Salzburg’s Christkindlmarkt opens on Thursday 19 November, and its Christmas tree is lit that evening from 18:00. It runs until 1 January 2027 on the Domplatz and the Residenzplatz, with part of the Kapitelplatz, according to the market’s own timetable. Christmas does not close it. The stalls trade on 25 and 26 December from 11:00 to 18:00, and on New Year’s Eve some of the food stalls serve until 01:00. Around it, the city’s tourism board lists markets from Mirabellplatz to Schloss Hellbrunn and the fortress. For a place to stay, MICHELIN gives Salzburg and its lake country five Key hotels for 2026, four of them in the city.
Domplatz, Mirabellplatz and Hellbrunn: Salzburg’s season in seven markets
| Market | Where | Dates 2026 | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salzburger Christkindlmarkt | Domplatz, Residenzplatz and part of the Kapitelplatz | 19 November to 1 January 2027 | Monday to Thursday 10:00-20:30; Friday 10:00-21:00; Saturday 09:00-21:00; Sunday and holidays 09:00-20:30 |
| Christmas market on Mirabellplatz | Mirabellplatz, opposite St. Andrew’s Church | 19 November to 31 December | Sunday to Thursday 10:00-20:00; Friday and Saturday 10:00-21:00 |
| Sternadvent | Sternbräu courtyard, between Getreidegasse and Griesgasse | 19 November to 6 January 2027 | Sunday to Thursday 11:00-19:00; Friday and Saturday 11:00-20:30 |
| Hellbrunner Adventzauber | Schloss Hellbrunn | 19 November to 24 December | Tuesday to Friday 13:00-20:00; weekends and holidays 10:00-20:00; closed on Mondays except 21 December |
| Festungsadvent | Hohensalzburg Fortress | 27 November to 20 December | Advent weekends, Friday to Sunday, plus 7 and 8 December, 11:00-19:00 |
| Charity Advent market | Alter Markt | 20 November to 22 December | Monday to Thursday 15:00-21:00; Friday 13:00-21:00; weekends and holidays 11:00-21:00 |
| Advent market at the Salzachsee | Schmiedinger Strasse 180 | 20 November to 20 December | Friday 14:00-19:00; Saturday and Sunday 12:00-19:00 |
Each line comes from the market’s own site or from Salzburg’s tourism board. The Christkindlmarkt keeps a fixed rule. It opens on the second-to-last Thursday of November and closes on 1 January, and the tourism board counts about 100 stands. Its programme runs on set evenings. The Turmblasen, Advent music for brass, takes place on the Residenzplatz at 18:30 on the Thursdays of 26 November and 3, 10 and 17 December, and on the Saturdays of 21 and 28 November and 5, 12 and 19 December. The Krampus run crosses the Domplatz on Saturday 5 December, expected at 19:00. The Perchten follow on Monday 21 December. Hellbrunn shuts on Mondays, with one exception: on 21 December it opens from 13:00.
Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and the markets that reach January
Christmas Eve is short everywhere. The Christkindlmarkt opens from 09:00 to 15:00, Mirabellplatz and the Sternadvent from 10:00 to 15:00. Hellbrunn ends its season that day, from 10:00 to 14:00, and the tourism board notes free admission. By then the fortress and the Salzachsee market have closed, both on 20 December, and the charity market on the Alter Markt on 22 December.
Then the city opens again. On 25 and 26 December the Christkindlmarkt and Mirabellplatz both trade from 11:00 to 18:00. From 27 to 30 December the Christkindlmarkt returns to its usual hours, while Mirabellplatz runs from 10:00 to 19:00. New Year’s Eve brings the late finish: the stalls selling goods on the Domplatz stay open until at least 18:00, and selected food stalls until 01:00. Mirabellplatz closes at 19:00 that night, with its food stalls open later. Its last day is 31 December. The Christkindlmarkt follows on 1 January, from 11:00 to 18:00. The Sternadvent goes furthest of all, turning into a winter market in the Sternbräu courtyard from 1 to 6 January, open from 11:00 to 18:00.
