Vienna Unwrapped Inspiration and Planning For Independent Travellers who are visiting ViennaChristmas Season Tips For December 2014
Things to do in Vienna December 2014.If you have high expectations of Vienna in December you are absolutely right. Christmas in Vienna is packed with fantastic things to do. Use this page to find out about the beststreet markets, musical events, city ice skating venue and what to do on Christmas Eve.
Christmas-market-hopping may become your favourite. You can do it easily by accessing mytop 9 Christmas marketsmap below.
Christmas Markets (1st to 25th December)
Things to do in Vienna December:Christmas in Vienna is about markets, mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, Christmas baubles and trumpet concerts. My favourite Christmas market is theAlt Wiener Weihnachtsmarktat Freyung, because of its beautiful ceramics, wooden toys, candles and Christmas decoration. Don’t miss the mulled wine with orange juice at Demmer’s Teehaus. Second on my personal list is the one in front ofSchonbrunn Palace.
To plan yourChristmas market tour in Vienna, use myVienna Top 9 Christmas markets mapbelow. It marks the areas of each Christmas market and includes short descriptions of each. Click on the blue link just beneath the map.
ViewChristmas Markets in Vienna Austriain a larger map
Advent and Christmas Concerts in Vienna
The best seasonal classical concerts take place in churches, such as St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Malteserkirche, Minoritenkirche, Peterskirche, and the small baroque jewel of St. Anna Church. The annual highlight of the season is, however, the‘Christmas in Vienna’ concertat the Wiener Konzerthaus (see photo).
As with all Christmas season events, try to book early. Read more aboutAdvent and Christmas Concerts in Vienna.
Funky Christmas At Museumsquartier
While the Christmas baubles, Alpine-style booths, fir trees and brass musicians of traditional Christmas markets add a festive spirit, make sure you discover the other side of Vienna’s outdoor winter parties. The Museumsquartier’s architect designed installations let you marvel at live performed street art, have a sip in sixbeautifully illuminated ‘ice pavilions’, join fun remote control car races and curling competitions, and listen tomodern winter soundsmade in Vienna. From dusk, the courtyard is filled with magical light projections.
Location: Museumsquartier (opposite Museum of Fine Arts and Museum of Natural History)
Dates: Monday to Friday 4pm to 11pm; Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 2pm to 11pm (ice pavilions); winter sounds, curling and car races from around 4pm;
Opening hours: daily 9am to 8pm, Tuesdays to Fridays 9am to 9pm;
Christmas Eve At Weikersdorf Castle
Christmas Eve (24th December) can be a sobering experience in Vienna, as most restaurants and venues shut down. Head for lovely Weikersdorf Castle in Baden in theVienna Woods(where I grew up!) for atraditional Austrian Christmas celebration evening. The Renaissance Castle is a cosy four star hotel, offering brilliant views of the town’s Doblhoff Park and the hilly forest of Kurpark. You will be served afour-course Viennese style Christmas dinner(I have eaten at Weikersdorf before, it is yummy), get a little present, and then head off through the Biedermeier-style city centre of Baden to our local church of St. Christopher where you will attendChristmas mass.
The event is reported to sell out quickly, check foravailable spaces and further information.
Ice Skating
Things to do in Vienna December:Ice skating is popular and one of the best things to do in Vienna in the winter. The ice skating rink of the Vienna Association of Ice Skaters spreads across6,000 square metresbetween the Wiener Konzerthaus (Vienna Concert Hall) and the Vienna InterContinental Hotel close to Stadtpark. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2012, the skating rink is one of themost traditional in town.
Dates: 26th October 2013 to 3rd March 2014
Opening hours: daily 9am to 8pm, Tuesdays to Fridays 9am to 9pm;
You can borrow ice skates on site for a few Euros.
Insider Tip:Real Viennese Folk
If you want to go as far away from mainstream Christmas as possible, have your ear on the ground and head for a Viennese folk concert within theMusical Advent Calendar. You will unearthoriginal local bandsre-interpreting their heritage ofViennese tavern songs. This is a great opportunity to visit insider locations such as Tanzcafe Jenseits, Konzertcafe Schmid Hansl and a former cable factory (Palais Kabelwerk), or experience well known places such as winery Hengl-Hasselbrunner from a new perspective.
Dates: 1st to 23rd December 2014
New Years Eve Concerts
Things to do in Vienna December:Vienna’s new year’s eve concerts cover both classical and contemporary concerts. Many contemporary concerts are free and form part of Vienna’s big street festival ‘Silvesterpfad’, while the classical concerts take place in warm concert halls. If you want to lay out the whole evening before you travel you can book some classical concerts together with a dinner package.
Learn more aboutNew Year’s Eve concertsin Vienna.
New Years Eve In Vienna
Things to do in Vienna December:I like New Year’s Eve in Vienna because the whole city turns into a party without leaving smashed windows and scorched earth. People also love to attend classical concerts, theatres and operettas, before theyfall into each other’s armsfor the traditional Vienna waltz at midnight.
Learn more about what to do onNew Years Eve in Vienna.