• Christmas Market on Rathausplatz - Vienna’s Rathausplatz, named after the town hall, features a neo-Gothic building constructed between 1872 and 1883 on a former parade ground. The majority of Rathausplatz is occupied by Rathauspark, with only the central axis between the Town Hall and the Burgtheater left open for stalls. In 1298, Habsburg Albrecht I, the Roman-German king, granted Vienna’s citizens the right to hold a December market, initially located on Vienna’s Graben, the Freyung, and at the court. The market moved to Am Hof square in 1842 and was renamed the Christkindlmarkt. After World War II, the Christkindlmarkt was held in front of today’s MuseumsQuartier. During the construction of an underground car park there in 1975, the Christmas market was temporarily relocated in front of the town hall, where it remains today. From the 1980s onwards, additional Christmas markets were established in other parts of Vienna.
• Christmas Village on Maria-Theresien-Platz - Maria-Theresien-Platz is situated on Vienna’s Ringstrasse, opposite the Imperial Palace. It is flanked by the Natural History Museum to the northwest and the Kunsthistorisches Museum to the southeast, both commissioned by Emperor Franz Joseph I in the late 19th century and built in the Viennese Historicism style on the grassy strip around the former fortifications. To the southwest, Maria-Theresien-Platz is bordered by a street parallel to Vienna’s Ringstrasse, where the MuseumsQuartier is located, originally built by Emperor Charles VI for the court stables. At the center of Maria-Theresien-Platz stands the Maria Theresa Monument, the most significant monument to the Habsburg monarchy in Vienna, commemorating Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria. The Christmas village on Maria-Theresien-Platz offers rustic arts and crafts, handmade Christmas decorations, and a wide array of culinary delights.
• Spittelberg Christmas Market - Spittelberg is a hill rising steeply from the Ottakringerbach stream to the southwest of the city center. The former suburb of Spittelberg, located between Vienna’s city fortifications and the Linienwall, a more peripheral fortification, is now a trendy neighborhood behind the MuseumsQuartier. It is worth visiting for its narrow, romantic alleyways, which provide a glimpse of the original village, as well as the charming, well-preserved, revitalized Biedermeier houses and the high density of pubs and artisan businesses. However, in the 18th century, when sexual services were offered alongside drinks in the extra rooms of inns, and the Duchess of Austria, Maria Theresa, sought to end this with a chastity commission, prostitution moved to the suburbs, including Spittelberg. Founded in 1980 as a sales platform for arts and crafts, the Christmas market on Spittelberg was long considered the most beautiful in Vienna.
• ART ADVENT Christmas Market - The area immediately southwest of the inner city was originally a floodplain landscape of the Vienna River with gravel banks. In 1529, this area was the site of fighting during the Turkish siege of Vienna. In 1739, the Karlskirche was built according to plans by Austrian Baroque architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach on a barren hill on the right bank of the Vienna River, fulfilling a vow made by Charles VI during the plague epidemic of 1713. Karlsplatz was created in 1900 by regulating and covering the Wien River and was named after Emperor Charles VI. At the Art Advent Christmas market on Karlsplatz, visitors can enjoy creative arts and crafts, muscle-powered carriages, street theatre, and live performances. The catering at Art Advent is entirely certified organic, featuring products such as organic lamb, organic “Blunzn”, organic potato pancakes, organic crepes, and organic chestnuts. Information about organic farming is also available to market visitors.
• Kultur und Weihnachtsmarkt Schloss Schonbrunn - Schönbrunn Palace, located in the west of Vienna, was built by Emperor Leopold I in 1695 according to plans by Austrian Baroque architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. In 1749, Schönbrunn Palace was remodeled by Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, to become the summer residence of the Habsburg dynasty, whose last significant representative, Emperor Franz Josef I, died at Schönbrunn Palace in 1916. The large, baroque Schönbrunn Palace Square is accessed through a grand lattice gate with two obelisks. The Schönbrunn Christmas Market takes place in this imperial setting, transforming the entire palace square into a wintry Christmas world with over 90 market stalls. In addition to traditional arts and crafts and high-quality gastronomy, there is an ice skating rink and curling rinks, as well as a nostalgic carousel and a Ferris wheel. Special offers for children, such as the cozy wooden circus craft hut, make the Christmas market in front of Schönbrunn Palace family-friendly.
• Belvedere Palace - Belvedere Palace, a Baroque palace complex named for its location on a slope rising to the south of the city at the time, was built in 1713 by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, a prominent architect of the southern German Baroque period, for Prince Eugene of Savoy, one of the most important generals of the Habsburg monarchy. The Upper Belvedere and Lower Belvedere form a baroque ensemble with connecting gardens. Today, the two palace buildings house the collections of the Austrian Belvedere Gallery. The centerpiece of the “Art around 1900” collection presented in the Upper Belvedere is the Gustav Klimt painting collection, highlighted by the golden paintings The Kiss and Judith. In the romantic atmosphere in front of the Upper Belvedere, with the scent of punch in the air, the tranquil Christmas village takes place with its 42 stalls under baroque lights, artistic decorations, and sweet-sounding Christmas carols, offering delicious Viennese delicacies.
• Wintermarkt am Riesenradplatz - The 64.75-meter-high Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel, a symbol of Vienna, was erected in 1897 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Emperor Franz Josef I’s accession to the throne on the Riesenradplatz in the Prater. The axis of the Giant Ferris Wheel lies in an east-west direction, and the wheel in a north-south direction. The Prater, in the southeast of Vienna, was once a relatively unspoiled alluvial forest, a hunting ground for the court. Originally, however, the Prater was a small island in the Danube. The ‘Winter Market on the Giant Ferris Wheel Square’ was first held in the Prater 15 years ago. This year, there are 40 live concerts ranging from gospel to pop and soul, a large family-friendly Perchten run, a hearty auction for a good cause, a brilliant New Year’s Eve program, an atmospheric New Year’s concert broadcast, as well as a special winter sale and, on the last of the 52 days of winter fun, a romantic ride on the festively decorated Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel.
• Freyung - In 1155, Henry II, Duke of Austria from the Babenberg dynasty, donated the slightly sloping square in front of the Schottenkirche, located in the northwestern corner of the inner city, to the Schottenkloster monastery he founded. In the late Middle Ages, a horse market was held once a week on the Freyung. The name Freyung has been used for today’s square since 1710. During the 18th century, a food market for fruit, vegetables, and herbs was established. An oil painting by Bernardo Bellotto, known as Canaletto, painted for Maria Theresa in 1759/60, depicts the lively market life on the Freyung. In 1722, a “St Nicholas, Christmas and nativity scene market” with 108 stalls was held on the Freyung for the first time. Today, there are handicrafts, glass decorations, traditional nativity scenes, ceramics, and culinary delicacies in a warm, inviting atmosphere with a beautiful Christmas tree from the forest of Zwettl Abbey in Lower Austria.
• Am Hof Christmas Market - Am Hof is a square built in the Middle Ages within the Roman camp walls. When Duke Henry II moved his residence from Regensburg to Vienna, he constructed a palace on this site. After the Habsburgs replaced the Babenberg dynasty as rulers and moved into the newly built Hofburg, the square “Am Hof” began to develop as a marketplace around 1280. As there was also a regular market alongside the “St. Nicholas, Christmas and Nativity Scene Market” held on the Freyung since 1722, conflicts between the stallholders led to the relocation of the “St. Nicholas, Christmas and Nativity Scene Market” to Am Hof square in 1842, where the 132 Nativity Scene Market stalls were subsequently set up on 5 December each year and remained there until New Year. Today’s Christmas market at Am Hof developed in the 1990s from the art and antiques market that was always held there, with the art and antiques dealers still forming a focal point of the Christmas market at Am Hof.
• Christmas Market at St. Stephen’s Square - Until its closure by Emperor Charles VI in 1732, Stephansplatz in the heart of Vienna’s city center was the location of Stephansfreithof, a cemetery around St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the largest and most famous burial site within the Babenberg ring wall. Today’s Stephansplatz in front of the west façade of St Stephen’s Cathedral was created between 1792 and 1803 by demolishing the row of houses standing there. Records from 1600 show that huts in front of St. Stephen’s were dismantled on 9 January and erected again on 16 and 17 December. In these stalls, ‘Peckn, Lebzelter und Zuggerpacher’ offered their goods. These stalls could be found around Christmas time in the Graben - Stephansplatz area until 1761. It was not until 1918 that the Christmas market was moved back to Stephansplatz. Today the stalls at the foot of St Stephen’s Cathedral offer high-quality products from Austria. But the Christmas village on Stephansplatz is all about enjoying a warm punch with friends and family.

