So, Easter, the time of frolicking lambs and, wait… no lambs in Vienna. But plenty else to make your trip enjoyable. In fact, the rabbits rule the Easter menagerie…as you’ll notice if you enter any supermarket in the weeks leading up to the holiday.
Read on for details of Easter markets and events in Vienna, as well as tips on seasonal travel, weather, food, and traditions.
- Easter weekend is March 27/28 in 2027
- Markets likely begin mid March
- Book a classical concert experience* for your trip
- See also:
Jump to:
2027 dates
(Expect to see eggs)
Vienna has become a popular destination for an Easter city break. Visitors swap places with the Viennese, who often head to the Alps with the kids for a final ski before the spring sun ends the fun.
The official 2027 Easter school holidays here last from March 20th to March 29th. During this period, any children aged 14 or less travel free on the transport authority’s subways, trams, and buses.
Dates for the actual Easter weekend in 2027 are:
- Maundy Thursday: March 25th
- Good Friday: March 26th
- Easter Saturday: March 27th
- Easter Sunday: March 28th
- Easter Monday: March 29th (a public holiday)
The Easter markets
(The Altwiener Ostermarkt on the Freyung, one of the three main seasonal markets in the city)
The Easter markets (German: Ostermärkte) head up the list of seasonal attractions and usually begin opening from around two weeks before the Easter weekend. Which probably means from around mid-March in 2027 (check this article for details as dates are published).
Think of them as arts and crafts markets with the added bonus of historical locations, a truck-load of eggs & Easter decorations, and numerous high-calorie pinches of regional cuisine to eat on site.
As well as an enjoyable experience in their own right, the markets also make a decent source of unique souvenirs and gifts.
The main locations are:
- Schönbrunn: in front of the Habsburg summer palace with added family-friendly fun
- Am Hof: very close to the city centre. Good food selection
- Freyung: near Am Hof and typically includes an organic farmer’s market
Easter events
The big museums put on excellent exhibitions around Easter. I’m waiting on concrete schedules for 2027 and will post highlights here. See, also, my March exhibition highlights or the wider exhibition listings.
(Lower Belvedere always has something worth seeing)
For other activities over Easter, take a look at:
- My specific activity suggestions in the March “what to do” page
- The general concert venue page for tips on where to find a suitable classical concert
- My evening activities page for those wishing to do more than just drink, dance and dinner (despite how good that sounds)
- The events summary page, which I update every couple of weeks or so with selected highlights for the coming period
For example, if all the Easter chocolate weighs heavy on your conscience, then the Vienna Blues Spring music festival has probably started and might provide an appropriate ambience.
Easter traditions
(An Osterbaum or “Easter tree” with appropriate decoration)
As far as family Easter traditions go, you only need to know two words: eggs and rabbits.
You can paint, colour, decorate, hang up, or eat the eggs, though large chocolate ones in the UK style are fairly rare.
The Easter rabbit apparently brings the eggs in the first place. (Given my understanding of reproductive biology, I’m going to assume the rabbit doesn’t lay the things.)
As such, rabbit-themed chocolate and decorations abound.
Technically, it’s actually the Easter *hare*. The German word for the animal is Osterhase, which derives from Ostern (Easter) and Hase (hare).
Learn more about Austrian Easter traditions. In particular, discover why you hear the sound of a million hard-boiled eggs cracking in gladiatorial combat on the morning of Easter Sunday.
Easter food
There isn’t much. If you ignore the increase in the number of eggs appearing at mealtimes.
At least, the seasonal cuisine is nothing like that at Christmas, with its wide range of advent specialities.
Vast quantities of seasonal chocolate and candy still dominate the supermarkets and the Easter table, of course.
I openly admit to a desperate obsession with Lindt’s Goldhase: chocolate rabbits in a golden livery, with a red ribbon and a little bell. A little bell!
(Easter chocolate, including some imports from the UK: mea culpa)
Apart from the chocolates and sweets, we have Osterschinken (Easter ham), which appears to be various varieties of normal ham with the word Easter added to the front. But I might be wrong.
We also have the Osterpinze (pictured below), which is a soft sweet pastry made from yeast dough.
Stores fill with other Easter-themed baked items, but most seem to be seasonal rebrands of products you get the rest of the year, too. Welcome to modern life.
I’ll make an honourable exception for the Osterstriezel, even though you do get Striezel all year. In days of yore, this braided brioche only appeared around All Saints’ Day and Easter.
If I sound a little cynical, it’s because I am.
(Osterpinze)
Easter travel & weather
The Easter period is still relatively low-key when compared to the Christmas furore. Easter Monday is a public holiday (on March 29th in 2027), when shops close. Otherwise, store opening hours are unchanged.
The same principle applies to public transport. A “Sunday service” operates on Easter Monday, but otherwise timetables remain unchanged.
However, since the week leading up to the Easter weekend is a school holiday, the “Ferien” timetables apply to trams and buses. This essentially means slightly longer intervals in the morning, when kids no longer need transport to school.
Weather is a difficult one to call.
Late March in Vienna can see warmth and bright sun, especially given changing climate patterns. So we should enjoy decent spring-like temperatures. But who knows? Check (obviously) the forecast before you pack.
German tip
Finally, a quick language tip.
As mentioned earlier, Easter is Ostern in German. So you find a derivative of that word appended to just about everything around the season. For example:
- Osterferien = the holidays
- Ostereier = the eggs
- Ostermärkte = the markets
- Ostersonntag = the Sunday of the holiday weekend
Have fun and enjoy those Ostereier. And to discover what else Vienna offers outside seasonal Easter specials, start with this introductory guide.