Vienna Christmas Markets 2026: Dates, Hours and Rathausplatz

1. When do Vienna’s Christmas markets open and close in 2026?

The main markets open between November 6 and November 20, 2026, and close between December 23 and January 6, 2027. The table gives the dates and hours for each market. Where a cell says « not published, » none of the official sources we read gives that time, so we did not infer it.

Sources: Wien Tourismus, Visiting Vienna, Austria.info, ViennaPass (in French), checked on October 18, 2026.

Three reference points are enough to plan the trip. The Rathausplatz closes on December 26, while Freyung, Am Hof and Spittelberg close as early as December 23. Schönbrunn and the Prater Wintermarkt are the only two that run until January 6, 2027. The Belvedere is listed to end on December 31, according to the sources, but its opening remains uncertain: confirm it before you build a plan around it.

For December 31, none of the official sources we read gives hours for the Rathausplatz or for Schönbrunn. Don’t plan a visit that day without checking the market’s website. New Year’s Eve is also the night of the Silvesterpfad, the big New Year’s Eve route, which drew 550,000 participants for the 2025-2026 edition according to vienna.at (in German). During that edition, the Stephansplatz subway station was closed from 9 pm. Special late-night hours for December 31 are not published in the sources we read.

2. The Rathausplatz Christkindlmarkt, Austria’s largest according to its organizers

Christkindlmarkt at the Rathausplatz

Free entry November 13 to December 26, 2026 Outdoors, dress in layers Busiest at dusk

The market sits in the Rathauspark, in front of the neo-Gothic City Hall. Its organizers present it as Austria’s largest Christmas market: 2.8 million visitors in 2024, over a season of about six weeks, according to vienna.at (in German). The market had about a hundred huts in 2025. The organizers date the installation in the Rathauspark to 1975, according to the market’s website.

The market is open every day from 10 am to 10 pm, from November 13 to December 26, 2026. On December 24, it closes at 6:30 pm. These hours are confirmed by Wien Tourismus and by Visiting Vienna, checked on October 18, 2026. No hours are published for December 31: check christkindlmarkt.at before you come that day.

What defines the market is its density. The wooden huts crowd the walkways, and mulled wine and punch are served in mugs printed with the market’s emblem. The mugs carry a deposit: you can return yours to get the deposit back, or keep it as a souvenir. For children, mulled wine also comes in an alcohol-free version called Kinderpunsch. Bring cash for the small stalls; the larger ones take cards.

The market made an accessibility effort in 2025: braille on the mugs and signs, accessible toilets, high-contrast signage and adapted dining tables, according to weekend.at (in German, article of November 14, 2025). An ORF report did note, however, that before 2025 the high tables and drink counters remained hard to reach from a wheelchair.

Highlights

• The setting: the huts stand out against the City Hall facade, very photogenic in the evening.
• Access: the U2 (Rathaus station) and the U3 (Volkstheater station) serve the square.
• Length: November 13 to December 26, 2026, six weeks in all.

Pixidia tip: for a first visit without too many crowds, come on a weekday, right at the 10 am opening. Guides recommend quiet hours, and the first weeks of the season, in mid-November, are described as calmer. These are reported trends, not official counts.

Vienna Guided Christmas Market Food and Drink Tour €278 for 2 adults (€139 per person), checked October 18, 2026 · departures on 31 of 44 days between November 13 and December 26, 2026 · ★ 5.0 (10 reviews)

See departures for the guided tour

3. Schönbrunn: the courtyard market and Imperial Lights

Schönbrunn market, main courtyard

Free entry to the market November 6, 2026 to January 6, 2027 Palace and Imperial Lights are paid Lights up from 4:30 pm

The market fills the main courtyard (Ehrenhof), facing the palace facade. It is the longest-running big market of the season: it opens on November 6, 2026 and runs until January 6, 2027. The organizer announces more than 90 huts for the 2025 season, an artificial ice rink measuring 15 × 30 meters, curling on ice (Eisstock), rides and a large Christmas tree. The Advent concerts and choirs change from year to year. Source: the Schönbrunn market website (in German).

