Where To Find the Best Christmas Markets in Austria (and How To Visit)

Since numerous markets spring up around Vienna each November, Austria’s Christmas capital is the best place to visit if you're looking for an Austrian Christmas market. Take a Christmas market walking tour to see the city’s most popular ones, drink mulled wine by St. Stephen's Cathedral, and then admire the lights at the sprawling Viennese Dream Christmas Market outside the Rathaus.

Even Vienna’s palaces get in on the action, with both Schönbrunn Palace and Belvedere Palace hosting stalls full of warm sausages, oversized donuts, and festive handicrafts.

Insider tip: Visit the Spittelberg Market to see a smaller community market.

Salzburg’s love of Christmas is well established—the city even has its own Christmas Museum. But it also has one of the world’s oldest Advent markets, as the Salzburg Christmas Market outside Salzburg Cathedral has been running since the 15th century.

The market remains one of the must-see Christmas markets in Austria today, thanks to its 100 stalls selling everything from decorations to baked potatoes, and the weekly visit from the “Christ Child” and his angels. Among Salzburg’s other markets, the Christmas market at Hellbrunn Castle is a family favorite, complete with face painting and hundreds of conifer trees.

The snowy Austrian Alps and richly decorated Old Town provide the city of Innsbruck with the ideal backdrop for the holiday season. Along the grand Maria Theresien Street and in front of the Golden Roof, festive stalls are stocked with knitted woolen clothing, traditional decorations, and the local Tirolean specialty kiachl—a fried dough pastry filled with sauerkraut. For something different, visit the Marktplatz Christmas Market to see its towering tree shimmering with more than 100,000 Swarovski crystals.

Often underestimated, the city of Graz may not be the first place that comes to mind when visiting Christmas markets in Austria. But the city truly gets into the festive spirit, with Christmas markets occupying most free space around the city’s Old Town. Visit the city’s main market on Graz Main Square for its popular kid's carousel and illuminations projected onto Graz City Hall, but also seek out Styrian specialties at the Glockenspielplatz Christmas Market.

Insider tip: For a festive drink be sure to order the local concoction feuerzangenbowle—wine and rum mixed and set on fire.

Skiers coming to Austria during the holiday season don’t need to miss out on popular Christmas markets in Austria if they base themselves in the alpine resort town of Kitzbühel. The picturesque ski town is a real winter wonderland at this time of year, as snow dusts the old town streets and the local Advent Market pops up between Kitzbühel’s rows of pastel houses. Expect to hear festive music ringing out as marketgoers browse local handicrafts and children play in the petting zoo, too.

Related: Where To Find the Best Christmas Markets in Europe

Austria’s southernmost city, Klagenfurt, offers one of the largest Austrian holiday markets in the region of Carinthia. Neuer Platz hosts the city’s main market around its Lindworm Fountain, where you can browse from roughly 50 stalls showcasing winter fashion and old-fashioned wooden toys and listen to live music. Snack on sausages or langos—a fried flatbread often sold in winter—as you wander over to a more intimate market at Domplatz, which mostly specializes in artisan crafts.

Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, embraces its creative nature around the holidays by hosting five of the top Christmas markets in Austria, all of which are around the center of the city. The market on Linz’s main square is the largest, with the stalls among its baroque townhouses mostly devoted to artisan goods such as glassware, pottery, and jewelry. For more of a family focus, head to the Volksgarten outside the Old Town, where kids can watch craft demonstrations and go on rides.

Another option for travelers wishing to combine snow sports with Christmas markets is the lakeside town of Zell am See. Stars are the central motif and ornament of choice for the several small markets that dot the town—you can even spot some floating and illuminating Lake Zell. Start with the 20 or so stalls that fill the town’s main square before wandering down to the waterfront market in Elisabeth Park for roasted almonds and lake views.

Steyr is a historic town in Upper Austria, just off the main route between Vienna and Salzburg, and home to one of the most spirited of Austria’s festive markets. Wooden huts from Steyr’s Advent Village surround a large Christmas tree, a nativity scene, and the Leopoldi Fountain, filling the Old Town’s large picturesque main square. Expect to enjoy lively scenes, such as blacksmiths demonstrating their trade and bugle players performing to the gathered crowds.