Natalie Marchant

Just because the sun has clocked off for the year doesn’t mean you need to abandon the idea of a city break. Quite the opposite, in fact, and we’d argue that some of the most well-loved holiday hotspots in Europe are even better in winter. Sure, you might have to throw on an extra layer or three, but many European cities are at their most alluring in winter, particularly those that lean into the cosy side of it all. If you’re looking for a cwtch in city form, these places fit the bill. These cities are waiting to be embraced, with heaps of winter activities, hearty food, romantic spirit, and maybe a drink or three for good measure, though that isn’t a requirement. We’ve rounded up our favourite winter city breaks on the continent for 2026 into one handy list, covering everything from the Arctic Circle to the Balkans and beyond. Our experts have spoken; these are 2026’s best winter city getaways. Europe’s best city breaks at a glance 💏 Best for couples: Paris, France 🍜 Best for foodies: Edinburgh, Scotland 🎊 Best for families: Zagreb, Croatia 💎 Most underrated: Ljubljana, Slovenia At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by experts across Europe who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

Classical music, coffee houses and the eversweet sachertortes. Vienna is world-famous for all-things grandeur, but if you prefer to keep things a little more casual (and even budget-friendly), its hotel scene ranges from vintage glamour to cool and comfortable. And warm, personal hospitality is a big deal here, too, with lots of Vienna hotels offering complimentary teatime treats and guest-only happy hours. The lodgings on this list are also near many of Vienna’s top attractions, things to do and restaurants, which makes having a great time almost effortless. We regularly update these listings to reflect the most on-trend and unique stays out there. So without further ado, here’s our pick of the best, most interesting places to stay in Vienna. The best hotels in Vienna, at a glance:  💸 Best on a budget: Grätzlhotel Karmelitermarkt 🖼️ Best interior design: Hotel Sacher Wien 🌇 Best views: 25hours Hotel beim MuseumsQuartier 💎 Biggest splurge: Rosewood Vienna   🍕 Best for foodies: The Guesthouse Vienna  Updated October 2026: We reviewed the all-new Miiro Spittelberg, which offers Italian-inspired dining and 132 clean-cut rooms with splashes of colour – read on to see where it ranks.  ➡️ Want more? Check out our list of the best Airbnbs in Vienna How we curate our hotel lists Our team of writers and travel experts review hotels all over the world – new openings, old classics and everything in between – to bring you fresh, honest recommendations, all year round. We have re

While the classic Wiener Schnitzel remains a stalwart on many menus, the Austrian capital has plenty of other foodie options to tempt your tastebuds, from Italian to Middle Eastern to Japanese. Those who stick to more traditional Austrian cuisine, however, are finding new ways of serving it, making this year an exciting time to eat your way around the city.  If you can’t quite make your mind up, there’s always the budget-friendly option of lining up with the Viennese to try a hotdog at one of the many Würstelstands across the city. Here are the best restaurants in Vienna for 2026.  Natalie Marchant and Susanne Garber are writers based in Vienna. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. The best hotels in Vienna at a glance 🍽️ Best for traditional cuisine: Am Nordpol 3 💸 Most affordable: Mani ⭐ Michelin-starred: Pramerl & the Wolf 🍷 Best for wine: Glacis Beisl 🥕 Best for vegetarians: Wrenkh 🏘️ Discover the best Airbnbs and the best things to do in Vienna

Legend has it that Vienna’s renowned coffeehouse culture was born in 1683, when a local grabbed a bag of coffee beans left over by the fleeing Ottomans after the Siege of Vienna. The Wiener Kaffeehaus has become such a feature of the city ever since – and you’ll see it from the moment you touch down here. These are not just places to sip and snack; these are social, community institutions at the very heart of Vienna’s culture. Read on to find our favourites.  The difference between a Kaffeehaus and a café We’d better start by explaining what we mean by ‘café’ in Vienna, eh? Owed to its history, this city is full of beautiful cafés – some traditional Kaffeehauses, some newer, modern cafés. The Kaffeehaus (some of which have UNESCO status), is a grand space where you might find suited waiters, marble tables and a menu of Viennese classics. For tourists, they are a must-try, but we love them just as much locally. But as well as these, there’s a new generation of coffee aficionados, who are leading the modernisation of Vienna’s coffee culture through the ‘Third Wave’. On our list, we’ve got both – so you can take your pick.  ➡️ READ MORE: The ultimate guide to Vienna Jump to list: find your perfect café ☕ Vienna’s best traditional coffeehouses 🧋 Vienna’s best new-wave modern cafés  Susanne Garber and Natalie Marchant are writers based in Vienna. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by experts across Europe. For more about how we curate, see our editorial gu