Entry to the market is free. The palace, its tour and the Imperial Lights illumination, however, are separate tickets, bought individually.

Highlights

• The setting: the main courtyard of a Habsburg palace, facing its facade.
• Activities: ice rink, ice curling and rides, good for a family outing.
• The calendar: one of the only two markets open until January 6, 2027.

Pixidia tip: book the palace in advance if you want to visit it, then keep the market for the end of the day. Imperial Lights looks best once it is dark, and the two can be combined in the same evening.

Schönbrunn market hours

Source: official Schönbrunn market website (in German) and Austria.info, checked on October 18, 2026.

To get there, the U4 serves the Schönbrunn or Hietzing stations. Tram 10 or 60, or bus 10A, complete the access, according to Visiting Vienna.

Imperial Lights and palace prices

Imperial Lights is a paid nighttime illumination of the park, separate from the market. The 2026-2027 season starts on November 6, 2026. It opens daily from 4:30 pm; the last entry is at 8:30 pm, and the illumination closes at 10 pm. Allow 60 to 90 minutes, with a reserved time slot booked in advance. The palace says that only imperialtickets.com is an official sales channel, and warns about fake ticket sites: buy only through the official site.

Starting prices are €24 for an adult and €13 for a child aged 6 to 14. The palace also publishes its summer 2026 season rates, valid until November 2, 2026. Winter palace rates are not published in the official sources we checked: verify them before you go.

Source: Schloss Schönbrunn, tickets and rates (the « Ticket Folder Sommer 2026 » brochure for palace tickets), checked on October 18, 2026.

4. The other markets: Stephansplatz, Freyung, Am Hof, Spittelberg, Belvedere and the Prater

These markets don’t all close on the same date. Freyung, Am Hof and Spittelberg end on December 23, Stephansplatz and the Rathausplatz on December 26, while Schönbrunn and the Riesenradplatz Wintermarkt run until January 6, 2027. The Belvedere, meanwhile, is listed to end on December 31, according to the sources.

Stephansplatz, the Weihnachtsdorf

The Stephansplatz Weihnachtsdorf is open from November 6 to December 26, 2026, daily from 11 am to 9 pm. On December 24, it closes at 4 pm. On December 25 and 26, it opens from 11 am to 7 pm. It does not run past New Year’s, unlike Schönbrunn. Hours come from ViennaPass (in French) and Visiting Vienna, checked on October 18, 2026.

Freyung, the Altwiener Christkindlmarkt

The Freyung market, called the Altwiener Christkindlmarkt (« Christmas market of old Vienna »), runs from November 14 to December 23, 2026, daily from 10 am to 9 pm. Its name presents it as a market in the spirit of old Vienna. It closes on December 23, like Am Hof and Spittelberg, and has no published hours for December 24 and 31.

Am Hof and Spittelberg, the city-center markets

The Am Hof market runs from November 13 to December 23, 2026. It opens Monday to Thursday from 11 am to 9 pm, then Friday to Sunday and on holidays from 10 am to 9 pm. Spittelberg, in the neighborhood’s lanes, runs on the same dates. It opens Monday to Friday from 2 pm to 9:30 pm, then from 11 am to 9:30 pm on Saturday, Sunday and holidays. For Spittelberg, the main access recorded is the U3, Volkstheater station.

Belvedere, a market still to be confirmed

The Belvedere Weihnachtsdorf is set up in front of the Baroque palace. The sources do not agree on its opening date: November 13 according to one, November 20 according to others. It closes on December 31, 2026. One source also mentions a possible move to the Gürtel: confirm the location, dates and hours on the Belvedere website before you visit. For the December 24 and 31 hours, viennapass lists 11 am to 5 pm, while dertour gives 4 pm on the 24th and 6 pm on the 31st. These values appear in the table in section 1 and remain to be confirmed.

