Fairy-tale Vienna

When it comes to a country that is wonderful for visiting in the winter and mostly around the Christmas Holidays this is Austria, and in particular Vienna!

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Vienna is a city that by no surprise is on the top of the charts for cities we should visit around Christmas!

Christmas is my favorite holiday and while most people in this time of the year want to be somewhere warm and to be sunbathing, I want to be in a place that will bring me more Christmas spirit and joy.

In my opinion absolutely everything changes around Christmas. This is the most magical month of the year and as no surprise people say that miracles happen on Christmas! I believe in that! And I think that the whole month around Christmas is one big miracle! Everybody is smiling more, it`s like even the air we are breathing is different, is better!

And in this line what better than that in the most magical month of the year to go to a place that is even more magical and has the fairest holiday spirit or as I say a place that has the whole Christmas package.

Many decorations, many Christmas lights, Christmas markets, smiley people, good mood and Christmas songs – this is Vienna!

I was really excited for that trip! I wanted to see that Winter fairy tale everyone was talking about! I wanted to go to all the Christmas markets and for that reason we decided to visit this beautiful city around the Christmas Holidays. People say that the best time to visit Vienna is around Christmas and I agree 100 percent with that!

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Vienna has mind-blowing architecture, combining many years history and art but in the same time has its own modern and youth appearance. The city is full of tourists and in my opinion is very safe even at night! I never got scared while we were going around and enjoying night Christmas Vienna! At this time of the year Vienna is famous with its Christmas Markets, which are a LOT and are literally EVERYWHERE! As you are walking you can see many Christmas markets among the beautiful buildings, where you can grab a bite, you

can chat with your friends, drink mulled wine, while you are listening to the most famous Christmas songs!

The biggest Christmas Market is in front of the Parliament building and it is really wonderful! It became my most favorite one and we were going there every day and every night while we were in the city! Big plus was that it was very close to our hotel so that we could enjoy this fairy tale every day. And by night the experience was literally magical. It was like you are in a completely different world! A world full of smiles, good vibes, holiday spirit and … Mulled wine!

At this Christmas Market you have the opportunity to go Ice skating. The Ice rink is perfect for beginners and advanced also because it is very big. You have to pay for skate rent – 7.50 euro, for wardrobe – 6 euro ( 3euro are deposit for the key and when you return the key, you get your deposit back) and for entry ticket – 8 euro. The whole thing was around 21.50euro and after you get your deposit from the key back around 18.50 euro but there is no time limit, so you can slide all day if you want and have the legs to.

There is something you should know about the mulled wine they offer at the Christmas Markets. You pay extra 4 euro for a mug deposit. And after you finish drinking you can keep the mug to yourself or return it and get your 4 euro back. The mugs are different in each Christmas Market, they have different design. I chose to keep one Christmas Boot Mug from the Christmas Market of the Campus of Vienna University!

The city is very beautiful by itself but of course there are a lot of popular locations you should visit while you are there.

Schönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn Palace is among the main landmarks in Vienna! Interesting thing about Schönbrunn Palace is that it is on the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites confirming the importance of the palace and its gardens as a unique Baroque ensemble. There you can see huge gardens which are full of flowers in the spring. There are beautiful sculptures you can enjoy. You can see the Neptune`s waterfall.

The best thing for me was the Gloriette at the hill and after you get there you can enjoy the picturesque view of both the Palace and the Gardens and of course a view of beautiful Vienna! All of this you can see for free. If you want to go inside the Palace the price is around 16-18 euro for 22 rooms “Imperial Tour” and 20-22 euro for 40 rooms “Grand Tour”.

At this time of the year in front of the Schönbrunn Palace there was …Guess what?

– a Christmas Market, of course! I told you that they are literally everywhere! This made our visit even more pleasant!

PRICE FOR OUTSIDE VIEW: FREE

PRICE FOR INSIDE VIEW: 16-22 euro

VIENNA ZOO:

The entrance to the Zoo is also at the Schönbrunn Palace! The Zoo has large range of animals inside. You can see literally almost every animal you would think of! The price was 40 euro per person and if you want to visit it I would suggest to go early hours because we went around noon and we saw the last animals running as the Zoo was closing doors.

