Vienna / Budapest / Salzburg – 2 night break

[Misty]

We are thinking we would like to go to a Christmas market sometime during the next couple of weeks. I’ve kind of narrowed it down to the above 3 locations.

It would be great to hear from anyone who has been to these City’s for either the markets or just in general and their thoughts on them. Would also be good to receive hotel recommendations, especially decent hotels with a a bit of charecter and a good breakfast, as I envision us doing a fair amount of walking during the days and looking for a couple of restaurants with a good atmosphere for dining of an evening. TIA.

[Richie]

I have been to Vienna and Salzburg christmas markets.

Vienna christmas market is very impressive and the location great. The hotel choice is wide rangeing and there are some excellent hotel reviews here on HfP. Can be extremely cold.

The great thing about Salzburg was the snow which really added to the Christmassy atmostphere. The hotel choice is not as good as Vienna, you’d probably have to go high end.
Salzburg airport has excellent snow clearing.

[Misty]

Thanks Richie, I’m leaning towards Vienna, with Budapest second. Mainly because I did go skiing around the Salzburg area, admittedly 30 odd years ago, so I don’t remember much detail, just that I liked it!

I’m not sure where the hotel reviews are on this site, so I need yo have a look around.

Found them!

[Richie]

If you are interested in art the Belvedere musuems look good in Vienna.

[TJ]

Just back from a 2n break in Vienna. You can’t really go wrong here…great public transport, iconic Christmas markets and wonderful classical concerts held in Romanesque churches. The Christmas lights (chandeliers) on Graben are impressive to say the least. There was also a light dusting of snow when we were there to add to the atmosphere.

I can highly recommend the Vienna City Card if you are using public transport. You can add airport transfers which includes the Railjet where you can travel in first class for no additional cost. Uber is ubiquitous too.

[Misty]

Thank you so much TJ, sounds wonderful. Would you mind telling me what hotel you stayed in? The choice is so huge it’s hard to know where to start.

[davefl]

Vienna to Budpest is 2 hrs 20 mins by train, why not do both, fly in to one and out of the other

[Annie]

Consider SO/Vienna. We stayed back in the summer . Highly recommend it.

[hugog]

Richie wrote:

If you are interested in art the Belvedere musuems look good in Vienna.

And the KHM is even better – the Albertina is currently a little disappointing in my view though the downstairs exhibition was unusual.

[hugog]

TJ wrote:

Just back from a 2n break in Vienna. You can’t really go wrong here…great public transport, iconic Christmas markets and wonderful classical concerts held in Romanesque churches. The Christmas lights (chandeliers) on Graben are impressive to say the least. There was also a light dusting of snow when we were there to add to the atmosphere.

I can highly recommend the Vienna City Card if you are using public transport. You can add airport transfers which includes the Railjet where you can travel in first class for no additional cost. Uber is ubiquitous too.

Avoid the city airport train – the regular trains take the same time and only cost 4.10 and include connections. Go for the red machines at the airport

[LD27]

Annie wrote:

Consider SO/Vienna. We stayed back in the summer . Highly recommend it.

We went to Vienna a couple of years ago for the Christmas markets and stayed at the SO hotel. Would recommend both. Loved the roof top bar. It was very cold.

[Michael C]

The thing we loved about Vienna pre-Xmas was not just the main market (although that too!)
but all the MANY smaller markets you’d come across just strolling through the streets.

We stayed in the Hilton Vienna Plaza and very happy with it.

[TJ]

Misty wrote:

Thank you so much TJ, sounds wonderful. Would you mind telling me what hotel you stayed in? The choice is so huge it’s hard to know where to start.

We stayed at the Andaz which is a bit out of town but good value (esp when booking through Emyr), and just around the corner from Vienna Central Station (Wien Hbf). If you want to push the boat out, then consider the Hotel Imperial (see recent review on HfP).

[TJ]

hugog wrote:

TJ wrote:

Just back from a 2n break in Vienna. You can’t really go wrong here…great public transport, iconic Christmas markets and wonderful classical concerts held in Romanesque churches. The Christmas lights (chandeliers) on Graben are impressive to say the least. There was also a light dusting of snow when we were there to add to the atmosphere.