Don’t be fooled by Vienna’s imperial grandeur. For alongside its historic palaces and grand boulevards, you’ll find the locals living a high quality of life that embraces being outdoors, fine food and drink, and leisurely living. Where else in the world can you visit one of the world’s finest art museums in the morning, before jumping in an urban lake for a swim or heading to the hills to sample some locally grown wine? Here are the top things to do in Vienna by those who know it best. Jump to list: Vienna at a glance 💸 For free: Walking the Ringstrasse 🍰 For foodies: Coffee at Café Central 🏊 For adults: Outdoor swimming in the Old Danube 🎡 For kids: The Wiener Riesenrad theme park 💑 For couples: Vienna vineyards at Kahlenburg ➡️ READ MORE: The ultimate guide to Vienna Susanne Garber and Natalie Marchant are writers based in Vienna. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by experts across Europe. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

The capital of classical music is dusting off its glitter ball, sewing on its sequins and warming up its vocal cords as Vienna hosts the 70th Eurovision Song Contest. The accolade comes a year after Austrian-Filipino opera singer J.J. (real name Johannes Pietsch), representing Vienna, won Eurovision 2025 with operatic pop ballad Wasted Love.  If you missed it, the song starts as an intimate love ballad in a black-and-white boat-themed set before breaking into a turbulent techno tune amid stormy seas. Wasted Love was the clear winner – and this will be the third time Vienna hosts the world’s largest singing competition, having held it in 1967 and 2015, the latter after drag queen Conchita Wurst won with Rise Like A Phoenix. And the city is fully embracing the opportunity to sparkle once again – here’s everything you need to know about Eurovision in Vienna this year.  ➡️ READ MORE: The best things to do in Vienna, all year round   Photograph: ShutterstockEurovision was held at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle in 2015 When will Eurovision be held in Vienna? The Eurovision live shows, including two semis and the grand final will be held on May 12, 14 and 16. Where will Eurovision be held in Vienna? All shows will be at the Wiener Stadthalle, an arena in the 15th district (Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus) with 16,000 capacity.  Are there still tickets? Sadly for some, tickets sold out in record time on January 13. All nine shows (around 100,000 tickets in total) were gone in under an hour, to b

This list is from 2025. Our latest ranking for 2026 is live here. People who don’t live in cities will tell you they’re busy, lonely and expensive places. But there’s a reason so many people choose to live in them: with world-class art and culture, unbeatable food and nightlife, buzzing neighbourhoods and a dizzying amount of stuff to do and see, there’s simply no better place to be.  Every year, we take the pulse of city living by quizzing thousands of locals across the planet about life in their hometowns. This year, more than 18,500 city-dwellers shared their insights on everything from food, nightlife and culture to affordability, happiness and the overall city vibe. When urban living can sometimes feel isolating and costly, this year we wanted to get a sense of what, exactly, makes a city feel like home. Sure, the nightlife is great, but is the city safe and walkable? Is good quality food and art available at a reasonable price? Is it easy to make friends, find love, and access nature?  Livability was a key factor in our ranking this year. But a great city to live in is, naturally, a great city to visit. So, along with the thousands of responses from locals around the world, we asked Time Out’s global network of city experts to vote on the places they think are particularly exciting right now. After crunching all that data, here we are: Time Out’s definitive ranking of the world’s best cities in 2025. Read on to see how your hometown fared… RECOMMENDED:🛍️ The coolest n

