Vienna Christkindlmarkt

Vienna’s flagship market fills Rathausplatz, the square in front of the neo-Gothic City Hall, and it is unapologetically theatrical. The City Hall facade is lit and projected onto, the trees in the surrounding Rathauspark are strung with illuminated hearts and stars, and the whole thing is built for photographs.

What is there

The stalls sell the Austrian repertoire: hand-blown glass, beeswax candles, wooden toys, Christmas decorations, plus a large quantity of Punsch in every fruit variation and Glühwein in souvenir mugs. The food is Käsekrainer sausage, potato spirals, Kaiserschmarrn and enormous quantities of roasted almonds.

What sets Rathausplatz apart from a German market is the scale of the peripheral entertainment. There is a carousel, a children’s programme inside the City Hall itself, and — from mid-November — the beginnings of the ice rink operation that becomes the Wiener Eistraum, a network of skating paths winding through the park.

The other Vienna markets

Rathausplatz is the biggest and the busiest. Many Viennese prefer the others, and a visitor with more than a day should see at least one:

• Schönbrunn Palace — in the forecourt of the imperial summer palace, more refined, with a strong craft emphasis, and it continues as a New Year market into early January.
• Spittelberg — threaded through the narrow Biedermeier lanes of the seventh district, the most charming of the lot and the best for genuine handicraft.
• Karlsplatz — art-heavy, organic food, an alpaca enclosure, and a distinctly alternative crowd.
• Belvedere and Am Hof — both handsome, both less crowded than Rathausplatz.

Getting there

Rathaus station on the U2 line puts you at the edge of the square. Vienna’s public transport is excellent and a 24- or 48-hour ticket is worth it if you intend to see several markets.

When to go

It opens earlier than most — mid-November — and runs to 26 December, which is unusual and useful: most German markets have packed up by then. Weekday evenings are busy but bearable; weekends are extremely crowded. Hours shorten on 24 December.