Naschmarkt Vienna

I love food, it is one of my favorite things about travel. So I am always especially interested in visiting historic markets when visiting new places. Naschmarkt Vienna is definitely worth the visit if you are looking for a local experience.

Naschmarkt Vienna

We visited Naschmarkt Vienna on Christmas Eve, in researching it seemed like going late morning was the best time. Many locals and local business buy meat and produce here so in the tradition of not being pest, avoiding times popular with locals is best. So please avoid early morning.

The market has been operational since the 16th centurty, first mostly selling milk, then eventually produce and now everything from spices to meats and even includes a flea market on Saturdays. It is a sort of two lane walking strip between the streets. One entire side of kilometer and half market is resturants and cafes, the other produce, spice, dried fruits and nuts, pastries, meat, seafood, coffee, tea, you name it they have it. Had I known the volume and variety of food that would be available I probably wouldn’t have bought so much at our neighborhood store, we could have been well stocked over Christmas with high quality food from this market alone.

Late morning it seemed like the majority of the restaurants were closed, though a couple cafes were open and despite the time of day it was still fairly crowded. The market website suggest afternoons as more of the restaurants would be open then. The walkways are not wide and it could definitely be a spot to look out for pickpockets. But like all areas of Vienna it is perfectly safe. Though you will have to fend off the hundreds of market owners trying to get you to try their products, or just given in to the culinary adventure and enjoy all the random offerings. If you like food and you like local experiences I cannot recommend the Naschmarkt Vienna enough.