The Danube bank in Vienna is transformed into a colourful beach promenade

InterContinental Life

“Tel Aviv Beach” in Vienna, right next to the Danube Canal. © SHARE architects'

Caribbean on the Danube

This summer, Vienna is being transformed a sunny beach promenade offering everything from beach volleyball to fine dining.

In January 1869, a dignified looking man with a big moustache and a pince-nez had a ground-breaking idea: “A new form of postal correspondence”. This new form of correspondence was the postcard. The resourceful man in question was a university lecturer called Emanuel Hermann, and the Austrian capital named a park on the Danube Canal in honour of him and his marvellous invention. But mention the name Hermann to international visitors to Vienna and they won’t think of either the distinguished gentleman or the park. They’ll think of the “Strandbar Hermann”. The open-air bar on the Danube Canal has become one of the most ‘in’ places to meet in recent years. Leading travel magazine “Condé Nast Traveler” has repeatedly included the beach bar in its list of the hottest 25 clubs in the world.

It is easy to get to Tel Aviv Beach from Vienna, you just need to take the “Obere Donaustrasse”. “Tel Aviv Beach am Donaukanal” was opened in 2009. It is a clever idea by Israeli creative tourism types wanting to celebrate the hundred-year anniversary of the Israeli city. Similar projects were launched at the same time in New York, Paris and Copenhagen. Tel Aviv night-life is legendary; the Red Sea city is considered the party capital of Israel. The idea of creating a Tel Aviv beach on the Danube was to recreate this feeling. Originally, the Israeli Embassy leased the 1500 square metre area from the City of Vienna. Israeli-born Vienna restaurateur Haya Molcho – who runs her restaurant “Neni” in the Vienna Gourmet Market – bought the property from the Embassy and agreed a six-year lease with the city. It is an ambitious concept for a restaurant. Unlike other clubs, food is not sold over the bar. It is a fine dining beach. The most eye-catching feature of the Tel Aviv Beach is the concrete wall at the back. It has been painted azure blue and shows the skyline of Tel Aviv in silhouette.

Just a stone’s throw from the InterContinental Vienna, they are, quite literally, spreading “Sand in the City”. The beach club of the same name, covering an area of 600 square metres, has palm trees, beach furniture and beach volleyball facilities. Three beach bars and 12 food outlets are serving snacks and beach classics such as barbecued steaks ... “Sand in the City” has become an institution in Vienna over the last four years, with over 300,000 guests last year.

Of course, a beach club can only really work if the weather is right. And what the weather will be like this summer remains purely a question of speculation. The Vienna Tourist Board has come up with an excellent formulation in response to questions on prospects for the weather: “Most days of the year, the weather is like the people of the city: it is friendly, mild and moderate in every respect ....”

Beach clubs in Vienna