Five Key hotels, from the Getreidegasse to the Fuschlsee
| Keys | Hotel | Address | Rooms | Closest markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three | Rosewood Schloss Fuschl | Schloss-Strasse 19, Hof bei Salzburg | 98 | Outside the city, by the Fuschlsee |
| Two | Schloss Mönchstein | Mönchsberg 26 | 24 | Sternadvent and the Christkindlmarkt, below the Mönchsberg |
| One | Hotel Goldener Hirsch | Getreidegasse 37 | 70 | Sternadvent, Christkindlmarkt |
| One | Hotel Goldgasse | Goldgasse 10 | 16 | Christkindlmarkt, Alter Markt |
| One | Hotel Sacher Salzburg | Schwarzstrasse 5-7 | 110 | Mirabellplatz, Christkindlmarkt across the Salzach |
MICHELIN’s 2026 list gives Salzburg one hotel at Three Keys, one at Two and three at One, eight Keys and 318 rooms in all, as set out in our guide to Salzburg’s Key hotels. The Three Keys go to Rosewood Schloss Fuschl, in Hof bei Salzburg on the Fuschlsee. It is a drive from the old town. The other four are in the city. Hotel Goldener Hirsch, with 70 rooms on the Getreidegasse, is close to the Sternadvent, whose courtyard opens between the Getreidegasse and the Griesgasse. Hotel Goldgasse has 16 rooms on the lane of the same name, a short walk from both the Alter Markt and the Residenzplatz. Hotel Sacher Salzburg stands on the right bank of the Salzach, near Mirabellplatz, with the Domplatz across the river. Schloss Mönchstein, at Two Keys, has 24 rooms on the Mönchsberg above the old town, and its restaurant, The Glass Garden, holds a MICHELIN Star.
Ikarus, SENNS and The Glass Garden: seven Stars across five tables
The 2026 MICHELIN Guide Austria gives the city two restaurants with Two Stars, Ikarus and SENNS.Restaurant, and three with One: The Glass Garden, Esszimmer and Pfefferschiff. SENNS.Restaurant, on Söllheimerstrasse, is listed from Tuesday to Saturday in the evening. Ikarus is on Wilhelm-Spazier-Strasse. Its MICHELIN page shows only Friday and Saturday lunch, so ask the restaurant about its December evenings.
The Glass Garden is the one to note. It is the only table of the five that MICHELIN lists as open on Sunday and on Monday, the two days when the other four are listed as closed. Esszimmer, on the Müllner Hauptstrasse, is one of them. Pfefferschiff, at Söllheim outside the centre, opens from Tuesday to Saturday. MICHELIN gives no holiday hours for 24, 25, 26 or 31 December, so book those evenings directly with each restaurant.
Railjets from Vienna, trains from Munich and the trolleybus to the Domplatz
Salzburg Hauptbahnhof is about 20 minutes on foot from the old town, or 10 minutes on trolleybus lines 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, according to the tourism board’s station page. The market’s directions page gives the simplest route: lines 3, 5 or 6 to the Rathaus stop, then a few steps across the Alter Markt to the Residenzplatz. From Vienna, two Railjets an hour run to Salzburg, and the fastest, the Railjet Xpress, takes 2 hours 25 minutes. Munich is from 1 hour 40 minutes away. Zurich, from 6 hours 30. Munich’s own markets run until Christmas Eve, as set out in our Munich guide, which puts both cities within one week of Advent.
The Luxury.it perspective
Salzburg is the market for the days after Christmas. The Christkindlmarkt reopens on 25 December, the Domplatz stalls run until 1 January and the Sternadvent until Epiphany, so a stay from 26 December into the New Year still finds the squares lit. Before Christmas, a weekend between 27 November and 20 December is the only time all seven markets in the table are open, the fortress and the Salzachsee included. Stay at the Goldener Hirsch or the Goldgasse, and the Domplatz, the Alter Markt and the Sternbräu courtyard are all on foot. For a Starred dinner at the start of the week, The Glass Garden is the only one listed as open. For a few days on the slopes afterwards, our guide to the Key hotels of the Austrian Alps covers the ski resorts.
Related guides
Vienna Christmas markets 2026 · Prague Christmas markets 2026 · Hamburg Christmas markets 2026 · Austria’s Two-Key hotels
