multi-ticket transportation pass and used it to get to our lodging from the airport. We didn't bother with a Vienna card.

By the way, we exchanged into Hotel Cortina thru RCI. I was initially a bit skeptical about the location (accepted it because it popped up for the exact dates I needed), but it was just fine: a few blocks, maybe a 7-minute walk thru a nice safe neighborhood to the metro, trains come every few minutes, and then maybe another 7 minutes into town. It's much closer and faster to city center than the 2 other suburban timeshares we've now traded into for city visits (Royal Regency for Paris and Petnehazy for Budapest). I do recommend Cortina if a hotel room w/little refrigerator and sitting area will suffice.

We attended an opera at the Volksoper. It was great and much less expensive than the Vienna State Opera, but do take the tour there, also the Belvedere was beautiful and we lived the Klimpts in the museum. We ate at Cafe Mozart and loved the food. Beautiful city.

I leave next Wednesday so thanks for all the money saving tips - any restaurants to recommend?

One thing we had to do was see a performance of the Lipizzaner horses at the Spanish Riding School (in the Hofburg Palace). We had the tickets delivered to our hotel.

A quote... "The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the only institution in the world which has practiced for over 440 years and cultivates classical equitation in the Renaissance tradition of the haute école."
.

Restaurants, just because it's a classic: Cafe Sacher

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g190454-d793025-Reviews-Cafe_Sacher_Vienna-Vienna.html

We had the famous chocolate cake, which was good. But I wished I'd ordered a chocolate mousse pie-type dessert, which I noticed on the dessert tray on the way out, and looked awesome.

When I was last in Wien the hotel concierge recommended some excellent restaurants. I'd suggest doing the same.


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