How to spend a wonderful Christmas in Vienna

Things to see and do in Vienna during Christmas

When we decided to visit Vienna our only goal was to enjoy in beautifully decorated town & Christmas markets. We spent 3 days exploring Vienna at Christmas and sadly 2 days traveling.  Since we are Orthodox (we celebrate our Christmas in January) the best decision ever was to travel back home at January 25th. The roads were empty , we arrived home in 4 hours! And since our Christmas in not yet let`s say: Frohe Weihnachten! Which means “Merry Christmas”. If you are curious to see how Vienna looks like during holiday check our vlog from Vienna. 

Things to know about about visit Vienna for Christmas

Transport: If you plan exploring Vienna by foot be prepared, city is huge and you will probably need some kind of transport. We use metro and ticket in one way for one person is 2.40 € . Since kids are still small they use metro for free. 

*In city center you can rent fiakirs (horse-drawn carriages) but since we were with kids they weren't eager to try out. But you can only ride through the centre of the Old city. It`s not classic public transport. 

Shops: On Sundays stores were closed, only some were open on gas stations. For Holidays (Christmas Eve) they are open in the morning and for Christmas everything is closed. I think the only market shops that may work on Sunday is Shopping City Süd or some bigger malls. 

Restaurants/Cafes: As you can guess for Christmas everything is closed, but for Christmas Eve some restaurants and cafes might be open, such as McDonalds, Starbucks... But not for long.Our plan was to buy some coffee to go in Starbucks but we arrived late, they closed around 16h. 

Christmas Markets: Rathaus (Vienna city hall) Christmas Market is open on Christmas Eve , all others (smaller ones in city center) are closed.  But it`s so crowded there that we decided to skip it. 

Travel tip: One big tip if you travel with kids (since all restaurants and cafes are closed on Christmas Eve) and your kid needs to go to toilet (yes that happen to us and all public toilets were closed) we managed to find free a toilet in Museum Quarters as we were close there. 

Christmas Markets in Vienna

I don`t have many photos of Christmas markets as my kids in those moments when we were close to some decided not to behave as they should, so I had to just abort the mission :) . But I do have a lot of videos from some Christmas markets and hopefully I will share it soon on YouTube. I choose a few from many Christmas Markets in Vienna and the dates are valid for 2019 year. 

Viennese Dream Christmas Market -  In front of Vienna City Hall (Rathaus) , the biggest Christmas Market in Vienna you can find a lot of stands with Christmas decoration, food and drinks. If you are a fan of skating there is an amazing and big ice-skate place. Also, you can see a lot of entertainment for kids. 

Where: On the square in front of the City Hall

When: 15th November - 26th December 2019

The Christmas Market on Stephansplatz - Offering high-quality products from Austria as well you can buy mulled wine and food. The stands are all wooden and decorated with lights. 

Where: In city center

When: Nov 15 – Dec 26

Karlsplatz Art Advent: It features many art and crafts stalls. They are very strict who can set up their stall there. Good for kids with many children activities. They say all available food and drink are organic. 

Where: nestled in front of the imposing Karlskirche church

When: Nov 22 – Dec 23 in 2019

Christmas Village on Maria-Theresien-Platz - The Marie-Theresien-Platz square has the monumental Art History Museum on one side and the Natural History Museum on the other. The Market was closed on Christmas Eve. We arrived around 18h I think. 

Where: between the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna and the Naturhistorisches Museum Vienna. 

When: Nov 20 – Jan 6 

The Christmas Market in front of Schönbrunn Palace - Good place to find unique Christmas gifts and traditional decorations, high-quality arts and crafts from the workshops of candle makers, glass blowers, wood carvers, potters etc. 

Where: In front of the Habsburg summer palace

When: Nov 23 – Jan 5th

Belvedere Christmas market - Has a focus on quality arts and crafts. It’s also smaller than most of the main markets. 

Where: Alongside a Baroque palace
When: Nov 22 – Dec 31

10 Things to Do in Vienna for Christmas

Vienna is absolutely amazing during holidays! There are a lot of things you can do and I will recommend you 10!

1.  Ice skating 

The Vienna Ice World is one of the biggest open-air artificial ice rinks in the world and it`s located in front of Vienna City Hall. A special experience is the Sky Rink, a skating terrace on the first floor with a 120 meter-long ramp. More places where you can skate: Alte Donau, Naue Donau, Albert Schultz Eishalle etc...

