5 things to do & see in salzburg, austria

salzburg! aka the home of mozart and sound of music. i would love to come back to this city in the warmer months, as our two days here were very cold and very rainy. that being said, it's worth popping by any time of year if you're in austria because it is very cute and the mountains are stunning. in my opinion, 2-3 days here is plenty. here are some must-do's if you're headed here. 

 1. WANDER THE OLD TOWN & GRAB A SCHNITZEL:
the cobble stoned streets are obviously adorable and never get old. get lost and stumble into a schnitzel spot. we ate here (Alter Fuchs) and liked it.

2. WALK UP TO THE VIEW POINT AT MONCHSBERG
the walk takes about 30-45 minutes and gives you great views over the entire city. depending on the weather, this might be a fun place for sunset. if it's rainy, it's a great thing to do before grabbing beers at augustiner bräu. which leads me to... 

3. GRAB BEERS AND SNACKS AT AUGUSTINER BRAU
in an old church, st. augustiner mülln monestary turned brewery (dating back to 1621!) these guys have it completely dialed in. with an outdoor beer garden, indoor beer hall & a couple of food stands... pick your mug size off the wall, buy a ticket for beer, rinse the mug out & bring it to the guy at the tap. prost! 

4. TAKE A DRIVE: DAY TRIP TO HALSTATT AND THE EAGLES NEST

• halstatt: the train is temping, but getting behind the wheel gives you the opportunity to stop and take pictures/explore wherever you want. we thought halstatt would be our highlight destination, then we ended up stopping in a completely random town in gosau valley after spotting a tiny pink church high on a hill and fell in love.
  our car was about $40 for the day. 
• eagles nest: we didn't get a chance to see it, but heard only great things. read more about the daily tours here. 

5. GET IN THE MOUNTAINS! 
it was too cold for us to hike, but mountains surround the entire city and it's clear that in the warmer months, this would be an amazing way to explore. we slept at a little bnb that was 4 minutes by train from city center and loved it – haus christine is in the beautiful countryside with mountain landscape views and the staff couldn't be kinder. 
 

where to stay in vienna: the grätzlhotel

WHERE TO STAY IN VIENNA | grätzlhotel
our stay in vienna was a unique one, in a hotel concept that i've never really seen before [and love]. the grätzlhotel is not a true "hotel" rather individual suites located all over the city in former business premises and storage areas... the coolest part, their original use is still reflected in an elegant but modern way. we stayed in the meidlinger markt neighborhood, in what used to be a book store front. i love how they preserved the little reading nook and bookshelves. for travelers that prefer luxury, but also want to be embedded into a city's culture – this is an experience that will be hard to replicate and make your stay in vienna feel like a home away from home. 

WHAT WE LOVED:

• the room was clean, spacious, cozy, well designed and equipped with a mini kitchen
• each guest has free use of bikes, right outside your room! but it was a bit too cold for this during our stay...
• the outdoor table/chairs to sip morning coffee [which the room is stocked with]
• the location is near an awesome breakfast cafe [milchbart], weekend farmer's market & legit schnitzel spot
• the subway is 5 minutes walking to the U-4 line, from there it is easy to get anywhere in vienna
• the shower, kitchenette and bed were all extremely comfortable – we found ourselves spending more time in our room than we had originally planned
   

* this stay was part of a collaboration, all opinions are my own. 

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why you shouldn't skip vienna, austria

WHY WE CHOSE VIENNA:
in a city where cake and champagne are socially acceptable to order at any time of day and entire restaurants are dedicated to schnitzel – i immediately knew i would fit in. vienna was never on our original travel plan [we'd heard mixed reviews and people either love or hate it], but coming from poland it seemed to make the most sense on a direct route, as we were ultimately heading west for the holidays. in a way, vienna is known to be the yin to budapest’s yang and we were excited to see the other half of the austro-hungarian capital cities. 

we arrived on a cold but sunny day and felt the city’s energy almost immediately. we’d come off an overnight bus from krakow and were exhausted, but didn’t want to waste a minute and were antsy to get out and explore. it’s definitely more button-ed up... classy, hip and the architecture is gorgeous, ornate and grand.

everything about this city is visually stunning – combined with cool shops, a trusty public transit system, awesome food, great beer, charming people and more christmas markets than i’ve ever seen – we ended up adding another night to our stay to ensure we truly got the full experience. vienna is a fairly large city so it takes some digging to find the neighborhoods you'd want to hang out in. that being said the history and culture definitely pull you in and make this a pretty cozy city to explore for a few days.  

A FEW FAVORITES WORTH SEEING:

burggasee 24 [vintage shop and cafe] | schnitzelwirt [all schnitzel all day] | the breakfastclub & vollpension [neighbors, both worth a stop | naschmarkt [and a drink at NENI am] | salonplafond [for a drink or snack at the bar, also check our their cool shop] | ludwig & adele [for a drink and a snack] | and of course, visit one of their many christmas market's if you happen to be there in winter – they are sprinkled all over the city and are filled with warm drinks, GOOD food and fun gifts. 

4 cozy european christmas markets

joyous noel from switzerland! chistmas in europe is the most festive thing i've ever seen.

with no thanksgiving holiday, the christmas markets here start around mid-november which gives a whole lot of time to enjoy the christmas spirit. most city's main squares are covered in tiny wooden shops featuring craftsman, christmas decorations, local foods {meats & sweets}, holiday beverages [for children and adults], beautiful lights, decorated trees, live music, and always happy vibes. packed with tourists and locals alike, every night of the week is lively and gives you good reason to brave the cold winter temps. here are a few of the our favorite christmas markets:

1. VIENNA, austria 

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for more info on the vienna holiday markets, click here

2. MUNICH, germany 

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for more info on the munich christmas markets, click here

3. BUDAPEST, hungary 

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for more information on budapest christmas markets, click here

4. KRAKOW, poland

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for more information on the krakow christmas markets, click here