Vienna Easter Weekend

We love Vienna and Salzburg. Most everything is shut down Easter Sunday and Monday. The trains should be going as usual.

My main concern is whether I can plan on traveling via train on Easter Monday from Vienna to Salzburg or whether we should leave the next day to spend 2 days in Salzburg and surrounds. Sounds like we should be able to take the train on that Monday? I assume we'll lay low on Easter Sunday, my wife wants to take the kids to Easter Mass at St. Stephen's.

you may can get train tickets now - we book early and get 1st class for almost the same as 2nd class.

Seat61.com is excellent for learning about how to book and seeing photos, but book on actual website - seat61.com can link you to correct site.

How old are your kids? For young kids the is a special section in RailJet trains.

Usually there is no need to buy 1st class train tickets. But make sure to buy seat reservations for all of you.

You could start your trip in Salzburg by going there directly from Vienna International Airport, and travel later back to Vienna.
You can attend an Easter Mass in Salzburg as spectacular as in Vienna.

There are two train operators serving the route between Salzburg and Vienna (and vice versa).
https://www.oebb.at/en/ (serving Wien Hbf [Vienna main train station] and the airport)
https://westbahn.at/en/ (serving Wien Westbahnhof [Vienna western train station])

Easter Sunday and Monday all shops are closed and some restaurants. Public transport runs as usual.

We are taking my twin 11 year old girls and our son who is 8. They haven't been to Europe since they were babies, so this is a good start for them. Round trip Airfare for 5 seems to be a lot friendlier on a flight to and from Vienna as opposed to landing in Munich, my first thought. Our rooms at the hotel for the Conference will be ready on 4/23; So we have roughly 5 days to explore on our own. My wife got the time off prior to the conference (as opposed to after) and didn't realize it was Easter, so I am concerned we won't have as many options on Easter Sunday/Monday. However if we snag a train to Salzburg on Monday and check it it might not be bad low key day with some walking afterwards and do the tourist on the following Tuesday and Wednesday morning before heading back.

I assume some restaurants will be open on Sunday/Monday? I'm planning this whole thing, lol.

Joe

What to do with children in Vienna and Salzburg:
https://www.kimapa.de/wien-mit-kindern/ (Have it auto-translated by your browser.)
https://www.salzburg-altstadt.at/en/children

Just out of curiosity I went to the Hallstatt Salt Mine website and went through the process to buy a ticket Easter Sunday .... no problem. So Hallstatt is an idea. I enjoyed Hallstatt a little more than Salzburg.

Just out of curiosity I went to the Hallstatt Salt Mine website and went through the process to buy a ticket Easter Sunday .... no problem. So Hallstatt is an idea. I enjoyed Hallstatt a little more than Salzburg.

No tourist places completely shut down. You just gotta do a bit more research. For restaurants there might actually be a web page or restaurants open Easter. If not, find another list on line and start emailing the question. Vienna and Salzburg might have some sort of Easter market... Budapest where I live does.

Transportation is not affected by the Easter holiday - at least not in any way that you will notice. Only shops are closed on Sundays and then also on Easter Monday.

Definitely take your children to the Easter Markets at Freyung and Schonbrunn. The one at Freyung is very special and not to be missed - thousands and thousands of beautifully decorated eggs for sale. Schonbrunn has children's activities - it is basically a Christmas Market in better weather.

Listen to Emily, she is good. I cringe every time I read that "everything is closed" in a tourist city for a holiday. There is always something, and sometimes it can be more memorable than a typical day. Here there is plenty, I know Vienna will have plenty. But if you are worried, bring a frisbee with you and spend a few hours in the park and have a picnic.

Thanks so much Emily!

I cringe every time I read that "everything is closed" in a tourist city for a holiday.

In Austria the well-being of employees has a higher value than the sensitivities of tourists. Admittedly, the shop owners are not happy about it. This is especially true for Vienna.

In small towns, e.g. Hallstatt or Seefeld, which are declared as tourist areas as a whole, shops are open on Sundays and holidays. In Vienna there is no consensus where to draw the line between tourist and non-tourist areas.

By the way, if the owner of a shop is working there by himself without any employees, he may open his shop as he sees fit, without any restrictions.

Most supermarkets are closed on Sundays in Vienna, and they tend to close earlier than usual on Saturday as well. Usual closing time for supermarkets is about 8 PM but can occasionally be 7:30 PM. It's a bit of an adjustment for Americans used to stores being open nearly around the clock. It seemed as if I was rushing to get to a supermarket just before closing time almost every day. With children along, you might want to stock your room with fruit and other things suitable for snacks.

Here is a list of some possible activities to accommodate tfe tourists and locals alike.
https://www.visitingvienna.com/activities/easter-in-vienna/

Thanks so very much for all the replies and links, it's be very helpful.

Joe

Holidays in a foreign land can be challenging but often very rewarding.

wmt1 I cringe because its rarely true.