Vienna recommendations

[Twoboos]

Posting here for traffic.

We are headed to Vienna over Christmas, looking for recommendations for places to stay (currently looking around the Parkring area), eat, things to do after the Christmas markets end, etc. We already have the Opera House on the list. Favorite palaces to visit (seems like there's one on every block!). Looking at a horse drawn carriage ride and i heard the show at the riding school is a must see.

For some reason this trip is overwhelming me - and I have planned trips to London, Paris and Disney I think it's because I have some health stuff going in so I'm trying to balance what i can do and what the family wants to do - DH just keeps saying it'll be fine.

Plus how cold is it *really* there - I'm in New England so no stranger to cold winters but people online are saying The Worst Cold they've ever felt. Like do I Bring my Canada Goose jacket or will that be frowned upon - can i wear something like the to the Opera? (Obviously I'd be dressed better under the coat lol.)

Thanks for your help!

[ahisma]

We stayed here last April and loved it. It was one of our favorite spots we've ever stayed. I'd go back in a heartbeat. It looks out over Stephan?s Cathedral - incredible view over the cathedral and the square. https://www.pension-sacher.at/en/

[robinsmommy]

This is where DH stayed a couple years ago, close to train station, no idea if it is close to the other stuff you want to do. I think we got a decent rate through Booking.com, but many hotels are keeping their own bookings very competitive to save themselves fees for the middleman, esp recently.

https://www.mooons.com/en/

[candaceb]

We went to Vienna at Christmas when I was a teenager.
It was so dark that we weren't able to adjust to the time change very well, so I would prioritize getting sun whenever you can.
My dad had gotten tickets to a bunch of performances and we slept through most of them...
My parents went to the New Year's Eve ball at the Opera and that's something my mom still talks about.
And yes, it was cold. But not much colder than a Boston winter. I would take the Canada Goose coat and not worry about what people at the opera think - you're never going to see them again, right?

[Liziz]

Vienna is wonderful, you're going to have a great time! I was there around Christmas, too. It's cold, but normal cold -- I think people sometimes "feel" the cold so much more when they're traveling somewhere because they're outside walking around more, etc. As long as you properly prepare for the time you'll be outside, you'll be totally fine. Bring the coat/clothes that you'll be comfortable in.

We were only there for a long weekend, and we had young kids at the time, so our sightseeing was a bit more limited that you'll be. But, we enjoyed seeing both the Hofburg Palace (directly in the middle of Vienna), and the Schonbrunn Palace (slightly outside of Vienna, but easy train ride) and Stepansdom (cathedral). We went to a cafe called Demel for cake - it's a historic classic Viennese pastry shop. There was also a candy shop called Zuckerlwekstatt, where you could stand there and watch them make hard candies. It's not worth going out of your way for, but if you can stop in when you're near it (it was by a lot of other things) it was a lot of fun to watch for a few minutes. If you like markets, look into the Naschtmarkt.

My only other recommendation is to make reservations for places to eat as much as possible. If I'm recalling correctly, Vienna is a reservations city and it was expected that we had reservations even for lunch at casual sit-down places. Once you're there if you want to change your plans you can always call and cancel, but it's easier to have it than to be scrambling at the last minute.