Riesenradplatz Wintermarkt, in the Prater

Free entry to the market November 20, 2026 to January 6, 2027 12 pm to 10 pm on weekdays City views from the wheel

The Wintermarkt sits at the foot of the Prater Ferris wheel, from November 20, 2026 to January 6, 2027. It opens Monday to Friday from 12 pm to 10 pm, and Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 11 am to 10 pm. On December 24, the listed hours are about 10 am to 5 pm. Entry to the market is free, according to Visiting Vienna. The opening date comes from a vienna.at article (in German), whose publication date could not be determined.

The Ferris wheel itself is paid. Its official page, wienerriesenrad.com, shows no prices. Third-party sites and a Wien Tourismus source cite about €14.50 for an adult. Winter hours also vary between sources, from 9 am to 11:45 pm to 10 am to 9:45 pm.

Highlights

• A market that stays open a long time, until January 6, 2027.
• A view over the city, with the Ferris wheel a short walk from the market.
• Free entry to the market; the only expense is the wheel.

Pixidia tip: the Ferris wheel shows no prices on its official site, and hours vary between sources. Check the price and hours on wienerriesenrad.com before you go, and don’t rely on a single figure.

5. Hours for December 24 and 31, and public holidays

On December 24, hours get shorter almost everywhere. The Rathausplatz closes at 6:30 pm, Schönbrunn and Stephansplatz at 4 pm, and the Prater Wintermarkt around 5 pm. On December 25 and 26, Stephansplatz opens from 11 am to 7 pm, and Schönbrunn from 10 am to 7 pm. For the Rathausplatz, December 25 and 26 are market days with no separate hours published in the sources we read: check the market’s website.

December 31 remains the least certain point in the file. No hours are published for the Rathausplatz or Schönbrunn, and the Belvedere hours differ between sources. During the 2025-2026 Silvesterpfad, the Stephansplatz station was closed from 9 pm; no special night hours are published for the markets. For New Year’s Eve transport, year-end schedules are not in the sources we read either. Check wienerlinien.at the day before you travel.

6. Getting there by subway, tram or bus

The table below lists the access lines recorded for each market.

Source: Visiting Vienna, public transport for the Christmas markets and Visiting Vienna, Schönbrunn access, checked on October 18, 2026.

For the Prater Wintermarkt, no access route was recorded in the sources we checked: plan your trip on a city map before you leave. For tickets, the Wiener Linien digital fare and the Vienna City Card are detailed in the next section.

7. Budget: drinks, palace and transport tickets

Entry to the markets is free, so the budget comes down to three items: deposit drinks, the palace and transport tickets. Here are the most recent public prices for drinks.

Source: vienna.at, punch price comparison (December 2024) (in German) and Falter (in German) for the November 2025 survey, checked on October 18, 2026.

There is no public 2026 survey so far. Treat these amounts as orders of magnitude. The Falter investigation of November 2025 recorded punch between €5 and €6 at Schönbrunn, the Belvedere and Stephansplatz, which points in the same direction. The deposit is refunded when you return the mug, so the real cost of a drink is the price shown, if you return it.

Transport tickets and Vienna City Card, 2026 prices

Sources: Wiener Linien 2025 fare sheet (in German) and Vienna City Card brochure, September to December 2026 (in German), checked on October 18, 2026.

The digital fare is the right benchmark. Some pages still show the old prices of €3.20 and €10.20. Since the markets are free, a €9.70 digital 24-hour ticket covers your rides for a day. The 48-hour Vienna City Card, at €31, makes sense if you chain together rides and museums. One third-party site advertises a 10% discount with a code: that discount is not verified on the official site, so we do not include it.

8. Choosing the Rathausplatz, Schönbrunn or another market by travel style

The Rathausplatz, with about a hundred huts (96 in 2025), stays open until 10 pm. Schönbrunn, in the palace’s main courtyard, is open until 9 pm through December 23, and Imperial Lights remains a separate ticket. The sense of calm people associate with Schönbrunn comes from guides’ reviews, not from counts.

