Experience Vienna’s Christmas Dream

Heading to Vienna is always a happy thing for us. We love this city, probably it’s our favorite in Europe and we’ve visited it several times already. We can do it quite easily as Vienna is close to Budapest where we live. And it never ceases to amaze us. This city offers so many things and it has its magic in every season!

Ending up in Vienna. Again.

Like Christmas time. Christmas has its magic anyway. What if we combine it with Vienna? There is a reason that visiting the Christmas market of Vienna is kind of a tradition for a lot of people in the neighboring countries including Hungary. To be honest we planned to break this tradition and visit the Christmas market in Prague instead. But we ended up with only one free weekend, 0 vacation days and a far too low sleeping hours ratio by the end of the year so we decided to visit a place closer. It was obvious from then: it has to be Vienna.

Last year’s Christmas market in Vienna was a fascinating experience! Several different Christmas markets in different parts of the city and stunning decoration and illuminations turned Vienna into a Christmas fairy tale. This year was no different. We visited all the 9 different Vienna Christmas markets during last weekend and the only thing we missed was snow. Sadly it will be another year without white Christmas – at least here in Budapest and in Vienna.

What this Christmas craziness is all about?

Still we were inspired by the Vienna Christmas Dream. That’s the theme for this Christmas and that’s why Rathausplatz, Vienna’s main square has turned into an enchanted forest of dreams. We loved the colorful illuminations and the idea of having a huge ice rink zigzagging around the trees is great!

But the fantastic decoration is just part of the vibe. It’s also about strolling through colorful streets of cute little huts, millions of lovely handmade decorations and toys, delicious chocolate and Christmas punch. And Chimney Cake. Oh, and Bailey’s covered almonds. Even the crowd is part of the vibe – until a certain threshold. 🙂

The highlights of Vienna’s Christmas Dream

So here are the Christmas market locations we visited:

Christkindlmarkt at Rathausplatz

Christmas Village / New Year’s Eve Village at the Maria Theresien Platz

Old Viennese Christmas Market at the Freyung

Advent Market by the Karlskirche

Weihnachtsmarkt Am Hof

Christmas Market at Stephansplatz

Christmas Market and New Year’s Market at Schönbrunn Palace

Winter Market in the Prater at Riesenradplatz

Christmas market at Belvedere Palace

In case you are wandering where to walk in the city center to see the most beautifully illuminated streets these are the places to go: Rathauspark, Rotenturmstraße, Kärntner Strasse, Graben.

And if you are more of a party guy – unlike us – the Museumsquartier’s pavilions with punch and music could be the place for you.

Do you like Christmas markets? Where have you been?

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