4 Days in Vienna at Christmas: Best Markets, Great Day Trips and More!
How to spend 4 days in Vienna at Christmas! Vienna is a great city to visit during the holidays; it has loads of Christmas markets and beautiful lights across the city.
However, after days of Christmas markets, it is good to have a little change of scenery. Therefore, when mom and I visited we decided to allot 2 days in Vienna for Christmas markets and 2 days for day trips outside the city!
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Summary of your 4 Days in Vienna: Where we Chose to Go and Why!
As I mentioned we decided to keep our home base in Vienna due to having round-trip flights through Vienna. However, we are also fans of small, European towns and snow. Neither of which you can find in Vienna (normally! Vienna tends to get more rain than snow in December).
Therefore we opted to take two day trips from Vienna as well; one to Hallstatt and one to Melk.
Why Hallstatt? While Hallstatt is definitely an easier day trip from Salzburg, we actually missed it on our last trip to Austria and it has been on the list ever since. Plus, what is more magical at Christmas than a small town tucked into the Austrian Alps while it snows?!
Why Melk? We actually had planned to do our second day trip to Graz, which is also a nice day trip option. However, on our way to Hallstatt we passed by a city that was lit up at night with what looked like a beautiful abbey high on a rocky hill. So, we changed plans and decided to go see what Melk had to offer!
Day 1: Vienna Christmas Markets
The first day of your 4 days in Vienna should be spent exploring the Christmas markets; this is probably the primary reason you are in Vienna, right?!
I have a well-mapped out 2 day Vienna Christmas market itinerary for ALL the details (including a market map!)
However, here is a great way to spend day 1 exploring Christmas markets in Vienna!
Morning
- Start you morning at the Wiener Chirstkindlmarkt at Rahausplatz, one of Vienna’s biggest Christmas markets! It is among the few markets that open as early as 10am.
- From Rathausplatz, make your way to Stephensplatz where you will find a market wrapping around the beautiful St Stephens Cathedral!
- From Stephensplatz, continue to the market at Am Hof square! This is one of Vienna’s smaller markets, but it has a lot of character! It also is the only market in Vienna with a champagne bar if you are getting tired of Glühwein 🤪
I mentioned this in the 2 day Vienna Christmas market itinerary, but it needs to be known! If you put “Rahausplatz to Stephensplatz” in your Google map, it will take you down Teinfalstraße street, passed Freyung and Am Hof. For this walk, I recommend taking the longer route that will go down Kohlmarkt and Graben streets that are MUST-VISIT streets to see Christmas decorations!
Afternoon/Evening
After visiting Am Hof market, you will walk JUST down the road to the Altwiener Christkindlmarkt at Freyung square, which happens to be Vienna’s OLDEST Christmas market. It dates back to the 1700’s!
- It also has live music around 4:00 to 4:30, so I recommend timing your day just right to be able to visit the market with the live music.
At night you have two options:
- Visit the market at University of Vienna that is an easy walk from Freyung. This market offers food, crafts as well as curling!
- Or visit more of an amusement park-type market located at Wintermarkt at Riesenradplatz (Market at Prater). This market has a chained carousel, rides and live music, so it a better kid-friendly market if you are with kids.
You also need to see Wiener Christkindlmarkt at Rathausplatz at night! The tree, beautiful city hall backdrop and light displays are a must-see at night! Plus, it stays open until about 10pm, so end your night returning to Rathausplatz!
Day 2: Day Trip to Hallstatt
On day 2, mix it up a little and take a day trip to the Austrian Alps! I REALLY debated this because Hallstatt is not easy to get to from Vienna. Whether you drive, train or take a tour, it is about a 3.5 to 4 hour trip from Vienna.
However, if you have never been to Hallstatt, it is really worth seeing. Not only is the town beautiful, but the ride into this area of Austria and the alps is GORGEOUS.
How to Get to Hallstatt From Vienna
Like I said, no matter how you slice it, you are going to have a 3.5 to 4 hour trip (one way) to Hallstatt and this is going to be a FULL DAY. If you are keeping your base in Vienna, you probably aren’t going to rent a car (there isn’t a need for one in the city center). So the other two options are via train or a tour.
Train to hallstatt from Vienna
I actually began my research by looking at the logistics of training to Vienna. It is definitely doable, BUT does take a bit to get there.
- Train details: You will train from Vienna, switch trains in Linz and then continue to Hallstatt. Train numbers change depending on which time you pick, but tickets will be booked through ÖBB, Austria’s local train company.
- The train station in Hallstatt is on the East side of Lake Hallstatt (or Hallstätter See) and the town of Hallstatt is on the West side of the lake
- Therefore, when you arrive to Hallstatt via train, you will then need to ferry to get to the town of Hallstatt. Ferry schedules can be found here.
