Wien visit

Prague is wonderful; but an overnight won't give you much time there, as it's a solid 5 or 6 hours to get there from vienna - two travel days for one evening.
a better option is budapest. you'll get there in less than half the time - and it's a wonderful city. it's my personal favorite city in all of europe. if you're only going for an overnight budapest is (logistically, at least) a MUCH better option.

if you like italian, you may want to try the 'casa romana' downtown by st stephens. it's only a block or two from the cathedral, though i can't remember the street name (sorry).
the 'molly darcy' is a nice irish pub if you want to grab a pint in the evening.
but, then, italian resteraunts and irish pubs may not be the best way to get the flavour of vienna. i would suggest that you stop in to any of the wine cellars that you can find around town, where you can get a little more local flavour.

vienna's great!! i wish it were me. you'll have a super time.

 

the more i think about it, the more emphatically i wish to encourage you to make the sidetrip to budapest. standing on the pest side of the danube at night near the chain bridge and looking over to castle hill in buda is a view that will, by itself, make the trip worthwhile. with the chain bridge all lit up, as well as the palace, matyas templom (st matthew's) and the fisherman's bastion up on the hill - it's stunning.
conversely, from the bastion up on castle hill, the view back accross the danube (during the day) where you look over all of pest (including the beautiful neo-gothic houses of parliament situated right on the river) is also hugely asthetically pleasing. budapest is also very inexpensive for a european capital.

i could go on for awhile about vienna or budapest, but without knowing what your interests are (architecture, art, museums, activities, etc.) i wouldn't really know where to begin. needless to say, you should go down to your local barnes & noble (or wherever) and have a look through any number of travel guides for ideas. you'll find far more things in there than you'll be ever be able to do in one week.

 

when you arrive in vienna, on one of your first days, you should go down to the train station and purchase your round trip tickets for whatever days you want to travel. since you're going to be in budapest for less than seven days (i think it's 7), they'll sell you a ticket that will not only get you there; but will give you access to all of the city's public transport systems (subway, streetcars, etc.) for free.
when you arrive in budapest at the trainstation, there will be countless people there attempting to lure you this or that hotel. you may (understandably) want to secure accomodations prior to arrival; however, it's worth pointing out to you that some of those folks at the station will actually have some very good deals for you. if you're travelling by yourself, or with someone who's very flexible and willing to 'play it by ear', you may want to do it this way - though most folks, i guess, are more comfortable having a reservation.

one other point worth considering. at some point during the summer, the hungarian gran prix will be held in budapest. check the calendar for this event, because if it's going on while you're there, expect to pay three times the normal asking price - if you're able to get accomodations, at all. i think it's later in the summer - but you'll want to make sure!

i'm clearly envious. have a great time.

 

if i recall correctly, a 2nd class round-trip ticket from vienna to budapest should be around $40-50. vienna has four train stations, and service to and from budapest goes through two of them - the westbahnhof and sudbahnhof (west and south stations). you'll be able to get a ticket from any station, though, and (in my experience) most of the clerks speak english well - unlike many train stations in western europe - so they'll be able to set you up with your cheapest and/or most convenient ticket without much trouble. this is partially why i recommend that you get your ticket BEFORE your travel day. i can't really help you with websites, but my guess is that you can even secure tickets online these days, before you ever leave the states. however, i usually prefer the flexibility of planning my trips as they go. that choice, of course, is yours.

as far as travel guides go, as you're only going to be there for a day or two, you don't need anything massive. fodors makes things called 'citypacks', which have a small (nicely illustrated) booklet along with a foldout map. they're around $12. they're great. i have to admit, i've never seen one for budapest; but i've used them in paris, madrid, and vienna, and i've seen them for countless european capitals (including prague), so i'm assuming they exist. what i DO know of is something called fodors pocket budapest (around $10), which should cover all you'll need. the best ILLUSTRATED travel guides are the 'eyewitness' guides, put out by DK. their information is not as well laid out, but you might want to browse one at your book store to see what 'looks' best to you. the other guides will, of course, have all the info you'll need on the things that LOOK nice in the eyewitness guide. my only strong suggestion is that you make sure to have either a foldout map, or a comprehensive map within your travel guide.

if there's anything else i can help you out with, feel free to let me know.

 

If you like old fashioned amusement parks, Prater is the place. My favorite rides are the go-karts and big ferris wheel.

Schoenbrunn Palace was also a great place to visit. St. Stefans Church downtown is good with a great view of the city. LOTS of night life.

 

When we were in Wien, we visited another middle aged couple, and our tastes weren't very exotic - a nice dinner with fine wine, and Euro 2000 for dessert.