The Best Places to See Krampus
Seven Alpine towns where horned Krampus and Perchten run the streets in late November and early December — including Austria's smallest town, which drums on petrol tanks.
In the Alps, early December belongs to Krampus: the horned, fur-covered companion of St Nicholas, who rewards the good children while Krampus deals with the rest. The night of 5 December, the eve of St Nicholas' Day, is Krampusnacht, and across Tyrol, Salzburg and Styria, groups in carved wooden masks and cowbells run through town centres in the days around it. Perchten — figures from older Alpine winter customs — often run alongside them.
It is loud, it is rough, and it is not staged for visitors. Runners carry switches and the crowd gets jostled; stand back from the barrier with small children. These seven run in calendar order.
Schladming, in Styria, is expected to open the season on Saturday 21 November with one of the biggest runs in the Alps — around 800 Krampus, witches and other figures last year, from the Planai stadium to the main square. Check the organiser's site, as the date isn't officially confirmed yet. Innsbruck has two: Igls, in the hills above the city, on 29 November, and Krampus and Perchten runs through the city's Christmas markets on 3 and 4 December. Around the Hohe Salve, the SkiWelt's villages hold a run of Perchten meetings and parades between 1 and 6 December.
Lienz, in East Tyrol, has Krampus runs from 3 to 6 December, with a St Nicholas procession for children. Seefeld's Krampus drive on 4 December is one of the largest in Tyrol, with about 30 groups from across the Alpine region. Hallstatt's falls on Saturday 5 December from 6 pm in the market square by the lake: free, with St Nicholas, fire and hot drinks, and only if the weather holds.
Rattenberg, Austria's smallest town, ends it on 6 December with the oddest of them: a Perchten procession in heavy costumes, drummed on instruments made from petrol tanks, with witches dancing around an open fire. Kundl, a few kilometres up the valley, runs its own Perchten and St Nicholas procession the night before.
Schladming
A former mining town in Styria turned big ski resort, host of two Alpine World Ski Championships.
Innsbruck
Tyrol's capital, a medieval bridge town on the Inn with the mountains standing directly over the old town.
SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental
Nine Tyrolean villages sharing one lift network, quiet enough and gentle enough that most of it works for a family with mixed abilities.
Lienz
The medieval capital of East Tyrol, on the far side of the main Alpine ridge from the rest of the state.
Seefeld
An old farming and pilgrimage village on a high plateau north-west of Innsbruck, now a cross-country skiing resort.
Hallstatt
A lakeside salt town under the Dachstein that gave its name to an Iron Age culture — and is crowded enough to visit in winter.
Rattenberg
Austria's smallest town — about 400 people on ten hectares beside the Inn — and a Perchten night on 6 December.