Because You Can! Celebrate Xmas in Vienna, the City of Music

Celebrate Xmas in Vienna

PHOTOS COURTESY OF Pexels

THE CHRISTMAS MARKET

, held in front of the Rathaus (City Hall), is among Europe’s largest and most traditional. Providing a fun-filled nostalgia-fest for Yule lovers, vendors from across Austria dole out traditional Christmas crafts and seasonal delicacies. Sip mulled wine and munch on freshly roasted chestnuts as you shop.

VIENNA IS SYNONYMOUS

with architectural grandeur, classical music and café culture. With its charming baroque monuments, world-renowned concert halls and treasure-trove museums, the Austrian capital is the perfect place for a Christmas vacation. Stay in the UNESCO World Heritage-accredited HistoricCentre and expect snow.

THE ANNUAL NEW YEAR’S CONCERT

is performed by the Vienna Philharmonic at the magnificent Musikverein concert hall. Broadcast live, the January 1 performance reaches 50 million and always includes well-loved pieces by the Strauss family. The second encore, Johann Strauss II’s The Blue Danube waltz, follows a New Year’s greeting from the conductor.

VIENNA’S OPULENT COFFEE-HOUSE

‘living rooms’ serve up spectacular cakes in delicious surroundings. The city’s signature Sacher Torte – dense chocolate cake filled with apricot jam and wrapped in dark chocolate icing – is best enjoyed where it originates, at the Hotel Sacher’s Café Sacher.

THE HOFBURG PALACE

complex was home to the Habsburgs for over six centuries, and it’s now packed with a fascinating collection of historic buildings, museums and art galleries. Be sure to catch the Vienna Boys’ Choir singing Sunday Mass in the Imperial Chapel and the famed Lipizzaner stallions performing at the Spanish Riding School.

THE MUSEUMSQUARTIER IS A SPRAWLING

and impressive cultural hub packed with restaurants and bars, and over 90,000 square metres of exhibition space. You’ll find 19th- and 20th-century Austrian art at the Leopold Museum, and modern art at MUMOK. For photography, video, film, installations and new media head to Kunsthalle Wien.

SHELTERING 3 MILLION

Vienna Central Cemetery has more inhabitants than the city itself (population less than 2 million). A veritable museum, the cemetery is ‘home’ to bigname musicians such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms and Johann Strauss II. After all, Vienna isn’t known as The City of Music for nothing.