Winter 2025/26 Events in Vienna: Christmas Markets, Special Exhibitions, and Festivals Galore
Although all seasons offer something special in the Austrian capital, there is no better time to visit Vienna than during the winter and holiday season. The city comes alive with twinkling lights from the Christmas markets and music coming out of every church and cathedral around the city. No matter if you’re traveling with family, friends, or solo, there is something for everyone during winter in Vienna.
Best things to do in Vienna Christmas 2025
Vienna has no shortage of Christmas markets to help visitors and locals alike celebrate the holiday season. You’ll find hand-blown glass baubles, wooden toys, and intricately designed candles among the artisanal goods. The air is filled with the scent of freshly baked treats, and visitors can indulge in local delicacies like gingerbread, Schaumrollen (cream-filled puff pastry), and roasted chestnuts. Of course, you can’t miss the stands selling Glühwein, often served in collectible mugs.
Whether you’re looking for Viennese opulence or something more traditional, there is a Christmas market for you. Below are our top three picks for Christmas markets in Vienna this holiday season:
Christkindlmarkt at Rathaus, November 16 – December 26, 2025
The Christkindlmarkt in front of the Rathaus (town hall) is considered one of Europe’s largest and most beautiful Christmas markets. A true spectacle, this Christmas market has large festive decorations set against the backdrop of the iconic Rathaus, with a Ferris wheel, nativity trail, and an ice rink snaking through it all.
Old Viennese Christmas Market on Freyung, November 15 – December 23, 2025
If you’re looking for a more traditional and historical Christmas market, look no further than the Old Viennese Christmas Market on Freyung. Running since as early as 1772, Freyung’s market focuses on a traditional atmosphere and crafts, with many onsite events including craft demonstrations and music. A highlight of this market in particular is the huge Nativity scene, based on a painting by Josef Ritter von Führich.
Edelstoff Design Market Christmas Edition – December 6 and 7, 2025
Two young Austrians brought back a design sensibility from London and Berlin in 2012 and the rest was history. The Edelstoff Design Market gives the public access to up-and-coming young product designers eager to showcase their wares. Quirky, fun and a very different side of Vienna, the Christmas Edition is great for some holiday shopping.
Schönbrunn Christmas Market – November 6, 2025 to January 6, 2026
No visit to Vienna is complete without a stop at Schönbrunn Palace. The Christmas market at Schönbrunn is one of the longest running markets in Vienna, both in its duration and in its beginnings , dating back to a tradition from 1298. The selection of Austrian handicrafts, gourmet delights, the best Glühwein in town it is a treat for all ages, and it even converts into a New Year market after Christmas. With over 80 different stalls and a festive advent program of daily free live performances of choirs, a cappella groups, and brass ensembles, this Christmas market offers a grand holiday experience that makes winter in Vienna an unforgettable festive season destination.
Take a Tour with Insight Cities
While at Schönbrunn, why not go on Insight Cities’ Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens tour and discover the Habsburg family through their opulent summer residence? Your expert guide will tell you the most fascinating stories of Austria’s imperial rulers, including Empress Maria Theresa, Emperor Franz Josef and his beloved unconventional consort Empress Sisi, while you explore the sumptuous rooms they spent their time in. Book a tour with us today and we’ll set you up with the perfect guide!
Christmas in Vienna
You can experience Christmas in Vienna beyond the Christmas markets. You’re bound to find Christmas trees, advent wreaths, and brilliant lights everywhere you go. If you’re in town during the holiday season, you can partake in some Viennese culinary traditions. The traditional Austrian Christmas meal varies depending on the region, but in Vienna you can rely on Wiener Schnitzel or roast goose to be the star of the menu, with sides of potato salad or red cabbage. The meal may end with a Stollen or Sachertorte for dessert.
In the lead-up to Christmas, you can have an Advent Brunch. Cafe Imperial has its advent brunch in a special location, in magnificent halls, with live Christmas music as an accompaniment. If you can wait until Christmas Day, Cafe Imperial and other fine-dining venues offer a special multi-course Christmas menu.
