The Christmas markets in Vienna are generally a tasteful affair. Plastic is rare, and wood, straw, glass and fabric (and enough food and drink to feed a blue whale) dominate.
Though they’re worth visiting just for the atmosphere, the markets also make for excellent shopping.
You can find a wide range of potential gift items: sculpted candles, handcrafted decorations, wooden nativity scenes, jewellery, ceramics, and much, much (much) more.
Weihnachtsdorf on Maria-Theresien-Platz.
If you like your Christmas markets sandwiched between mighty imperial buildings, then Maria-Theresien-Platz is another must on your list. Wonderful location between two grand museums
Fills the gaps between topiary and fountains. Excellent selection of arts, crafts, and food stalls
Around 70 booths this year.
Kärntner Straße Christmas lights.
Gourmet Advent market.
If you’re wandering through the old town in Vienna, admiring the opera and preparing to find your way down the Kärntner Straße shopping street, consider taking a moment to pop into the Genussmarkt bei der Oper, a small Christmas and New Year gourmet market.
Sells a range of specialty foods from Austria and Italy. A covered pedestrianised part of the street, so good for bad weather. Only around 11 stands. A handful of huts form a small row along a pedestrianised street opposite the State Opera House, so this small market won’t take much time out of your sightseeing schedule.
The stands almost only sold food and drink on my visit: partly for immediate consumption, partly to take home with you and stare at admiringly in the fridge or pantry.
Graben – Goldschmiedgasse Christmas lights.
Stephansplatz Christmas market.
Although one of Vienna’s newer seasonal markets, you might argue that the Stephansplatz Christmas market could well be the city’s most traditional.
Christmas market. Stephansdom cathedral provides a wonderful backdrop.
40+ stalls, with plenty of nearby shops and restaurants, too.
Back in “days of yore”, traders often used the space around a church as a marketplace, particularly if that church also served as a place of pilgrimage.
Wooden stands clinging to the sides of the cathedral, offering tourists and city dwellers refreshing victuals and a selection of handicrafts and gifts.
Two things in particular help the Stephansplatz market stand out.
First – location.
Second, the booths represent a kind of “best of” selection.
With around 40 stalls, the Stephansplatz market is relatively small compared to say the Christkindlmarkt. But it still manages to cover pretty much the entire spectrum of market stands on my last visit.
So you have your handmade and hand-painted decorations made of wood, tin, glass and other materials, but also Italian truffles, jars of pesto, candles, woolen hats and gloves, artistic candle holders and ceramics, Lebkuchen, jewellery, snow globes, wooden toys and kitchen accessories, specialist chocolates, wine, schnapps, and more.
Of course, mixed in among all this are the stands serving food and drink, seasonal and otherwise.
I found potato fritters, Leberkäse, roasted almonds, hot sausages, soups served in giant bread rolls, Baumkuchen (spit cakes), Käsespätzle (pasta / dumpling with melted cheese and fried onions), and Weihnachtspunsch.
Rotenturmstraße, Graben, Kohlmarkt Christmas lights.
Altes AKH Christmas market.
Tucked just a little bit away from the centre, the Christmas market in the Altes AKH has more of a local feel to it. Friends commonly gather here after work and at weekends to toast the season.
Officially the Weihnachtsdorf Campus Universität Wien.
The park-like layout surrounded by university buildings protects the market from the hustle and bustle of the street outside.
Which is not to say things can’t get busy. But the Weihnachtsdorf is not as well known as, say, the Christkindlmarkt, so you’re less likely to find yourself facing bussed-in tourists.
The Altes AKH certainly enjoys popularity with young Viennese families, though, as smaller kids can find a few extra activities there.
A playground adjoins the market as well, so this might be the right choice if you’re worried about the toddlers getting bored at any of the alternatives but still want your Christmas punch.
Not so many stands as elsewhere sell market wares, but you’ll still find a selection of the usual booths offering garments, accessories and jewellery, alongside a few more unusual stands.
Many people visiting are locals sharing punch and food with friends.
The reason locals gravitate here is because the Altes AKH has always been one of the better markets for food and drink, with a wide choice of warm winter fare and regional specialties from Austria’s provinces.
0:00 Weihnachtsdorf on Maria-Theresien-Platz.
5:26 Kärntner Straße Christmas lights.
5:57 Gourmet Advent market.
8:24 Graben – Goldschmiedgasse Christmas lights.
9:58 Stephansplatz Christmas market.
16:02 Rotenturmstraße, Graben, Kohlmarkt Christmas lights.
18:45 Altes AKH Christmas market.
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