Best Christmas Markets in Austria

The best Christmas markets in Austria are a heart-warming vision of twinkling lights and pretty stalls, the scent of mulled wine wafting through the air, and joyful carolers on the streets.

Vienna, the capital, has the biggest and most impressive displays, but in Austria, Christmas markets in smaller towns like Melk will often offer a more intimate regional feel, showcasing local produce. Wherever you happen to be, open up your heart and embrace Austria’s Christmas spirit.

Viennese Christmas Markets

Rathausplatz Christkindlmarkt, Vienna

Vienna’s Rathausplatz Christkindlmarkt is situated in front of the neo-Gothic City Hall. Sparkling fairy lights illuminate the square and nearby park, with over 100 stalls to choose from, making this one of Austria’s best Christmas markets.

You’ll find hand-hewn toys, savory and sweet treats like waffles, apfelstrudel, and flammkuchen flatbread, glittering glass baubles, hand-carved decorations, and more. As you browse, breathe in the aromas of cinnamon and roasting chestnuts while you sip on a mug of spiced wine.

Carolers sing Yuletide tunes at different times during the day, while shimmering lights glitter on the large Christmas tree dominating the center of the square.

Ice rink in Rathauspark, Vienna

You will also discover an outdoor ice rink in Rathauspark, where you can glide across the ice beneath the branches of the illuminated trees, adding to the festive mood.

As you explore the city, you’ll quickly realize that Vienna has plenty of other Christmas markets. If you walk from Hofburg Palace to Freyung Square, you’ll come across one of Vienna’s older markets, the Altwiener Christkindlmarkt. A market has taken place here since the late 18th century.

Altwiener, Vienna

Altwiener is an old-fashioned market and is usually less crowded than Rathausplatz. You’ll spot lots of local handicrafts and quality foodstuffs here, as well as hand-cut nativity scenes, beeswax candles, and other holiday goods sold by local vendors. During Advent, Altwiener Christkindlmarkt also hosts live folk music.

For more gift ideas, consider visiting the nearby Am Hof Advent Market, where you will find items like handmade jewelry and ceramics, which make great presents.

Spittelberg Christmas Market, close to the MuseumsQuartier, has a more bohemian vibe; the cobblestoned streets are filled with art, ceramics, and textiles produced by local artisans, making it feel like more of a local neighborhood event rather than a large-scale commercial endeavor.

Christmas Village at Belvedere Palace, Vienna

Another spot worth checking out is the Christmas Village at Belvedere Palace, situated in the southern part of the city center. Located in the Upper Yard of the Palace, Belvedere’s Christmas market provides a magical Baroque backdrop, with stalls selling traditional treats and higher-end Christmas crafts and decorations, fostering an elegant, romantic atmosphere.

Christmas Village on Maria-Theresien-Platz, Vienna

In the MuseumsQuartier, the Christmas Village on Maria-Theresien-Platz offers a vibrant take on the celebratory season, featuring a variety of traditional crafts, as well as hot spiced wine and finger food like candied fruits and pretzels.

You can also take in the Winter at the MQ, held in the MuseumsQuartier courtyard. It offers a unique, non-traditional artistic take on Christmas, with ice curling, light shows, and DJs, along with modern art installations and exhibitions.

Christmas Activities in Vienna

Carriage ride in Vienna

Apart from Vienna’s Christmas markets, the city provides plenty of other holiday experiences. In December, the capital’s musical scene comes alive, with Christmas concerts held in some of the city’s most celebrated concert halls, such as Wiener Musikverein.

You can also wrap up warm for a horse-drawn carriage ride to enjoy the city’s Christmas lights and imperial buildings in a more leisurely fashion, and soak up the dreamy wintertime surroundings.

Vanillekipferl

Vienna offers a variety of festive drinks and food to enjoy as well. Vanilla crescent cookies, or vanillekipferl, crescent-shaped pastries, and Sachertorte chocolate cake—available year-round and made famous by the Hotel Sacher—are just some of the local sweets to try.

Traditional coffee houses, such as Café Central or Café Demel, are especially inviting in winter. Warm up with hot chocolate or Viennese coffee and watch the world go by before heading back outside to visit the next Austrian Christmas market.

Christmas Markets in Baden bei Wien

Just south of Vienna, you’ll come across the spa resort of Baden bei Wien, situated in the foothills of the Alps. During the holidays, this elegant Austrian town transforms into a lovely Christmas scene.

This spa town makes for a brilliant outing from the capital. You can get there quickly by car, or, if you prefer more scenic travel, take the Badner Bahn tram directly from the Vienna State Opera to Baden, which is about an hour’s journey.

The Christmas market experience here is wrapped up in a grand pre-Christmas party, known as Advent in Baden, or Badener Advent. Don’t be fooled by the name, though—there isn’t a single Christmas market but rather an entire market experience, spread across the center.

This holiday extravaganza, informally known as the “Baden Advent Mile,” leads you from one festive square to the next, making it one of the best Austrian Christmas markets to visit.

Christmas decorations

The primary Baden bei Wien Christmas market is at Hauptplatz, the town’s main square, where you will find decorated stalls offering traditional Christmas craftwork, local delicacies, and, of course, glühwein, or mulled wine.

A leisurely walk through Baden’s Kurpark will bring you to Advent im Park, a very family-friendly market offering an ice skating area, kids’ shows, decorated trees, roasted chestnuts, and punch, as well as marshmallow and sausage roasting fire pits.

A few additional squares in Baden bei Wien—with holiday stalls, food, wine, and knick-knacks to pick up as presents—include Josefsplatz and Theaterplatz. Come winter, the entire town becomes a must-visit destination for anyone who loves the holidays.

