Vienna has more water than most people realize. The Danube, the Donaukanal, the Alte Donau, and scattered among them a restaurant scene that has long treated summer by the water as a category of its own. As soon as temperatures rise, the canal becomes the city's extended living room.
Donaukanal: Neni, Motto am Fluss and KLYO
Neni am Wasser serves Israeli-Mediterranean cooking in a sharing style right on the canal: hummus, grilled vegetables, burrata, cocktails, DJs. Loud, lively, with an energy you either love or avoid.
Motto am Fluss on Franz-Josefs-Kai is open year round, but in summer its waterside terrace turns into one of the most coveted spots in the city.
Right next door, on the roof of the Urania: KLYO, a day restaurant and rooftop bar in one. The view over the Donaukanal and the inner city makes every drink taste better, from breakfast to sundowner.
Beach bars on the canal: Blumenwiese and Herrmann
The best-known address is and remains Strandbar Herrmann by Herrmannpark in the third district, a fixture for twenty years now. Sand underfoot, deck chairs, DJ sets, weekend yoga.
On the opposite bank of the canal: Blumenwiese on Obere Donaustraße, a beach club with a sand beach, deck chairs, restaurant and bar. An easygoing crowd, good drinks, summer mood without any fuss.
Otto will Meer in the historic Schützenhaus
Otto will Meer has found its home in the historic Otto Wagner Schützenhaus: a tapas bar on the ground floor for quick bites and drinks, a restaurant on the first floor for international fish dishes with a canal view. An Art Nouveau gem that's finally back in use.
On the Alte Donau: quieter, but no less summery
Anyone who leaves the Donaukanal behind and heads further out finds a calmer Vienna at the Alte Donau. Donaubrise, right inside the Alte Donau lido, has long been a fixture of the Viennese summer: uncomplicated food, plenty of organic ingredients, from the first coffee to the last drink of the night.
Bootshaus on Untere Alte Donau 61 serves Mediterranean food with a terrace and deck chairs right on the water, with breakfast also served on Saturdays and Sundays. And Strandgasthaus Birner on Obere Alte Donau 47 in the 21st district is the most old-school of them all: stepped terraces down to the water, Austrian home cooking, fish specialties.
Vienna by the water is summer itself. Whether it's the urban buzz of the canal or a quiet terrace on the Alte Donau, the city finds itself by the water.