Austria/Italy Christmas Markets 2025 – Day 0 (Trip Overview)

Since Zach turned 25 this year (as did his girlfriend Allison), we said we’d take them to Europe as a combined birthday/Christmas gift. After some discussion, we decided on Christmas Markets in Austria and Northern Italy. After the first week of the trip, the kids flew home and Teresa and I continued on to Rome for six nights. Here was our itinerary:

Vienna Austria (3 nights)
Salzburg, Austria (2 nights)
Vipiteno, Italy (day trip on the way to Verona)
Verona, Italy (2 nights)
Rome, Italy (6 nights)

It was an amazing trip! The Christmas Markets were amazing. The Christkindlmarkt as we know it today started in Nuremberg, Germany. While there were earlier Christmas Markets, such as in Dresden, Germany, or the “December Market” in Vienna, the first “Christkindlmarkt” was in Nuremberg and became the blueprint for Christmas Markets ever since. Nuremberg and Verona are sister cities, and Nuremberg sends a delegation to Verona every year to help with their Christmas Market, which is a blend of German and Italian.

In the coming days I’ll be making posts for each city with the highlights, lowlights (if any), restaurant recommendations, and fun things to do. For now, here’s a look down at a portion of Verona’s Christmas Market, as seen from the top of the Verona Arena (a Roman amphitheatre completed around the year 30 AD).