daria26

Hello, fellow travelers!

Here I go again, seeking your fabulous advice.

My father and I are planning to meet in Austria Dec 21 to Dec 30 for our reunion.

He is not much of a skier and neither am I. I am still in preliminary stages of planning so I have a lot of questions.

1. We will have 7 FULL days there. We love culture, nature, hiking, eating, and quaint villages. We want to see Christmas markets and be filled with holiday spirit. What are some of the places that would provide that? We don't particularly care about big cities but I heard Vienna is quite spectacular in winter.

2. We are somewhat budget conscious. I would prefer to stay in bed and breakfasts with local flare, and small hotels. Any recommendations?

3. We would like this trip to be an average pace. He is an older gentleman and likes to browse around. I like high - octane activities

4. I am flying from the US, and he is flying from Yekaterinburg, Russia. We plan to meet at Vienna airport. Any good location for a meeting point?

Thank you so much!
Daria

KL467

The Christmas market in Salzburg is very nice. Although I would not consider Vienna the best Christmas market, it is to me the most beautiful. It was one of those rare WOW moments.

I really enjoyed a classical music concert at St. Anne's Church in Vienna. Beautiful church.

fourfortravel

Hi Daria,

I live in Vienna, and indeed the Christmas holiday season is magical here. Many Christmas markets, though, close on the 24th for the season, something to consider in your planning.

Since you will be here 7 days, you may want to consider renting an apartment or apartment/hotel. Vienna can be expensive, and this would be a good way to keep within a budget. From Vienna you can easily take day trips via train to explore other cities.

The Vienna airport is relatively small and easy to navigate; you should have no trouble connecting with your dad. (There's a McDonald's outside of customs that's easy to find.)

daria26

THANK you for all your kind replies and helpful suggestions.

I would love to see other cities such as Salzburg and Innsbruck.

Here is my preliminary itinerary:

Arrive Dec 21, dinner in Vienna

Dec 22 and 23 - 2 full days in Vienna, Christmas markets

Dec 24 take a train to Salzburg. Dinner and a walk

Dec 25 - full day Salzburg, I heard you can take a sleigh ride in Ramsau

Dec 26- Salzburg

Dec 27, 28, 29 - Innsbruck and surroundings (Villages of Vipiteno and Bessanove, in Italy)

Dec 29 - take a train back to Vienna, at night

Dec 30th - back home.

Thoughts?

pja1

Hi Darla,

We went to Salzburg and Innsbruck to visit the Christmas markets in 2010. We have been to both many times, but it was like visitng for the first time all over again. The holiday atmosphere is terrific. Both have a few different markets to visit. We liked it so much we're doing it again this year! We've also been to Bressanone/Brixen and Vipiteno/Sterzing before and we also plan to visit during the Christmas markets this year. Since we'll be going before you, I'll post a mini report and pic's for you. Sterzing is a small old town, but extemely charming. Brixen is larger and it's a very pretty old town.

Be sure to check the opening times of the various markets:

http://www.salzburg.info/en/art_cult...istmas_markets

http://www.innsbruck.info/en/experie...dlmaerkte.html

http://www.brixen.org/en/events/high...as-market.html

http://www.south-tirol.com/eisacktal...ristmas-market

Paul

daria26

Thank you so much, Paul!!