Austria
Österreich4 regions
Austria suits a traveller who wants a long season. Its markets open in early November and the big ones in Vienna and Salzburg keep going after Christmas, so you can be on a market square on 25 or 26 December. The trade-off is the crowd at Hallstatt and on Vienna's Rathausplatz on Advent weekends. Go to Hallstatt on a weekday morning, or base yourself in Graz or Innsbruck, where the old towns hold several smaller markets within a short walk of each other.
How Austria keeps Christmas
- ChristkindThe Christkind brings the presents on Christmas Eve. That evening the family lights the tree for the first time and sings carols around it.
- St Nicholas (Nikolo)St Nicholas visits on the evening of 5 December or on the 6th and hands out small gifts to children who have been good. The Krampus often comes with him.
Vienna's December market is on record from 1296, and the city now runs about 20 markets. The Wiener Christkindlmarkt on Rathausplatz opens on 13 November 2026 and stays until 26 December, and the market in front of Schönbrunn Palace runs from 6 November to 6 January 2027. Salzburg has a strong claim on the season through its Adventsingen concerts and through Joseph Mohr, who was born in the city and wrote the words of Silent Night. The carol was first sung in the St Nicholas church at Oberndorf, north of Salzburg, on Christmas Eve 1818.
Krampusnacht falls on 5 December. Young men in Krampus masks go through the streets with chains, bells and a birch rod, sometimes beside St Nicholas and sometimes on their own. Salzburg's Christkindlmarkt holds its Krampus run on the Domplatz at about 19:00 on 5 December 2026 and a gentler afternoon visit by St Nicholas with a children's Krampus group on the 6th. The Perchten come out on 21 December, when the organizer marks the first Rauhnacht of the winter. Runs can turn rough. After several runs in East Tyrol in 2013, the hospital in Lienz admitted eight people, most with broken bones, and treated more than 60 others. Watch from behind a barrier and keep small children well back from the route.
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December is a public holiday, and shops may open that day for Christmas shopping. On 24 December markets and shops close early: Vienna's Rathausplatz market shuts at 18:30 and Salzburg's Christkindlmarkt at 15:00. Christmas Day and Stefanitag on 26 December are both public holidays. Several markets open again on the 25th, so a trip that runs over Christmas works well here.
Austria by region
- Vienna and Lower AustriaVienna has more than ten markets within reach of the U-Bahn, and the Christkindlmarkt on Rathausplatz leads them with the lit City Hall and a skating rink. On weekends you can head out to the Wachau Advent in Dürnstein or the palace market at Schloss Hof. Rathausplatz gets so crowded on weekend evenings that a stroller barely moves, so bring small children on a weekday morning.
- Salzburg and the SalzkammergutSalzburg holds four Advent markets and sends trains and buses out to the lakes, and its Christkindlmarkt on the Domplatz keeps going to New Year's Day. Boats link the Wolfgangsee villages of St Wolfgang and St Gilgen, whose markets shut on Mondays and Tuesdays. Hallstatt fills with day visitors, so sleep in Bad Ischl and arrive early on a weekday morning in Advent.
- TyrolInnsbruck makes the base, since one organizer runs seven markets across the city and the classic one fills the narrow lane under the Golden Roof. Trains along the Inn Valley reach Hall in Tirol for an evening, or Rattenberg, which lights its lanes by candle on Advent weekends. The Golden Roof lane packs shoulder to shoulder on Friday and Saturday evenings, so see it on a weekday morning.
- Graz and StyriaYou can walk between all of Graz's old-town markets in an evening from a hotel near the Hauptplatz, and the ice nativity in the Landhaushof costs nothing to see. The squares are small, so Friday and Saturday nights get packed. For a quieter night away, Mariazell holds its market in front of Austria's best-known pilgrimage church from Thursday to Sunday, and the basilica hosts concerts on most market evenings.
Market in Austria
Town in Austria
Light festival in Austria
Event in Austria
Stay in Austria
Quick answers about Austria
Are Austrian Christmas markets open on Christmas Day?
Some are. Salzburg's Christkindlmarkt opens from 11:00 to 18:00 on 25 and 26 December 2026, and the market at Schönbrunn Palace opens from 10:00 to 19:00 from 25 December until 6 January 2027.
Is a Krampus run safe to watch with children?
Plenty of families go, and the figures are meant to frighten. Runs have caused injuries, so watch from behind a barrier and keep small children at the back. In Salzburg the St Nicholas visit on the afternoon of 6 December, with its children's Krampus group, is the gentler choice.
What happens on 8 December in Austria?
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a public holiday, and shops are allowed to open for Christmas shopping. Vienna's Rathausplatz market keeps its daily hours of 10:00 to 22:00, so expect a busy day.
Who brings the presents in Austria?
In Austria, Christkind or St Nicholas brings the presents. The Christkind brings the presents on Christmas Eve. That evening the family lights the tree for the first time and sings carols around it.
When do the Christmas markets run in Austria?
In Austria, the markets open early, from 6 November 2026 at Schönbrunn and 13 November on Vienna's Rathausplatz and in Innsbruck's old town, and several run past Christmas, with Salzburg's open to 1 January and Schönbrunn's to 6 January 2027.