Three Christmas Markets in Salzburg - from romantic to noble

Three Christmas markets in Salzburg

We can recommend three Christmas markets in Salzburg. Christmas is especially beautiful in this city. Because of its location on the northern edge of the Alps, Salzburg is predestined to spread a Christmas spirit. Because the hills and mountains are covered with snow early in the year and you can see them from almost every point in the city, we are greeted by a Christmassy atmosphere when we drive into Salzburg. Shopping in Salzburg at Christmas time is fun.

 

 

And this increases the longer we stay in the old town. During our walk through Linzer Straße, the visit to the Christmas market on Mirabell-Platz, the stroll through the Advent market in front of the cathedral, where the scent of almonds, Mulled wine and punch in the nose or the views of Christmas trees, illuminated facades and imaginative garlands of lights that make a stroll through nocturnal Salzburg in December a special experience. Here you can drift through the city and encounter a Christmas atmosphere everywhere. But the most beautiful thing is to experience Christmas in Salzburg at the Christmas markets. Here are three of them:

 

 

The oldest Christmas market of Salzburg on the cathedral square

The one known as the “Tandlmarkt” has been around since 1491 Christmas market in the center of Salzburg in front of the cathedral instead of. Even though this market is now visited by around a million Christmas fans from all over the world every year, it has retained its traditional flair. Handicrafts are offered in the wooden huts. From the punch huts it smells seductively of cinnamon, cloves, oranges and other spices that are simply part of a mulled wine. At other stands, freshly baked Gingerbread as well as a pair of sausages with sauerkraut and a Kaiser roll for those who prefer something hearty.

Opening hours:

23.11.2023 – 01.01.2024

Monday – Thursday 10:00 a.m. – 20:30 p.m
Friday 10:00 a.m. – 21:00 p.m
Saturday 09:00 a.m. – 21:00 p.m
Sunday, public holiday 09:00 a.m. – 20:30 p.m

December 07th 10.00:21.00 a.m. – XNUMX:XNUMX p.m
December 08th 09.00:20.30 a.m. – 21.00:XNUMX p.m. or XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.,
if it is followed by a Saturday or Sunday

December 24th 09:00 a.m. – 15:00 p.m
December 25th 11:00 a.m. – 18:00 p.m
December 26th 11:00 a.m. – 18:00 p.m
December 27th to December 29th normal opening hours
December 30th 10:00 a.m. to 21:00 p.m
December 31st 10:00 a.m. – 18.00:01 p.m. or 00:XNUMX a.m
January 01st 11:00 a.m. – 18:00 p.m

 

 

 

 

The best part is a visit during the week

We are there during the week to enjoy the market. This way, we also avoid the crowd at the weekend. A good decision, as it turns out. So we can stroll comfortably over the market and look at the Santa Claus. Even the Fiaker drivers take time for a chat with us while they wait for customers in front of the residence.

A driver whose fiaker is decorated for Christmas with a lantern and red bow tells us how difficult her job is. She reports that she needs her own training to drive through the city. "And what do you do if, despite all caution, the horses go through the hectic traffic?" I ask them curiously. "Nothing helps," she says, and laughs. "Then there is nothing more you can do." When I asked whether this happened, she laughed impishly and nodded.

 

 

The Christmas square at the cathedral

A visit to the Christmas Square in the old town also includes a flying visit to the cathedral. Inez, our companion, shows us the baptismal font in which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was baptized. But Joseph Mohr, the author of the text of "Silent Night, Holy Night", was also baptized here. Mohr was the illegitimate child of the musketeer Franz Mohr and his later wife Anna. He spent his childhood in Steingasse No. 31 in poor conditions.

His mother was outlawed for his extra-marital birth. She lived a modest life in the alley, which was well-known for the disreputable figures who were up to mischief there. Thieves, whores and crooks belonged to Mohr's neighbors. Later, he had to obtain permission from the Pope to take up his post as assistant pastor. In this function, he finally wrote 1816 the text of the Christmas carol. This was set to music two years later by Franz Xaver Gruber and premiered in the same year. Immediately thereafter it triumphs over the world. Then it becomes the most famous Christmas carol in the world.

 

 

The nativity scene is right next to the baptismal font. This shows the goings-on of the shepherds and the stable against the backdrop of Salzburg. Behind the stables rises the castle on the Hohensalzberg.

 

 

The Christmas market on Mirabell Platz

Heimeliger is the Christmas market on the other bank of the Salzach in front of the Mirabell Palace. The wooden huts nestle on the square opposite the church of St. Andrä. At the bar tables under the high Christmas tree, the Advent market visitors gather for a cup of mulled wine on late Wednesday morning. Their scent blows to us as we approach the market from the castle.

