Christmas in Vienna: A Royal Stay at Hotel Imperial | SIMPLY SLOW TRAVELER

Hello everyone and welcome to the beautiful and festive Vienna. In this video, I will share a couple of days I spent in the Austrian capital, already fully dressed up for Christmas, including my stay at the historical and absolutely classic Hotel Imperial. Once the palace of the Duke Philip of Württemberg, the architecture and the decoration is nothing short of a royal house, with its very high ceilings, gilded panelled walls, grand staircases, marble columns and balustrades, as well as sculptures and real sizeful body portraits, all around the lobby and corridors. For 150 years now, it has been one of the most iconic hotels in Vienna, not only for its luxurious style, but also for the impeccable service and the proximity to the city center, and as counted among its guest dignitaries, such as Queen Elizabeth II, John F. Kennedy, Charlie Chaplin or Frank Sinatra. We stayed in a beautiful Imperial Junior Suite, with a spacious bedroom and a living room with working area, as well as a dedicated closet space and a very large bathroom, all impeccably decorated and after settling into our bedroom, we went for tea and a sweet treat at their most magnificent Imperial Bar, an iconic gathering point for the Viennese and anyone visiting the city. To go along with our tea, we had a small Imperial Torte cube, with its unmistakably layered and slightly crunchy composition, that alternates sliced almonds with whipped chocolate cream, a truly delicious Viennese cake icon. We then went for a walk into the heart of the city, towards the Stephanplatz, where they hold a Christmas market right at the foot of the imposing Gothic Cathedral. Here, you will find some four-ish stalls selling all sorts of traditional Christmas market foods and beverages and different Christmas decorations and souvenirs. We then went for dinner, walking along the beautifully illuminated pedestrian streets of Vienna, where you can definitely feel the festive spirit in the air. Our chosen dinner spot was the restaurant Schwarzen Kamel or Black Camel, a favorite among locals, selling nothing but the most traditional Viennese and Austrian dishes. After starting with a sliced ham with horseradish and house-made bread, we then followed with the most traditional world-famous Viennese schnitzel, accompanied by potato salad, and a braised lamb shank with polenta. All the food was absolutely perfect, and after dinner, we went for another short wander around the city center before walking back to the Imperial. The next morning, after getting ready for the day, we went down for breakfast, which is served in the beautiful room of the Café Imperial, another iconic café in Vienna. Besides the à la carte cooked options, you also have a good variety of self-serve options, from pastries and cakes to cereals, fruits, cheesed and cold cuts, and bread. The whole cozy environment inside contrasted perfectly with the moody weather outside, so we stayed for a while in the comfort of the café after finishing eating, sipping on a warm cup of tea, before going out for the day. Our first destination was the Schönbrunn Palace, a short subway ride away from the center of Vienna, and while on our way to the station, we admired the beauty and richness of the city's architecture under daylight for the first time. It is here, on the front courtyard of the palace, that you hold another Christmas market, which is not only one of the largest in Vienna, but is also quite spacious and very family-friendly, with a couple of carousels, a ferris wheel, a skating ring and a large Christmas tree, all against the backdrop of the beautiful mustard-colored facade of the palace. For my review of all Christmas markets in Vienna, as well as my favorite museums, cafes, restaurants and shops, check out my guide to Vienna at Christmas time, on the description box below. there's joy in the air family's near we give thanks for this past year oh nothing compares to the love that we share oh after having a good time in the market we went for a visit of the palace and bought the grand tour tickets which give access to all the beautiful rooms on the first floor of the palace from the emperor friend joseph and empress sissi's apartment to the great gallery and the maria teresa apartments with the tickets you get an audio guide that tells all the history behind each room the palace occupants and the stories of the imperial family after a good couple of hours visiting the palace and as the market got more crowded we went to the palace gardens which are of free access any time of the year winter had already clearly arrived with most of the trees bare of any leaves their branches creeping out into the grayed-out skies and the brown foliage covering the pathways of the garden the whole gardens are quite extensive and get very beautifully flowered in late spring and summer besides the free access gardens and park you also have a privy garden an orange garden a maze and a zoo but these have separated mission tickets we ended up not having the time to explore them all and just went for a short exploration walk on the gardens area between the palace and the neptune fountain before getting back for in the front courtyard of the palace before heading back to the city center for another market and museum for the second part of our day we went to the maria teresa square tucked in between the art history museum and the natural history museum there is also a market taking place in the square with a variety of food and beverage stalls as well as different types of products and decorations we left the exploration of the market for later that evening and went to the art history museum instead the museum has a wide collection of statues and relics from the ancient egypt greece and rome as well as a full floor with paintings by european painters from the 1200s to the late 17th century such as rafael caravaggio or peter bruegel the elder after a couple of hours exploring the museum we sat for a tea and a sweet treat in the beautiful museum cafe under an impressive massive dome with views to the market outside to end our day and as night fell upon vienna we went exploring the maria teresa square market checking all the beautiful treats and products they had for sale and ended up having a light hot dog dinner before going back to the imperial hotel in next week's video i will bring you to another couple of days in this beautiful city and to another most beautiful and iconic viennese hotel so don't forget to subscribe if you are not already and thank you for coming with me to vienna