It’s not a bad time to visit Vienna. March has a chance of decent spring weather but it’s not peak tourist season.
So you miss the crowds that swarm across parts of the city in high summer. Unless, of course, Easter happens to fall in March (not in 2025, though).
- Book a concert experience* for March
- See also:
Top activities in March 2025
So what little treats can you expect apart from the usual museums, concerts, tours, and similar?
Exhibitions
(The Jewish Museum main location)
Vienna always has plenty of art and other exhibitions going on at any one time, and many delights will surely come your way in March 2025. It’s a little early for schedules, but planned highlights so far include:
- Gistav Klimt takes centre stage at Lower Belvedere, with insight into the materials and techniques behind his art
- The Weltmuseum has an exhibition of indigenous art from Brazil and another exploring how the Qur’an has influenced European thought through the ages
- The Jewish Museum brings the I am my Family exhibition to a close, looking at the legacy of the Holocaust from a third generation perspective (until March 16th)
- Discover the best of 21st-century Austrian product design in the Aut Now exhibition at the MAK. The museum also highlights current trends in fashion photography and dedicates space to one of the more colourful protagonists of the Wiener Moderne: designer Dagobert Peche
- Talking design, the Leopold Museum presents The Poetry of the Ornament, drawing on the archives of the Backhausen interior decoration company known for its artistic cooperations (until March 9th)
- The Theatermuseum honours Johann Strauss’s 200th birthday with its own exhibition covering his life and work
- With spring’s arrival, the Wien Museum brings its multifaceted Winter in Vienna exhibition to an end (until March 16th)
Vinyl & film
March typically hosts one or two weekend festivals as Vienna slowly emerges from its winter sleep. For example:
A taste of music
The Ottakringer Vinyl & Music festival (March 8th to 9th) is a market, fair, exhibition, and gig rolled into one.
Held in a working brewery, it harks back to the days when music was “real” and not this manufactured nonsense the kids listen to these days. Why, I remember when all you needed was a washboard and a…sorry, pass me my slippers.
Actually, the festival combines a retro feel with contemporary dynamism. “Authentic” is the word I’d use.
Last year saw the festival add the Wiener Instrumente Salon, with various instrument makers collecting to showcase their skills and products. Hopefully that will repeat.
And if that’s not enough music for you, then two further options:
- The Vienna Blues Spring traditionally starts up toward the end of March (2025 dates TBA) with a host of national and international bands, singers, and musicians from the genre.
- …and the International Accordion Festival typically fills much of the month (2025 dates TBA)
Film fun
Two notable film festivals brightened screens last March:
- Animated films showcased through the Tricky Women/Tricky Realities festival (2025 dates TBA).
- The Jewish Film Festival (2025 dates TBA) featured works from around the world that address aspects of Jewish life in all its facets and contexts
Art & models
(Palais Ferstel is worth seeing in its own right, whatever the event)
March seems to ignite the art and design fair world into action. For example:
- The WIKAM or Vienna International Art and Antiques Fair has a spring edition (March 8th to 16th) that takes place in the rather lovely Palais Ferstel
- The SPARK Art Fair Vienna also hits town (March 20th to 23rd) in the Marx Halle
- And the WAMP design market might well have an early spring edition in the MuseumsQuartier (2025 dates TBA)
March 2024 saw the first appearance of SCALE & PAINT (2025 dates TBA), dedicated to model building: miniatures of vehicles, figures and scenes with a retail section, too.
Take your last chance
(Vienna city centre in winter. Or maybe not)
March is the final full month of the Viennese ball season.
And March is probably your last opportunity to indulge in some winter sports until, well, next winter:
- The Wiener Eistraum open-air ice skating experience normally runs until early March (2025 dates TBA). And the skating season at the open-air rink at the Eislaufverein usually continues through the very early part of the month, too
- Vienna’s “local” Alpine ski resort at Semmering may still be open and is suited to a day trip out to the slopes
Treat yourself to a spa day
With the weather still liable to turn chilly at times, you can always dip into warm water.
- The Vienna spa complex (Therme Wien) has various indoor and outdoor thermal pools, as well as the usual array of spa offerings: from Swedish massages to Austrian pastries
- Alternatively, float serenely in a heated saltwater tub at the Schwerelos Floating Centre in the centre of town
Seasonal tip…
Enjoy the spring flowers
(A meadow in one of Vienna’s parks)
It’s all a little dependent on the weather, obviously, but March should (could?) see the emergence of the green shoots of spring, with tulips, daffodils, and other flowers perhaps optimistically forcing their way up through the soil.
The municipal gardens department does an excellent job of filling Vienna’s many parks (and roadsides) with spring colour. A couple of tips, if the climate allows:
- Try the sculpted gardens at the Schönbrunn and Belvedere palaces
- The Lainzer Tiergarten is a managed nature protection area with free-roaming deer and wild boar, paths through the woodland, playing areas for kids, and places to eat
- The Vienna woods (Wienerwald) cover the hilly west of the city, with numerous walking trails and restaurants dotted throughout
- The city-run Hirschstetten nursery and botanical gardens remain a well-kept secret and the outdoor areas usually open from mid-March
- The Prater is famous for its entertainment complex, but go beyond that to find a huge park area full of woods, meadows, and water features