Opening hours:

November 23 – December 24, 2023

Sunday-Thursday 10 a.m.-20 p.m.
Friday-Saturday 10 a.m.-21 p.m

24.12.2023 10-15 p.m.

 

 

Bohemian glass and gingerbread at the Christmas markets in Salzburg

The Standl operators at this Christmas market are friendly. One sells Bohemian glass with winter motifs and proudly tells us: “These and candlesticks are all handmade. Therefore, there is nobody who resembles the other. ”And the painting of each exhibit is obviously made individually, as the motifs on each individual glass differ from the next. In blue, white, yellow and red, they are a nice decoration for the Christmas living room table.

 

 

Very inviting is the gingerbread stand in this market. Here are next to thick, decorated with almond halves and powdered icing Elisenlebkuchen pretty gingerbread shapes that are decorated with Biedermeier motifs or snowmen, bells or Fiaker horses match the city of Salzburg show. And also for flavor variations is provided: there are offered Powidl gingerbread, honey gingerbread with raisins or gingerbread filled with hazelnut cream. Seductively they all look.

 

 

Christmas decorations of all kinds at the Christmas markets in Salzburg

Pretty we find the Christmas decorations: we discover cute Santa Claus gnomes, thick-bellied snowmen, in whose curves find space for candles, but also shrill Christmas metal decorations - fantasy birds and cats, colorful toucans or funny Christmas owls.

 

 

We are surprised by the low-priced tasteful Advent wreaths, which are available from 10, - Euro apiece. If you like it even smaller, you can purchase Christmas tree decor from 1, - Euro. Very pleasing, as we find.

 

 

The romantic Christmas market at Schloss Hellbrunn

The Wednesday afternoon we spend on the most romantic Christmas market of Salzburg in the courtyard of Schloss Hellbrunn, He is the most beautiful of the three Christmas markets in Salzburg, which we present here. This Christmas market is outside the city center. We leave our car in the parking garage at the Linzer Gasse and instead take the bus number 25, which takes us from the Rudolfskai an der Salzach directly to the castle park. Practical is the Salzburg Card, which allows us to use the public transport of the city for free for three days and with which many admission fees to museums and other attractions are reduced or even offered free of charge. An investment that really pays off, especially in a city where finding a parking spot for your own car becomes impossible.

Opening hours:

23. November - 24. December 2023

Tuesday – Friday 13.00:20.00 p.m. – XNUMX:XNUMX p.m., closed on Mondays
Saturday, Sunday, public holiday December 8.12th. 10.00 a.m. – 20.00 p.m
24.12/10.00 | 14.00 a.m. – XNUMX p.m

Opening hours of the children's Christmas world:

Christmas train, scout camp & petting zoo:
Tuesday – Friday 14.00:18.00 p.m. – XNUMX:XNUMX p.m
Saturday, Sunday, public holidays 11.00:18.00 p.m. – XNUMX:XNUMX p.m
24.12/10.00 | 13.00 a.m. – XNUMX p.m. Waiting for the Christ child

Please note that the children's Christmas world is closed outside opening hours for safety reasons!

Make-up room & Christmas post office:

Friday 14.00 - 18 clock
Saturday & Sunday 11.00 a.m. – 18.00 p.m
24.12/10.00 | 13.00 a.m. – XNUMX p.m. Waiting for the Christ child

 

 

 

 

The Christmas market in the castle park

We drive about half an hour through the suburbs of Salzburg and around the Mönchsberg until we reach the park of Hellbrunn Palace. The specialty of this Christmas market are the Christmas trees with their red Christmas balls, which are spread around the market area. In the courtyard of the castle, the punch huts are in the middle of a "Christmas tree forest", which creates a romantic atmosphere in this part of the Christmas market.

 

 

In a cellar vault under the main entrance to the castle is a crib with animals made of straw. This fits the natural overall impression of this Christmas market. And also the offers of the Christmas stands fit the traditional character of this Christmas market. What we like most is the wooden bird feeders that invite the birdies to look for food in the cottages. Sledges packed with Christmas parcels are just waiting for Santa Claus.
With a heavy heart we separate ourselves from the wonderfully fragrant Christmas markets of the city of Salzburg, which manage to give Christmas spirit to the visitors. We really liked them.

Accommodation tip in Salzburg for the Christmas markets in Salzburg

During our stay in Salzburg, for example, we stayed at the Hotel Gablerbräu, which is centrally located near the Linzer Gasse. From here we were able to reach all public transport that we needed to get to our destinations in Salzburg in just a few steps. The rooms are functionally furnished, the breakfast buffet is extensive. The staff was very friendly and helpful, making us feel very comfortable in this three star hotel. The only disadvantage of the hotel is that there is no in-house parking garage. So we had to take the car to one of the public garages.