Now, April is quite a decent time to visit Vienna.
Why?
Well, spring should definitely have sprung. So you have a fair chance of avoiding the cold. Equally, it’s not high summer and there are no Christmas lights… so the city’s busy, but not peak busy.
Which makes April as good as March, but with a higher probability of sun (and Easter).
- See also:
Top April activities in 2024
So what might you do beyond the usual year-round tours, museums, concerts, and other delights that Vienna has to offer the enthusiastic visitor?
Easter markets (and more)
(Easter market on the Freyung)
With Easter falling in late March in 2024, the chances of bumping into seasonal holiday activities in April are relatively low this year.
Easter in Vienna does not have the same impact on the city as the Advent period, but it has its traditions.
Most importantly, the season brings the Easter markets; in 2024, these should begin opening in mid-March. They tend to close as soon as Easter is over, but you will find one or two still open around April 1st or 2nd.
The markets offer a colourful mix of arts, crafts, food, and drink. This includes more decorative eggs than you can lay in a century and enough Austrian delicacies to keep your cholesterol and sugar levels high throughout your stay.
The main venues are Schönbrunn, the Freyung and Am Hof. All three are lovely, but Schönbrunn has perhaps the most glorious setting in the courtyard of the huge Habsburg palace.
For another kind of open-air market featuring small-scale designers and producers, try WAMP (2024 date TBA), which sets up store outside the MuseumsQuartier and normally has its first outing in April.
Exhibitions in April 2024
(The Albertina is always a good address for top exhibitions)
April 2022 and 2023 had some astonishing exhibitions, so hopefully the 2024 programme will repeat that level of quality. It’s early for schedules, but so far we have (provisionally), for example:
- The Kunsthistorisches Museum with a planned major exhibition of Renaissance art from Northern Europe
- A real treat from the Albertina with a retrospective for Roy Lichtenstein
- An invite to explore the Beauty of Diversity at the Albertina Modern
- A chance to discover the works of Broncia Koller-Pinell and her artistic contemporaries at Lower Belvedere, and take (from mid-April) a deeper dive into the works of 18th-century painter Franz Anton Maulbertsch at Upper Belvedere
- The final days of the MAK’s look at textiles and ceramics in contemporary art (until April 28th) and the final days of their exhibition on one of the remarkable artist designers of the Wiener Werkstätte: Felice Rix-Ueno (until April 21st)
- …and the final days (also until April 28th) of the Wien Museum’s presentation around the great Baroque architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach
- The Jewish Museum has timely examinations of the concept of Frieden (peace) and Care, as well as a biographical and art exhibition for Emil Singer and his etchings
- The Heidi Horten Collection brings us more highlights from this prestigious private collection. WOW2 features, for example, expressionism, art of the 60s & 70s, and art at the interface of figurative and abstract approaches
- For more possibilities, consult the broader exhibition listings
Enjoy some food & drink
(Wine from the Steiermark)
One of the country’s more Alpine provinces is the Steiermark. Each year, the region’s tourist folk, farmers, wine growers, and musicians turn up in Vienna for the Styrian Spring festival (April 4th to 7th).
As well as offering a taste of the traditions of that beautiful part of the country, the festival offers a taste of the tastes, too. Like all Austrian provinces, the Steiermark has a proud culinary heritage. Look, particularly, for their wine, beer, and pumpkin products.
And there’#’s more:
- The 2-day mit alles culinary festival returns provisionally on April 5th and 6th.
- A two-day spring version of the Craft Bier Fest (2024 dates TBA) attracts numerous breweries from around the country and abroad, who are all happy to provide a sample for you to taste in exchange for a coin or two.
- Attention turns from beer to whisky at the Vienna Whisky Convention (April 5th and 6th), although the venue is our main brewery.
- And the Liquid Market cocktail folk may take an excursion into aperitifs given the Aperitivo Spring festival made its debut in 2023 (2024 dates TBA).
Comics, fantasy, music & film
On the comics and fantasy front:
- The Fantasy Con (2024 dates TBA) is a small event with an artist alley, readings, music and similar
On the music front:
The Vienna concert season is in full swing in April, of course, but if you fancy something a little different…
- The Vienna Blues Spring normally continues throughout April and features performances from both local and international musicians…with a focus on (guess?) blues
- The Gemischter Satz festival at the Konzerthaus venue combines one of Vienna’s notable wine products with classical music and more (2024 dates TBA)
- The wean hean festival celebrates the Viennese song tradition (2024 dates TBA)
(The Reigen hosts most of the Vienna Blues Spring gigs)
On the movie front:
- The Jewish Film Festival (2024 dates TBA) features works from around the world that address aspects of Jewish life in all its facets and contexts
- The Festival du Film Francophone (2024 dates TBA) does what it says on the label
Enjoy the running (and cycling)
April hosts the weekend of the Vienna marathon (April 21st), an international event with added kudos: part of the course for the race is the same stretch of road where Eliud Kipchoge became the first human to run the marathon distance in under two hours (at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge).
The month also wears a cycling helmet. The Argus Bike Festival (April 13th and 14th) is a lovely two-day event with information stands, bike-related exhibitors and lots of two-wheeled show action.
Enjoy the April sun
(The Stadtpark)
Unlike in March, you’re more likely to find spring flowers peeping up from Vienna’s numerous parks and gardens in April (and enough sun to enjoy them).
If you want to enjoy the fresh green on the trees and/or fruit tree blossom, then head for places like:
- The Lainzer Tiergarten – an extensive nature protection area with wild boar and more (the lovely Hermesvilla is here, once a summerhouse for Empress Elisabeth)
- The Vienna Woods – lots of cycle paths and hiking trails through the hills and forests that surround Vienna’s west
- The Stadtpark park in the centre, with its musician memorials (look for Strauss, in particular)
- The Prater park with its 11km hiking trail that starts and ends in an area rich with restaurants and entertainments
- Of course, don’t forget the sculpted gardens attached to the various palaces, too, such as at Schönbrunn, Belvedere or the Volksgarten next to the Hofburg palace. You’ll see these as you pass through the usual sightseeing areas, anyway
Several protected or private areas usually open up in full to the public end of March. For example:
- The Cobenzl city farm: just as it says on the label. Kids can get up close to farm animals
- Hirschstetten: part of the city’s horticultural nursery complex. If that sounds relatively uninspiring, it’s actually quite beautiful. They’ve turned it into a landscaped botanical gardens, with a palm house and a fair few birds and animals in there, too. It’s a bit of a secret and off the usual tourist trails. And it’s free
Go for an ice cream
If that sounds banal, it’s not meant to. The local ice cream season begins at the end of March, and we’re not talking about lollipops in the freezer aisle of the supermarket.
Vienna hosts many remarkably high-quality ice cream parlours, so fill a cone or cup with your choice of flavours. Or take a seat and enjoy something off an extensive ice cream menu that might set your diet back a few weeks. Oh, and vegan options are usually available.
Incidentally, the official European (and Austrian) ice cream of the year for 2023 was apple strudel (move over vanilla, your time has passed). We’ll see what flavour 2024 brings…