• Private transportation
• English and German speaking Viennese local live guide
• In-vehicle air conditioning
• A mug of punch at one of the Christmas markets visited in Vienna
• Ride on the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel, festively decorated for the Christmas season
• Snacks

• Bottled water

This tour immerses you in the top 10 Christmas markets in Vienna. A driver and a guide, who is an artist residing in Vienna, will accompany you, as arts and crafts are prominently featured at the Viennese Christmas markets. The tour captures the essence of each market, beginning with the largest at Vienna’s Rathausplatz. In 1298, the Habsburg Albrecht I granted the citizens of Vienna the privilege to hold a December market. Besides the city center’s Christmas markets, the tour also includes visits to the outskirts, such as Schönbrunn Palace, Belvedere Palace, and the Prater, where you can enjoy a ride on the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel. Your physical well-being is well taken care of, with a typical, freshly prepared, aromatic dish, like a farmer’s doughnut with jam, which you can watch being made. The tour concludes with a mug of Glühwein on Stephansplatz.

• From the age of 16 people are allowed to drink beer and wine in Austria. However a punch contains spirits. Spirits are only allowed from the age of 18. Minor travelers below 16 or 18 years old will be served non-alcoholic drinks.
• The allotted time for transportation/travel is included in the total duration of the tour
• The product is not wheelchair accessible
• Your guide is an artist who went to the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and spent her professional life in Vienna. Therefore she has insider knowledgeable.
• We can accommodate dietary restrictions such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc. If you have dietary requirements, please indicate them when booking.

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.