Salzburg Christmas Market

The cathedral and Hohensalzburg fortress make this market’s charming backdrop. Idling between the eighty or so stalls, breath showing as you sip from your cup of hot mulled wine or hot chocolate, you’ll be presented with an array of traditional delights to help you cross people off your Christmas list – carved wooden animals for the kids, roasted almonds for the uncles and grandfathers, knitted socks for the grandmas and traditional decorations for family abroad. Confectionary will beckon little ones and preserved meats or sausages may get older tummies rumbling. This market springs up about five weeks before the big day, in streets of wooden-hut like stalls─its dates are quite official, it’s been around since the 15th century, one of the first markets outside of Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam or Nuremburg─so you know you’re getting a historically correct real deal.