New Year’s Eve in Vienna
Silvesterpfad – December 31, 2025
The city center transforms itself into a giant street party, as revelers trace a path from the Rathausplatz across the inner city to Prater, in what is now a well-known celebration that attracts crowds from across Europe. Not as rarified as Vienna’s typical cultural events, but cleaner than most street parties anywhere else, Silvesterpfad begins at 2 P.M. on New Year’s Eve and goes well into the morning on New Years’ Day. Dance and waltz, binge off the various street-food vendors, and marvel at how singularity of purpose can bring people from all walks of life across Austria and Europe together for a night. Remember you might have to queue early for the long security lines, and come dressed for elements.
Die Fledermaus – December 31, 2025 – January 6, 2026
Another New Year’s Eve tradition in Vienna is to go see Die Fledermaus (The Bat), an operetta by famed Austrian composer Richard Strauss. This lighthearted operetta, which has almost always been performed on New Year’s Eve in Vienna, takes a look beneath the façade of the 19th-century bourgeoisie. Performances run at the State Opera and at the Vienna Volksoper.
Performances & Concerts
Vienna has a rich musical history, having hosted some of the most famous classical music composers such as Mozart and Beethoven, and the tradition continues to this day, all throughout the winter. The city is overflowing with performances and concerts in venues small and large.
Fidelio at the Wien Staatsoper – December 16, 19, 22, 27 & 30, 2025
Beethoven’s only opera enjoys a limited run this December in Vienna, where it premiered in 1804 under French occupation. The story follows Leonore, who disguises herself as a prison guard named “Fidelio” to rescue her husband from political imprisonment – a story that mirrored the political movements for liberty and freedom in Europe at that time. Tickets range from €18 to €295.
Christmas concerts, various locations – December 24 & 25, 2025
No trip to Vienna is complete without some exposure to the classical music composed there, and several venues have special Christmas concerts in which you can hear the work of the greats being performed by today’s top musicians in Vienna. Go to Mozarthaus and Schönbrunn Palace for an intimate ensemble concert featuring pieces by Mozart and Strauss. Or see the Vienna Royal Orchestra play a wide selection of Strauss’s works.
Le Nozze di Figaro at Wien Staatsoper – January 18, 24, 26 & 28, 2026
Mozart’s famous opera — one of the greatest operas ever composed – returns to Wien Staatsoper for a limited run this winter. Covering a “day of madness” at the palace of a Spanish count near Seville in the 18th century, the story follows the titular servant Figaro as he attempts to thwart plans to sabotage his planned marriage to the countess’s maid. Running for 3 hours and 40 minutes, the opera is an epic evening experience. Tickets range from €17 to €242.
Resonanzen – January 17 – 25, 2026
Resonanzen has made its mark in Europe and beyond as one of the leading festivals of early music. Focused on composition and styles from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods of Central European History and played on instruments like harpsichords and lutes from the times, the festival is a treat for your ears. This year’s theme highlights the contributions of women to the art of music throughout the centuries, as musicians, vocalists, and composers.
If you have music lovers in your group, consider booking Insight Cities’ Vienna: City of Music tour. It’s the perfect tour to deeply explore the rich musical heritage of Vienna, where a musical history aficionado will take you to the homes and concert venues that legendary composers Mozart, Vivaldi, and Beethoven lived and performed in. Along the way, you’ll hear the highlights of Vienna’s musical masterpieces on speakers or headphones to immerse yourself in the sounds that captured the hearts and minds of musical lovers past and present.
Art events
Winter at the Museums Quarter (MQ) – 2025 dates TBD (was November 14 – December 24 in 2024)
Vienna’s impressive MQ puts on their annual winter display to rival the sometimes kitschy, traditional advent markets, through November and December. The MQ’s take, is a modern interpretation, with open-air art exhibitions, lighting displays and video mapping. With free entry, multiple bars, live concerts and some great street food (both Viennese and international), this makes for a great family visit.
