jojoblais

We would like to visit the christmas markets - I'm thinking probably in Vienna since we want to go there anyway.



There seem to be so many!



Does anyone have any suggestions? Preferences?



Is there a better city to see the markets?

sparkchaser

How many days do you have? Did you just want to stay in Austria or are you ok with hitting Germany, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, etc.


<i>There seem to be so many!</i>

Well, there is pretty much a Christmas market in each town in Germany so yeah there are a lot.

I love the Christmas Markets. People will say that once you've been to a few "you've been to them all" but I disagree. Each one has its own nuance and special things.

I have never been to the one in Vienna so I can't comment on it although I heard it's great.

Munich has several, including a Medieval one I really enjoy.

I have a small writeup on the German Weihnachtsmarkt here:
http://www.sparkchaser.org/blog/2011...ihnachtsmarkt/


My suggestions: drink the Glühwein, Glühbier (yeah, hot beer sounds gross but it's actually really good), hot mead, and all the other hot and tasty alcoholic beverages. And eat all the tasty foods you find.

If you want to buy decorations, be mindful of the journey home and how you'll pack fragile decorations so they don't get destroyed on the way home.

centraleurope

Vienna has great markets and they are sprinkled throughout the city. Some of the smaller squares have very nice vendors, the main market being more food, etc.

Bratislava s market is nice... Largely trinkets and. Food, but very representative of the season. Here is a blog I wrote specific to that market.

http://theworldinbetween.com/2012/12...istmas-market/

And Budapest has fantastic markets.

I might just decide what cities in this area you want to visit, then assume there will be a nice market (along with great classical music, etc) when you get there.

sparkchaser

<i>I might just decide what cities in this area you want to visit, then assume there will be a nice market (along with great classical music, etc) when you get there.</i>

I like this advice.

asps

As far as I remember Vienna has a large Christmas market at Rathaus, then each city district has its own (most of them not too large).

centraleurope

My experience in Vienna is the the market at the Rathus is huge with tons of food stalls and trinkets... Big, but not terribly compelling.

The smaller markets have more artisan wares where you might actually find a nice Christmas gift. I bought my daughter a lovely ring from an Irish silversmith in Anhof.

The mood in Vienna is nice at Christmas.

latedaytraveler

Sparkchaser and Centraleurope, great blogs and pics of Christmas markets. Thanks for sharing

fourfortravel

Vienna's Christmas markets are numerous and vary widely. The market at Rathaus is big and a bit touristy, but still seems magical at night with the lights and ice rink. Karlsplatz and Spittelberg have markets with an artisan flair but both are different. The market at Schonbrunn is nice, more so for the setting (at night, especially). The markets at Maria-Theresa Platz, Belvedere and the old general hospital are part of the same "market series;" that is, the stalls are identical, the settings, different. The market at AmHof that centraleurope mentioned is small and is artsy, with less of the traditional Christmas items. There are many other markets only open on certain weekends (Graffenegg, Hirschstetten, and the War History Museum come to mind), plus smaller, local markets that you only discover by wandering.

I love the Christmas markets! I've already started noting the dates on the calendar so that I don't miss my favorites.

centraleurope

Has, I was hoping fourfortravel would weigh in...


Four, I think you need to write a market by market guide to Vienna ...

centraleurope

Sorry, my iPad has a mind of its own ... That first word was YES!

JoeCal

You asked for some preferences... I have not been to the Vienna Christmas markets but here are the ones I have been to and loved. Strasbourg. Munich (great). Prague (great). Berlin is a great city with several options, but I preferred the market in Munich. Point is, you can go to a market in 4 countries - Germany, France, Austria and the Czech Republic. You can no doubt find more than one in any given country and I bet there are more countries with great markets to visit than what I mentioned. We went last year and loved all of them (add Frankfurt to my list). It gets cold, so the gluhwein really helps keep your attitude up. Enjoy.

fourfortravel

JoeCal, glühwein is essential for a positive cold weather Christmas market experience, I agree.

centraleurope, thank you for the shout-out. I'll be sure to report this year on our Christmas market-ing. The Salzburg Christkindlmarkt is first, over the American Thanksgiving weekend, to be followed by a few Viennese favorites and a couple of unexplored markets. We're hoping to wrap up the Christmasmarkt season with those in Berlin, Budapest, and Krakow! I'm so excited!