This is our second time in Vienna and we came back because this is a truly wonderful place that we didn’t fully experience the first time.
We came here at the tail end of our 2017 Around the World trip and were both sick the whole time we were here. So we have seen the key Vienna sights at the Belvedere (wow, Klimt’s The Kiss is so dreamy!) and Schönnbrun Palace.
This time it was more about experiencing Vienna and spending time with a dear Parisian friend who joined us in Vienna.
Our weather luck held up for us here and we had blue skies and generally comfortable temperatures in the low 40s.
We spent some time just walking around Vienna and wandering into places that looked interesting.
And sometimes you got to see some surprising things like this view from the top of the Karlskirche.
Vienna is known as the City of Music and was the home of Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler, Schubert, Strauss, Brahms, and Haydn among others. The tradition here on New Year’s Eve is to grab your partner and dance the Waltz at midnight.
So naturally opera plays a large part in the city’s cultural heritage.
The presidential palace complex, also known as the Hofburg, contains the equivalent of the Austrian White House, a butterfly sanctuary, the National Library, a church, monastery, and riding school as well as some gardens.
We popped into the National Library, which strangely was our fourth library on this trip.
It was simply beautiful.
When you step back outside you’re once again greeted by charming Vienna.
The Altstadt, or old city is where everyone spends their time in Vienna.
There has been a settlement here for nearly 2,000 years and Vienna has a rich history going back centuries. It even at one time was the largest German-speaking city in the world, which is quite a feat for a place outside the tongue’s mother country.
Vienna was all dressed up for the holidays.
And like Prague was packed with people here to celebrate.
One more church and it’s a big one. Right in central Vienna you will find St. Stephen’s. It is the green domed building in the skyline picture earlier in this post.
So ornate and filled with beautiful paintings and statues.
This visit yielded perhaps the quintessential Christmas photo.
So then one more stop to see the Christmas Market at Schönnbrun Palace (well, really to get a warm pretzel from one of the vendors…).
The next day we were up and out and at the airport for our trip home. As if on cue, the fog showed up.
Fortunately it didn’t impact our flights and we got home safely and in short order.
Watch for a couple more updates in the coming days on some fun stuff plus hotel and restaurant recommendations for when you come to these grand European cities.
Peace + Love and wishing you a wonderful 2025!
Alex + Jeff
