With majestic palaces, churches, and city parks, Vienna doesn’t lack for beautiful settings. At the holidays, these spots become home to some of the best Christmas markets we’ve ever visited. And I don’t say that lightly–we’ve been to nearly 30 across a dozen countries.
There are so many outstanding markets, in fact, that it’s hard to know where to start. From the historic center to neighborhoods on the outskirts, each one offers something worth seeing.
Unlike some big cities like Prague where markets are similar across locations, the ones in Vienna can differ significantly, which is a treat for market lovers and shoppers. We have visited each of the ones listed here, highlighting what sets them apart so you can determine which ones best fit your interests and itinerary.
Read on to see which beautiful advent markets to add to your list.
Many markets run November 14 to December 23, 202, though dates vary and some last longer and transform into New Year’s markets. Specific dates for each location are listed below.
Jump to: Viennese Dream (Rathausplatz) | Christmas Village (Stephansplatz) | Market at Schonbrunn Palace | Art Advent (Karlsplatz) | Christmas Village at Belvedere Palace | Am Hof Market | Old Viennese Market (Altweiner Christkindlmarkt) | Christmas Market in Spittleberg | Christmas Village University of Vienna | Winter Market on Riesenradplatz (Prater) | Advent Market at Gartenpalais Liechtenstein | Christmas Market at Turkenschanzpark
Viennese Dream Market (Rathausplatz)
The most popular market in the city—and probably the prettiest—is undoubtedly the Viennese Dream Christmas market that spreads out around the Rathaus (City Hall). It’s packed with things to see and is set against the 150-year-old ornate town hall that looks like it’s made of light at night.
If this is your first stop, it’s a great place to get acquainted with some of the foods that are staples at the markets throughout the city. You’ll find plenty of bratwurst, fries, and schnitzel plus lebkuchen (gingerbread), and kaiserschmarrn—a torn up pancake topped with powdered sugar and fruit compote.
When it comes to drinks, there is lots of gluhwein (mulled wine) and hot chocolate. We enjoyed trying a few unexpected drinks we hadn’t seen before like mulled gin, apfelpunsch (apple punch) made with apple brandy, and kirschpunsch (cherry punch) made with cherry brandy. If you’re ever uncertain about the ingredients or whether a drink is alcoholic, just ask—everyone speaks perfect English.
Because the Viennese Dream market is in tourist central, we found the shopping options fairly standard. If you’re looking for Christmas ornaments, decorative candles, scarves, or delicious loose-leaf teas, you’ll be set here. Serious shoppers are probably better off holding out for one of the more specialized markets.
In addition to its gorgeous setting, special features include a giant Advent calendar, an Advent wreath, and rides. Nearby, you’ll find light sculptures and a tree dripping in heart-shaped lights that illuminates every half-hour. We also loved watching the skaters on the ice rink–novices and experts are welcome. There is also a path lined with creative nativity scenes that pays respect the heritage of Austrian “crib builders.” Make sure to leave enough time in your itinerary to peruse it all.
Dates: November 14 to December 26, 2025
Christmas Village (Stephansplatz)
Possibly the only market with a more gorgeous setting than the Rathaus is at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The Romanesque and Gothic building is nearly 450 years old and towers over about 40 vendor stalls that surround its base.
Although the stalls at the Christmas Village are limited, they hit the highlights with gifts and trinkets ranging from papier-mache ornaments to jewelry and Christmas decorations. If you want liqueurs or sweets for souvenirs or charcuterie to munch on later, they’re here.
Food here is standard and somewhat limited. There is soup and goulasch in a bread bowl, donuts, and hot dogs, along with a few other dishes and snacks. We had planned to have dinner here but were let down by the selection and creativity, which is probably due to the market being in the heart of the city surrounded by restaurants. (We opted to have tea and snacks and to rest our feet at Hass & Hass instead).
To see the city’s Christmas lights, spend a few minutes wandering the nearby shopping areas along the Graben and Karntner Strasse for some beautiful displays.
Dates: November 8 to December 26, 2025
Christmas Market at Schonbrunn Palace
The massive palace that was once the summer home of the Austrian monarchs makes a brilliant backdrop for one of the best markets, Christmas Markt Schloss Schonbrunn. The focus of the 90 vendors here is on high-quality arts and crafts from Austria and nearby countries. We found wooden toys, sculpted candles, blown glass creations, and locally distilled spirits. If you’re looking for cookie cutters, pastry mixes, or potpourri, you’ll be happy here.
Chimney cakes and waffles are popular along with leberkase, a traditional sandwich with a slice of pork loaf (a new favorite for Lance!). We also noticed more vegetarian options, including soups, dumplings, and toasts with toppings like spinach and feta. We opted for a non-vegetarian (and enormously delicious) baked potato topped with bacon, but there were also vegetarian and vegan options.
