u/Clear_Radish6304

Hello! My partner and I are flying in from Brazil for a Christmas and New Year trip through Central Europe. We’ll be spending a good chunk of our trip in Austria and would love some local insight before we go.

Our current draft route:
Vienna: Dec 17 – Dec 20
Salzburg: Dec 20 – Dec 23
Innsbruck: Dec 23 – Dec 24
Prague: Dec 24 – Dec 28
Budapest: Dec 28 – Jan 02
Vienna: Jan 02 – Jan 05

(The flight prices are extremely high, specially the multi-city ones, so I needed to buy round-trip from Vienna)

We would love local insight on:
Christmas markets — hidden gems or ones that are actually worth it vs. overly touristy, including smaller towns like Hallstatt, St. Wolfgang, Graz or anywhere else worth a detour (I already saw a lot here in Reddit saying that Hallstat is for tourists)

Must-do and must-avoid — especially things that are unique or magical in December specifically

Food and drink with good value — where locals actually eat, must eat meals/drinks, etc

Every single piece of advice is really really important fo us!

Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone!

My partner and I are traveling from Brazil to Central Europe this winter. Our main goals for this trip are experiencing the traditional Christmas markets and diving deep into the region's history.

We did some research about how things shut down in Germany and Austria around Christmas Eve/Day, so we are trying to structure our bases around that (like moving to Prague on Dec 25th since their markets keep running).

Here is our base distribution. I would love to get your opinions on the pacing and any potential changes!

Flights:
• Arrival: Vienna (VIE) on Dec 17 at 10:55 PM
• Departure: Vienna (VIE) on Jan 05 at 06:50 AM

The Route:
• Vienna: Dec 17 – Dec 20
• Salzburg: Dec 20 – Dec 22
• Innsbruck: Dec 22 – Dec 23
• Munich: Dec 23 – Dec 25
• Prague: Dec 25 – Dec 28
• Budapest: Dec 28 – Jan 02
• Vienna: Jan 02 – Jan 05

Planned Day Trips:
We are keeping our luggage at the bases above, but planning to do the following day trips during those blocks:
• Hallstatt (from Salzburg)
• Bratislava (from Vienna - during our second stay in January)

What do you guys think about this allocation? Does the flow make sense considering the Christmas closures? Any tweaks you would recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone!

My partner and I are traveling from Brazil to Central Europe this winter. Our main goals for this trip are experiencing the traditional Christmas markets and diving deep into the region's history.

We did some research about how things shut down in Germany and Austria around Christmas Eve/Day, so we are trying to structure our bases around that (like moving to Prague on Dec 25th since their markets keep running).

Here is our base distribution. I would love to get your opinions on the pacing and any potential changes!

Flights:
• Arrival: Vienna (VIE) on Dec 17 at 10:55 PM
• Departure: Vienna (VIE) on Jan 05 at 06:50 AM

The Route:
• Vienna: Dec 17 – Dec 20
• Salzburg: Dec 20 – Dec 22
• Innsbruck: Dec 22 – Dec 23
• Munich: Dec 23 – Dec 25
• Prague: Dec 25 – Dec 28
• Budapest: Dec 28 – Jan 02
• Vienna: Jan 02 – Jan 05

Planned Day Trips:
We are keeping our luggage at the bases above, but planning to do the following day trips during those blocks:
• Hallstatt (from Salzburg)
• Bratislava (from Vienna - during our second stay in January)

What do you guys think about this allocation? Does the flow make sense considering the Christmas closures? Any tweaks you would recommend?

Thanks in advance!