Coffeehouses. Vienna's café culture is genuinely unique and worth taking seriously. The traditional Kaffeehaus — marble tables, wooden newspaper holders, white-aproned waiters — is a UNESCO-recognised cultural institution. Order a Verlängerter (a long black), a Melange (with milk foam), or a Kleiner Brauner (with cream), and sit for as long as you want. The waiter will not rush you.
The famous coffee houses are scattered through the Innere Stadt — Café Central, Café Hawelka, Café Sacher, Café Landtmann, Demel — each with its own character. Outside the centre, Café Sperl in the 6th district and Café Prückel near Stubenring are still proudly old-school.
Bars and nightlife. Late-night drinking centres on the Bermuda Triangle (Bermuda-Dreieck) just behind the Schwedenplatz — the streets around Rabensteig and Seitenstettengasse are wall-to-wall bars. For a more grown-up crowd, head to Spittelberg (7th district) or the Karmelitermarkt area (2nd). Vienna's craft cocktail scene is small but excellent — Loos American Bar is the historical pilgrimage, Tür 7 (a tiny speakeasy) and Kleinod are current favourites.
Heurigen. The Heuriger wine taverns of Grinzing, Nussdorf, Sievering, and Heiligenstadt are the city's other essential drinking experience — long shared tables, glass-jugs of local Wiener Gemischter Satz wine, a cold buffet of meats and pickles, and on a good night Schrammelmusik played live. The big places in Grinzing are touristy but enjoyable; smaller producers further up the hills are quieter and better.
Donaukanal. In summer, the Danube Canal turns into an open-air bar strip. Strandbar Hermann is the original; dozens of pop-ups follow each summer.