• Travelsignposts Home
  • Country Guides
  • City Guides
  • River Cruises
  • Europe Photos
  • About Us

Austria Travel

  • Home
  • Photos
  • Map
  • Weather
  • Site Map
  • Destinations
  • Sightseeing
  • Shopping
  • Food
  • Getting around
  • Useful facts
  • News & Events
You are here: Home / Food / Schanigärten – Typically Viennese Sidewalk Cafés

Schanigärten – Typically Viennese Sidewalk Cafés

By Helen Page 1 Comment

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Vienna’s Summertime Sidewalk Cafés:

Sidewalk Café © WienTourismus/Bryan Duffy

As sure as springtime brings on the blooms of Vienna’s flower gardens, summertime in Vienna sees something quite different springing up on Vienna’s sidewalks:  Between March 1 and November 15 each year, Vienna’s Schanigärten (sidewalk cafés) spring to life – around 1,800 of them.

So when the warm weather comes on, it’s common to see locals making a beeline for a Schanigärten, or sidewalk café. These temporary outdoor cafés add to the relaxed atmosphere of summer in the city.

Unlike the outdoor seating offered in the city’s countless restaurant gardens (Gastgärten), Schanigärten can be set up on public spaces such as squares, pedestrian zones or sidewalks. However, they have to be close to the catering premises and not obstruct walkways. Flower pots take the place of garden fences, with parasols providing shade from the summer heat.

How the Schanigärten Began

Vienna’s first Schanigärten opened in 1754 when Johann Jakob Taroni set up a covered lemonade stall on the Graben in the old town. The term “Schanigärten” is thought to have stemmed from this pioneer of the sidewalk café as Jean and its derivative Schani are short for the Viennese name Johann.

Another possibility is that in those days apprentice waiters were also often referred to as “Jean” or “Schani”.  And, many people believe that the term Schanigärten comes from the oft-repeated instruction: “Schani, take that out into the garden.”

These temporary Vienna cafés and bars are veritable oases for relaxation and are the ideal places to have a drink and bite to eat and chill out.  For the visitor, it’s a great venue to have a sightseeing break,  soak in the atmosphere and watch the Viennese go by.

Things to do in Vienna

Click here to get a free PDF of this post

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: bar vienna, cafe vienna, schanigärten, sidewalk cafe, vienna cafe, vienna cafes, vienna food

avatar

About Helen Page

Helen Page is a prolific blogger and ardent traveller; she runs Travelsignposts with her professional writer and photographer husband Tony.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You can also find us on

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Latest Additions

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Birthday Anniversary 2023
  • Christmas Concerts in Vienna
  • Christmas Markets in Innsbruck
  • Christmas in Vienna: Advent Music in Vienna Churches 2022
  • The Magic of the Vienna Christmas Markets

Plan and Book Your Trip


eNews and Updates

feedburner Sign up now to get emailed news as well as other site updates!

Get the Guerrilla Travel Photography ebook here now!
City Guides
Country Guides
River Cruises

Who is behind Travelsignposts?

Helen and Tony Page at Singapore Changi Airport

We're Helen and Tony Page, and we love travelling - lucky as we've been doing it for the last few decades!

Tony has long been a professional photographer and writer, but Helen now writes most of the posts and takes a lot of photos herself!

Travelsignposts is our main travel planning site, but we've just launched Travelsignposts China and Tony also runs the Travelsignposts Photo and Guerrilla Travel Photography web sites, as well as publishing the Take Better Digital Photos and Guerrilla Travel Photography eBooks.

Read more about Helen and Tony or contact them.

Other Countries

  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Devon & Cornwall
  • England
  • Estonia
  • Europe (General)
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • Scotland
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine

Resources

  • Take Better Digital Photos eBook Take Better Digital Photos eBook
  • Take Better Digital Photos Free eCourse
  • Travel Signposts Photo – our main travel photography site
  • Guerrilla Travel Photography eBook Guerrilla Travel Photography eBook

Copyright © 2023 ·Lifestyle Pro Theme · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress · Log in

Get a free PDF of this post!
Just enter your email address below and we'll send it to you immediately.

Pleas enter your Email Address