4 or 5 nights?

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Hi all

My fiancé and I are planning to go to Vienna in the first week of December to check out the Christmas markets. We have never been to the city (or, indeed, Austria) at all before so we are very excited.

We can't decide whether to go for 4 nights (would be 4 whole days of sightseeing) or 5 nights (5 days). Given that it will probably be too chilly to do much out in the open would you recommend going for 4 well-planned days and saving the extra money to spend while we are there or splashing out on the extra day to fit more in? We've found quite a good deal with flights and a nice, well-located hotel but the extra night would be about another £100 between us.

We are interested in all the standard touristy stuff like museums and churches, markets and monuments. We are quite good at planning our time and usually fit a lot into our city breaks. Would love to catch a concert while we are there if we can.

Thanks all.

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lucapal
lucapal

I would always do the maximum time possible in any short-stay destination...then,if I get bored and run out of things to do,I'd do a day trip somewhere nearby.

So....I'd go with the 5 days.

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vivsan76
vivsan76

I have often been in Vienna in late November/early December and never had a problem in spending time outside, strolling around and enjoying the sights. Sure it can be cold, but not unbearable (I mean, we are NOT talking about -20C here, more like around 0 C). There is a lot to do in Vienna, especially on a first visit, so you would certainly not get bored in five days! Going to a concert is going to be fairly easy because you will be offered one as soon as you step near the main tourist attractions! They can be costy, though.
I'd go for 5 days, if I could, as it would be less rushed... and if you have free time you can always enjoy one of the many cafès Vienna is famous for! :)

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pizwat
pizwat

Avoid the "concerts" promoted by people in the streets. I got talked into one by friends and it was miserable. Full of disinterested tourists who want to "check the box" that they went to a "concert" in Vienna and who cannot keep quiet. Dumbed-down excerpts from the most familiar works. If you are at least semi-serious about a quality experience, go to a proper concert. Sometimes churches have performances. If the notice is only in German, even better.

And I second what lucapal said.

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ogieoglithorpe2
ogieoglithorpe2

you can always take a day trip if you run out of thing to do. which is hard to imagine happening. I spent 7 nights there and would have been real happy if I could have stayed longer.

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Thank you everyone, I guess we will splash out on the extra night. It's nice not to be too rushed on a city break and it is a very good deal anyway.

And thank you for the advice about concerts as I wouldn't have had a clue and may have been lulled into a tourist trap! Will need to brush up on my German before we go to try to find the ones advertised in the local lingo ;)

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wolfie6552
wolfie6552

They have some of the best and biggest Christmas markets in Europe at that time, the one in front of City Hall is by no means the only one. The street decorations are also not to be sneezed upon.
You could spend 5 days just exploring those - and stumbling from one café to the next, which is actually a very Viennese thing to do......

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