Christmas In Salzburg & The Hand-Painted Egg Shop

Salzburg's old town is compact enough to walk across in fifteen minutes, and at Christmas that is both the appeal and the problem. Three markets, a cathedral square, a fortress on the hill and a river running through the middle; all of it excellent, all of it accommodating far more people in December than the streets were built for.

This file covers the markets, the small craft shops that are the actual reason to shop here rather than at the stalls, and the timing that makes the difference between a good day and a shuffling one.

The three markets

The cathedral square market

The hand-painted egg shop

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Getreidegasse and the guild signs

The old town's main shopping street is worth walking for its wrought-iron guild signs: hanging brackets that identify each business by an image rather than a word, a convention from when much of the population could not read. Modern chains occupying the buildings have had to commission signs in the same idiom, which produces some incongruous results and is part of the pleasure.

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Timing

The old town on a December Saturday afternoon is close to gridlocked, and the market squares are slow walking. Weekday mornings are a different city. The first two weeks of December are substantially quieter than the last two.

Christmas Eve is the trap. Austrian Christmas is centred on the evening of the 24th, the markets close in the early afternoon, and shops, restaurants and much of the transport shut down with them. Arriving on the 24th expecting an evening market means arriving to a closed city.

Beyond the markets

• Hohensalzburg fortress: reached by funicular from the old town, and the view over the roofs in snow is the best in the city.
• Mirabell gardens: across the river, free, and photogenic even bare.
• Hellbrunn: the palace market in the grounds, a short bus ride south, and much the easiest of the three with children.
• The salt mines and the lakes: an hour out, and a good use of a day when the old town is at its busiest.

Practicalities

Salzburg is small and walkable and the old town is largely pedestrianised; a car is a liability, not an asset. The airport is fifteen minutes from the centre, and Munich is under two hours by train, which makes the city an easy addition to a wider trip.

December weather is cold and often wet, not reliably snowy; the postcard version is not guaranteed. Markets run outdoors regardless, and warm footwear matters more than a warm coat when standing on cobbles.

The rest of the European material is in the Europe hub, including Christmas near Paris for a different version of the same season.

What is actually sold at the markets

A Christmas market stall in central Europe sells one of four things, and knowing which is which saves both money and suitcase space.

• Food and drink to consume there. Glühwein in a deposit mug, roasted almonds, sausages, potato fritters, Kiachl. This is what the markets are for and it is uniformly decent.
• Local craft. Blown and painted eggs, beeswax candles, wooden ornaments, pewter, hand-thrown ceramics. Fewer stalls than you expect, and the ones that have it will talk about how it is made.
• Regional food to take home. Schnapps, Lebkuchen, mustards, smoked speck. Real, and subject to customs rules on the way out.
• Imported ornaments. The largest category by stall count and the one with no connection to Salzburg at all. Identifiable by the volume of identical stock.

The deposit mug is worth understanding: Glühwein is priced with a deposit on the ceramic cup, refunded when you return it. Keeping the mug is a legitimate option and is what the deposit is priced for.

The egg shop, and what hand-painting means

The eggs are real, blown through a pinhole at each end, and painted individually by hand. The work runs from simple Salzburg folk motifs to pieces with several days in them, and the price spread reflects that rather than the size of the egg.

Goose and ostrich eggs take the elaborate work because the shell is thick enough to survive handling; hen eggs carry the simpler patterns. The shop packs for travel in a rigid box with tissue, and a properly packed blown egg survives a suitcase considerably better than it looks like it will; the shell is thin but the load is even.

The business trades year round, which is the point worth making. The range is larger before Easter than before Christmas, and going in October means the shop to yourself.

The old town on foot

Salzburg's historic centre sits between the Salzach and the Mönchsberg cliff and is about eight hundred metres end to end. A workable circuit:

1. Residenzplatz and Domplatz for the main market, first thing.
2. The cathedral, free to enter, and the crypt below it.
3. Getreidegasse for the guild signs and the lanes running off it to the river.
4. The funicular to Hohensalzburg, and the roofs from above.
5. Across the Staatsbrücke to Mirabellplatz for the second market and the gardens.

That is three hours without stopping and a full day with. Everything is walkable and nothing needs a car; the old town is largely closed to traffic.

Eating

Salzburg's food is Austrian and the portions are Austrian. What is worth ordering:

• Salzburger Nockerl: a baked soufflé dessert in three peaks representing the hills around the city. Made to order, takes twenty minutes, serves two at least.
• Kasnocken: small dumplings with mountain cheese and fried onions. The regional dish that is not a schnitzel.
• Bosna: a spiced sausage in a bread roll with onions and curry powder, sold from a stand in a lane off Getreidegasse. Late-night food, and a Salzburg institution.
• Stiegl and the brewery taverns: the local beer, and the tavern rooms are warmer and cheaper than the market stalls.

Restaurants fill in December and booking is sensible for dinner. Lunch is easier everywhere.

Day trips from Salzburg in winter

Practical winter notes

• Cobbles and ice. The old town is cobbled and gets slippery. Footwear matters more than a coat.
• Cash. Market stalls are cash-first; several take cards, many do not.
• Opening. Markets typically run from late morning to about eight in the evening, with early closing on 24 December.
• Getting there. Salzburg airport is fifteen minutes from the centre; Munich is under two hours by train and is often the cheaper approach.
• Crowds. The first two weeks of December are noticeably quieter than the last two, and weekday mornings are quieter again.

The city outside the market squares

Salzburg on screen

The city has been filmed extensively and is marketed heavily on the back of one 1965 musical. Mirabell Gardens, the Residenzplatz fountain, Leopoldskron and Hellbrunn all appear in it, and there is a substantial tour industry built around them.

Two things worth knowing. Much of the interior work was done on a stage in Germany, so the buildings you can enter are not the rooms on screen. And the gazebo that sits in the Hellbrunn grounds is a prop moved there afterwards, not a garden building that was filmed in place; it is the same class of fact as the bench in Savannah or the tower at San Juan Bautista, both of which the master index records for the same reason.

Arriving and staying

• By air: Salzburg airport is fifteen minutes from the centre by bus.
• By rail: Munich is under two hours and is often the cheaper approach; Vienna is two and a half.
• Where to stay: the old town is expensive in December. The right bank around Mirabellplatz is five minutes' walk across the river and materially cheaper.
• Getting around: nothing needs a car. The old town is largely pedestrianised and the buses cover everything else.

Frequently asked questions

When do the Salzburg Christmas markets open?

The main market in the Domplatz and Residenzplatz normally opens in the second half of November and runs to just after Christmas, with the Hellbrunn and Mirabellplatz markets on similar dates. Exact opening and closing days shift each year and are published in autumn.

What is the hand-painted egg shop in Salzburg?

A small specialist shop in the old town selling hand-painted blown eggs, made year-round and sold as Christmas and Easter decorations. Real eggs are blown, painted by hand and sold individually, which is why the prices are what they are.

How many Christmas markets does Salzburg have?

Three principal ones (the cathedral square market in the old town, the Mirabellplatz market across the river, and the market in the grounds of Hellbrunn Palace south of the city) plus several smaller ones in the surrounding villages.

Is Salzburg worth visiting at Christmas?

Yes, with a caveat: the old town is small and gets extremely crowded on December weekends, and the markets close earlier than visitors expect on Christmas Eve. Weekdays and the first half of December are noticeably better.