The Vienna Christmas Markets

Vienna opens its Christmas markets in the second half of November and most run to Christmas Eve, a few into early January. They are not interchangeable. The largest, on Rathausplatz in front of the city hall, is a fairground of light installations with a skating path through the park behind it and heavy crowds every evening. Spittelberg threads through narrow eighteenth century lanes and leans towards craft stalls. Karlsplatz sells work by makers and keeps straw and animals for children. Freyung, Am Hof, the Belvedere and Schoenbrunn each have their own scale. The common currency everywhere is Punsch and Gluehwein in a marked mug, paid for with a deposit you either reclaim or keep.

What you actually see

• Rathausplatz - the biggest and brightest, with lights strung through the park and a skating path.
• Spittelberg - stalls threaded through narrow old lanes, tighter and more craft-led.
• Karlsplatz - makers' stalls in front of the church, with straw and animals for children.
• The mug deposit - every Punsch comes in a marked cup returned for money or taken home.

When to go

Markets open in the second half of November and most close on the twenty-fourth of December, with Schoenbrunn and one or two others carrying on into the first days of January. Weekday afternoons before four are the only genuinely quiet hours. From Friday evening onwards the central markets are shoulder to shoulder and moving through them is slow.

Honest expectations

The big markets sell much the same things at prices that have climbed steeply, and a great deal of the stock is not made anywhere near Austria. Rathausplatz after work is a crush where you queue for everything. It is more often wet than snowy. Toilets are few and paid for, and card payment is still not universal.

Nearby

The Ringstrasse links the Rathausplatz, Burgtheater and museum quarter markets in one walk.