In November, the Swiss town Aarau hosts the one-day Rüeblimärt (aka “Carrot Market”), with market stands selling a wide variety of carrots and carrot-themed food and crafts.
Keep reading to learn everything you need to know to visit the Aarau Carrot Market.
Quick info
| Event | Rüeblimärt Aarau |
| Date: | First Wednesday in November – 5 Nov 2025 7:30 – 18:00 |
| Location: | Aarau old town on Graben street |
| Website: | www.rueblimaert-aarau.ch |
What is the Aarau Carrot Market
The “Rüeblimärt” is a one-day market celebrating carrots, agriculture, and nature. It is held in the Aarau old town annually on the first Wednesday of November. It attracts 30,000 visitors, one of the largest markets of its kind in Switzerland.
The Aarau old town cobblestone streets are lined with 140+ market stands. They sell up to 60 varieties of carrots, plus other produce, carrot-flavored sweet and savory foods, and carrot-themed crafts.
Besides the market stalls, there are concerts throughout the day and art exhibitions.
The market is open from 7:30 – 18:00. But we definitely recommend visiting in the morning if possible. About 2 hours is plenty of time to see all the stands.
We arrived at 9:15 and it was bustling, but not too crowded. By 11:00, it was so crowded, we could hardly walk through the market.
How to get there
The carrot market is in the Aarau old town on Graben street. It’s about a 7 min walk from the Aarau train station. It’s best to travel via public transport since the limited parking fills up quickly on market day.
By train
Take a train to Aarau, then short walk to the market. Here are some sample travel times from main cities:
- from Zurich – 25 mins
- from Lucerne – 50 mins
- from Basel – 43 mins
- from Bern – 38 mins
By car
We suggest the Bahnhof-Parking garage near the Aarau train station. It’s located near Poststrasse 24, Aarau.
Exploring the market
Even if you aren’t shopping for carrots, just enjoying the beautiful produce and fun carrot decorations makes the visit worth it.
The food art was fun and creative, even if they can’t really compete with the Jucker Farm pumpkins.
Around lunchtime, these giant bunnies were roaming the market, posing for pics and handing out treats.
Shopping for carrots & veg
If you want to buy carrots, you’ll be spoiled for choice. Many farmers have stands selling lots of carrots and other vegetables. Most carrots are sold in pretty bundles with the greens attached.
Some stalls sell carrots without the tops.
Many other vegetables are also on offer, like potatoes, beets, onions, garlic, and ginger with the tops, as shown below.
For gifts, we liked the carrot box shown below. A couple stands sold onion braids like you’ll find at the Bern onion market at the end of November.
There were many carrot-flavored food stuffs for cooking and baking at home. We bought the carrot shaped pasta and ravioli with carrot filling, which were fun but honestly, not that special to eat at home.
So many carrot foodstuffs on offer. But you have to wonder which ones are worth it. We tried the carrot “Knackerbrot” cracker mix to bake at home and it was ok. I think next time I would get the pickled carrots.
Carrot cake & sweet treats
The most popular treat is carrot cake, aka Rüeblikuchen. You’ll find a wide variety of shapes, sizes and flavors, some more delicious than others. If you want to bake Swiss-style carrot cake, try this Rüeblitorte recipe from Helvetic Kitchen.
Most booths sell smaller portions of the cakes in loaf, slice or cupcake form.
If you need to bring home a gift, we suggest these carrot themed cookies, which are very cute and easier to transport than the cake.
Savory carrot eats
We were a little surprised that the market did not have a lot of ready-to-eat food stands. Besides the basic Bratwurst, here are the few things we found to eat.
A few bakery stands sold carrot flavored bread. We tried two which were very tasty, but not a strong carrot flavor.
We tried a carrot “Wähe”, aka quiche. Not amazing. But the carrot soup in bread bowls was delicious, would recommend. I also liked the yogurt with a sweet carrot puree.
Carrot beverages
Freshly pressed carrot juice was a popular item. One stand hollowed out carrots and poured in a shot of fresh ginger/carrot juice – very fun!
For home use, you could buy carrot syrup and a “Rüebli-Märt” tea with flavored fruit and carrots.
Arts & crafts
Some booths sell carrot-themed handicrafts, clothing, and home decor.
Planning your day
Lunch
In addition to market stalls, the Aarau Markthalle has stands selling typical market food and drink.
If you need a more substantial lunch than you can find in the market and want to sit down, there are lots of restaurants with a short walking distance of the market. Here are a couple you might try:
- Pizza – Ninni Aarau Pizzeria
- Burgers – Smash Meat
- Traditional Swiss – Altstadt or Restaurant Speck
- Modern cafe with good coffee – Little Sem or Café el Dorado
Toilets
On our last visit, there were portable toilets at the Kasinopark in the market and next to the Markthalle. Or you could try the Coop City department store.
Lockers
There are lockers at the market and Aarau train station, for a fee.
