Vienna in January is worth a trip for its concerts and balls, but not for long days outdoors. Days average 3.6 °C and nights -1.3 °C, and the sun sets before 17:00 all month. Vienna's hotels are at their emptiest in January, while the city's calendar is full: in 2025 hotels filled about 49% of their rooms, and January 2027 runs from the New Year's Concert to eight well-known balls.
Is Vienna worth visiting in January 2027?
January is worth a visit if you want a ball, a concert or the ballet, and if you do not mind finishing your outdoor sightseeing by about 16:00. To weigh January against the other eleven months, see the best time to visit Vienna, month by month.
| January | Figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Rooms taken | about 49% (2025 and 2026) | The emptiest month of 2025 |
| Hotel revenue | €50.0 per room (2025) | The lowest of 2025; December €143.5 |
| Day / night | 3.6 °C / -1.3 °C | The coldest month |
| Snow cover | about 11 days | Less than the rest of Austria |
| Sunset | about 16:10 to 16:50 | Do outdoor sights by 16:00 |
| Holidays | 1 and 6 January | Shops shut, except at big stations |
| Big balls | 8, from 14 to 30 January | Long gown, tuxedo or tails |
Sources: hotel occupancy, January 2025, January 2026 and December 2025; hotel revenue per room, 2025; climate normals 1991 to 2020; sunset times, January 2027; public holidays 2027; ball calendar 2027.
In January 2025, and again in January 2026, about half of Vienna's hotel rooms stood empty. In December 2025 about 90% were taken. Yet between 14 and 30 January 2027 the city holds eight balls on seven nights, an early-music festival, two ballet evenings and the Eistraum's announced opening.
Hotel revenue per room is what hotels earn per available room, booked or empty, before breakfast and VAT. It is not a room rate, and the 2025 figures are provisional. In 2023 and 2024, February came in lower than January.
Which week to pick:
- 1 to 6 January: New Year, two Christmas markets, Austria's school holidays
- 7 to 13 January: no school holidays and no big ball
- 14 to 23 January: six balls, Resonanzen, ballet on the 22nd, the Eistraum from the 22nd
- 24 to 31 January: two balls, ballet on the 29th, the Eistraum
Austria's Christmas school holidays end on 6 January, and Vienna's own semester break starts with the week of 1 to 6 February.
What is there to do in Vienna in January? 7 reasons to go
The first week has New Year's Day and two Christmas markets. The balls start on 14 January, and the early-music festival, the ballet and the Eistraum follow.
1. A ball: eight between 14 and 30 January
Vienna holds more than 450 balls a year, and eight of the best-known fall in January 2027:
- Thursday 14: Confectioners' Ball
- Friday 15: Flower Ball, City Hall
- Thursday 21: Philharmonic Ball, Musikverein
- Friday 22: Kaffeesiederball (the coffee-house owners' ball), Hofburg
- Saturday 23: Ball of Industry and Technology, Musikverein; Ball of Sciences, City Hall
- Monday 25: Hunters' Ball, Hofburg
- Saturday 30: Doctors' Ball, Hofburg
The Philharmonic Ball costs €220 (students up to 27: €75) and goes on sale on 11 January 2027; before that, tickets come only with a table. It runs from 22:00 to 05:00, with doors at 21:00. The Flower Ball puts its online ticket link up on 11 November 2026 at 11:00. The Kaffeesiederball costs €210 (students up to 26: €96), with no seat included, and its online quota had sold out by mid-October 2026. Women wear a long evening gown and men a tuxedo or tails; the Philharmonic Ball asks for a floor-length gown and tails.
2. Early music at the Konzerthaus, 16 to 23 January
Resonanzen, the Konzerthaus festival of early music, runs from 16 to 23 January 2027 on the theme of hands. The programme is on the festival's site.
3. Ballet at the Staatsoper, 22 and 29 January
The Staatsoper, Vienna's state opera house, has ballet evenings on 22 and 29 January: Living Legacies, with works by Balanchine, Wheeldon and Ashton. Check its calendar for other nights.
4. Skating at the Eistraum from 22 January
The Wiener Eistraum is announced for 22 January to 7 March 2027 on Rathausplatz, the square in front of City Hall, daily 10:00 to 22:00; check before you go. The Christmas-market rink on the same square closes on 6 January, so there is no rink there from 7 to 21 January.
5. The first week: New Year's Day and two Christmas markets
On Friday 1 January the New Year's Concert, conducted by Tugan Sokhiev, goes out live from the Musikverein at 11:15. Its tickets went by a lottery that closed in February 2026.
Two Christmas markets stay open to 6 January, holidays included. Schönbrunn's, in front of the palace, opens daily 10:00 to 19:00. The Wintermarkt at the Prater, by the Ferris wheel, opens 12:00 to 22:00 on weekdays and 11:00 to 22:00 at weekends and on holidays; take the U-Bahn to Praterstern. Both are free; check the market's own page before you go. The market on Rathausplatz closes on 26 December. For December itself, see our guide to Vienna's Christmas markets 2026.
6. Schönbrunn's park, free from 06:30 to 17:30
Schönbrunn's palace park is free and open 06:30 to 17:30 in January. The fountains are off until mid-April; for the paid areas, check the palace's site.
7. A carnival doughnut
The traditional carnival doughnut is served through carnival season, which runs to 9 February 2027: round, fried yeast dough, filled with apricot jam and dusted with icing sugar.
How cold is Vienna in January? 4 things to plan around
1. The coldest month of the year
On the 1991 to 2020 averages for the Hohe Warte station, January is 3.6 °C by day, -1.3 °C at night and 0.8 °C overall, with 42 mm of rain or snow falling on about 9 days.