2. Take a walking tour of Vienna

The best way to know Vienna is by foot! From Christmas Eve and Christmas you won`t see too many locals since they are celebrating, but streets are still full of people. You can explore city by yourself or hire a guide, if you prefer to know the city deeper. 

3. Visit a Christmas Market

For sure those that is the best choices! There are a lot of Christmas markets you can visit and try their food and drink, buy handcrafted souvenirs. 

4. Imperial Butterfly House (Schmetterlinghaus)

The butterfly house is located just steps away from the Hofburg and it`s very easy to find. Since 1998, the building, more than 3,000 square feet in area, towers over the garden of the Imperial Palace. It houses hundreds of free-flying tropical butterflies in a re-creation of their natural environment. The temperature is 27°C and the humidity 80%.

5. Neujahrskonzert (New Year’s Concert)

A Viennese yearly tradition, given by the famous Vienna Philharmonic in the morning of New Year’s Day. The first New Year’s concert was held on 31 December 1939 but in 1941 and every year since then, it has been held on the First of January. 

6. Winter Market & Ferris Wheel

Under the motto, "Prater Rocks!" the winter market at Riesenradplatz in the famous Prater gardens offers an exciting entertainment program throughout the winter season. Hot punch and live acts will warm you up at the winter market on Riesenradplatz from 16.11.19 - 06.01.20.

7. Through Vienna in a horse-drawn carriage

For many tourists, a ride with the two-horse carriage is one of the highlights. You can find horse-drawn carriage stands in different areas of the city: Stephansplatz, Michaelerplatz, Albertinaplatz, Petersplatz and Burgtheater/Volksgarten. Prices per rides vary from 55 € (around 20mins) through the centre of the Old city,  till 80€  (approx. 40mins) through the Ringstrasse and the Old City.

8. Drink Weihnachtspunsch

Christmas punch absolutely delicious! Will warm you up and it comes in dozens of flavors. 

9. View the lights on Kärntner & Graben Straße

Take a walk in the evening (you won`t regret it believe me) from the State Opera House building, moving down Kärntner Straße to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, then along the Graben and up Kohlmarkt to the Hofburg Palace.

10. MuseumsQuartier (MQ)

In November and December, there is live rock, rap, electronic music and light projections at MQ and open-air bars. You can buy punch and sausages. 

What To Eat/Drink At Vienna’s Winter Markets  

• People come to a market to drink punch or mulled wine. Mulled wine (Glühwein) is absolutely delicious. The one we tried costs 3.50 € .
• Maroni or Roasted chestnuts if you never tried them you MUST. 
• Krapfen - Vienna’s doughnut.
• Käsekrainer - sausage solo or sausage with cheese inside. 
• Pretzel - salty or sweet.
• Lombomba - It`s hot chocolate, super creamy, with whipped cream and sprinkled with cinnamon. 
• Schaumrollen - roll-shaped puff pastry, which is sweetened with whipped cream or meringue, or sometimes filled with an unsweetened cream puree. 
• Pancakes (Palatschinken) & Waffles - with cinnamon and sugar, strawberry sauce, caramel, whipped cream etc. 
• Roasted almonds, walnuts, pecan and other nuts.
• Cotton candy, ice cream cones, apples coated with red sugar glazing etc.

Insider tips

• Bring Cash - Some stands will take credit cards, but many are cash only. 
• Warm clothes - We stayed in Vienna from 21.12 till 25.12 2019. Temperature was ideal, around 8-9 °C. One day was raining, so we decided to go shopping in SCS. Still you need warm clothes especially for kids, hats! Make sure to bring a lot of warm clothes for you little ones. 
• Watch your bags - Christmas Markets are so crowded and you can easily be distracted by all decoration. 
• Family Fun indoor playground - if your kids get bored from all walking & cold the perfect place for them is indoor playground Family Fun! It was open for Christmas Eve till 16h. Price per kid (3-16years)  €7,90 and adults €3,50. And you can buy lunch and drinks there. See our vlog from Family fun playground. 

Do you prefer to visit Vienna in winter or in the summer? What do you like the most about Vienna? Let me know in the comments what is your favorite Christmas market in Vienna :)