When rows of stalls pop up in some sublime historical setting and contain eggs in a myriad of shapes, sizes and colours, then you know it’s Easter market time in Vienna.
Discover what to expect and where to find the best ones…
- Arts, crafts, and regional food & drink
- The big markets are…
- Freyung, Am Hof & Schönbrunn
- Main 2025 markets start from late March
- …and continue until Easter
- Book a concert experience* for your Vienna trip
- See also:
- Easter in Vienna
- When are the Easter markets open?
- Find a central hotel for Easter
What to expect
(Painted egg hanging from branches: a local tradition)
The first question many people ask about Vienna’s Easter markets is: are they like the Christmas markets?
How could they be?
The Christmas markets take place in a city bursting with a wide mix of seasonal scents, sounds, lights and colours.
Easter means more eggs and chocolate rabbits in the shops. No competition. (Though, to be fair, the chocolate Lindt rabbits deserve a place in the dining halls of the Greek Gods.)
Ask, though, whether it’s worth visiting an Easter market and the answer is a definite yes. Just don’t compare them to the Christmas experience.
(Enjoy plenty of food and drink)
In terms of what to expect, well, eggs for starters. Lots of them.
Just joking.
No, seriously…eggs.
Not tacky plastic ones or large chocolate ones encased in coloured foil, but decorated and decorative eggs: mostly hand-painted eggshells designed to hang on an Osterbaum (an “Easter tree” made from small thin willow branches or similar).
Otherwise, consider the Easter markets good quality arts and crafts markets, with a tasty dose of regional cuisine thrown into the mix.
Even without any wintry ambience or Christmas punch, it’s nice to browse the stalls, sip a glass of Austrian wine, and sample a wild boar sausage or a bowl of vegetarian goulash.
Visitor info & tips
The Easter markets tend to start around two to three weeks before Easter and usually run through to Easter Monday. See here for specific 2025 dates and opening times as they become available.
The Schönbrunn market, for example, opens from March 27th, with the Am Hof and Freyung markets following around a week later. All three continue until April 21st.
Market hours vary between markets, but they commonly open mid-morning and close sometime in the evening.
Saturdays, Sundays and the long Easter weekend, in particular, can get quite busy. So go earlier in the day to avoid the crowds.
I once visited the Schönbrunn market, for example, on a Good Friday, which was delightful. However, other folk had the same idea; viewing the craft stalls proved easy enough, but the food stalls had long queues.
The main markets
The three largest, most popular and most convenient markets for visitors to the city are:
1. Schönbrunn
(Schönbrunn Easter Market in a past year; press photo © www.ostermarkt.co.at / FOTOFALLY)
The Ostermarkt Schloss Schönbrunn has the best setting of all.
The market sits in the huge courtyard in front of Schönbrunn Palace, where imperial children hunted for eggs in Easters gone by. Or probably not. Or, if they did, they presumably got their servants to do the hunting for them.
Anyway, this wonderful market has always been full of high-quality wares as well as regional specialties to keep your hunger at bay. A new organiser takes over for 2025, so I will revise my article once I’ve had a chance to visit.
2. Am Hof
(Welcome sign at the Ostermarkt am Hof)
The Ostermarkt am Hof scores points for artistic merit and culinary offerings.
A whole section devotes itself to artists and artisans, ensuring unique and original products for sale, while the food and drink stalls cater to a wide variety of tastes (but especially to those of us with a sweet tooth).
The location is more central than Schönbrunn and rather historical: a large square where Mozart gave his first public performance in Vienna and Roman children once unwrapped their chocolate Easter rabbits (only one of those facts is true).
3. Freyung
(A sample of decorative eggs)
The Altwiener Ostermarkt also opens near the city centre, outside the Schottenstift monastery that dates back to the 12th century.
Call in here for your decorative eggs. Hundreds (possibly thousands) dominate the market’s centre at a huge open stall.
The Freyung market is another place to sample regional food and drink, thanks to the organic farmers’ market typically held on the other side of the road.
Short-term & smaller markets
Vienna has several other “Ostermärkte”. Here a selection of those likely of most interest to visitors to the city. Not all these markets appear every year, so follow the links for more information or check locally.
Hirschstetten
(Easter decorations just after the spring opening at the gardens; press photo © Stadt Wien/Houdek)
The Hirschstetten municipal gardens are a little out the way, but host a market and spring activities around the two weekends preceding Easter in 2025. I love the Advent market there, as well.
Kalvarienbergfest
(Street market flair on the Kalvarienberg)
A local event in Vienna’s outlying 17th district with a long tradition; the Kalvarienbergfest is a rejuvenated version of a historical Lent market.
This street festival is not really intended to compete with the others, but instead offers locals a bit of entertainment, culture, art, kids activities, and (most importantly) fried snacks.
Michaelerplatz
A small market on Michaelerplatz, right in the very centre of town, popped up back in 2023 but not 2024. The main advantage was you could sample a few Easter treats while also appreciating the quite remarkable historical ambience of the surrounding square, which dates back to Roman times.
Palais Niederösterreich
(The palais still has some Renaissance interiors)
Also last held in 2023, this Easter market offered something a little different, being largely inside and only lasting two days.
The Oster-Erlebnismarkt gave you a taste (literally) of the province of Lower Austria, with food, drink, arts, crafts, and music from the rural province.
The market also provided a rare opportunity to go inside Palais Niederösterreich, a central palais with beautiful renaissance and baroque rooms.
After the markets?
Vienna has other delights to offer at Easter, of course, once you’ve had your fill of crafts and chocolate-coated fruit.
In particular, the concert season is in full swing, and the art exhibitions tend to reach one of their annual high points in spring.
Easter 2025 brings us, for example:
- A special Klimt exhibition at Lower Belvedere
- Arcimboldo, Bassano and Bruegel at the Kunsthistorisches Museum
- Renaissance drawings (think da Vinci and Dürer) at the Albertina
- Anton Corbijn at the Kunstforum Wien