2. Sunset between about 16:10 and 16:50
The sun sets around 16:10 on 1 January, around 16:30 in mid-January and around 16:50 at the end of the month. January has about 70 hours of sunshine, 2.3 a day, and daylight grows from 8 hours 26 minutes to 9 hours 27 minutes, so start day trips from Vienna early.
3. Snow on the ground on about 11 days
Snow is possible: in an average January it lies on the ground on about 11 days and falls on about 4. Vienna tends to get less snow than the rest of Austria.
4. Two public holidays: 1 and 6 January
Friday 1 January and Wednesday 6 January are public holidays. Shops close, except at the large railway stations, the airport and museum shops. Most museums open daily, though some close on a Monday or Tuesday, and each sets its own holiday hours, so check before you go.
Staying by the Naschmarkt in January: 5 venues on foot, 14 to 27 minutes
Our five apartments are by the Naschmarkt, and our U4 station, Kettenbrückengasse, is at the market's southern end, one stop from Karlsplatz. On foot from the station, by our estimate:
- Staatsoper (ballet, 22 and 29 January): about 1.2 km, 14 to 16 minutes
- Musikverein (balls on 21 and 23 January): about 1.4 km, 17 to 18 minutes
- Konzerthaus (Resonanzen, 16 to 23 January): about 1.7 km, 21 to 23 minutes
- Hofburg (balls on 22, 25 and 30 January): about 1.8 km, 21 to 24 minutes
- Rathausplatz (balls on 15 and 23 January, the Eistraum): about 2.0 km, 24 to 27 minutes
For the City Hall balls and the Eistraum, a base nearer Rathausplatz saves the longest walk. Five of the eight balls fall on a Friday or Saturday night, when the U-Bahn, including the U4 to Kettenbrückengasse, runs all night. It does the same on 31 December and 5 January, the nights before the two holidays. For Schönbrunn, the U4 runs straight from Kettenbrückengasse, five stops, no change.
The market's stalls may trade Monday to Friday 06:00 to 21:00 and Saturday 06:00 to 18:00, though many close between 18:00 and 19:00. On Sundays and on 1 and 6 January the stalls stay shut, while the market's restaurants may open from 09:00 to 21:00.
Where to stay in Vienna in January 2027
Our Double MINT is 55 m² and sleeps up to 3, from €205 a night, with a two-night minimum. Check-in is from 15:00 and check-out by 11:00, and we store your luggage free before check-in and after check-out. For four people, book the Penthouse Maisonette (85 m², two bedrooms, from €375) or the MINT Artisan (65 m², from €185). Seven nights or more get our Wochenend+ rate, 15% off. Vienna's tax on overnight stays is 5% for a January 2027 stay. You can check dates and book direct.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Christmas markets in Vienna still open in January? Yes, until 6 January 2027: Schönbrunn's opens daily 10:00 to 19:00, and the Wintermarkt at the Prater opens at 11:00 or 12:00 and closes at 22:00. The market on Rathausplatz closes on 26 December, though its rink stays open to 6 January.
Does it snow in Vienna in January? Sometimes: on the 1991 to 2020 average, snow lies on the ground on about 11 days in January and falls on about 4. Vienna tends to get less snow than the rest of Austria, so do not plan a trip around it.
Is Vienna cheaper in January than in December? Vienna's hotels earned about a third as much per room in January 2025 as in December 2025, €50.0 against €143.5, with about 49% of rooms taken against about 90%. That is hotel revenue per room, not a room rate, so compare prices for your own dates.
Can visitors go to a Viennese ball in January? Yes, with a ticket: the Philharmonic Ball on 21 January costs €220 and goes on sale on 11 January 2027, and the Flower Ball's online ticket link goes up on 11 November 2026 at 11:00. The dress code is a long evening gown, or a tuxedo or tails.
Are shops open in Vienna on 1 and 6 January? No: both are public holidays in 2027, so shops close except at the large railway stations, the airport and museum shops. The Naschmarkt's stalls stay shut too, though its restaurants may open from 09:00 to 21:00.
How do you get tickets for the New Year's Concert? The Vienna Philharmonic draws them by lottery, and registration for the 1 January 2027 concert ran from 1 to 28 February 2026. The draw for the following year opened in February last time, but the next window has not been announced.
When does the Eistraum open in 2027? The Wiener Eistraum on Rathausplatz is announced for 22 January to 7 March 2027, daily 10:00 to 22:00. The Christmas-market rink on the square closes on 6 January, so there is no rink there from 7 to 21 January.
Sources
Our team checks the dates, prices and figures on this page by hand against official sources.
- Wien Tourismus, hotel statistics: revenue per room 2025; January 2025; January 2026; 2025 review
- Vienna Tourist Board: ball season 2027; opening times; climate; New Year's Eve; the Naschmarkt
- City of Vienna: public holidays; Naschmarkt opening hours; Flower Ball 2027; local tax on stays
- Wiener Philharmoniker: Philharmonic Ball 2027; New Year's Concert
- Kaffeesiederball 2027, organiser
- Resonanzen 2027, Wiener Konzerthaus
- Ballet repertoire 2026/27, Wiener Staatsoper
- Stadt Wien Marketing: Wiener Eistraum 2027; Christkindlmarkt opening times
- Christmas market at Schönbrunn Palace, organiser
- Wintermarkt am Riesenradplatz, organiser
- Opening times, Schönbrunn Palace Park
- Krapfen, register of traditional foods, Austrian Federal Ministry (BMLUK)
- Climate data 1991 to 2020, GeoSphere Austria
- Sunrise and sunset in Vienna, January 2027, timeanddate.com
- School holidays 2026/27, Ministry of Education
- U4 station list, Wikipedia
Last updated: October 2026. Christian, Host & Founder, MINT @Naschmarkt.
