Christmas market

The Wien Christmas market is a perfect place to visit during Christmas holidays. There are several fairs in the city during Christmas time, but the most famous, and probably the best one is the fair in the square called Rathausplatz, situated next to the beautiful Rathaus (the city hall). The fair takes place from the middle of November until the 24th of December. It is opened daily from 10.00 until 22.00 and there is no entrance fee.

 In my opinion, this fair really shows the Christmas spirit of Wien. The whole scenery is made as the fairy land, with an interesting decoration on the trees. Some trees have giant, lit – up muffins on them, the others have red hearts and so on. It looks great even during the day, so imagine it in the dark, when all the lights are on. There are also different sculptures, like magic castles.

There are over one hundred stallsat the fair, offering different hand - made christmas tree decorations, mulled wine (you pay the auction for the mug, and later you can either keep or return it, the same as at the Schonbrunn fair) and sweets. They are also selling roasted chestnuts. Some of the stalls are selling different scents, and therefore, the whole place smells like cinamonn and oranges – typical Christmas scents.

This fair is perfect for children, because of all the lights and stalls. The place is very lively even during the day, but the real spirit starts in the evening, when they turn on all the Christmas lights. There are always a lot of people, regardless of the time, so you have to be patient. Also, take care of your things, because in such a crowd, it is easy to get robbed.

The Rathausplatz, where the Christmas market is held, is easily accessible by all means of public transport, also by a tourist train, but it can get quite cold if you ride it late in the evening. There are buses and trams, regularly passing by, and there is also a metro station very close to this place. You have to take the lina U2 and get off at the station, named Rathaus. In Wien, metro stations are marked with a big blue U signs at the entrance. U-bahn means underground.

This area is perfect, because all of the attractions are located around there, so you do not really need to use the public transport.

TIP: From this place, you can also head to Prater, which is a nice amusement park with carousels and other attractions for kids, and from the Rathausplatz, the access is the easiest.