In January, most of us usually hide out in a coffee house until it warms up. Seriously…you can while away the hours in the former haunts of folk like Klimt, Mahler and, um, Trotsky. They feed you cake, too.
But you probably want other suggestions for the month. Well, read on, dear visitor…
- See also:
Top activities in January 2023
There’s always the world-famous New Year’s Concert in the Musikverein. Though you need to enter the lottery early in the previous year to get a ticket. Still, plenty of other seasonal activities exist for your consideration. For example…
The New Year markets
The New Year markets did not open in 2020/2021 and only a couple did so in the 2021/2022 season. With luck, we’ll be back to normal by January 2023.
Most only stay open for a few days at most after New Year so come early.
I’d recommend particularly t
Exhibitions and culture
(Catch the last days of an Old Masters exhibition at the KHM)
Many museums time their top exhibitions for the summer or Christmas visitor peaks. And the exhibitions at Christmas may extend into the early part of January to catch people staying in the city for the New Year. So be sure to check what’s on, particularly at the (art) museums.
January 2023 is quite a way off, but so far we already expect, for example:
- The Kunsthistorisches Museum’s traditional major old masters exhibition (until January 8th), alongside the ongoing special coins exhibition
- A Helmut Newton retrospective at the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien (until January 15th)
- Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Albertina (until January 8th) and abstract expressionism from the New York school at the Albertina Modern (until January 22nd)
- The last month of the George Nuku exhibition at the Weltmuseum
- The Unseen Places photo exhibition featuring inaccessible architecture at the Kunst Haus Wien
- The Natural History Museum celebrates 200 years of Austro-Brazilian relations with its Brazil exhibition
- The MAK has its big FEST exhibition on the art and design of the celebration
- For more suggestions, check out the exhibition listings
Now let’s add in a bit of film and music…
- The Konzerthaus hosts its annual Early Music Festival: Resonanzen (January 21st to 29th)
- Last year, January also brought us the Blue Danube Film Festival, held jointly in Budapest and Vienna (2023 dates TBA).
Get your skates on
Be prepared for a pleasant surprise if you equate ice skating with indoor rinks. January brings two golden open-air skating opportunities:
- Wiener Eistraum: a beautifully-lit set of rinks and trails across the square in front of the Rathaus and through the surrounding park. This normally opens sometime mid to late January
- Eislauf-Verein: a traditional open-air rink next to the Konzerthaus that’s well over a hundred years old. Usually open daily through January
Both have skates for hire, of course.
Find accommodation for January
(Service provided by booking.com*, who I am an affiliate of)
A warming coffee
If you’re looking to escape the cold in one of the more traditional coffee houses, then try this list and follow in the footsteps of some of the great intellectuals, artists, and writers of the past.
Warm yourself with strudel and a melange as you browse the international papers, discuss Freud and Proust, or doomscroll through Twitter.
Slap on the skis
You won’t see too many people in Vienna waving ski sticks and buying chair lift tickets (for obvious reasons).
However, the city’s not actually that far from the Alps. So if you do want to take a day trip into snowy mountains, January is a good time.
The Semmering ski resort, for example, is a short bus or train ride away.
Vienna spa
An alternative to the coffee house for spending a long, lazy day in the warm is Therme Wien: the hot water baths and spa.
The Therme has numerous thermal pools, both indoors and out, spa treatments, and much more. Although on the edge of town, the recently-opened extension to the U1 subway line means a train from the city centre takes you to the front door in about 16 minutes.
And for a little bonus…the spa entrance looks across to one of the finest patisseries and confectioners in Vienna: Konditorei Oberlaa.
Bonus tips for January
Watch the weather
It’s midwinter in Austria. You might be lucky and still enjoy
Think about the zoo
(The lower entrance to the rainforest house)
It might seem strange to suggest Vienna zoo in January, when many animals do their best to avoid the seasonal chill. But there are two reasons you might visit anyway:
- Fewer people go at this time of year, which makes for an easier and m
ore pleasant viewing experience
- The zoo has several large (and warm) indoor areas, particularly the Rainforest House, Aquarium, and Bird House
Be warned
Museums, venues, and similar normally stay open all year in Vienna, but January does put paid to some outdoor places and activities. And I’m not talking about just the obvious ones, like open-air swimming pools. For example, Schönbrunn Palace’s maze and other ticketed outdoor features close for winter.