The ‘world’s best’ city that’s less than three hours from UK – with flights just £35 | Europe | Travel
Vienna is often named as the best city in Europe (Image: Getty)
A stunning city dubbed Europe’s “best” is just a three-hour flight from the UK. Better yet, travellers looking to keep their costs down can visit the beautiful capital city for as little as £35 return.
The city, Vienna in Austria, topped the Global Liveability Charts three years in a row. Home to around two million people, it was ranked ahead of destinations such as Copenhagen, Zurich and Geneva, with its stability, culture, and local infrastructure all scoring highly. It is also a haven for culture, well known for its music, fine art, and cute coffee shops.
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Vienna is home to two million people (Image: Getty)
YouTuber Ed Chapman visited the city to find out if it really was “the greatest city in the world”. During his visit Ed managed to take in the Danube Tower, home to Europe’s highest slide, a 24-hour amusement park, and the world famous Cafe Central.
Located in the Innere Stadt district of Vienna, the cafe was once a favoured destination for historical figures such as Sigmund Freud, Leon Trotsky, and Josef Stalin. During his visit to the cafe, which was once known as Chess school, because many top players used the venue for games, Ed ordered beef goulash, a hot chocolate and a cake.
Commenting on his goulash, he said: “That is beautiful, what a delight, lovely and warm, great flavours. Proper hearty food.”
When considering if Vienna is the best place in the world, Ed said: “It’s a beautiful place. It’s lovely. Buildings are amazing, astonishing. It’s got some history knocking about. Mozart is, you know, his place is out here somewhere. There’s something to walk past. All sorts of museums.”
Cafe Central in Vienna (Image: Getty)
He added: “I’m very impressed by this place. But is it the greatest city in the world that I’m not sure about. It’s a very, very good city. I can absolutely see why it’s been given the most livable tag in both Europe and the world. And I could absolutely imagine living here myself.”
As well as enjoying the coffee house culture like Ed did in Vienna, there’s plenty for people to explore in the city. The Austrian capital is home to a host of historic Baroque churches as well as the colourful Hundertwasserhaus and Wiener Riesenrad, a 64m tall ferris wheel.
Mark Wolter, from Wolter’s World, also praised the cuisine in Vienna. He said: “The cakes, the food, yeah you have your Wiener Schnitzel and your hot dogs but there’s so many great foods, pork, duck, all this food from all over the holy Roman empire, because you have Hungarian goulash or pasta from those times.”
Mark says Austria is a “really cool” place to visit as a tourist and highlights the hotels and public transport. He added: “Whether it’s trains, buses or trams they have this all out there, which is really cool to use as a tourist.
Vienna was described as ‘beautiful’ (Image: Getty)
“The museums will have things usually in German but they’ll have cards in English to help you.”
As well as the old towns of Austria, Mark recommends travellers visit the cultural destinations and nature around the nation. “I like to tell people, if you want to get cultured come to Austria, because there’s so much of the museums, architecture and history,” Mark added.
According to Skyscanner, a flight to Vienna from Manchester Airport costs as little as £19 one-way while a return flight from Bristol can cost around £35.