Linz Christmas Markets

Linz

In Linz, a city on the Danube in Upper Austria, or Oberösterreich, Advent is a merry affair. Stroll around the city at Christmas time to experience the festive holiday atmosphere.

Your tour will take you to the Christmas Market in the Main Square, or Hauptplatz, which is surrounded by magnificent historic Baroque townhouses. This is the location of the Old Town Hall and is where the focus of Christmas revelries in Linz takes place.

Here you’ll find a traditional holiday market with octagonal huts with pyramid-shaped golden light displays on top, as well as an emphasis on high-quality arts, crafts, Christmas decorations, pottery, and glassware.

Christmas decorations

The Christkindlmarkt am Hauptplatz is perfect if you’re seeking handcrafted gifts, such as wood-carved nutcrackers, sculpted candles, or adorable zwetschgenmännle, seasonal figures made out of dried plums.

The market is also given a special ambience by the tall Christmas tree overlooking the proceedings, which is donated every year by different communities in the region, adding to its appeal as one of the best Christmas markets in Austria.

In contrast, the Christmas Market at the Volksgarten in the central Volksgarten park offers a somewhat different, yet equally wonderful, experience. It has a funfair feel, as well as folk music, and plenty of food and drink on offer.

Volksgarten’s celebrations include demonstrations of craft making, rides for kids, märchenwelt fairytale huts with moving figures, and a large and enchanting wooden nativity scene with mechanical nativity plays, usually operating twice an hour during the holiday season.

Linz Mariendom

Advent at the Cathedral, or Advent am Dom, offers a more contemplative Christmas atmosphere. The market here, set up in front of the massive neo-Gothic Linz Mariendom Cathedral, has a slower, more reflective character.

Advent am Dom is for people with a passion for regional handicrafts, making their own candles in the heated crypt, and sampling culinary delights, like crêpes and rib rolls, as well as enjoying concerts and choral performances inside the church.

Melk’s Advent Market

Melk, a small city in Lower Austria, or Niederösterreich, on the Danube, turns its historic old town and pedestrian precinct into an inspirational Christmas experience come wintertime.

Melk Abbey

The Baroque Melk Abbey, a hilltop Benedictine monastery dating back to 1089, overlooks the picturesque Christmas scene, with market lights illuminating the town below, adding to the atmosphere.

The Melk Advent Christmas market is more an overall festive scene than a traditional market limited to a single space. It’s spread out through the streets and features a range of stalls with regional crafts and Christmas food and drink.

Snow globes

Like other holiday markets in Austria, you’ll find traditional Christmas gifts, decorations, and locally-made delicacies to taste while you cradle a hot mulled wine in your hand.

The unique part of the Melk Christmas market scene is its entertainment program. Visitors to the Advent Village will enjoy a selection of choral singing and the traditional sounds of brass band music. A dedication to authentic, live music is a big part of the Advent schedule in Melk.

Salzburg’s Christmas Market

Salzburg’s Christmas Market

Salzburg is an easy day trip from Linz, should you wish to enjoy the full experience of the best Christmas markets in Austria. Entering Salzburg during the Christmas season is like stepping into a living holiday diorama, with crisp winter weather and a historical Advent market vibe. The pièce de résistance is the Salzburger Christkindlmarkt in the city center.

The Salzburger Christkindlmarkt was founded on traditions dating back to the late 15th century. Wander down the cobblestone streets with Salzburg Cathedral and Hohensalzburg Fortress providing a scenic backdrop, where wooden market stalls spill into Domplatz, or Cathedral Square, and Residenzplatz.

Christmas decorations

As you meander among the huts listening to choirs sing, you will be tantalized by the aromas of roasting almonds, baked pretzels, and glühwein. You will also see nativity scenes, glass ornaments, and most likely some Mozart figurines for sale, as Salzburg is this celebrated composer’s hometown.

There are a few more markets to visit in and around Salzburg, too, including Hellbrunner Adventzauber at Hellbrunn Palace in the outskirts of the city, which features a petting zoo and more than 700 decorated Christmas trees in its “fairy forest.”

Another market with a more local flair is the one located at Mirabellplatz. With fewer stalls, this market has a more convivial atmosphere, offering some great food and drink, plus the chance to rub elbows with locals celebrating the holidays.

Austrian Christmas Traditions

Christmas wreath

The concept of Christmas markets has existed in some form or another in Austria for over 700 years, with the first recorded “December Market” occurring in 1298. Markets remain tightly linked with Austrian customs.

The holidays are heralded with wreaths containing four candles, one of which is lit each Sunday before the big day. You can purchase hand-made wreaths at most markets, as well as Advent calendars made out of wood or cardboard, for counting down the days until Christmas Eve.

In Vienna, children are taught to await the arrival of the Christkind, or the angelic gift-bearer, on December 24, instead of Santa Claus. One of the more unusual traditions is called Krampuslauf, on December 5, the eve of St. Nicholas’ Day. People dress up as the horned, demonic-looking Krampus and, traditionally speaking, mock-scare children to encourage their good behavior.

Krampus

The Krampus tradition remains much stronger in Austria’s Alpine regions, but you may still be able to spot some Krampus keychains and magnets in Vienna’s souvenir shops.

Food and drink take a central place in Austria’s Christmas markets as well. You can try vanillekipferl vanilla crescents, lebkuchen gingerbread, roasted chestnuts, and sugared almonds, among many other delicacies.

Music and faith intertwine during the holiday season. Austria was the birthplace of the song “Silent Night,” and Austrians are proud of their musical tradition.

Konzerthaus, Vienna

You will often hear choirs in the market squares, or can attend Advent concerts in churches, or listen to classical or festive music in some of Vienna’s famous concert halls and other locales, such as the Vienna Konzerthaus and Schönbrunn Palace’s Orangery.

Read: Christmas in Austria

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