The first stop on my winter break trip in 2019 was Vienna, Austria. I arrived in the city the afternoon of December 24th, and found the city completed decorated for the holiday. Since I was meeting some friends who’d arrived earlier from Switzerland, I took the train into Vienna from the airport and walked straight to Rathausplatz where a large Christmas market was in full swing.
Rathausplatz Christmas Market
The market was full of food, handmade gifts and of course, glühwein. The mulled wine came in ceramic mugs that you paid a deposit on, which was returned when you returned the mug. The mugs at the Rathausplatz market were in the shape of a heart.
Christmas markets in Austria are no small affair. The Rathausplatz market was bustling with visitors milling around the dozens of stalls. There are many food vendors as well as artisan craft stalls throughout the market that offer unique Christmas gifts or souvenirs for tourists.
Where to Stay in Vienna
After exploring the market, we stopped at our hostel, Wombat’s City Hostel Naschmarkt. This hostel was one of the nicest I’ve stayed at, so if you’re looking for an affordable option in Vienna, I would highly recommend it. The location was less than a 30-minute walk from Rathausplatz and about 20 minutes from the Hofburg. After getting our room set up, we went to a friend’s Airbnb for a Christmas Eve dinner.
Butterfly Houses and the Opera
On Christmas Day, we explored the parts of the city that we open during the holiday. We went to the Schmetterlinghaus, which hosts a green house and butterfly sanctuary. The building was warm and tropical which was a nice contrast to the December chill outside.
After the Schmetterlinghaus, we went back to Rathausplatz where we got käsespätzle from the Christmas market. We also wandered around downtown Vienna before returning to our hostel and preparing for the opera, Hansel and Gretel, that we had tickets for.
The opera was at Volksoper Opera House. We took an Uber to the location and watched the German opera take place. Although we knew the story and found most of the narrative easy to follow despite not speaking any German, we did get a little lost during the parts that the theatre embellished beyond the traditional storyline.
Dinner in Vienna
After our show, we met with some of my roommates from Spain at a Lebanese restaurant, Elissar. The restaurant had been recommended to me by an acquaintance who was studying in Vienna. The restaurant was about 20 minutes walking distance from our hostel. The food was delicious and certainly felt festive although very different from my family’s typical Christmas fare.
Culture and History of Vienna
The next morning we walked by the Hofburg on our way to the Spanish Riding School (or Spanische Hofreitschule in German) where we watched a performance on horseback. This is a historical practice recognized by UNESCO for its cultural value in Vienna and is accessible to the public for either a performance (26€+) or the morning exercise (17€+).
Note: if you have horse/animal allergies this is probably not for you. I had to leave the arena early due to mine.
After the performance, we explored downtown Vienna, with its high-end shopping streets and Catholic churches. We ended our day at the Natural History Museum which includes numerous exhibits of natural and human history. There were exhibits of fossils, rocks and minerals, dinosaurs, anthropology and prehistory as well as hundreds of different plant and animal species. The tickets cost 18€ per person or 14€ for students or seniors. Children and adolescents under 19 years old can enter the museum for free. We spent about two and a half hours wandering the museum and there was still much more we could have seen.
We wove our way through the Christmas market after leaving the museum, until it was time to go to the Vienna Central train station and catch our 6 pm train to Bratislava, Slovakia.
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