The Austrian Christmas Wonderland of Grossarl Tal

When we stepped off the train in the oddly named St. Johann im Pongau, the place was covered in snow and I honestly thought we’d stepped into a Christmas card.

No matter that the place was, as far as I was concerned, in the middle of nowhere, it was picturesque, quiet and serene. And surrounded by mountains. But the best was still yet to come.

We’d gone there for one thing: to visit the Grossarl Tal Christmas market in the nearby valley town of the same name, which is a favourite haunt for skiers during the winter months. Our apartment was surprisingly one of the most well-equipped and spacious we’d had in almost all of our travels, and after cooking up some dinner and listening to some Christmas music to get us in the mood, we set out into the dark, snowy night to catch the bus to Grossarl.

Winding our way up into the mountains was a bit of a white knuckle ride, but when we pulled into the town, it was like stepping out into a ready made Santa’s grotto. Like the ones you see in malls at this time of year. It was almost TOO picture perfect.

Grossarl Tal has only a small Christmas market and it isn’t as diverse as some we’ve visited this year, but the atmosphere and the snowy mountains made it extra special. People were taking horse-drawn sleigh rides through the town and there was even a blacksmith hammering out personalised lucky horseshoes for visitors.

There were even ponies and goats in custom-made stables to accent the whole nativity scene of the area. And when we climbed the hill to visit the church on the top, we were welcomed with a wonderful view down into the whole valley.

Drinks on offer included mulled wine, hot punch for the kids and locally-made schnapps, while on the food front you could buy waffles, potato chips, chestnuts and a few other things.

Like I said, this market isn’t the biggest or the most impressive, but the scenery and the atmosphere more than make up for it. If you’re going skiing in the area anyway, then you should definitely pay this place a visit. If you’re not, then there are hotels in the town you can stay in for a night or two (although you probably only really need one night as it’s very small), or do as we did and stay in a neighbouring, slightly bigger town like St. Johann.