The market is more spread out than past years, which is great because it can get busy. An ice skating rink and 4 lanes for curling all use energy-friendly synthetic ice. The carousel and Ferris wheel are fun if you’re visiting with kids.
If you’re making the trip to the market, consider going inside to visit Schonbrunn Palace. There’s no better place in Vienna to see how the royals once lived.
Dates: November 6, 2025 to January 6, 2026
Art Advent Market (Karlsplatz)
The Art Advent market at Karlsplatz is the place to buy something truly exceptional. Vendors here aren’t like any at the other Christmas market locations, so it’s a must visit. At the foot of the Church of St. Charles (Karlskirche), products sold here must be created by the artists themselves and approved by a jury before they’re given a coveted spot.
Each vendor has a sign with information about themselves and a QR code that lets shoppers read more about their work. Plus, we found that they were all happy to chat more about their crafts.
A detailed map makes it easy to find specific types of gifts if you’re shopping for something beyond the expected. It’s also fun to watch people at work making jewelry, books, nativity figurines, and more.
The food and drinks here are predominantly organic (bio), and there is a substantial selection of vegetarian and even vegan dishes. Delicious flatbreads and raclette plus lots of international food you won’t find other places, are common here, including French buckwheat pancakes and Moroccan harira soup. For sweet treats, check out the bauernkrapfen—Austrian donuts covered in powdered sugar or filled with jam.
In the middle of the market, there are piles of straw, farm animals, and children’s activities as well as lots of room for the little ones to run around. In fact, the market as a whole is really spacious, which is a relief compared to feeling a bit like a sardine at the Rathaus. Existing park benches also mean that there is ample seating, which isn’t common and is really helpful if you’ve visited lots of markets as we had.
Dates: November 21 to December 23, 2025
Christmas Village at Belvedere Palace
Vienna does not lack markets with dramatic backdrops, and the Christmas Village at Belvedere Palace is another winner in that regard. The 18th-century palace, which is now an art museum with an extensive collection of works by Gustav Klimt, is a beautiful setting when the lights turn on at sunset.
The 40+ vendors offer typical merchandise that you will encounter at other markets, including ceramics, wooden toys, leather goods, and Vienna souvenirs. At the food stands, potato pancakes, spiral potatoes, and krapfen were popular. We especially enjoyed indulging in Nurnbergers—small German sausages that we fell in love with when visiting the Nuremberg markets.
Our schedule meant that we visited Belvedere on a weekend night, which is a very crowded time at almost any market. It was initially wall-to-wall people, but the crowd ultimately thinned out. Given its small size and limited unique things to buy, we would only recommend prioritizing a visit here if you are interested in photographing the building or are planning to visit the art museum inside.
Dates: November 14 to December 31, 2025
Am Hof Christmas Market
In the heart of the historic city, Weihnachtsmarkt am Hof is a charming market with handmade offerings. Despite its location in the center, we found it full of locals enjoying the food and drink, specialty items, and artisan goods.
Over 70 vendors sell a huge variety of goods with one whole section set apart as the craft (handwerk) area. We found everything from upcycled jewelry to clocks made from beer bottles and large-scale artwork. Moonshine, honey, slippers, and soap—you’ll find it all here.
We didn’t eat at Am Hof, but there were lots of delicious-looking items. What caught our attention most was the variety of drinks. One kiosk was set as a Champagne bar (with seats), and several had local wines at decent prices. We stopped at a stand serving Prosecco-topped limoncello spritzes, which we enjoyed while eavesdropping on the conversations of some expats.
Our stop at Am Hof was delightful. It was fun to browse around and encounter completely different kinds of gifts and drinks without having to hop a tram outside the center. If your time is short, this one is worth a visit.
Dates: November 14 to December 23, 2025
Old Viennese Christmas Market (Altweiner Christkindlmarkt)
Just a few minutes’ walk from Am Hof, the Old Viennese Christmas Market at Freyungplatz (Altweiner Christkindlmarkt) is a medium-sized market to visit in the center. It specializes in handicrafts and offers activities like glassblowing, wreath making, and puppet shows.
The 60 stalls here sell jewelry, children’s books, decorations, and other exclusive merchandise. We also found lots of local meats and cheeses, chocolates, sausage, and pizza, though there are more drinks than food. Surrounded by historic buildings, the market has a cozy setting, but we weren’t quite as enthusiastic about it compared with our stop at Am Hof. Still, it’s worth a brief visit if you’re in the area.
Dates: November 14 to December 23, 2025
Christmas Market in Spittleberg
The Spittleberg neighborhood is a lively place packed with restaurants and specialty art and clothing shops. During the Christmas market, the area’s streets (particularly Spittelberggasse and Gutenberggasse) fill with stalls selling things you won’t find elsewhere.
