New Year in Austria

During the Christmas and New Year holidaysAustria is very beautiful. A few weeks before Christmas, the city is transformed: the inhabitants decorate them with Christmas trees with toys, New Year's illumination, festive melodies are heard from everywhere. New Year's Austria is like a real winter fairy tale.

Deciding to celebrate the New Year in Austria, be sure to visit the capital of the country - Vienna. On pre-holiday days on the square Friedrich Schmidt there is a Christmas market near the town hall. There you can admire the biggest Christmas tree in the country, drink aromatic and hot mulled wine or punch, eat sweets and buy souvenirs for loved ones. Traditional New Year's Austrian souvenirs that bring happiness are glass, porcelain or clay figurines of a chimney sweep, a pig or four-leafed clover. And in the Town Hall on weekends the choruses from different countries sing, the entrance for tourists is free.

During the festive season, the season opens famous Vienna balls in the Hofburg Palace. And on December 31 and January 1, you can visit traditional concerts that give orchestra of the Vienna Philharmonic. True, if you do not bother about ticketsin advance, you will not get to the concert. The Vienna Philharmonic accepts applications for tickets only on January 2, a year in advance. But, perhaps you will just be in Vienna on January 2, order a ticket, and you will have an occasion to meet the New Year in Austria again!

Also on December 31 in the People's Opera and State Opera traditionally give the famous operetta "Bat"By Johann Strauss. Every inhabitant of Vienna aspires at least once in his life to visit this New Year's performance. But tickets, again, you need to buy in advance, at least a few months or even a year, and they are not cheap.

On New Year's Eve the center of the celebration in Vienna is the Stefansplatz squarelocated in the Inner City. The coming of the New Year at midnight will usher in bell ringing New Pummerin, suspended in the northern tower St. Stephen's Cathedral. This is the second largest bell in Europe, it only calls 11 times a year, including on New Year's Eve.

In addition to Vienna you can visit Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart. In this city you can visit the whole two Christmas markets. The older fair is held on Cathedral Square in the center of Salzburg. And a new one - beyond the river, on the Mirabell Square. Two fairs in Salzburg because at the time of the Nazis tried to move the fair from the city center beyond the river. As a result, the old fair was revived, and the new decided not to clean.

Tired of the festive city bustle, you can go to one of the ski resorts, which Austria is famous for (there are more800!). Then the New Year in Austria will surely be remembered for a long time! The resorts of Austria are popular not only because of their magnificent conditions, but also at reasonable prices (by European standards).

By the way, in addition to the ski runs proper, the Alpine resorts of Austria can boast mineral and thermal springs; so that the New Year in Austria can not be metonly in the ski resort, and on the balneological. In most hotels in the Austrian resorts, thermal and spa treatments are available to holidaymakers, so you can celebrate not only the New Year, but also improve your health.

There are in Austria and resorts targeted at young people. For this they received the name "winter Ibiza". In addition to the ski slopes, young people are attracted by numerous bars, clubs and discos. In the daytime, you can ski and breathe crystal clear and fresh mountain air, and at night - break away on the dance floor.

Do not forget that in order to celebrate the New Year in Austria, you will need Schengen visa. Getting to Austria is easier than in many other countries: thanks to the developed network of ski resorts in the whole country six international airports (in Salzburg, Vienna, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Graz and Linz). Therefore, you can choose the most suitable airport for you.

If you want to celebrate the New Year in Austria, the tour should be booked now: during the Christmas holidays, many tourists go to Austria. So hurry up. Happy holidays to you!