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The first two open on Friday 6 November 2026: the market at Schönbrunn Palace and the Christmas Village on Stephansplatz. The Wiener Christkindlmarkt on Rathausplatz follows on Friday 13 November, with Spittelberg, Am Hof and Art Advent on Karlsplatz. Freyung opens on 14 November, and Belvedere and Maria-Theresien-Platz on 20 November.
The Wiener Christkindlmarkt runs from 13 November to 26 December 2026 and opens daily at 10am. It closes at 10pm, except on Christmas Eve, when it shuts at 6:30pm.
At any market, weekdays and early evenings are calmer than weekend nights. Last season the Old Viennese market on Freyung was not too crowded despite its local following, while Belvedere was very crowded, with long food lines.
Several are open on Christmas Eve, closing between 4pm and 6:30pm, with Rathausplatz the last to shut. After Christmas, Schönbrunn and the Riesenradplatz market run on to 6 January 2027, and Belvedere to 31 December.
The Eistraum rink runs from 13 November 2026 to 6 January 2027, daily from 10am to 10pm, and is shut on 31 December. A separate winter rink, the Viennese Ice Dream, follows from 22 January to 7 March 2027.
Each hot punch, or Punsch, is served in a mug with a deposit paid on top of the drink and refunded when the mug comes back. The mug can be handed back at any punsch stand in the same market for the deposit, not only at the stand that served the drink.
Cash is the safer bet. Food stands are generally cash, though more are moving to card payment, and some small vendors take only cash. Spittelberg's food stalls took only cash last season, and there are cash machines at the markets.
Hot punch, toasted almonds and Christmas baking are what the markets smell of. The Rathausplatz market adds confectionery and other sweet treats to its stalls.
Yes. The Christmas World in the Rathauspark, beside the market, has a carousel, a nativity scene trail and a skating ring of its own for children.
Vienna holds more than a dozen Christmas markets through Advent, each on its own square or palace ground. On Rathausplatz, in front of the city hall, the Wiener Christkindlmarkt sells gifts, tree decorations, handicrafts and confectionery.
Each market keeps its own hours, set out in the calendar below. They differ in setting too, from the palace park at Belvedere to the big wheel on Riesenradplatz in the Prater.
6 Nov to 26 Dec 2026
Give Vienna a few Advent evenings and you can spend each one at a different Christmas market, hot punch, or Punsch, in hand. Check the hours before you set out: on weekdays the markets open anywhere from 10am to 3pm.
6 Nov to 26 Dec 2026. Times are approximate and can change from year to year.
Two markets open a week before the rest. Schönbrunn Palace starts at 10am and Stephansplatz, round the cathedral, at 11am; both close at 9pm.
The Wiener Christkindlmarkt and its ice rink open on Rathausplatz at 10am, and Am Hof opens at the same hour. Art Advent on Karlsplatz follows at noon, and Spittelberg and the university campus village at 2pm.
The Old Viennese Christmas Market on Freyung opens at 10am and keeps 10am to 9pm every day. Türkenschanzpark's market opens at noon on this first Saturday; on weekdays it starts at 3pm.
The K&K market at Belvedere Palace and the Christmas Village on Maria-Theresien-Platz open at 11am. The Winter Market on Riesenradplatz, under the big wheel in the Prater, opens at noon and stays open until 10pm.
Wednesday is the last day for Spittelberg, open until 9:30pm, and for Art Advent, whose stalls close at 8pm and food at 9pm. Am Hof, Freyung, the university campus and Türkenschanzpark also close for the season.
The Rathausplatz market closes at 6:30pm, Schönbrunn and Stephansplatz at 4pm, and Belvedere and Riesenradplatz at 5pm, so go in daylight.
Saturday is the final day of the Rathausplatz market, and of Stephansplatz and Maria-Theresien-Platz. Stephansplatz closes early, at 7pm.
On Rathausplatz the Eistraum ice rink runs out into the lit City Hall Park. Every half hour after dark the Herzerlflug, a heart of light, crosses the square and lights up the Herzerlbaum, the heart tree.
For crafts, the Old Viennese market on Freyung sells glass decorations, nativity figures and ceramics, and Am Hof, a few steps on, sells more handicrafts. Spittelberg sets its craft booths in the narrow lanes of its Biedermeier quarter.
Stephansplatz has around forty booths of Austrian products at the foot of the cathedral. Art Advent on Karlsplatz serves only certified organic food, and its hot-punch stands have nooks to sit in. Schönbrunn adds traditional crafts, handmade decorations and a skating rink of its own at the palace.
With one evening, start at Rathausplatz for the rink and the lights, then walk on to Spittelberg's lanes for crafts or to Karlsplatz for food and a seat. Freyung is the calmer craft market.
The markets fall into walkable groups: Spittelberg sits near Rathausplatz, Freyung, Am Hof and Stephansplatz share the old town, and Belvedere pairs with Karlsplatz.
Book as soon as your dates are set, above all for a weekend: weekend rooms in Vienna can sell out in December.
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