The free summer festival
A giant screen, a concert every evening and food stalls around it — Vienna's best free night out.
Gugerell — CC0 · Aciarium — CC BY 4.0 · Donald Judge — CC BY 2.0 · Sandor Somkuti from Wien, Österreich — CC BY-SA 2.0
The square in front of Vienna's city hall, and the most heavily used public space in the city all year: the municipality never leaves it empty for a month, reshaping it season by season for residents before visitors. In summer it becomes a free film festival — a giant screen showing opera and classical concerts every evening, ringed by dozens of food stalls from different kitchens. You sit outdoors, watch and eat without paying any entry. In December it turns into Austria's most famous and most crowded Christmas market, with lit trees, sweets and mugs of hot wine. In January and February it is covered by a vast ice rink whose frozen paths wind between the trees. The rest of the year it is simply a green space in front of Vienna's finest neo-Gothic façade.
A giant screen, a concert every evening and food stalls around it — Vienna's best free night out.
Austria's most famous: lights, sweets and mulled wine before the lit city hall — the essential December experience.
Not one rink but frozen paths winding between the trees — you skate a route, not a circle.
Rathausplatz, Vienna
Vienna City HallVienna's city hall, and one of the Ring's defining buildings: neo-Gothic, spired1 minute walk4.8
Austrian Parliament BuildingThe only building on the Ring raised in pure Greek classicism: marble columns, a3 minutes walk4.6
Palais ObentrautA grand apartment building of 1883 on Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz behind the city ha3 minutes walk4.7
The Theseus TempleA miniature Greek temple in the middle of Vienna's Volksgarten, built in the 1824 minutes walk4.5
VolksgartenA public garden in the middle of Vienna between the Hofburg palace and the Rings4 minutes walk4.7Much less so: between events it is a green square in front of a fine building, worth ten minutes in passing. The real visit is tied to the season.
Above an ordinary restaurant, below a tourist one; and December's mulled wine carries a refundable mug deposit — return the mug to get it back.