Christmas Markets 2025 – Day 1 (Vienna – Café Central, Our First Christmas Markets, Imperial Lights, and a Classical Concert)

We arrived Saturday night around 5pm. It was already dark, and a bit chilly (35 degrees F) but not too bad. We were exhausted, so found a place for dinner (Gasthaus Damir) near our apartment then headed for bed. I had Wiener Schnitzel, while Teresa and Zach both had spinach tortellini. (Allison was too exhausted to join—straight to bed for her!)

Wiener Schnitzel on a plate with fries on the side

Our First Full Day Begins at Café Central

Sunday was our first full day in Vienna. The kids slept in while Teresa and I headed to Café Central—the most famous cafe in Vienna. The cafe normally opens at 8am, but on Sundays they open at 10am, which worked out perfectly. We were in line by 9:30 and were able to be seated in the first batch of customers. Good thing, too, as there was quite a wait for those who didn’t make the cut. We were there over an hour, as were most of the folks who were seated near us. (Bottom line: get there early, before they open, as you really don’t want to be stuck in line for hours!)

It was worth the (relatively short) wait! The cafe itself is stunning, as are the selection of tortes. I wanted to try the traditional espresso based drink in Vienna, the Wiener Melange, so I ordered one and a cappuccino so I could compare and contrast. (Different, but delicious! See below for more information about a Wiener Melange.)

You’ll see “Wiener” or “Wien” all over the place. Wien is the German word for Vienna, and Wiener means “from Vienna” or “Viennese”.

What is a Wiener Melange?

Wiener Melange means “Viennese blend”. It’s an espresso and milk drink that’s traditional in Vienna. It’s generally made with a slightly watered down espresso shot (a Verlängert, meaning “long” or “extended” – essentially a lungo shot), with a good amount of steamed milk topped with a stiff or “set” foam. The result was milder than a cappuccino.

In addition to our three espresso drinks (Teresa had an Americano), we also ordered apple strudel and eggs with ham to enjoy at the cafe, and bought four tortes to take back to the apartment and share with Zach and Allison.

Altwiener Christkindlmarkt

After breakfast we walked to the Altwiener Christkindlmarkt at Freyungplatz. It’s a small traditional Christmas Market in the heart of Vienna, surrounded by historic buildings. There was a decent selection of handcrafted goods, and some amazing looking food items. We bought a chunk of pesto cheese that was fantastic. We picked up a couple other small items, then checked out the Ferstel Passage before heading to the main Christmas Market in Vienna, the Wiener Christkindlmarkt at Rathausplatz (City Hall).

Entrance to the Altwiener Christkindlemarkt

A variety of meats and cheeses at the Altwiener Christkindlemarkt

Wiener Christkindlmarkt at Rathausplatz

We met the kids at the Wiener Christkindlmarkt at Rathausplatz, which is the main Christmas Market in Vienna. It’s huge! We enjoyed our first Glühwein (German mulled wine) and huge pretzels, then picked up a few more gifts. This was a good time to go to the market, as there were fewer people than at night. We’ll revisit this market at night (another day), so will expand on what it offers later (and there will be far more pictures coming!)

After exploring the market for a while, we ducked into Molly Darcy’s Irish Pub for a snack before heading back to the apartment for a much needed nap. (Jet lag was catching up to us…)

Imperial Lights at Schönbrunn Palace

After the nap, we jumped on the U (Vienna subway/underground) and headed to Schönbrunn Palace for the Imperial Lights exhibit, which was great! We have a similar “Winter Wonderland” type light display in Sacramento, at Cal Expo, but this was better. It’s set up in the gardens of the imperial palace, so how could it not be amazing? We were there for about 90 minutes, which was plenty of time, and left with plenty of time to make it to our next event—a classical concert at St. Peter’s Church.

Classical Concert at St. Peter’s Church

St. Peter’s Church is beautiful, and the string quartet (2 violins, 1 viola, and 1 violoncello) was good. They played two pieces by Mozart, one by Vivaldi, one by Haydn, one by Bach, one by Schubert, and one by Dvořák.

Photo Dumps

I’m doing things a bit different with these posts: I’ll have a few select images (and maybe a small 2-3 image gallery) in the main body of the post, then will dump the rest of the images at the end. I think this’ll be easier to read than having a big image gallery at the end of each section.