A Mini Guide to Visiting Vienna, Austria in December

If you are looking for a great winter holiday destination, I would highly recommend visiting Vienna in December. Yes, it is cold, but the city boasts great Christmas markets and festivals during this time. I visited Vienna in December during peak-Christmas season with my family. Personally, I think it’s a great time of the year to visit – perfect for perusing the famous Christmas markets with a mug of gluhwein (mulled wine) in hand, or enjoying a slice of sacher torte (chocolate cake with apricot jam) at one of the many art-deco coffeehouses in the city. Keep reading on for my mini guide to visiting Vienna, Austria in December!

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It’s cold in Vienna during this time of the year, but in a way that’s okay, because otherwise it wouldn’t feel like the holidays. During the day, the streets are still lively and filled with the sounds of Christmas shoppers and the clip-clopping of horse-drawn carriages (yes, you read that right). At night, the streets of the Inner Stadt (old town) are lit with glittering fairy lights.

Table of Contents

Why I love Vienna
Where to stay
What to do
Where to eat

Why I love Vienna

When I was younger, I loved playing the piano (I still do, although busy and stressful work days make it difficult to find the time). As a child, I would spend hours every week practicing and flipping the pages of music books. I competed in piano competitions, several of them which involved having to give a presentation on a famous composer or piece of music. For one competition, I decided to present on one of my favorite composers Mozart, and ever since then I’ve been fascinated by the city that he called home. Did you know? Vienna is known to be the “City of Music” and was not only home to Mozart, but several other brilliant composers including Schubert, Haydn, and Brahms.

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On top of that, one of my favorite songs growing up was the song “Vienna” by Billy Joel. As a self-proclaimed over-achiever and perfectionist, there were times where I felt like Billy Joel had written the song for me…telling me to ‘slow down’ and not rush through life. Vienna was waiting for me guys! Waiting FOR ME!

And so, naturally, making a trip to Vienna was at the top of my bucket list when I moved to Europe, and there was no doubt in my mind that I would love every minute spent there. And I did. Check out my mini guide to Vienna in December below (full disclosure, my version of Vienna is very much a romanticized one).

Busy streets of Vienna during Christmasttime

Where to stay

While in Vienna, we stayed at a B&B called Benediktushaus. I couldn’t recommend this place enough! The rates were reasonable, the rooms were clean and spacious, and the location was conveniently located in the heart of the city. Best of all though, the place had character – Benediktushaus is a working monastery that also runs a guesthouse. It felt so unique to be able to stay in a historical building complex of the abbey.

The only downsides to staying in the monastery were: (1) they didn’t offer TVs or radios in the rooms (which wasn’t a big deal for us, after all, we didn’t travel all the way to Vienna just to watch TV!), and (2) the abbey bells rang early in the morning (again, not a big deal for us early rising travelers, but could be a big deal for late-sleepers).

What to do

Inner Stadt

After arriving in Vienna, take some time to get your bearings on the city by wandering Inner Stadt (old town), with it’s cute confectioner shops and boutique shopping lanes. The first thing I noticed about Vienna was how clean the streets were. The cobblestones were shiny and smooth, and almost looked like they had been individually cleaned and polished!

St. Stephens Cathedral

While in Inner Stadt, make sure to visit St. Stephens Cathedral. My husband always jokes that once you’ve seen a cathedral in Europe, you’ve seen all cathedrals in Europe, and I have to admit that the inside of St. Stephens is not particularly unique. What makes St. Stephens Cathedral special though, is that you can climb to the top balconies and enjoy great views of the city. The cathedral has a beautiful brightly-colored chevron-patterned roof. It’s definitely one of the most unique and impressive rooftops I’ve ever seen.

Rathausplatz

Explore the various Christmas markets around town. The Christkindlmarket at the Rathausplatz (December 25/26 hours: 11 am – 9:30 pm) features over 150 stalls and is Vienna’s largest Christmas market. It’s definitely one of the more impressive Christmas markets I’ve been to!

We spent a few hours roaming the market, snacking on cheesy spaetzle, bratwursts, donuts, and gluhwein. I felt like we picked something up from every stall….it was too hard to resist! I’m still dreaming about that spaetzle…

Vienna State Opera

For more festive fun, the Advent Pleasure Market is another famous Christmas market, and is located near the majestic Vienna State Opera House. We didn’t have time to make it to a show, but the Vienna State Opera is known to be one of the top opera houses in the world. It’s also the site where the glitzy Vienna Opera Ball takes place ever year.

