Vienna Unwrapped Inspiration and Planning For Independent Travellers who are visiting Vienna
Vienna tourism calendar. While it is hard to get lost in Vienna, you CAN lose yourself in its cultural offer. To help you focus, this month-by-month calendar lists the top highlights: from operas and concerts, music and food festivals, and top exhibitions, to the best seasonal tours and popular neighborhood events. To find relevant dates, addresses, opening times and booking options just click on each month. You can use this information as key building blocks for your trip planning (double check dates and prices before booking).
Things To Do In January
Vienna tourism calendar. January is a quiet tourism season in Vienna. However, there are lots of things to do, from ice-skating through the park of Vienna City Hall to Mozart operas and concerts, and Johann Strauss operettas. For ballroom dancers and classical music fans the busy ball season is an opportunity to take waltz dance lessons in a city where ballroom dancing is part of growing up for many. Other than that I have selected some special guided tours that will keep you warm.
Things To Do In February
Vienna tourism calendar. Depending on the carnival season each year, at least the first half of February bursts with dance balls, including the Vienna Opera Ball, a national and international socialite must. Because warm weather tourism and international conferences are still gearing up, this month lends itself to visiting otherwise crowded museums and attractions. If you take your other half to Vienna around the 14th February check my top tips of what you can do on Valentine’s Day.
Things To Do In March
Vienna tourism calendar. Come March in Vienna and people start inspecting the parks for the first flowers while the number of street musicians grows, and restaurants run their ‘wild garlic and asparagus weeks’. In March, a range of special art exhibitions will take off. Musikverein’s Golden Hall usually hosts a number of top quality concerts while the Vienna Woods lure with the first snow bells, daffodils and fresh moss.
Read more in things to do in March.
Things To Do In April
Vienna tourism calendar. Spring in Vienna is celebrated with music festivals, the re-opening of streetside cafés and some summer attractions such as Hermesvilla. In short, April is THE month to kick off Vienna’s outdoor season. Tour operators re-introduce bike and segway tours, and most boat operators re-open their trip itineraries to locations like Bratislava (see photo), Budapest, and the Wachau Valley.
Read more in things to do in April.
Things To Do In May
Vienna tourism calendar. At the start and end of May, two spectacular open air concerts will mesmerise thousands of classics fans in Schonbrunn Palace and at Heldenplatz square. In early May, prepare for the Tour de Vin along the Danube. Another rare event will see the Vienna Boys Choir team up again with the Spanish Riding School for A Tribute To Vienna.
A food festival and the international urban festival ‘Wiener Festwochen’ will give your Vienna programme a little edge. Besides that, May is a great month to venture out to UNESCO World Heritage Site Wachau Valley (photo).
Access things to do in May to learn more.
Things To Do In June
Vienna tourism calendar. When summer is really taking off, June is perfect for shipping across the Danube, and even better if you do it during Summer Solstice at Wachau Valley (photo). By this time, the Museumsquartier’s summer special Summer at the MQ is also in full swing. For amazing music and a fun charitable event, prepare for the Long Night of the Churches and the Wienissimo Food Festival. And if you are a fan of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, make sure you can attend their free annual open air concert.
More on these and other tips in things to do in June.
Things To Do In July
Vienna tourism calendar. A few official cultural institutions take a summer break, creating space in our calendars for festivals of music and food.
Bike tours, Mozart music at baroque churches, the annual Light Festival on the Old Danube, special events at the Spanish Riding School, and possibly a visit to the ‘Lobau’ Danube Flood Plains in Vienna (photo) are just some of the other best things to do in and around town.
Get more travel tips for the month in things to do in July.
Things To Do In August
Vienna tourism calendar. Get out in Vienna as much as you can, explore its green surroundings, but don’t miss socialising with the locals. My August tips for things to do in Vienna include the best boat trips on the Vienna Danube, bike and segway tours through town, a tranquil day in the Vienna Woods, things to do in Vienna with kids, and re-inventing the Vienna coffeehouse culture by making friends with a local resident.
Access my tips for things to do in August
Things To Do In September
Vienna tourism calendar. Come September and Vienna is back to its regular cultural calendar. The Vienna State Opera, the Spanish Riding School and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are back from the summer break.
On top there are nice specials to do, such as doing a private wine tour during the harvest season, getting an update on Austrian fashion at our annual fashion show, or joining local folk dress freaks at Vienna’s answer to the Oktoberfest.
Visit things to do in September for further details.
Things To Do In October
Vienna tourism calendar. Just as the nights grow longer in October, operas get dramatic at the Vienna State Opera, and the annual Long Night of the Museums rings in. A special day to celebrate together with the Viennese is Austrian National day on the 26th. If you are into films, don’t miss Vienna’s largest film festival Viennale. Other picks for a great October in Vienna are Sigmund Freud tours and Vienna Boys Choir concerts.
Find out more in things to do in October.
Things To Do In November
Vienna tourism calendar. Despite November being a weird time to go outdoor again, there is a lot going on beyond snug coffeehouse benches: People waltzing along Graben boulevard to celebrate the start of carnival, singers belting out arias from public balconies during Voicemania, evening tours past the city’s illuminated landmarks, and an Alpine Perchtenlauf.
To find out more on what to see and do in November, go to things to do in November
Things To Do In December: Christmas and New Year
Vienna tourism calendar. Christmas in Vienna is almost all about seasonal markets, mulled wine and advent concerts. My tour map of the Top 8 Christmas markets in Vienna will help you to find your way round. And if you don’t know what to do on Christmas Eve, think of an evening in a Renaissance Castle in the spa town of Baden in the Vienna Woods.
New Year’s Eve has a quite dense offer of street festivals, new year’s eve concerts and other cultural events.
See what New Years Eve concerts are on in 2023/4;
Get the ‘special edition’ of how to spend New Years Eve in Vienna.
How To Pick And Choose
Vienna tourism calendar. While I’ve tried not to throw too many things at you chances are you will be short on time.
If you are not sure which and how many attractions, walks, special events, concerts and tours will make a great itinerary for you, I can help. Find out more in Vienna travel planning.
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