Vienna is often associated with cultural holidays, when you wander through museums and art galleries in search of elegance, tranquility, and history. These visits usually take place in spring or autumn… but rediscovering Austria’s capital in winter, especially during a non-tourist season (like January), could be the perfect solution for a unique vacation. After landing directly at Vienna Airport (VIE), you’ll be just a few kilometers from your destination. At Transfeero, with our customized transportation services and professional chauffeurs, we will help you do it stress-free.
Vienna winter tour
Vienna in winter is above all about “Christmas Markets”, but even when the holiday season closes, there are still numerous interesting activities to discover in the city.
Enjoy the delicacy of Viennese pastries in one of the many elegant cafés in the city center, for example. These high-quality pastry shops have an antique feel, reminiscent of the glories of the Habsburgs and Princess Sisi. And speaking of Sisi… Schönbrunn Royal Palace will welcome you with the same undiminished warmth. You can also enjoy a visit to the Palm Greenhouse, in a fascinating contrast between the tropical vegetation inside and the chilly outside. The ideal winter cultural visit is the Kunsthistoriches Museum. There’s no shortage of opportunities to attend classical concerts as well, which are held at the capital’s theaters in this season.
If you’re a sporty person, you can go ice skating right in front of City Hall, at the Wiener Eistraum. Or you may stroll along the Danube River, or enjoy the Belvedere Gardens or the Prater Park. To relax in the warmth, then, take the subway to the Oberlaa quarter and immerse yourself completely (it’s appropriate to say!) in the Vienna Thermal Baths.
Sweet Vienna
We have mentioned Viennese cafés. But it wouldn’t be a complete recommendation if we didn’t let you experience firsthand—before the taste!—the delicacies for which Austrian pastry is world-famous. On a cold winter evening, while you’re sitting among the velvet and carved wood of an elegant café in the capital, gastronomic wonders will appear on your table, such as:
- Sachertorte—the famous local traditional chocolate-based dessert;
- or the white Esterházy cake (a triumph of butter, sugar, cream, and icing), originally from Hungary but adopted by the emperors;
- or the Malakov cake, a sort of cheese-cake filled with cocoa and hazelnuts;
- if you’re feeling experimental, ask for Waldviertel Mohnnudeln, delicious potato dumplings sweetened with sugar and gray poppy seeds!
Of course, the national dessert of every Germanic country – Strudel – shall be a “must” too. To accompany everything, have a nice coffee, a drink here in Austria they enjoy with rum (Fiaker), or very strong and topped with a swirl of cream (Einspänner), or as a cappuccino drowned in milk cream (Melange).
Winter places near Vienna
Based in Vienna, with all the services and conveniences of the big city, you can seek out the “white magic” of winter in the surrounding area.
Winter sports such as skiing, sledding, and ice skating can be practiced less than half an hour from the center of Vienna: in Hietzing and at the Hohe-Wand-Wiese ski area. About an hour’s drive on the highway takes you to Semmering-Stuhleck, where the slopes are suitable for everyone, including families with children. Even at night!
About 80 km from Vienna, across the border, lies the capital of Slovakia: Bratislava. A city rich in artistic and cultural attractions, for local tourists it’s almost a twin, a sort of “emanation”, of the Austrian capital. Bratislava is also beautiful in winter! Also worth a visit is the town of Wiener Neustadt, an elegant historic town dating back to the 12th century, founded—as its name suggests—as a “new city for the Viennese” to defend the capital’s border from Hungarian attacks. Today, it offers the same beauty and elegance as Vienna, but… on a smaller scale!