The market is an Eco-Event, so organic, fair trade, and locally sourced items dominate. We found upcycled jackets, handmade jewelry, specialty pottery, lots of vinyl records, and high-quality leather goods. When it comes to food, there are some traditional dishes, but expect the unexpected with everything from bagels and lox to falafel. We had some incredible chicken souvlaki made by a couple from Crete who gave us a complimentary glass of their rakia (potent brandy).
In addition to the market vendors, many of the stores and restaurants bring their goods and food outside, adding to the fun atmosphere. Visitors who love a Bohemian vibe and creative merchandise should make it a point to visit.
Dates: November 14 to December 23, 2025
Christmas Village Campus University of Vienna
The spacious campus of the University of Vienna has plenty of room to cater to the Christmas Village’s two target audiences—students and families living nearby.
For students, there are plenty of drinks stands with more tables than we found at any other market. The list of drink options is impressive—mulled wine, mulled cider, mulled beer, and mulled gin alongside a catalog ranging from hot orange rum punch to Jaegermiester. They’re all served in some of the cutest mugs we came across at the markets. We couldn’t resist trying the bratapfelpunsch, a mix of apple juice, apple brandy, vanilla, cinnamon, and other spices designed to taste like baked apples
Grab some churros, empanadas, or a pulled pork sandwich to sop up some of the alcohol.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, this is a great market for kids. There are multiple amusement rides including a mini-train and several carousel-type rides where kids can sit in cars or balloons that spin. If you want to try your hand at curling, that’s an option here, too.
Dates: November 14 to December 23, 2025
Winter Market on Riesenradplatz (Prater)
Not your typical Christmas market, the Winter Market on Riesenradplatz is a place to enjoy entertainment and meet with friends for lots of eating and drinking. While there is almost no shopping here, there are many other things to do.
The area around the city’s famous Ferris wheel is full of food kiosks and restaurants. If you haven’t met your daily quota of sausage or langos (Hungarian fried bread), this is the place to be. There are dozens of punches spiked with every imaginable spirit as well as beer, hot chocolate, and more. We had some excellent gluhwein along with prosciutto-topped raclette while listening to some of the oddest live music we’ve heard (everything from O Holy Night to Billy Joel hits and Wind Beneath My Wings).
The funfair is the main draw here. Take a ride on the historic Ferris wheel, spin on the swings, and try not to lose your dinner on the upside-down rollercoasters. People traveling with kids or who are looking for something completely different to do may want to add Prater to the list, but it’s not the top spot for holiday atmosphere.
Dates: November 16, 2024 to January 6, 2025
Advent Market at Gartenpalais Liechtenstein
The tiny Adventplatz at Palace Liechtenstein is a neighborhood gem. With just a handful of stands set outside the 300-year-old Baroque Garden Palace Liechtenstein, the Advent Market offers a quiet environment to enjoy market festivities that are as far away from “touristy” as you can get.
Though the offerings and hours are limited, the market seems to somehow hit the highlights with spiral potatoes, chimney cakes, kaiserschmarrn, and flammkuchen (flatbread). Our favorite stand offered a wine tasting flight—we opted for mulled rose wine, hot passionfruit punch, and eierpunsch (similar to warm eggnog). I think we were the only non-Austrians there, but the vendors couldn’t have been nicer.
While the market isn’t worth a trip to visit on its own, don’t miss it if you’re visiting the Garden Palace. The building holds one of the world’s premier private art collections with works by Rubens, Raphael, Rembrandt, and other masters. Public guided tours are available in German only.
Dates: November 13 to December 20, 2025
Christmas Market at Turkenschanzpark
One of the most family-friendly markets in Vienna is in Türkenschanzpark. North of the city center, the park is filled with ponds, fountains, and sports facilities that make it a huge draw for locals pretty far off the tourist track. The park is so large that we had to ask for help finding the market more than once (it’s at Peter-Jordan-Strasse and Danenstrasse).
The small market has handmade jewelry and art, hot chocolate kits, and gourmet gifts. In addition to baked potatoes and sausage, there were stands with spaetzle with a long list of toppings, and food we didn’t see elsewhere like pasta and brownies.
Visits from Santa, live music, and a regular “bubble show” plus a carousel and other rides make it a great space for kids to enjoy and run around.
Dates: November 14 to December 23, 2025
For more markets in Austria, see our trip to Graz at Christmas
Laura Longwell is an award-winning travel blogger and photographer. Since founding Travel Addicts in 2008, she has written hundreds of articles that help over 3 million people a year get the most out of their travel. In that time, she has visited nearly 60 countries on 5 continents, often returning to favorite destinations over and over again. She has a deep love of history, uncovering unexpected attractions, and trying all the good food a place has to offer.
In addition to Travel Addicts, Laura runs a site about her hometown of Philadelphia—Guide to Philly—which chronicles unique things to do and places to see around southeastern Pennsylvania. Her travel tips and advice appear across the web.