New Year's Eve in Vienna

Vienna comes pre-loaded with everything you need to make your New Year’s Eve celebrations go off with a bang. Fireworks? Check? Epic street entertainment? Check. Swoonsome baroque boulevards? Check. Funny local traditions like molybdomancy (more about this later) and eating marzipan pigs? You betcha! Indeed, this cultural mecca is surely one of the planet’s great places to spend New Year’s Eve (or Silvester as the locals here know it). So raise a glass of Glühwein and dive into our short guide to spending New Year’s Eve in Vienna.

In the Morning...Roam Around the Ringstrasse

Vienna’s broad, beautiful boulevards are manna for dreamy wanderers and IG addicts alike. And the Ringstrasse, a 5km loop that encircles the old town, is perhaps the city’s most splendid. Fortify yourself with a strong coffee and slab of sticky, crumbly Apfelstrudel before setting out on a morning constitutional that takes in grand cafés, picture-perfect palaces, the extraordinary roof mosaics of gothic St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and monumental 19th-century buildings including the Vienna State Opera and City Hall. Don’t miss the awesome Stadtpark with its opulent memorial to Johann Strauss and the baroque Spanish Riding School at magnificent Hofburg Palace. Sounds like too much walking for ya? There’s a tram for the footsore, and hopeless romantics can even experience the route’s many charms by horse and carriage.

Stuff Your Face with Sachertorte

In a city where cakes, strudels, pastries and tortes are a way of life, one confection stands haughty head and shoulders above all others. We’re talking of course about the legendary Sachertorte, a dense, decadent slice of chocolate heaven for which descriptors like ‘rich’ and ‘indulgent’ seem hopelessly inadequate. Coated in lashings of smooth dark chocolate ganache, and with a thin layer of apricot jam in the center, the Sachertorte’s history is as dense as its crumb, with both Café Sacher and bitter rivals The Demel claiming to have invented the oh-so-sweet treat. Thanks to a legal ruling back in the 60s, Café Sacher holds the official bragging rights for now, but don’t let that stop you demolishing a wedge of the decadent treat in both of these Vienna institutions.

Soak Up Some Viennese Culture

Cultural highlights abound in Vienna. Take the Belvedere, an ostentatious centuries-old palace that’s now a public museum containing some 800 years of art history. You’ll find mountains of modern Viennese masterpieces inside, where Gustav Klimt’s iconic Kiss is the star of the show. Though note that you may have to bust out your best crowd-elbowing maneuvers to get close enough for a selfie with this Secession showpiece. It’s all sumptuous gilded halls, grand pavilions and tropical hothouses over at Schönbrunn Palace, one of the city’s most magnificent baroque buildings. Heck, you can even visit the former homes of both Beethoven and Mozart, where the classical maestros composed some of their most famous pieces.

In the Afternoon...Bag a Bargain

With the Boxing Day sales in full swing, now’s as good a time as any to pick up that Louis Vuitton clutch bag or Cartier watch you’ve always wanted. Incurable shopaholics can fill their boots (and empty their bank accounts) along any number of pedestrianized parades packed with international brands and glam bars and restaurants. Try Mariahilfer Strasse, Kärntner Straße and Graben for the win. Some of the city’s famously atmospheric Christmas markets keep the festive party going through New Year, meaning you can stock up on handmade crafts and other artisan knick-knacks to your heart’s content, all while bathed in the warm glow of twinkling fairy lights and that third glass of Glühwein you’ve just necked. Neujahrsmarkt, Silvestermarkt and Silvesterdorf are among the most fun.

Silvesterpfad

Silvester – the local German word for New Year’s Eve is derived from the pope and saint of the same name who died on December 31 in the year 335. This party-loving legend also lends his name to Vienna’s huge New Year’s Eve street party, Silvesterpfad, which kicks off around 2PM and runs into the wee small hours of New Year’s Day. Silvesterpfad translates as ‘New Year’s Eve trail’ and that’s precisely what it is; a series of stages laced through the city center, bringing live music and other entertainment to the thronging masses. Don’t like what you see? Simple: move on to the next stage, where a different flavor of entertainment surely awaits. There are also food vans and carts galore to keep you well fortified right through to the deafening clangs of the massive Pummerin bell at midnight.

In the Evening...Ride the Wiener Riesenrad

The green expanse of the Prater Park comes over all festive at Christmas and New Year, with a winter market, a funfair and stages with live music. But you came here for the iconic Wiener Riesenrad, right? So, once you’ve had your fill of Glühwein, roast chestnuts and bumper cars, board this veritable icon of the Vienna skyline, which soars to the dizzying heights of 212 feet over the park. Once the planet’s tallest (from 1920-1985, no less) it remains the oldest surviving Ferris wheel in the world and affords far-reaching views over the city rooftops to the brilliant blue Danube, gothic St. Stephen’s Cathedral and beyond, all of it draped in its twinkling festive finery. Magical.

Indulge in Curious Local Traditions

If you’re going to spend New Year’s Eve in Vienna it’s important – nay, critical – that you get down with at least one of Austria's New Year traditions. Molybdomancy is one of the most popular and sees participants gleefully dropping globs of molten tin or wax into water. The resulting shape must then be evaluated to divine what kind of a year you’re about to have. You can buy sets for this in most stores around New Year. Another tradition sees Wieners gifting each other (and themselves) lucky symbols like clover, horseshoes and, um, pigs. Our porcine friends are particularly common in marzipan form at this time of year. Yum. Popular across much of Western Europe and Scandinavia, the obscure 1963 British comedy film Dinner For One, starring May Warden and Freddie Frinton, is traditionally broadcast in the hour before midnight. Don’t ask us why – just find a bar showing it on TV (there will be loads) and settle in for an entertaining (if somewhat old-fashioned) ride.

Pummerin, Fireworks and Dancing the Blue Danube

Come midnight, St Stephen’s Cathedral is where it’s at if you want to be as close as possible to the ear-shattering chimes of its huge Pummerin bell as possible. This is your opportunity to share hugs (and marzipan pigs) with merry strangers and even – why not? – to dance the traditional Blue Danube waltz beneath skies mad with colorful fireworks.

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