Christmas here starts when the tree lights up on Hlavné námestie and the Old Town fills with stalls of Slovak food, gifts and candles. Just across the border, Austria adds palace and city markets that make easy day trips, with gingerbread decorating, pony rides and skating in front of City Hall. Here's what we checked, from the main square to Vienna's Rathausplatz.
Bratislava's main Christmas market fills Hlavné námestie in the Old Town with stalls of Slovak and international holiday food, gifts, candles and Christmas ornaments.
Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free options are part of the mix, and some stalls are run by nonprofits sharing their work. It suits an easy come-and-go stroll with kids of any age.
A traditional Christmas market on the Schloss Hof palace estate in Austria, built around crafts, festive food, brass and choir music, and a children's world.
Kids decorate gingerbread, make a Christmas keepsake, write a wish letter to the Christ Child and ride a pony, while the estate's animals act out the nativity. It suits younger kids more than teens.
The Vienna Christmas Market fills Rathausplatz, the square in front of Vienna City Hall, and is considered one of Europe's biggest Christmas markets. Kids come for the lights, the stalls and Ice Dream, the ice rink set between the Burgtheater and City Hall.
It works well as a day trip from Bratislava: browse the market, then go skating.
Christmas here starts when the tree lights up on Hlavné námestie and the Old Town fills with stalls of Slovak food, gifts and candles. Just across the border, Austria adds palace and city markets that make easy day trips, with gingerbread decorating, pony rides and skating in front of City Hall. Here's what we checked, from the main square to Vienna's Rathausplatz.
Bratislava's main Christmas market fills Hlavné námestie in the Old Town with stalls of Slovak and international holiday food, gifts, candles and Christmas ornaments.
Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free options are part of the mix, and some stalls are run by nonprofits sharing their work. It suits an easy come-and-go stroll with kids of any age.
A traditional Christmas market on the Schloss Hof palace estate in Austria, built around crafts, festive food, brass and choir music, and a children's world.
Kids decorate gingerbread, make a Christmas keepsake, write a wish letter to the Christ Child and ride a pony, while the estate's animals act out the nativity. It suits younger kids more than teens.
The Vienna Christmas Market fills Rathausplatz, the square in front of Vienna City Hall, and is considered one of Europe's biggest Christmas markets. Kids come for the lights, the stalls and Ice Dream, the ice rink set between the Burgtheater and City Hall.
It works well as a day trip from Bratislava: browse the market, then go skating.
