Calling all Wienners! (This means you, Syt)

[Martinus]

I'm thinking of spending the period between Christmas and New Year in Vienna with my folks (they, especially my mum, have always wanted to go to Vienna for the period and since they are not getting younger I thought this will be my Christmas gift for them).

So, I need advice - what hotel(s) to book, what events to get tickets to, etc.?

I'm thinking of flying in some time around 26th or 27th of December, getting a hotel in central Vienna (something not extremely expensive, but also not too shabby - preferably a more of an "old style" hotel than one of these super modern business trip places), and then getting tickets for one or two nights to the opera, concert or theatre (something with Strauss music for one night would be nice).

Then I would probably fly back to Warsaw on 30th of December (to attend a New Year's eve party with friends) while they will probably stay until the New Year's Day.

So, any Wienners (especially Syt) - let me know if this plan is feasible and what would be the right time to start booking stuff and whatnot.

Thanks.

[MadImmortalMan]

I stayed in an AirBNB place just east of Belvedere. It was fine for us and we figured out the transport fine. If you're more gay than me, it might be a problem. 

[Syt]

I'm not good at recommending hotels - I rarely stay in one here.

You want to look at hotels in districts: 1, 6, 7, 8, 9 (2 - 5 can be hit and miss, they have some nice areas and some not so nice areas). If you pick a 4* hotel you should be fine. If you want suer traditional and posh you would take the Imperial (GWB liked it). Or the Ritz Carlton (my boss, Arnoldinator and Putin like it).

You may want to book soon. Holiday season is tourist season in Vienna. Many people come for the christmas markets, and many also come for New Year's. You may have a bit of a lull of events here.

Also, not too much going on during that time of year. I had a look at Staatsoper, and they have Nutcracker (obviously) and Zauberflöte (you may have to start reserving tickets now on their website - their pre-order system changed, and I'm not 100% sure how it works). Musikverein will be mostly closed because of preparations for the New Year's Concert. Volksoper and Theater an der Wien don't look too spectacular, either.

If you arrive 26th ... not sure if Christmas markets will be open then. Some transition into New Year's markets, but I don't think all do. Some attractions might have weird opening dates. Most museums should be open.

The big event is the Silvesterpfad in the Inner City on 31st, with 1,000,000+ people going there (mostly not people living in Vienna ), but you would leave on the 30th, so ...

[Martinus]

Thanks peeps.