Christmas market in Vienna

After a year long wait, due to covid restrictions and lockdowns. I finally managed to take a trip to Vienna with my wife. We were both very excited to be taking this trip to see the Christmas markets, as I’ve heard this is the birth place of Christmas markets and the best place for Christmas shopping. Our flight was under 2 hours from London Heathrow with Austrian Airlines. It was a busy flight, which we weren’t expecting as it was before the weekend! and not school holiday period. When we arrived at Vienna airport, passport control was quick and efficient. Before I left the airport, I went into Vienna tourist office where I found a very helpful and polite lady, who gave me directions to our hotel plus she also gave me a Vienna pass which includes public transport, discounts to museums and other attractions. The pass is worth the money valid for 24, 48 and 72 hours. There are two rail services from the airport, express which is expensive, and local. We took the local service which cost 4.30 euros per person each way, this is subject to change. The journey took around 25 minutes to the city centre, where we took a tram D to our hotel taking another 30-45 minutes getting off at Bauernfeldplatz. During our tram journey we went past some lovely Christmas markets and beautiful buildings like the town hall. Once we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted by friendly hotel staff with a free room upgrade. We stayed in room 413, which was lovely and spacious with a good size bathroom. The hotel was a good location as the tram stop is less than 5 minutes walk plus there are restaurants, shops and Christmas market nearby. The hotel offers daily complimentary afternoon tea but once we checked in we decided to get out and explore as we were only only staying for 2 nights. We hadn’t seen so many Christmas markets in one city! They were all beautifully decorated with lots of character and atmosphere. It really felt like Christmas whilst being in Vienna. We explored most Christmas markets by tram. We had lunch the second day at one of the markets which was nice to experience but a bit pricey! We went to over 8 Christmas market during our time in Vienna. My favourite market was the Townhall as it had lots of atmosphere including carousel, ice rink and a love tree. We did find that all the markets were the same price, and had some of the same stalls. I guess it’s down to the location for Christmas markets and buildings. We found getting around Vienna very easy by public transport. It’s cheap, cost around 8.00 euros per person for day pass unlimited public transport subject to change .The day passes are sold at the hotel, also available 48 and 72 hours at extra cost. We managed to get to see St Stephen Cathedral, which has amazing architecture. We wished we had longer in Vienna, as two nights is not long enough to explore this amazing city. We also saw the Belvedere Palace and Schönbrunn Palace and their beautiful grounds, we definitely would like to go back again for longer! We were impressed with The Harmonie hotel as it offers a good choice of organic buffet breakfast along with hot dishes buffet choice. The hotel is off a quiet side street. Great hotel.