• First visit to Vienna: the Rathausplatz, for the central atmosphere and hours that run until 10 pm. Stephansplatz, open until December 26, is the other option in the center.
• Couple, in the evening: Schönbrunn, for the palace courtyard, with Imperial Lights if the budget allows.
• Tight budget: the city-center markets, free to enter, with a deposit drink. Skip the palace tickets if you don’t want to pay for them.
• Family with children: Schönbrunn during the day, with the ice rink and rides. Mulled wine also comes in an alcohol-free version, the Kinderpunsch. The Prater Wintermarkt, with its Ferris wheel, also appeals to younger visitors.
• Reduced mobility: the Rathausplatz, where 2025 accessibility is documented (braille, accessible toilets, adapted tables). An ORF report noted that before 2025, the high tables and drink counters were hard to reach from a wheelchair. For Schönbrunn, check access to the courtyard before you go. No accessibility data is recorded for the Prater.

Crowds follow the calendar. The December weekends, especially Saturday between 5 pm and 9 pm, are the busiest times, particularly at the Rathausplatz. The first weeks, from mid-November to early December, are described as calmer. The Lonely Planet guide, in its 2025 edition, recommends quiet hours: the morning or early afternoon, on weekdays. These observations remain reported trends, without official figures.

For guided tours and palaces, the article on imperial experiences at Schönbrunn covers the season’s experiences. We don’t repeat the list here.

9. Ice rink, Eistraum and winter events

The big Wiener Eistraum, the Rathauspark ice rink, ran from January 22 to March 8, 2026, at €9.50 for an adult and €6.70 for a child. That season is over. The 2027 season is announced for January 22 to March 7, 2027, but its prices have not been published yet. The 2026 prices come from 1000 Things Magazine (in German), cross-checked with a local source from December 2025.

Don’t confuse this big January event with the Christkindlmarkt ice rink, whose listings show a presence from November 13, 2026 to January 6, 2027. It is a smaller version, according to Wien Tourismus. At Schönbrunn, the 15 × 30-meter artificial ice rink is part of the market, but its price and time slots are not listed in the sources we read: check the market’s website.

What other guides don’t tell you

Many guides list the markets without separating what is free from what costs money, or without showing the dates for the current year. Here are five gaps we found in official or dated sources.

• Only the market is free. The Schönbrunn palace, Imperial Lights, the Prater Ferris wheel and the Eistraum ice rink all cost money. According to schoenbrunn.at for the palace and Imperial Lights (checked on October 18, 2026).
• Imperial Lights is sold in only one place. The palace names imperialtickets.com as its only official sales channel and warns against fake sites. Source: Wien Tourismus, Imperial Lights listing (in German, checked on October 18, 2026).
• Transport fares changed in 2026. A single digital ride costs €3.00 and the 24-hour ticket €9.70. Some pages still show €3.20 and €10.20. Source: Wiener Linien 2025 fare sheet (in German, checked on October 18, 2026).
• Schönbrunn opens in early November and closes in early January. The market runs from November 6, 2026 to January 6, 2027, with 10 am to 9 pm hours until December 23. Source: Austria.info (checked on October 18, 2026). The Lonely Planet France guide, 2025 edition (in French), still gives last year’s dates, November 6, 2025 to January 6, 2026.
• The Rathausplatz has precise 2026 dates. From November 13 to December 26, 2026, 10 am to 10 pm, with a December 24 closing at 6:30 pm. Some guides still repeat the 2025 dates, November 14 to December 26, 2025. Source: Wien Tourismus (checked on October 18, 2026).

Practical information for planning your stay

Since the markets are free, spending goes on transport, the palace and drinks. Three figures, checked on October 18, 2026:

• Wiener Linien 24-hour digital ticket: €9.70 (Wiener Linien 2025 fare sheet).
• Vienna City Card 24 hours: €19, transport included (Wien Tourismus brochure, September to December 2026).
• Imperial Lights: from €24 for an adult, on a reserved time slot and only via imperialtickets.com.

Full transport fares and Vienna City Card details are in section 7.