Naschmarkt

Naschmarkt was so... uninteresting?

Beginning life as an al fresco produce market, Naschmarkt has evolved into a semi-covered open air farmer's market/food court/flea market featuring upwards of 100 stalls. I was hoping that it'd be delightful but this blocks-long enterprise was so lacking in energy and originality that it was really more of a snooze. A similar place in Montreal (Marche Jean-Talon) is vibrant and interesting but the secret sauce that makes it so has completely eluded Naschmarkt. Here, stall after stall sells fresh produce, nuts, dried fruits, cured meats, and spices with a ton of repetition. Some shops are interspersed in the mix as well as several restaurants and, at the tail end, a section of vendors selling non-food items, most the same as the vendor two stalls away. Any vibrancy Naschmarkt may have was not on display the day I visited.

Before completing my walk-through I stopped for drinks in one of the places with outdoor seats, midway through. As I sat drinking I could see the space beginning to fill up a bit, with office workers joining up for a post-work drink, bringing the whole place a dab of desperately needed vibrancy.

Billed as Vienna's most popular market a stop at Naschmarkt seems preordained for tourists. For the optimal experience I'd recommend you time your visit to whenever this place is at its busiest. Admittedly, I don't know when that is but if you come at an off time expect the energy here to be DOA.

Why bother and waste of time.

It's most disgusting that same type of shop with same type of guys in your face harassing visitor to sample their food. They are so obnoxious and aggressive behavior. After you seen couple shop, you've seen it all. At least spending time at a zoo, you will be entertained by actual monkeys.

Save your time. Don't visit here

Great place to visit to try fresh food, purchase ingredients, hand crated items and have a chill time with friends & family at the restaurants and pubs. Had a blast during our recent visit; spend an evening full of good food, drinks and conversations. Note - the stores close by around 1800hrs. But the eateries stay open till around 2200 or later.

Yelp Review 2023 #32:

I was very excited to visit this market. I checked Yelp, Google, and some websites to find out when they open. All said 6am. It's about a 12-minute walk from my hotel so, I got to Naschmarkt at 6:12am and it was a ghost town. I kept walking around to find signs of life but nothing.

It was cold, dark and foggy. The stalls seemed promising with a variety of interesting food, drinks, and ingredients that I would've wanted to buy. But no signs they were going to be closed or anything. I checked their business listing again, they were supposed to be open. BUT NOT!

I gave up at 6:30am. I was hungry and also needed a bathroom.

Naschmarkt is an open air market in Vienna spanning several streets. They have several casual restaurants, delis, nuts, dried fruits, produce, Middle Eastern goods, souvenirs, clothing, cheeses, etc.

I had stopped by during lunch time looking for a bite to eat, but found all the restaurants to be over priced here. I finally settled on a Viennese restaurant and had chicken schnitzel with potatoes (20 euros). It tasted just ok. I also ended up getting some nuts from another vendor, but found those to be pricey. The Turkish food stalls looked interesting and I settled on some falafel from one of the places. Unfortunately it was not crispy as it was sitting out for some time. Other vendors were selling sweets but flies were swarming all over his goods.

Overall, I would pass on this place. It's a total tourist trap and you are better off spending your time and money else where. Nothing really stood out at this place.

Get here as early as you can for the best selection, 6 am. Start at the rear of the market and work your way up to the food. Go one stop beyond Karlsplatz to Kettenbrückengasse to be at the rear. (ie, ignore google maps, heresy!) Prices vary wildly. Bargain for sure. The prices I was quoted for two different things were so high, I didn't want to begin the bargaining process (I'm pretty unforgiving ) For example, the seller wanted 100€ for a pair of brass hooks with horse heads on them. One of them was damaged. I would have paid 25€ for the one in better condition. That would have been a difficult negotiation, and I just didn't feel like making the effort. In contrast, there was a table where all of the clothing was 1€ each. We went on Saturday. I don't know what it's like on weekdays. It looked closed on Sunday, except for a few restaurants. Go here!

Lots of variety of foods and stalls, I was overwhelmed in a good way! I tried this apple pastry for a few euros. Great value and it's also a great activity to do when traveling to Vienna.

Very disappointed that this has turned into a tourist trap. We visited 5 years ago and enjoyed strolling the market, but sadly now the stalls seem to be identical, selling the exact same dried fruit and nuts and Turkish food. There are at least 5 stalls with identical inventory, down to the display. There is nothing Viennese or local about the market!
Worst of all, the sellers were quite aggressive and rude. I later read some reviews on google that many visitors have been scammed there, forced to overbuy (faked scale) or sold overpriced food that had gone bad.
The remaining shops and stalls are mostly full of cheap souvenirs and mass produced clothing from China.
If you must go, it may be OK for a glass of wine or beer at one of the mini restaurants. Food seemed overpriced/touristy, but haven't tried any myself.

This place is awesome. I should have taken more pics. It's an open market that sits in the middle of these streets and is generally locked off from car traffic. There are a ton of restaurants almost all of them have outside sitting. It ranges from Italian, to steaks, to Thai, all sorts of different foods. Made me want to eat at all of them.

In addition to all these restaurants are all the booths selling mostly food. Lots of cheese, pickled food, Greek dessert, candy, etc. I had a piece of baklava from one of the booths and I couldn't believe it. It had to be some of the best baklava I've ever had. It was dripping with honey.

At the tail end of it (or beginning depending on what direction you started) is a flea market. So you can peruse all sort of gewgaws.

Nice market!

It was half opened in terms of shops when winter was here.

Nonetheless, great scene and market to stroll through and yummy eats! I adore the selections of unfamiliar cheeses, food deli items, my newfound delight of white wine warm, hot dogs, beer and more!