Vienna and Venice in December
 

We're planning a trip to Venice and Vienna in December. Any thoughts on your experience in those two cities, or Europe in general, in the winter time?

Vienna and Austrian towns or villages are beautifully decorated for Christmas, you will encounter lots of Christmas markets during the month of december.
Venice as many other italian cities, will be decorated with xmas lights, shops will have beautiful decorations, you may find the so called "zampognari" , men clad in sheperds clothes playing bagpipes and strolling around the streets. I love Christmas time in Europe!

The weather is likely to be cold.

Good evenilng, F?ritz 7
Have been into Wien and Venice in early December, both were on the cool
and somewhat wet side. Do recall fog in Venice, but found ristorantes and shops almost completely empty. For
Wien was cool and wet, but an Christmas atmosphere, especially in the Christmarket in the Rathausplatz.
Richard of LaGrange Park, Il.

The Viennese have one troubling crochet, their addiction to salt -- as in salting the sidewalks whenever there is the slightest trace of snow. It ruins shoes, of course. And this past January I found the sidewalks on the Ring so heavily salted that I could not pilot my rolling luggage: it was like trundling luggage over coarse gravel.