Our trip to Austria’s Capital City with the Gay-friendly Design Hotel Le Méridien Vienna – It was finally time for us to travel together to the capital of Austria, Vienna! The city of Vienna was recently named “Destination of the Year” by the Australian LGBTIQ+ awards and was already for a while very high on our gay travel bucket list, especially after traveling to other parts of the Alpine country before. And what could be a better reason, besides gay pride, to travel to Vienna than to attend the annual AIDS Charity event Life Ball? Exactly!
– paid collaboration with Le Méridien –
Lucky us, we were invited to attend the 25th edition of Life Ball 2018 and to stay at the 5-star hotel Le Méridien Vienna located in the first district right on the so-called Ringstrasse. We as a gay couple travelers couple of men couldn’t have asked for a better gay-friendly place to stay as the Design Hotel was the hosting hotel of the Life Ball event just a stone-throw away from all major sights of Vienna and, of course, close by the Vienna City Hall. Join us on our city trip to Vienna in early summer right before Gay Pride and find out why you should book your stay for EuroPride 2019 in Vienna at the gay-friendly luxury hotel Le Méridien Vienna.
Video of our Gay Vienna City Trip
LGBTQ+ friendly Le Méridien Vienna
The first stop after arriving at the International Airport of Vienna was Le Méridien Vienna, our gay-friendly hotel during our stay in Vienna. From the beginning on, we felt like being at home in the century-old building renovated in a modern design. The friendly gentleman at the reception bid us welcome with a big smile, introducing us to our Vienna home for the next four days. Our corner room on the fourth floor was super spacious and equipped with stylish furniture. But the highlight of our room was undoubtedly the freestanding bathtub with an unrestricted view over the green park on the backside of the building, called Schillerpark. We were already looking forward to breakfast the next morning, as we have read all the good things about it. Indeed, the rich breakfast with cold and warm dishes left nothing to be desired, even for our vegetarian Daan. Before we started our gay guided city tour around Vienna, we got all the information about gay life and events in Vienna we needed right at the reception. And now it was time to unlock Vienna and to explore what the Austrian capital is famous for!
Highlights of our Gay Guide Tour Vienna
The gay-friendly Hotel Le Méridien is perfectly centrally located in district 1 of 23 in Vienna on the Ringstraße. Almost all major sights of Vienna are reachable from the hotel within a 5 to 10 minutes walk such as the Natural History Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, the former principal imperial palace Hofburg Wien, the Austrian National Theatre Burgtheater and the Vienna City Hall. But there are more things to discover just around the corner of Le Méridien! Our highlights of Vienna are the iconic Karls Kirche (Karls Church), the Museums Quartier with its beautiful little spots to eat, drink and spend perfect summer days in Vienna, the world-famous theme and leisure nature park Wiener Prater with its red Ferris Wheel and, of course, the popular food market Naschmarkt right in the middle of Vienna’s gay and alternative art neighborhood in districts 4, 5 and 6. Take your time to explore Vienna hand-in-hand off the beaten paths, and we are sure you will fall in love with this beautiful city on the Danube (Donau River).
Our Life Ball Vienna Experience
Austria’s capital city is known for its diverse and busy cultural schedule. Especially the great number of ball events all year round like the Wiener Opernball and the Rainbow Ball but also multiple LGBT events like the annual identities – Queer Film Festival, the Gay Pride, and the Pink Wiener Wiesn-Festival are popular occasions to visit Vienna. Lesbian, gay, and queer travelers should not forget to put the EuroPride in 2019 on their travel bucket list. One of the biggest ball events in Vienna is the annual AIDS Charity Gala LIFE BALL, which in 2019 will celebrate its 26th edition. Things not to miss during Life Ball Vienna: The Pre-Life Ball Party at the Le Méridien Vienna, the Red Carpet walk together with famous and extraordinary dressed people from all over the world, the performance on the main stage in front of the Vienna City Hall hosted this year again by the talented Conchita Wurst and of course the big party inside City Hall afterward. Read more about the Life Ball here >
Tips for Gay Traveling Vienna:
Vienna is historically and traditionally a hub for the LGBT community of Austria and neighboring European countries. Especially, the last couple of years lots of efforts and improvements have been made to sculpture Vienna into one of the most welcoming, inclusive, and gay-friendly cities in the world. A milestone for the LGBT community in 2018 is undoubtedly the legalization of same-sex marriage in Austria recently. Congratulations to the Alpine country and the Austrian LGBT community! Gay Saunas, Gay Bars, gay-friendly/ gay-owned restaurants, Gay Parties, and more: Vienna offers everything lesbian, gay, and queer travelers need. More about Vienna Gay Travel Guide here >
Gay-friendly Design Hotel Le Méridien Vienna in Central District 1
Detailed Hotel Information:
Official Website: lemeridienvienna.com
E-Mail: info@lemeridienvienna.com
Contact: Tel.: +43 1 588 90 0
Address:
Le Méridien Vienna
Robert-Stolz-Platz 1
1010 Wien, Austria
To make your stay in Vienna at the gay-friendly hotel Le Méridien Vienna perfect, don’t forget to make your reservation early enough to not miss the best rooms for the best prices. We stayed in a corner room on the 4th floor facing the entrance square to the front and the Schillerpark to the side. Once again, Vienna knows how to fascinate its visitors. We definitely cannot wait to come back to Vienna and Austria, latest for EuroPride 2019, and stay in our new favorite gay-friendly hotel Le Méridien Vienna.
Do you want to know more about our gay travels around the world? Stay tuned on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. See you again soon!
Karl & Daan.
Please note: This trip was made possible in partnership with Le Méridien Vienna, Austrian Airlines, and Vienna Tourism as well as the tips and help to come from our wonderful readers, followers, new and old friends from all over the world. Nevertheless, our photos, our videos, our opinions, and our writings are our own, as always.
Ryan K Biddulph
Saturday 23rd of June 2018
Looks like an awesome experience guys. I saw a few Le Meridien hotels when traveling around Thailand. First class hotels all the way.