Vienna Markets
Vienna is such a beautiful city, the architecture is amazing. There is not just one or two incredible buildings, there are hundreds of them. It truly is a city of music & it would be sacrilege to go to Vienna and not go to a concert. However, it also has plenty of Christmas markets, there are 12 main ones & lots of minor markets. The biggest & some say the prettiest & certainly the most popular is the one at the Rathaus (city hall). It has over 150 stalls as well as a giant ice skating rink. If you don't mind crowds & would love to experience this busy market then by all means you should go. We chose to go to three smaller ones & simply ran out of time for the Rathaus so I cannot comment on it.
Stephensplatz Market - score 6/10
The first market we tried was the one beside St Stephens Cathedral right in the heart of the city. There are around 40 stalls and is the best place to drink hot wine & people watch. It was a great setting at the foot of the cathedral and was fairly quiet with some lovely handmade crafts. Here it is more about the cups rather than the vessel the wine was held in. They had some very cute cups in the shape of a boot to drink your gluehwein. Most places from here on, if they involve a proper mug rather than a polystyrene cup, will charge a deposit of around 3 euro plus the cost of the wine. If you return the mug you get your deposit back but we liked all our mugs so decided to keep them all. If you wanted to buy one without the wine they cost around 5 euro. We tried the Orange rum punch & it was delicious.
Schonbrunn palace Score 9/10
Schonbrunn Palace was a fantastic backdrop for this market. If you have the chance, visit the market in the evening when everything is illuminated and the atmosphere is truly magical. There was a huge Christmas tree in front of the palace with musicians & singers giving such a Christmas vibe. It had loads of stalls, was very busy with beautiful lights & a great atmosphere. The popular stalls were selling cookie cutters & wooden rolling pins with patterns on them and the gingerbread stall with the intricate decorations on the cookies. The mulled wine cups, although not the prettiest, had a picture of the palace on it making it a great souvenir. We tried the eggnog here but was disappointed as it was thin & runny.
Karlsplatz Score - 5/10
This was a relatively small market, not so busy so you can see the stalls easily. The beautiful baroque karlskirche acted as a very dramatic backdrop, with a spiderweb of fairy lights providing a truly festive atmosphere. The pond in the front of the church is drained & filled with hay. I have heard it is usually filled with sheep & pigs for the children to pet but we didn't see any. The children were having a great time anyway playing in the hay. They also had a rather fun merry go round which was powered by a guy riding a bike around & around. We sampled the chilli Kirsch (cherry) wine which was very nice & also a red mulled wine. The cups not so great. I also recommend the raclette, a type of cheese on toast, very nice.
Stephensplatz Market - score 6/10
The first market we tried was the one beside St Stephens Cathedral right in the heart of the city. There are around 40 stalls and is the best place to drink hot wine & people watch. It was a great setting at the foot of the cathedral and was fairly quiet with some lovely handmade crafts. Here it is more about the cups rather than the vessel the wine was held in. They had some very cute cups in the shape of a boot to drink your gluehwein. Most places from here on, if they involve a proper mug rather than a polystyrene cup, will charge a deposit of around 3 euro plus the cost of the wine. If you return the mug you get your deposit back but we liked all our mugs so decided to keep them all. If you wanted to buy one without the wine they cost around 5 euro. We tried the Orange rum punch & it was delicious.
Schonbrunn palace Score 9/10
Schonbrunn Palace was a fantastic backdrop for this market. If you have the chance, visit the market in the evening when everything is illuminated and the atmosphere is truly magical. There was a huge Christmas tree in front of the palace with musicians & singers giving such a Christmas vibe. It had loads of stalls, was very busy with beautiful lights & a great atmosphere. The popular stalls were selling cookie cutters & wooden rolling pins with patterns on them and the gingerbread stall with the intricate decorations on the cookies. The mulled wine cups, although not the prettiest, had a picture of the palace on it making it a great souvenir. We tried the eggnog here but was disappointed as it was thin & runny.
Karlsplatz Score - 5/10
This was a relatively small market, not so busy so you can see the stalls easily. The beautiful baroque karlskirche acted as a very dramatic backdrop, with a spiderweb of fairy lights providing a truly festive atmosphere. The pond in the front of the church is drained & filled with hay. I have heard it is usually filled with sheep & pigs for the children to pet but we didn't see any. The children were having a great time anyway playing in the hay. They also had a rather fun merry go round which was powered by a guy riding a bike around & around. We sampled the chilli Kirsch (cherry) wine which was very nice & also a red mulled wine. The cups not so great. I also recommend the raclette, a type of cheese on toast, very nice.
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