Have you ever thought that Vienna must be a dream destination during the winter festivities? I’ve checked myself and prepared a list of the most festive spots for you – scroll down to reveal the truth!

In 2019 (can you believe it’s last year already?) I’ve spent Christmas Eve, Christmas and Boxing Day in Austria, and it was absolutely fantastic – even after visiting Moscow and London before that.

Good news is that markets are very spacious and I’ve hardly noticed any plastics there which is a weak spot of many Christmas Markets I’ve visited.

Around the Vienna State Opera

Christmas atmosphere around the Opera and Operngasse was incredible too! Do you think that the Gerstner K.u.K Hofzuckerbacker decorations would be fit to challenge Annabel’s in London as the best wall-mounted Christmas tree this year?

Christmas Market on Stephansplatz

The Christmas Market on Stephansplatz making frame around the St. Stephen’s Cathedral was the first one I visited as it was one of the closest to our hotel Hilton Vienna Plaza.

To my big surprise, it worked long hours – pretty stalls topped with glittering circles started closing at around 9pm and were open in the morning of 25th! If you ask me, I’d nominate it as the market with the most impressive background!

And back to Hilton Vienna Plaza – it looked nice, didn’t it?

Christmas Village on Maria-Theresien-Platz

Christmas Village on Maria-Theresien-Platz is squeezed by Natural History Museum of Vienna (Naturhistorisches Museum Vienna) and the Museum of Fine Arts of Vienna (Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna) – both are highly recommended for a visit too, btw (the latest museum, for instance, has a wonderful Barocco exhibition on display at the moment). The Hofburg palace is situated in a short walk away too.

The square is occupied with multiple1 food and arts&crafts stalls – and I’ve never seen such a variety of hot winter drinks in my entire life! It was at its prettiest in the evening because of the festive lightings of the ‘gates’, of the fountains and around the monument to Empress Maria Theresa.

The market closes on the 6th of January.

Christmas Village at Belvedere Palace

Small Christmas Village at Belvedere duplicates it terms of vendors previous markets but the location is elevated to the imperial levels! I was really impressed by the Xmas tree made out of slides – very unusual, isn’t it?

Don’t limit your visit to sausages and punch and don’t forget about the Baroque (Upper and Lower) palaces that are listed as the UNESCO World Heritage site while Upper Belvedere is home to the most famous Klimt’s works and Royal Stables have a magnificent collection of Medieval objects.

Christmas Market on Michaelerplatz

Tiny but lovely Christmas Market on Michaelerplatz is called ‘k.u.k. Weihnachtsmarkt’ in German ‘k.u.k.’ stands for ‘imperial and royal’ (‘kaiserlich und königlich’).

This abbreviation refers to Habsburg rule when a monarch was an Emperor of Austria and the King of Hungary simultaneously (don’t forget about my blog about Budapest, the capital of Hungary!) – and I’m sure you won’t be pleased to miss it! White pretty stalls, Hofburg Palace on the background, horse carriages around the St. Michael square – what can be better?

Christmas market on the Rathausplatz

Although I liked all the markets, I must admit that the Christmas market on the Rathausplatz, at the foot of City Hall, is the biggest and brightest of them all!

Famous Tree of Hearts (Herzerlbaum) is located in the park around the market. No words needed – just check these images below.

What else?

Other markets included Freyung Christmas Market, Am Hof Christmas Market, Karlsplatz Christmas market and Spanish Riding School Market. 

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Christmas brunch 

Our Christmas brunch was in Michelin starred Das Loft on top of Sofitel Vienna.

The view was incredible as well as the set of desserts but if you ask me the main courses were less impressive than what I expected to have for the price we’ve paid.

Hope you liked my blog! Yours, Anna Xxx