Guided Tour to hallstatt from Vienna
I typically prefer to take myself via train to a place so I can see and do what I want at the pace that I like. However, after calculating:
- Train time and price compared to the tour
- The logistics of having to ferry from the train station to the old town of Hallstatt
- Additional cost of the funicular to the viewpoint
We ultimately decided the tour would be more worthwhile. The cost was only about $30 more dollars and included the price to the funicular. It also included a stop to see Schloss Ort, an Austrian castle located on an island on Lake Traunsee, that was beautiful AND it took us directly to the old town of Hallstatt.
- The tour does a great job of breaking up the drive on the way there. You will stop at a cute little restaurant for a restroom break and to grab a drink or snack and you will also stop at the lake about 45 minutes from Hallstatt
- On the way home you only stop once for a restroom break. However, you will leave Hallstatt around the time the sun is setting, so there aren’t views to see anyway. It took us about 3 hours and 45 minutes to get back to Vienna from Hallstatt
- Take a nap or bring a form of entertainment for the ride!
We took the “Hallstat & Alpine Peaks day Trip with Skywalk” tour with 7Travel
Day 3: Vienna Christmas Markets
You will get back late from your day trip to Hallstatt (between 8:30 and 9:00pm). Therefore I don’t recommend booking a day trip for day 3 because they can be a bit tiring. Instead, take day three of your 4 days in Vienna to continue exploring Vienna’s Christmas markets and lights!
Morning
Begin your third day in Vienna by visiting Belvedere Palace Christmas market. It opens at 11am, which gives you some time to sleep in, grab some breakfast and then make your way to the palace (about 20 minutes).
- We actually missed this market, so I’ve created the itinerary for you to fit it into your schedule. However, I have heard this is not one of the best markets in Vienna, so go see it, get the cute mug and then make your way to the next market!
After Belvedere, head to Karsplatz Art Advent market! This market is a art-focused market with more unique crafts than some of the other markets
Karlsplatz Art Advent Market at night
Afternoon/Evening
After visiting the market at Karlsplatz, head to Maria-Theresian square, where you will find one of Vienna’s larger Christmas markets! Keep your eyes peeled for one of the cutest mugs you will find in Vienna!
After this, take the short walk to Spittelberg neighborhood. Here you will find a market with stalls located up and down the streets of the Spittelberg neighborhood (rather than a square) that has more of a local feel!
Spend the evening at Schönbrunn Palace Christmas market! This market is one of the larger ones. Here you will find a wide variety of food and drinks, two carousels, a ferris wheel, ice skating and curling!
Again, I have a well-mapped out 2 day Vienna Christmas market itinerary for ALL the details (including a market map!)
After Schönbrunn Palace Christmas market you have a few options:
- Revisit some of your favorite markets you saw during the day to see them at night as well (they have a different feel at night!)
- Finish seeing the lights around Vienna!
- Popular Christmas displays in Vienna are the giant red bow on the side of Popp and Kretschmer, Graben Street, Kohlmart Street, Kärntner Street and St Stephen’s Cathedral
- Here’s the kicker! From the big red bow you can continue down Kärntner Straße, which will take you to Stephensplatz and the cathedral from which you can then take Graben and Kohlmarkt Streets.
- Popular Christmas displays in Vienna are the giant red bow on the side of Popp and Kretschmer, Graben Street, Kohlmart Street, Kärntner Street and St Stephen’s Cathedral
Day 4: Day Trip to Melk
Day four of your 4 days in Vienna is for Melk! I hadn’t heard of Melk before actually getting to Vienna, but if you like small, European towns with charm, Melk is for you!
Melk is about an hour and a half northwest of Vienna and home to a BEAUTIFUL 11th century monastery with a large, immaculate abbey and a library holding thousands of medieval manuscripts and books.
What to Know about Visiting the Melk Abbey :
- During the week you have to take a guided tour which happens at 11:00 am, 1:30 and 3:00 pm because it is still home to Austria’s largest private Catholic school. But, honestly, I liked the guided tour because we learned a lot of history about Melk and the abbey!
- You can get some of the best views of Melk from the abbey overlook
- Photos are not allowed inside the abbey or library, but trust me when I say they are both worth seeing! The library is 😍
Aside from seeing the abbey, Melk has a CUTE downtown with shops and restaurants and its very own Christmas market with live Christmas music!
Recap of Your 4 Days in Vienna at Christmas!
It is no secret that Austria has a million amazing options to fill up 4 days in Vienna. However, if you are flying into Vienna and wish to keep your home base there, this is a great option that covers loads of Christmas markets, a BEAUTIFUL Austrian alp town and a small Austrian town with LOTS of character!
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