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-   -   Vienna in January (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/vienna-in-january-1703695/)

Flwrhead Dec 7th, 2021 08:07 AM

Vienna in January
 
My sister and I are spending 7 nights in Vienna the first part of January. We are double vaxxed and boosted and Austria's current positivity rate is 1/3 that of where we live in the States, so we are going forward with our trip, barring unexpected illness, etc. We have both purchased travel insurance that covers medical and quarantine expenses should that be necessary.

Does anyone have any restaurant or off the beaten path experiences to recommend? We are booked for an evening tour of the Kunst Historisches Museum's Titian's Vision of Women exhibit for one evening, and are planning to see La Boheme the following night. I've bookmarked Wiener Rathauskeller as an interesting place to eat, and Hotel Sacher for their famed cake. We love museums and walking and yes I know it's going to be coooooollldddd!

Thanks in advance!

thursdaysd Dec 7th, 2021 11:36 AM

Some lesser-known museums:

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...y-busy-vienna/

Michael Dec 7th, 2021 12:14 PM

For a different restaurant: Stomach https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...ch-Vienna.html

When we ate there, it specialized in Styrian cooking. From the description, it appears to have expanded its menu.

thursdaysd Dec 7th, 2021 12:42 PM

I've had a couple of good meals here. It was a while back, but the building looks the same:

https://www.palmenhaus.at/en/

Flwrhead Dec 7th, 2021 01:02 PM

Thank you both so much! Vienna's mayor just said today that hotels and restaurants will remain closed through December 20, so although we really really hope we can go, things remain uncertain. I'm marking these suggestions anyway, trying to think positively.

prune Dec 10th, 2021 11:20 AM

I am hopefully going in January with my sister! We have been before in the winter, it's a beautiful time to go.
For off the beaten path, I really love the globe museum, mentioned in the link that thursdaysd posted. If you are interested in porcelain, there is the Augarten factory museum. The factory tours aren't operating right now, and the museum is very small, but I enjoyed it. They also have a shop with a discount section!
In terms of dining, I'm a vegetarian so my experience is limited, but I like to go to all of the cafes. The Sacher is lovely, but there are so many more to try - and lots of desserts that I never see in the US! Wien,info has some lists of cafes. Among my favorites are Demel, Diglas and Landtmann.

KarenWoo Dec 10th, 2021 03:17 PM

Which travel insurance company did you use? I hope you will be able to go! Cancelling a trip is so depressing.

ms_go Dec 11th, 2021 07:20 AM

I hope you will be able to go. We just cancelled our six-day trip to Vienna over New Year's and hopefully can try again next year. I am taking notes on the recommendations above, though!

Flwrhead Dec 12th, 2021 07:16 AM


Originally Posted by prune (Post 17312926)
I am hopefully going in January with my sister! We have been before in the winter, it's a beautiful time to go.
For off the beaten path, I really love the globe museum, mentioned in the link that thursdaysd posted. If you are interested in porcelain, there is the Augarten factory museum. The factory tours aren't operating right now, and the museum is very small, but I enjoyed it. They also have a shop with a discount section!
In terms of dining, I'm a vegetarian so my experience is limited, but I like to go to all of the cafes. The Sacher is lovely, but there are so many more to try - and lots of desserts that I never see in the US! Wien,info has some lists of cafes. Among my favorites are Demel, Diglas and Landtmann.

Fabulous! When are you going to be there? I am very interested in porcelain and that would be a wonderful souvenir. I just emailed two articles about cafes to my sister this morning, isn't travel all about the food?!?! :)

Flwrhead Dec 12th, 2021 07:20 AM


Originally Posted by KarenWoo (Post 17313015)
Which travel insurance company did you use? I hope you will be able to go! Cancelling a trip is so depressing.

Thanks Karen! I agree, I'm still bummed about the trip to Germany for March 27, 2020 that I had to cancel. I got a policy from Trawick after reading Forbes about what kind of policy to buy and what coverage it should include. Bottom line was that I needed trip interruption, trip delay, and medical coverage, which I got for $68. I thought that was a fair price for peace of mind.

Flwrhead Dec 12th, 2021 07:25 AM


Originally Posted by ms_go (Post 17313119)
I hope you will be able to go. We just cancelled our six-day trip to Vienna over New Year's and hopefully can try again next year. I am taking notes on the recommendations above, though!

I'm so sorry! I promise I will write an actual trip report. I always plan to and never get around to it. Can I ask - did you cancel because of Covid?

ms_go Dec 12th, 2021 08:20 AM


Originally Posted by Flwrhead (Post 17313434)
Can I ask - did you cancel because of Covid?

Not about COVID specifically (we have vaccines/boosters and not afraid of exposure) but about not being able to do what we were going for. This was to be a trip to spend New Year's somewhere new, fun and interesting. The Silvesterpfad has been cancelled and some other events also cancelled or scaled back. We were able to cancel our apartment without penalty and convert airline tickets to credits, that we will certainly use - so no penalty. We may try again next year.

thursdaysd Dec 12th, 2021 09:09 AM

WRT travel insurance you should get evacuation coverage as well as medical. Make sure it will get you home and not just to the nearest "suitable" facility.

prune Dec 12th, 2021 10:18 AM


Originally Posted by Flwrhead (Post 17313426)
Fabulous! When are you going to be there? I am very interested in porcelain and that would be a wonderful souvenir. I just emailed two articles about cafes to my sister this morning, isn't travel all about the food?!?! :)

The 2nd-9th. We usually plan quite a bit but this time we just have tickets for one ballet and will play it by ear.

karlof Dec 12th, 2021 05:39 PM

The most prominent advantages of a visit in January are lower hotel prices and shorter lines at Vienna's landmarks.If you were interested in classic music and dancing, you could attend a classic ball in Vienna.

Flwrhead Dec 13th, 2021 06:24 AM


Originally Posted by prune (Post 17313499)
The 2nd-9th. We usually plan quite a bit but this time we just have tickets for one ballet and will play it by ear.

Those are exactly our travel dates! Are you sure you're not my sister? lol I looked at the ballet, but neither of us have been to an opera before so we're hoping to see La Boheme.

Flwrhead Dec 13th, 2021 06:25 AM


Originally Posted by thursdaysd (Post 17313480)
WRT travel insurance you should get evacuation coverage as well as medical. Make sure it will get you home and not just to the nearest "suitable" facility.

I think it has 1.5M evacuation coverage, so I should be good. :)


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