TICKET PRICE: 40 euro

MUSEUM OF ILLUSIONS:

The Museum of Illusions is located in the center of Vienna. The entrance ticket was 12 euro per person. The museum is small in my opinion but despite that it is interesting and I suggest to go and see it if you are interested in illusions and want to see something different!

TICKET PRICE: 12 euro

ST.STEPHEN CATHEDRAL:

As we were walking around night Christmas Vienna and were enjoying all the Christmas decorations, Christmas lights and the spirit this city offers, in front of us appeared the St. Stephen`s Cathedral which is so beautiful and enormous that make you freeze and hold your breath. This is one majestic piece of art with impressive unique architecture. It is one of the main symbols of Austria and one of Vienna`s most remarkable landmarks! The entry to the cathedral is free so I recommend to go inside and enjoy the beauty of this piece of art!

TICKET PRICE: FREE

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM:

The Natural History Museum is enormous. And if you are one of those people that do not like to go into museums and prefer more fun stuff to do, do not worry! This is not the typical museum and I promise you, you will not get bored there! You will even want to spend your whole day inside!

There are so many exhibition rooms. For example a dinosaurs exhibition room and everything is made very interesting. There is a “coming alive” dinosaur which moves and make sounds. All of that is interesting not only for the kids but for adults also. You can find a whole section about the moon and you can even see what it would be like to step your foot on the moon. This experience is given to you by Virtual Reality – VR glasses and it is free. You can see a lot of stones, diamonds, animals, meteorites and so on. I fell in love with this museum and I am sure that every person that come here will have a special place in his heart for the Natural History Museum of Vienna for life!

TICKET PRICE: 12 euro

PRATER:

Prater is a large public park with amusement park in it where the Vienna Ferry Wheel is located. This is one of the oldest amusement parks in Europe! Besides the Ferry Wheel the park has many attractions, which was closed when we went there because it was winter and it was very cold but we had the chance to get on the Giant Vienna Ferry Wheel and see beautiful Vienna from above! Before you get to the ride you have the opportunity to make a photo of yourself in an interesting way. The people there take photo of you and while you are enjoying your ride they print it and make it seem like the photo was taken on the wheel. I think this will be a great memory for when you get home. The price of the Ferry Wheel was 12 euro.

TICKET PRICE: 12 euro

DANUBE TOWER:

This is a tower with 252 m height. A 776 steps lead you to 152 m where you can enjoy the beautiful view! Of course if you are not that extreme you can catch the elevator which gets you there for only 35 seconds. On 160 m and 170 m there is a cafe and a restaurant. But they are not an ordinary ones. The very interesting part about them is that while you are enjoying your coffee or lunch you can view the city from every angle and side because the whole cafe and restaurant are rotating while you are sitting at your table. Isn`t that insanely cool? Unfortunately the tower was closed exactly the day we wanted to go there so we could not see it but next time we are in Vienna this will be the first thing we will go to.

TICKET PRICE: 14.50 euro

The public transport is perfectly organized. There you have the underground (U-Bahn) and the train (S-Bahn). There is also another train which is called CAT and is a train which you can catch from the airport to the center of Vienna but we did not get on it because with the other train (S-Bahn) we got a group ticket and we paid 4.50 euro for 2 people. For one person on the CAT train the price was around 12 euro. But they say it is faster than the other so it is really your choice! After that while you are in the city you can buy yourself a card for the public transport for 24h, 48h and 72h. The price for one ticket without a card was 2.40 euro.

Vienna is a very colorful and interesting city! We had so much fun there and we really loaded up with so much positive energy and holiday spirit. I do not regret our choice to go there and will be happy to visit it again!

For those of you who wonder where to go around the Christmas Holidays, those of you who love Christmas like me, who want to go to a place full of history, art and beauty – do not wonder! Vienna is the place to be!