Exhibitions
Gothic Modern at the Albertina – until January 11, 2026
This exhibition examines the influence of late medieval art on artists active from 1870 to 1920, many of whom became pioneers of Modernism. Artists such as Edvard Munch, Vincent van Gogh, Käthe Kollwitz, Max Beckmann, and Otto Dix looked to the Late Middle Ages for inspiration from the more expressionistic and allegorical work of medieval artists Holbein, Dürer, Cranach, and Baldung Grien, in a reaction to the realism and romanticism of previous art movements. With various Modernist works shown side by side with a Medieval inspiration, this exhibition draws a direct connection between these very different artistic periods. Entrance tickets are €19.90 regular, €15.90 reduced.
Cézanne, Monet, Renoir: French Impressionism from Museum Langmatt at the Lower Belvedere — until February 8, 2026
Impressionism’s greatest painters get a special exhibition, featuring works on loan from the Villa Langmatt in Switzerland. Works such as Renoir’s “the Boat,” Monet’s ‘Ice Floes at Sunset,” and a still life by Gaugin are among the paintings exhibited, one of the most comprehensive private collections of French Impressionism. Other featured artists include Paul Cézanne, Camille Corot, Mary Cassat, and Edgar Degas. Entrance tickets are €16.50 regular, €13.00 reduced.
The Fascination of Paper at the Albertina – opens December 11, 2025
Paper is an ubiquitous, and often overlooked, medium in the arts, and this exhibition at the Albertina covers a range of ways artists have used paper for creation, inspiration, and experimentation. As home to one of the largest collections of drawings and prints in the world, the Albertina has arranged this exhibition chronologically, covering the century of the printing press to the present day, when paper feels all but obsolete. With copperplate engravings for playing cards, multi-part three-dimensional objects of monumental proportions, and rarely shown drawings, this exhibition reveals the versatility of paper as an artistic medium. Entrance tickets are €19.90 regular, €15.90 reduced.
Visit the Original Viennese Snow Globe Factory – ongoing
Vienna was the birthplace of the now-ubiquitous snow globe, and what better season than winter to visit the original factory where the first snow globes were produced? The museum features special snow globe designs and the original workshop where the snow globe was invented. Of course, you can also take home a snow globe as a souvenir or as a Christmas gift – typical Viennese snow globes have the Ferris Wheel, St. Stephen’s cathedral, or City Hall.
Dance
TU Ball der Technik – January 29, 2026
A Hapsburgian tradition, ball season is when Vienna comes alive at night, with 450 balls taking place throughout the city. The season runs from mid-November to just before Lent, but the pick of the season’s balls always take place in the new year. In 2025, several balls will be dedicated to master waltz composer Johann Strauss.
While we like the ostentatious galas such as the Opera Ball, we know tickets are nigh-impossible and finding a costume while you’re on vacation is even harder. So, we suggest you set your sights on the Technical University’s annual ball, which is as you will find, is a lot more fun than some of the more traditional offerings.
Outdoor Fun
The days may be dark, and the air chillingly cold in winter, but for the Viennese that by no means signifies time spent exclusively indoors. Even after the Christmas markets and accompanying lights have all been packed away, winter fun is still out there for those brave enough to spend the season out in the cold.
Wiener Eistraum – January to March 2026
Vienna’s Ice Dream is Europe’s largest man-made ice construction. Covering an area of over 80,000 square feet, spread over ice-skating rinks, curling lanes and special areas for children, this is Vienna’s way of fighting the winter blues and making the most of the winter chill. Located at the Rathausplatz, it’s hard to miss, and hard to resist.
Ice skating – various locations, November 2025 to March 2026
As winter descends, ice skating rinks pop up all over Vienna like winter daisies. For experienced skaters, the best place to go is Wiener Eislaufverein. This expansive ice skating rink is open daily from 9 AM to 8 PM until April 2025. You can rent ice skates for just a couple of Euros and enjoy the timeless joy of gliding across the ice with your family.
Whether you prefer to get out for that crisp winter air or to stay warm indoors, we at Insight Cities have the tour for you! Walk around the city with our Vienna Introduction and City of Music tours, or explore a museum like Schönbrunn or Belvedere with an expert guide. Whatever your preference, we can make the perfect tour happen for you. Contact us today to set up your next tour in Vienna!