FUN FACT: The Viennese ‘ball season’ (which runs from November to January) is filled with more than 450 ball events and 2000 hours of dancing!

Schonbrunn Palace

You can’t go to Vienna and not visit the Schonbrunn Palace. During this time of the year, there’s also a variety of Christmas/New Year’s market stalls located at the front of the Palace. The Schonbrunn Palace is a grand imperial palace and designated UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s one of Vienna’s most important architectural and cultural monuments and attractions. Fun fact – Mozart gave his first performance to the Empress in the Schonbrunn Palace!

The palace features over 1,400 rooms, but only 40 of them are available to the public, each one of them more grand and beautifully decorated than the last. The palace also has several garden areas which offer panoramic views of the palace grounds.

Great-Gallery-Inside-The-Schonbrunn-Palace — Source: https://www.schoenbrunn.at/en/about-schoenbrunn/the-palace/

Palace of Justice

The Palace of Justice is home to the Supreme Court of Austria. It’s not a well-known tourist attraction in Vienna and access to the building requires going through a security check (with not-so-pleasant security guards!). However, it’s totally worth visiting because the Palace of Justice offers one of the most impressive interiors in Vienna.

TIP: The Justizcafe is located on the 5th floor of the Palace of Justice. On a clear sunny day, it’s a great place to have an outdoor snack. The views of the city from the terrace are supposedly amazing.

Belvedere Palace

For art history buffs, a can’t-miss attraction in Vienna is Belvedere Palace, a historic palace that is known for having the largest collection of Gustav Klimt oil paintings.

The most famous painting of them all is ‘The Kiss’, a colorful and glittery gold portrait of two embracing lovers. The sale of this painting made history. Apparently, the Belevedere paid 25,000 crowns for the painting….prior to that, the highest price paid for a painting in Austria at that time as 500 crowns. ‘The Kiss’ is not likely to be on-sale anytime soon, but for some reference for it’s value, lesser-known pieces by Klimt have been sold for over 100 million each.

Hundertwasserhaus

For something a little different, take a short tram out of the city center to visit Hundertwasserhaus. Hundertwasserhaus is a public-housing project with a crazy exterior featuring multi-colored walls, uneven roofs, and mosaic pillars. You can’t go inside (people actually live there!), but the outside has plenty to see and admire. Rumor has it, when the building was built, it caused quite a stir in Vienna since it was such a stark contrast to the surrounding classic architecture. #weirdiscool

Where to eat

Vienna Naschmarkt

The Vienna Naschmarkt is a large outdoor food and produce market. The stalls are not only represented by local Austrian cheese and sausage makers, but also several ethnic food vendors.

While you’re there, check out NENI am Naschmarkt, a hip Israeli/Middle Eastern restaurant that serves up a mean brunch. The hummus there was divine.

Cafe Central

Cafe Central is a famous coffeehouse and a popular place for locals and tourists to gather over coffee and dessert. The interior is beautiful, with tall ceilings and cream-colored arches. Walking into Cafe Central feels like you’ve stepped back into the Golden Age. It’s no surprise that the cafe was often visited by the likes of Freud, Lenin, and Trotsky.

I personally thought that it was a bit too touristy (not to mention VERY expensive), but it’s something to cross off the ‘must-do’ Vienna tourist bucket list. Cafe Sacher Wien is another quintessential Viennese coffeehouse, famous for their original Sacher torte cake (chocolate cake with apricot jam).

Cafe Central Morgenstimmung — Source: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/austria/articles/a-intellectuals-travel-guide-to-vienna/

TIP: The queues to get into the cafes can get quite long. We visited Cafe Central after dinner assuming the crowds would have died down, but still had to wait in line for 20 minutes. Be prepared to wait, or go early!

Melker Stiftskeller

The cold winter weather in Vienna just begs for a hearty meal of meat….and more meat. And you can’t go to Vienna without trying the famous Wiener Schnitzel. I highly recommend visiting Melker Stiftskeller, an Austrian underground wine cellar and restaurant, featuring local Austrian specialties. The schnitzel was tender and juicy, and the pork knuckle was bigger than the size of my head!

Chestnut

If you’re looking for a break from traditionally-heavy Austrian cuisine, check out Chestnut. This tiny restaurant is located in the heart of the city and offers a unique menu featuring what else….chestnuts! I enjoyed the Chestnut Cream Soup and the Crispy Autumn Salad.