New Year in Vienna – A Guide to the Christmas Markets and New Year celebrations

Looking for a special way to celebrate Christmas and the New Year? New Year in Vienna is just magical, with so many activities and events throughout the whole city over the whole period. Find out more and get inspired for your trip!

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Looking for other top sights and things to do in Vienna? Read my blog on things to do in Vienna for more tips for your trip! And make sure you check out this great guide to Vienna to help you plan your trip (affiliate).

The best Christmas Markets

1. Rathausplatz

Just outside the Rathaus (the City Hall) is a huge square with some great markets, perfect for spending hours wandering around for your Christmas and New Year in Vienna. There’s a range of food stalls and stalls selling wooden crafts and other gifts.

Definitely try Kartofflepuffen! One of my favourite Christmas market foods – deep fried mashed potato snack with apple sauce.

And stalls selling mulled wine are never far away.

Also in this area is the ice rink behind the giant snowman, so have a go and take photos!

One thing to remember – the Christmas markets in the whole of Vienna did tend to close fairly early, earlier than a lot of other Christmas markets I’ve been to. So if you’re planning to get dinner at the market, make sure you don’t leave it much past 8pm or a lot of the stalls may have already closed.

2. Schonnbrunn Palace

Outside the front of the Schonbrunn Palace is another great area for Christmas markets – perfect to explore before heading inside the palace.

My favourite food from this one was goulash soup served in a bread bowl.

3. Hofburg Palace

Being in the centre of Vienna, the area in front of the Hofburg Palace is smaller than some of the other areas of Christmas markets but there’s still plenty of places to buy mulled wine and browse the beautiful locally made gifts, an it’s a lovely atmosphere for Christmas and New Year in Vienna.

New Year celebrations in Vienna

1. Stephansdomplatz waltz lessons

Outside the front of the Cathedral is the huge square, Stephensdomplatz. On New Year’s Eve there was a huge stage with lots of different performances throughout the afternoon and evening. My favourite was when they gave free Viennese Waltz lessons to everyone in the square. It was truly magical to be waltzing around in a huge group, getting everything wrong and bumping into people but having a great time.

2. Staatsoper – Vienna Opera House

The Vienna Opera House is one of the most famous and best opera houses in the world. On New Year’s Eve they broadcast their performance onto giant screens on the side of the opera house for everyone to enjoy. It was Der Fledermaus when I was there, and the performance was outstanding, as was the atmosphere of sitting outside in the crowd enjoying world famous opera. I have to admit it did get a bit cold after a few hours though – but a perfect excuse for more mulled wine!

 

3. Rathausplatz stage and fireworks

Another huge stage set up for New Year’s Eve with some great concerts and performances throughout the afternoon and evening. Rathausplatz is also the location for one of the New Year’s Eve firework displays. It was really busy, as you’d expect for any New Year’s Eve fireworks, but well organised and it felt really safe.

4. New Year’s Day concert on Rathausplatz

The world famous New Year’s Day Concert in Vienna is broadcast on TV all around the world, so as you’d expect it’s super difficult to get tickets. But you can still enjoy the music on the giant screens outside Rathausplatz as you have a final wander around the Christmas markets and a final mug of mulled wine.

Enjoy New Year in Vienna with my guide to the Christmas Markets and New Year celebration! Don’t forget to check out my blog on other things to do in Vienna for a great trip, and also check out this great guide to the top things to do in Vienna (affiliate). If you’d like to continue your trip through Europe, I’d recommend visiting the great cities of Berlin or Prague, or continue your travels in Austria with a trip to Salzburg and Kitzbuhel.