‘Schifoan ist des leiwandste,’ as they say in Austria (that’s ‘skiing is the coolest’ to the uninitiated). Given that about 60 percent of the country is covered in mountains, it’s hardly surprising that skiing runs in our blood in Austria – a lifelong love affair for those of us who have been lucky enough to call this place home. I was first put on skis near Zell Am See at the age of four and decades later, I’m still making an annual pilgrimage to the Austrian Alps. In that time, I’ve been skiing as a child, as a teenager when I briefly dabbled with snowboarding, as an overconfident 20-plus year-old and as a more cautious middle-ager. Nowadays I also join my school friends and watch their kids having as much fun as we did.  Skiing is undeniably a privilege but the beautiful scenery, the fresh air and the sheer unbridled fun of it makes it worth every euro cent – be it on one of the panoramic glacial resorts or from one of the traditional small villages Austria is famed for. ‘Gemütlichkeit’ is a term often associated with Austria and, while there’s no direct English translation, the sense of cosiness it conveys is still what I feel whenever I come ‘home’. For there is nothing better than warming up with a Glühwein and tucking into a hearty plate of Kaiserschmarrn for those with a sweet tooth – or a Tiroler Gröstl for those who prefer savoury, like me – in a rustic mountain hut at the end of a hard day’s skiing.  ⛷️ Discover the most affordable ski holidays in Europe Everything

  Vienna’s culture scene is second to none. After all, it played a huge role in developing practically every art form that has flourished in Europe, remember? So it’s no surprise that the museums and galleries here are pretty much love letters to some of the world’s best artists, sculptors, painters, writers and more. From Sigmund Freud to Beethoven, here are the best museums in Vienna.  RECOMMENDED:📍 The best things to do in Vienna💃🏻 The best nightlife spots in Vienna🏛️ Unmissable attractions in Vienna🏠 Vienna's best Airbnbs This article was written by Natalie Marchant, who spent a number of years in Vienna. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. 

Miiro Spittelberg is a new boutique lifestyle hotel a short stroll away from Vienna city centre, in the hip creative district of Neubau. Art aficionados will love its proximity to major attractions such as the MuseumsQuartier and the Kunsthistorisches Museum, while foodies will enjoy the large variety of cuisines on offer nearby. What’s the vibe? The hotel offers a contemporary urban townhouse feel with an artistic touch. The communal spaces are designed to be warm and welcoming, with the emphasis on neutral tones and natural materials complemented by splashes of colour and atmospheric lighting. All the art across the hotel has been carefully curated by local artist FLOWSOFLY, whose obsession with the line is most notable in the ceiling mural in the lounge area. What are the rooms like at Miiro Spittelberg? The rooms are spacious, bright and airy, with large windows providing panoramic views over the village-like neighbourhood and beyond. As elsewhere in the hotel, bespoke art brings a pop of colour to the contemporary interiors and furnishings, with a cosy reading chair to tuck yourself away in. The rainfall showers are delightful, as are the excellent Le Labo toiletries and in-room comforts such as tea-making facilities. What are the facilities like? The Miiro Spittelberg’s natural materials and textures aesthetic extends to the gym and wellness area, which is equipped with high-end, wood-finished NOHRD fitness equipment and a sauna. As with the brand’s other hotels, there’

A 1950s modernist marvel that was once home to the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, The Hoxton stands out as one of Vienna’s quirkier, not to mention more stylish, hotel options in a city known for its grand imperial architecture. Come here during the summer and you’ll find it hard to leave the building, with an afternoon by the rooftop pool – a rarity in the Austrian capital – followed by cocktails on the neighbouring Cayo Coco terrace, leaving you feel like you’d taken a short break to the Mediterranean via an office lift. What’s the vibe? The Hoxton’s buzzing, casual and creative atmosphere is apparent as soon as you step into the open, glass-fronted and plant-filled lobby of the former office building. The 1950s architecture is perfectly complemented by the Wes Anderson-style interior decor and furnishings, many of which were inspired by the Austrian mid-century design. It’s hardly surprising that a place this stylish is popular with locals too. What are the rooms like at The Hoxton? The 196 rooms come in the usual Hoxton categories of shoebox, snug, cosy and roomy. While most are on the small side (it is a former office block, after all), they’re beautifully decorated with references to early and mid-20th century Viennese design, including Adolf Loos-inspired dark wood bedheads and Wiener Werkstätte-style fabrics – all accompanied by a Roberts radio on the bedside table and Blank toiletries in the dark-tiled bathroom. Anyway, it doesn’t matter that the rooms are compact whe