The beautiful city with one of Europe's prettiest high streets and best Christmas markets

When it comes to Christmas markets, Paris or Nuremberg's famous Christkindlesmarkt might spring to mind first. But there's another European gem that truly comes alive in winter, and that's beautiful Vienna. Austria's capital city offers one of the most magical festive experiences on the continent. At the heart of it all is the Christkindlmarkt Wien, the city's biggest and most iconic Christmas market and also one of the largest Christmas markets in Europe.

Held on Vienna's Rathausplatz, the square directly in front of the town hall, this enchanting market has its roots dating back to the 1600s. Today, it features over 100 wooden stalls selling a range of festive items from handcrafted wooden toys and festive candles to intricate tree decorations and traditional gifts.

The entire square is strung with lights, the scent of spiced punch, mulled wine, Bratwurst, Kaiserschmarrn pancakes, and roasted chestnuts fills the air, and Christmas carols echo around the giant tree. In Rathauspark, children can hop aboard the charming Christkindl Express train while nativity stories are read aloud each evening.

During the festive period, Vienna's beautiful streets are also filled with festive lights and a magical atmosphere. Each year, over two million lights are installed in 32 of its streets.

Its main shopping boulevard, Kärntner Straße, transforms into a winter fairytale, lined with glowing shopfronts and twinkling overhead lights from November onwards and the street is entirely reserved for pedestrians, making it an even more pleasant experience.

Make sure you don't miss Graben either, with its chandelier-style light displays that dangle above the street and, of course, the grand Pestsäule, which glows in a golden light among all the other light displays.

At the top end of Graben, in Stock-im-Eisen-Platz, the lights are officially celebrated each year in a special ceremony led by Vienna's mayor, complete with live choral singing that echoes through the historic square.

One TripAdvisor user wrote that the Christkindlmarkt Wien market was "the best Christmas market [they had] ever seen."

Someone else wrote: "Love this place! It's the best Xmas market in Vienna, big, busy, beautiful, gets bigger every year! The location is something special & the set up is fab, stalls gallore, lots of places to eat. Thus market was the reason we booked to come back to Vienna & will be why we come back again!"

Another visitor said about Kärntner Straße: "One of the best destinations in Europe, it has a lot of history, it is very picturesque, it has many things to do, Vienna is a little gem."

Brooke from London also said: "This very grand and elegant shopping street is a pedestrian zone only. You can stroll from one brand store to the next without worrying about cars. Here you will find all the designer brands you could wish for. Plenty of restaurants and cafés too. Decoration before Christmas is wonderful."