8 of Vienna’s beach bars where you should get sandy in the city this summer

Another city oasis can be found a 1-minute walk away from the metro station, Schottenring. The familiar face of the Tel Aviv beach bar never ages, and they’re back this year looking better than ever. They’ll be doing their sexy thing from April to September, filling up with bronzed bodies and bikinis on a daily basis. Their menu has an international look to it with a whole lot of hummus, burgers and filled pita breads amongst the mix.

Most evenings you’ll see it filled with the sort of crowd that wear makeup to the beach and guys that don’t like wearing a shirt, all enjoying cocktails with umbrellas in them and sinking their toes into the sand, while watching the sunset over the canal.

If Moses won’t go to the beach… bring the beach to Moses! Sorry, we’re not sure what we mean by that, either.

This oasis in the heart of the city, Strandbar Herrmann, is located on the Donaukanal next to the Urania. The bar beckons all who pass it with its deck chairs, hammocks, loads of sand, music, cool cocktails, delicious food, funky crowd, and its unique setting on a point of land sticking out onto the water, with an unmatched view upstream of the canal. The sun overlooks the bar til’ the sun goes down, so it is a great place for sunbathing throughout the day, and dancing into the early hours of the morning. It has regular DJ gigs.

Besides beach chairs and sand to settle into, you will also find proper tables and chairs where you can have a bite to eat, or sit up like civilised people (wink, wink)

Plus: drinks are relatively cheap (8–10€ euros for a cocktail) and stomach-filler snacks beach-style are served up every day til 11pm.

The Sansibar Beach Club is situated directly on a pier over the Danube, in the sunken City on Donauinsel. You can blow smoke rings over the river as you indulge in a fancy shisha and listen to fashionably outdated hip hop hits and Latino music.

During the happy hour between 6pm-8pm, cocktails are 5.50€ each. Conveniently, you can also order an “XXL jumbo version” of all alcoholic drinks (dangerous, but hey, you only live once) priced between 15–18€ for 0.86l. Quite the economical hangover, we’d say. They also started hosting very fun events that you should definitely check out if you want that la-vacay feel in dusty old’ vienna!

Make sure to… check out their fancy new paint job (meaning the place is looking better than it used to) and take the stairs up to the big old Sansigarden. It might be called garden, but don’t worry – there is sand and a bunch of comfortable chairs.

This is where you can find the real riviera feeling in Vienna…on a river. This area, situated just below the Reichsbrücke on either side of the river, hosts several beach bars and restaurants where you can drink and eat, and maybe even make a little sand castle in the sand when you get drunk and silly enough.

The iconic Ponte Cagrana pontoon bridge connects the Copa beach with the Sunken City, which is an area hosting another series of restaurants on the shores of the Donauinsel. While plenty perceive this place as plain mainstream, attracting a (insert insulting words here) kind of crowd, the city is working at rejuvenating this riverside playground and one visit makes most realize this beautiful spot is underrated.

Good to know… you can rent a small boat for up to four people at the Booteria (located on the Sunken City side of the river) until midnight if the weather is good. Rates start at 16€ per hour.

Located out on the Danube river, you can find the bar slash cafe slash wake boarding par, wake_up, with its sun terraces and sunset views.

During breakfast and lunch hours, you can find menu specials, fun-coloured cocktails, and a variety of international foods to munch on, like their Wake_up tapas and chicken pitas.

We really like… that you can surf and shout things like ‘cowabunga’ and ‘surf’s up’ like some kind of 90ies kid at the wakeboard lift near the beach bar

Swizzle Bar is the resident cocktail-shaking bar of the new Taste! Food Market, located by the Donaukanal where the Adria used to be (may the Adria RIP). 

It’s got some comfy sunbeds setup out the front in an adult-sized sandpit to give you that vacay feeling. 

The bar stays true to the Tiki Bar concept, meaning you can expect to be making your sucking-on-a-straw face to some elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based drinks.

Good to know… A ‘swizzle’ is a 40cm long bamboo, or wooden stick that has been used since the 18th century in Tiki bars to mix cocktails.

The perfect mix of relaxed and lively, this intimate waterside location will make you forget you’re in a bar and like you’ve got your own little garden by the river. Complete with sun chairs and a few coveted hammocks, this is the perfect spot to get your chill on. Meanwhile, the graffiti on the gate and walls depicting dancing chickens (pollos locos, get it?) and flowers lend a strong hippie vibe.

Drinks are relatively cheap but heed the strict no BYOB policy – be sure to finish your liquid provisions well beforehand.

Make sure you… party hard after dark in the pavilion to Electro sounds, while setting fire to the sand with your dance moves. Then you can cool down with a swim in the river. But don’t try to steal one of the boats anchored in the tiny harbor opposite the beach area, no matter how tempting it may be after your third beer. Trust us, we speak from experience.

Given the name, we bet you’re surprised that the affectionately named (by those who frequent it) VCBC is actually located on an artificial beach by the Danube. They’re not only known for their beach volleyball court, but also for throwing some bomb-ass parties.

From parties blasting Goa to Techno, and from House to Rock on every different day of the week, this is an awesome spot to dance in the sand. And when the party gets too hot, you can always jump into the Danube for a quick dip.

They’ve got plenty on offer here – shisha, beach volleyball, DJ beats, drinks, and food, plus you’ll catch some pretty impressive sunsets here. 

Good to know… reserve at least one week in advance if you want to play a good old volleyball match. You can also bring your dog and engage in some Stand Up Paddling. Sheesh, they even let you shower there and provide power banks for you to charge your phone. Why don’t you just move in already?!