I can highly recommend the Vienna City Card if you are using public transport. You can add airport transfers which includes the Railjet where you can travel in first class for no additional cost. Uber is ubiquitous too.

Avoid the city airport train – the regular trains take the same time and only cost 4.10 and include connections. Go for the red machines at the airport

We took the Railjet rather than the CAT. Using the City Card (which covers both), it only costs €11 for first class travel on the RJ…it was even cheaper after we applied a discount code. We had the entire coach to ourselves whereas the other coaches were fairly busy during rush hour.

[John]

I flew to MUC, did that city then train to Salzburg, 2 nights then train to Vienna, 1 night then left from there. You could tag Budapest on to that easily if you don’t mind moving hotels.

[masaccio]

We were in Budapest last week. The markets are smaller than other large cities, but the quality is very high. Prices in the market are London prices. We stayed at the New York Palace which was exceptional. Getting around on public transport or Bolt taxis is a doddle. Food options are very good ranging from the funky ruin bars to Michelin starred restaurants.

Munich is still my favourite Christmas market destination, but I have a bias as I lived there for 8 years.

[nectar collector]

Noticed that Travelzoo have some last minute city break/Christmas Market deals to various central Europe cities, which might provide some more options to consider – there’s one that has a couple of days in each of Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava

[Misty]

Thank you for all the excellent information folks, on both hotels, cultural attractions and what travel passes there are. Sounds like it’s pretty popular with HfP’s.

The idea of a rooftop bar is very enticing. The idea was part inspired by some advertising on my BAEC page offering two might breaks with BA holidays, I hadn’t really considered travelzoo etc. OH gets a bit stressed with flying, mainly the airports, so for such a short visit we will stay put and maybe do one of the others at another time. But all info was welcome.

[supergraeme]

Having been to all three, I’d rank them Budapest, Salzburg, Vienna. Went to Vienna last year and we didn’t love it – the main one felt quite spaced out and not particularly intimate. Budapest is one of our favourites from the years we’ve been going. Salzburg is gorgeous for various reasons.

Off to Berlin on Friday, which I’m excited about.

[Misty]

supergraeme wrote:

Having been to all three, I’d rank them Budapest, Salzburg, Vienna. Went to Vienna last year and we didn’t love it – the main one felt quite spaced out and not particularly intimate. Budapest is one of our favourites from the years we’ve been going. Salzburg is gorgeous for various reasons.

Off to Berlin on Friday, which I’m excited about.

Thank you for posting, I still haven’t booked, as something has cropped up now which affects plans.

Have a wonderful time in Berlin.

[supergraeme]

No problem. Reading that back, I sound more negative about Vienna than I should – it just wasn’t one we loved.

Enjoy whichever one you hopefully do!

[marshy11]

We did Vienna and it was spectacular. The markets were really varied and plentiful. We stayed at the Hilton, whilst not luxurious, the club room was amazing and the river views/location quite lovely.

[Misty]

marshy11 wrote:

We did Vienna and it was spectacular. The markets were really varied and plentiful. We stayed at the Hilton, whilst not luxurious, the club room was amazing and the river views/location quite lovely.

Sorry I pressed report by mistake. Thanks for your input, if we can get away it will be Vienna this year, good to hear a lot of positive comments.

[Chas]

We’re off to Vienna in 9 days time, and in my planning have found this map which someone had compiled of the various Xmas markets. I obviously can’t vouch for its accuracy, but it may be useful if you choose there. When we’ve done other Xmas markets in previous years (Cologne and Berlin) finding a map showing the different locations has always been something we’ve struggled with (when I asked at Berlin’s tourist information office last year it was clearly something that they had never thought would be useful…!)
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1IV8M9-mH8kPwIX-r4le-2hv35XE&hl=en&ll=48.211013374127205%2C16.393441550000002&z=13

[Misty]

Thank you Chas, that is really helpful of you. Have a wonderful trip.