Vienna is hugely popular for a holiday across the Christmas period. But what should you do when you’re here? Here are my top recommendations for visitors in 2025…
- Book a classical concert experience* for your trip
- See also:
1. Take a photo at Belvedere
(Upper Belvedere palace, lake and market)
This is missed by most people, but an absolute must in my opinion. Which is why I put it at the top of this list.
Baroque Upper Belvedere palace has a small lake in front of it. In the evening, when the sky turns twilight blue and the lights go on, the building and its reflection form one of those breathtaking fairytale visions you see in tourism brochures and Disney films.
During Advent, the Christmas market stalls and any water illuminations make this glorious photo opportunity even more impressive.
I have the photographic skills of a sea cucumber. But you get the idea from the above shot. Each year I promise myself I’ll take a better version. And each year I fail. Might be time for a new phone.
Anyway, take advantage in 2025: building work is expected to get in the way of the 2026 season.
2. Visit a Christmas market
(The Christmas market on the historical Freyung square)
This is why many people visit in the first place, of course.
Vienna’s numerous Christmas markets start opening sometime in November (last year, the first markets opened on November 8th with most following around a week later).
The markets make you believe the world’s a better place than news broadcasts and social media might suggest.
It all feels like being wrapped in a cosy blanket before a roaring fireplace, with a steaming mug of something warm and the company of good friends. The only downside is they can get busy at peak times.
I tend to recommend going late afternoon as the sun disappears but before the full crowds arrive. This also leaves you time for another evening activity.
(Pile ’em high)
Most market stalls stock arts and crafts, handcrafted bits and bobs, seasonal decorations and many things in-between: all to an often remarkably high quality. And usually in historical surrounds that enhance the feeling of tradition.
If you’re on a diet, you may want to stay away, though.
The typical Christmas market has made “culinary temptation” an art form. Imagine the sugar fairy got loose, made a pact with the chocolate fairy, then abandoned all reason and accountability.
Common treats include chocolate-covered fruit, roasted & caramelised nuts, Lebkuchen, innumerable pastries, and various varieties of pretzel. Though you find many savoury dishes, too, such as goulash, baked potatoes, etc.
3. Drink Weihnachtspunsch
(Souvenir punch mugs from the Stephansplatz market)
A fine idea for the aforementioned steaming mug of something warm is Weihnachtspunsch (Christmas punch): the drink comes in numerous flavours and keeps the chill at bay on a cold winter’s evening. Non-alcoholic options exist, too.
Drinking this punch is not a “tourist thing” at all. Locals regularly meet friends after work for a mug or two around a bar table outside a Christmas market booth or freestanding street stall.
The markets typically serve their punch in collectable mugs; often (but not always) in a design unique to each market.
You pay a deposit when you order, so you have the option of simply keeping the mug as a souvenir and losing the deposit. Many markets also let you buy them separately.
4. Listen to an advent concert
(Stephansdom cathedral, which has a Christmas market alongside, also hosts concerts*)
Vienna fills with the sound of concerts in November and December, and not just the regular special performances designed to offer visitors a taste of light classical Viennese music.
Many other venues join in the fun at this time of year; I list advent concert highlights here as I come across them.
For a particularly resonant ambience, consider a recital or concert in a church*.
Your top options around the centre include, for example, Stephansdom cathedral and the Peterskirche, Annakirche, Kapuzinerkirche and Karlskirche churches.
All typically have regular evening performances in wonderfully atmospheric baroque or gothic surrounds.
5. View the lights
(The chandeliers that line the Graben in the town centre)
Vienna’s Christmas lights glitter without being glitzy, with thousands of crystals and giant chandeliers bringing a ballroom atmosphere to the main pedestrianised area in the centre.
Take a walk in the evening, starting from the State Opera House building, moving down Kärntner Straße to Stephansdom cathedral, then along the Graben and up Kohlmarkt to the Hofburg palace complex.
The lights switch on sometime in the second half of November most years, though the illuminations began relatively early in 2024 (on November 15th).
6. Take a trip around the Ring
(The entrance to the Christkindlmarkt on the Ringstrassen with the 19th-century Rathaus building behind)
The lights don’t end there.
Big hotels, stores, and the most famous Christmas market flank the wide Ring boulevard (Ringstrassen) that encircles the old town, for example, and all have their own Christmas decorations and lighting.
After dusk, walk the Ring yourself, use the “hop on, hop off” buses, or take one of the public trams that follow the route (combine the No.1 and No.2 lines to see pretty much everything).
Having said all that, a lot depends on energy prices and environmental policies.
In the last couple of years, for example, the displays around the Ring proved much more muted than usual.
7. Go through the Rathauspark
(Ice skating routes traverse one side of the park. Hire skates on site for an open-air twirl)
That famous Christmas market along the Ring is the Christkindlmarkt on the Rathausplatz square in front of city hall.
The small park surrounding Vienna’s most popular advent market makes a delightful evening stroll, too, with its hidden displays, nativity scenes, decorated trees, illuminated trails and open-air ice skating.
The tree full of giant lighted hearts provides a nice photo backdrop for those of a romantic disposition (if you don’t mind a bit of kitsch). But should you wish something a little more classy to celebrate l’amour, try one of my romantic dinner suggestions.
8. Visit a roast chestnut stand
(Chestnuts, wedges, roast potato slices and potato patties. Tornado fries are likely to be popular in 2024, too)
Every market has one. And just about every major street corner in winter, too: a “Maronistand” selling potato-based snacks and roast chestnuts (known as Maroni locally).
Generations before you have shared this Christmas experience.
You can easily imagine medieval children blowing on their fingers to cool them down after picking open a piping hot chestnut. Follow in their footsteps (but with improved dental hygiene and better phones).
9. Enjoy a sausage
(The sausage booth just outside Karlsplatz station next to Hotel Bristol)
Staying on the culinary theme to finish…you can eat a sausage at one of Vienna’s many sausage stands any time of year. But they come into their own in winter.
When the night chill threatens to bite, and you’re tired from seeing the sights and gaping at the lights, then fill up with a tasty cholesterol stick Käsekrainer or Bratwurst. It’s a true Viennese experience. And one that cuts across class and social boundaries.
And those Christmas markets all have booths selling sausages, should you wish to combine experiences.
So there you have it. For an in-depth look at Vienna at Christmas, check out my full guide here. It covers the markets, lights, events, traditions, seasonal food & shopping, and travel tips.