Dann and I went on a trip to Vienna Austria, to check out the Christmas markets there. It has been one of Dann’s bucket list items to go to the proper Christmas markets. We actually always go to quite a few in England, but they are based around proper, traditional Christmas markets. So, when a friend of ours offered to show us around Austria and plan an entire trip for us, we obviously were going to say yes! We ended up going to several Christmas markets each and every day – all of these are just a few hours from London by plane, so it’s well worth thinking about it for your end of December or even next year. I attempted to eat kartoffelpuffer at each of the places as well. This is a potato pancake, similar to latkes, with garlic all over it. All of these different Christmas markets had their own mugs as well, which you can sort of keep if you don’t mind paying the deposit too!
Rathausplatz Christkindlmarkt
Rathausplatz Christkindlmarkt is one of the most popular Christmas Markets in Vienna, for good reason. It’s a massive market, with tons of decorations and even some activities to enjoy while you are there. One side of the market had a bunch of interactives; a pile of bird houses where each door could be open to reveal a bird and their noise, a spinning puzzle, a stack of book houses, a giant apple with little looks into it, a gift-wrapping station, an animatronic band and other little things that make for good pictures. There is a decent sized ice skating rink at Rathausplatz Christkindlmarkt, which you can purchase a ticket to skate on. There didn’t seem to be a limit, so you can skate for as long as you want, which is nice. You will need to pay to store your items in a locker nearby. Otherwise, this is sort of tucked to the side. There is some rides like a merry-go-round and every few hours a giant heart floats through the sky, which is pretty cool too. This Christmas market does have tons and tons of stands from homemade items, to food items, to gifts that you can purchase. If you are looking for something, it is here. This market also had the best kartoffelpuffer, which was served with tons and tons of garlic and perfectly crispy. I enjoyed langos here, which is a giant garlic flatbread, and some spicy sausages that were so good too!
Weihnachtsdorf am Campus der Universität Wien
Weihnachtsdorf am Campus der Universität Wien was one of our favorite Christmas markets as it just had so much! There were lights down the middle, rides like a Farris Wheel, and shuffle board too! A DJ was playing music a middle, dancing area that was quite fun to get too. There were some fantastic food items that we didn’t end up seeing at any other Christmas markets either; these sort of stuffed dough balls on cabbage and perogies, which were both very good. Dann and I walked around the light area, where there was mistletoe to kiss under and a nativity scene too. You could also purchase a mix of different hand made items, classic Christmas gifts, and little gifts for those you are shopping for. It was a very fun and lively Christmas market to explore.
Art Advent Christkindlmarkt
The Art Advent Christmas market is a little different then all the others. You won’t really find a bunch of food and drinks here, though they do have a drink stand where you can discover their mug. All of the stalls contain handmade items from people who have travelled all over to come and showcase them. I really liked the mug at Art Advent Christkindlmarkt, as it was a really good sized mug! The different items here were fantastic – so many unique, handmade things. I could really see myself purchasing lots of Christmas gifts at this type of market! Though there was just one or two big food and drink stands, it was clear that the items from these different creative people really shined.
Weihnachtsmarkt im Türkenschanzpark
Weihnachtsmarkt im Türkenschanzpark feels like a local Christmas market, that doesn’t do any real advertisements and won’t be found by tourists, but we found it. This market seemed to have a lot of locals, selling things and hanging out with each other. There wasn’t a lot of stalls, and it was in a massive park, so there was plenty of space. I got some juice from a farmer who showed pictures of his farm, where he created the juice, which was absolutely fantastic. This was the absolute best thing I got at a Christmas market on the entire trip. The punch here was also interesting, it had a bunch of fruit chopped up in it, which was very neat. This market was cute and very cozy feeling.
Weihnachtsmarkt Schönbrunn
Weihnachtsmarkt Schönbrunn is the Christmas market around Schonbrunn, which is a stunning location. There is actually a light trail nearby (which is ticketed) if you want to make a full day out of this market. There are a lot of stalls here, with a variety of different foods and gifts. This one doesn’t have traditional foods, like the potato pancakes and the langos, due to wanting to “be different” according to some of the stall owners, which is an interesting choice. With that said, they had a great variety of different items, even if the food itself was a bit of a let down. There were a few different designs on the cups, which is neat, but they felt a little basic to me compared to others too.
Christmas Village Stephansplatz
There is a long, wrapping Christmas market outside of St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The Christmas Village Stephansplatz is a very common feeling Christmas market. The views of the cathedral, with the giant Christmas tree is fantastic. I quite liked that there were traditional items here. I had some langos and kartoffelpuffer. The kartoffelpuffer wasn’t as crispy as other markets, but they had a few different flavors that I had not had before – including a cranberry jam topping, which seemed interesting! There were lots of more commercial stands at Christmas Village Stephansplatz, selling things like snow globes and jewellery. It’s a good Christmas market, but doesn’t have any stand out things beyond the location.
Weihnachts Markt am Hof
Weihnachts Markt am Hof was another quite average Christmas market, though this one did have a lot of curried meat stands! There was a kartoffelpuffer stand where you could paint your own kartoffelpuffer with as much garlic oil as you wanted, but I do wish this garlic oil had more garlic in it! This had a good mix of stands with items on them and stands that were selling food, though it was on ther smaller side, there was plenty to see.
Freyung Altwiener Christkindlmarkt
The Freyung Altwiener Christkindlmarkt, which is also called the Old Viennese Christmas Market, prides itself on being more prone to following traditions! There were a lot of stands that had more traditional food, with plum being featured here and there. Interestingly enough they also had stands selling antiques and stuff from past years, which was neat to see. This Christmas Market had a variety of different things on offer from foods and treats to Christmas gifts and more traditional items that you’d fine at Christmas markets generally.
Adventmarkt im Verkehrsmuseum Remise
A bit of a niche Christmas market, Adventmarkt im Verkehrsmuseum Remise is a transport-related Christmas market that highlights trains and trams. This was one of the smaller markets that we ended up visiting, however, it was full of character! You can order cookies and sit in a tram car, which has some nice lighting and seating. There is shuffle board that can be played and a few different tram-inspired decorations dotted around. There was a handful of food stalls at this market, as the primary stalls that were there, which was nice to. This felt like a very close knit, family Christmas Market. For little ones, there was also an indoor space full of crafts that seemed completely free to do.
Belvedere Christmas Market
The Belvedere Christmas Market was another market on the smaller side, with a few of the classic foods and some basic cups. The cup itself was red, and just said Christmas in Vienna, which is okay. There was an even split of both food and non-food items at this Christmas market, along with a Merry Go Round int he very centre. The food was decent, though one of the drinks comes with a sugar thing on top, which they light on fire, which was SO cool for us. Other than that, it was pretty basic, but good!
Spittelberg Christmas Market
Spittelberg Christmas Market was a long one, and I do mean long as it was through a bunch of different alleys. The walkways were too thin, the stalls were too big, and there was a lot of shops that had opened themselves up to be a part of the Christmas Market, making it even more crowded. For that reason, I struggled a lot with it! With that in mind, there were some highlights in terms of food and items. This is known to be more of a foodie spot. There were some Greek food and other food stalls that I did not see anywhere else. The giant potato pancake stall was fantastic, and I did like seeing all of the different gifts they had – of which they had some new ones for us to check out.
We had an absolutely fantastic time exploring all of the Christmas markets in Vienna – it was a real dream come true. There are so many different markets, with their own quirks. It’s well worth considering a holiday trip just to see these.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!