Vienna at eight is a concert hall. At nine it is a palace.
Which Karlskirche night is worth the ticket. What a Schönbrunn timed slot actually saves you. Whether Hallstatt works as a day out of the city. Reviews of every tour you can book in Vienna.
Schönbrunn, the Hofburg, one concert, one long day out.
The four bookings a first Vienna trip hangs off. What each one costs, and what to know before you commit to it.
01The palace morningSchönbrunn Palace & Gardens Skip-the-Line TourThe state rooms run on timed slots and the gardens do not. Take the earliest slot, then walk up to the Gloriette when the coaches arrive.
02The winter palaceSkip-the-Line Sisi Museum, Hofburg and Gardens TourSisi’s apartments, the state halls and the silver collection on one ticket, in the middle of town. The best answer to a wet afternoon.
03The concert nightClassical Concert in the World-Famous MusikvereinThe Musikverein in its own hall, which is the room the recordings come from. Seats go further ahead than anything else in the city.
04The day outHallstatt & Alpine Peaks Day Trip with Skywalk LiftHallstatt, the lake and the skywalk lift, back in Vienna for dinner. A long day, and still the one everybody books.
Vienna plays every night. The only question is which hall.
Vivaldi under the dome at Karlskirche, Mozart in period dress in the Golden Hall, a Strauss evening with dinner out at the Prater. Three kinds of night, and what a seat costs in each.
The Habsburgs left Vienna more palace than city.
Everything at Schönbrunn →
Schönbrunn is a morning, the Hofburg an afternoon, the Belvedere an hour with Klimt. Three palaces, three separate tickets, and only one of them really needs booking ahead.
Rooms, gardens, or both
The state rooms admit a set number every half hour; the gardens are free and open long after. If the flowerbeds and the Gloriette climb are what you came for, skip the palace ticket entirely.
Sisi, the silver and the state halls
One ticket covers the Sisi Museum, the imperial apartments and the silver collection. The Imperial Treasury is a different door in the same courtyard, and it is the one with the crowns in it.
The Kiss, and a garden to walk it off
The Upper Belvedere holds the Klimt rooms, The Kiss among them. Go at opening or late in the afternoon: the middle of the day is a crush around one small painting.
Six Vienna starting points, and the best day out in each.
The summer palace on the edge of town, the winter one in the middle, a Klimt gallery behind a formal garden, the cathedral spire, the wheel over the Prater, and the halls where the music actually happens.
What Vienna books more of than anything else.
Every Vienna review →The tours more travellers take than anything else in the city, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Concert in Karlskirche
Spend 75 minutes inside Vienna’s Karlskirche with Orchestra 1756, a period-instrument ensemble performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Hear Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, plus changing works by Mozart, Bach, Biber, or other major composers. Arrive early, dress warmly, and pay extra for a closer seat if possible.
From · $40
Read our review →
2
Skip-the-cashier-desk-line Giant Ferris Wheel Ride
from $17
3
Schönbrunn Palace & Gardens Skip-the-Line Tour
from $63
4
Light of Creation Votive Church Immersive Light Show
from $25
5
Vienna Spanish Riding School Guided Tour
from $28
6
Classical Concert in the World-Famous Musikverein
from $17
7
Skip-the-Line Sisi Museum, Hofburg and Gardens Tour
from $61
8
Hallstatt & Alpine Peaks Day Trip with Skywalk Lift
from $131
What a day in Vienna actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what it costs. A concert seat and a palace ticket both come in under the price of dinner.
Concert seats, palace and church tickets, gallery entries and the walking tours of the Innere Stadt.
The full days out: Hallstatt, the Wachau, Salzburg and Bratislava, plus the food and wine afternoons.
Private guides, Prague and Budapest by road, and the once-a-trip evenings with dinner attached.
Vienna sits three hours from a lake, an abbey and two capitals.
The Danube runs west into the Wachau terraces and Melk, and east to Bratislava inside an hour. South-west are Hallstatt, the Alpine lakes and Salzburg. All of it is a day, and all of it leaves early.
Three things that only happen in Vienna.
Carriages here are a licensed trade, the coffee house is an institution with house rules, and the city buried its composers together in one enormous park.
The Fiaker
Two horses, a driver in a bowler hat and a trade that has been licensed since 1693. The ranks stand at Stephansplatz, Albertinaplatz and the Hofburg, the short loop runs about twenty minutes and the long one forty, and the fare is set per carriage rather than per head. Four people therefore pay what two do.
- 130-Minute Fiaker Ride in the Old Town★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 30 min
- 2Secrets of the Fiaker & Horse-Drawn Carriage Ride★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1h 30m
- 3Imperial Carriage Museum in Schönbrunn Palace Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1 day
The coffee house
One small black coffee buys the table, the newspapers on their wooden rods and as long as you want to sit there. The waiters are career professionals in black tie, the glass of water keeps being replaced, and the cake counter at the front is the real reason most people come in.
- 1Vienna for Food Lovers: Cafés, Markets & Austrian Cuisine★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 6 hours (approx.)
- 2Hard Rock Cafe with Set Menu for Lunch or Dinner★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1 day
- 3Vienna Coffee, Cake & Pastries Tour with Local Stories★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
The Zentralfriedhof
Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and both Strausses lie in one group of honorary graves, arranged around a monument to Mozart with no Mozart under it. The cemetery covers more ground than the Innere Stadt, runs its own bus line, and keeps deer in the older sections.
- 1Vienna Central Cemetery Guided Walking Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 2 hours
- 2Guided Walking Tour of the Central Cemetery★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 2 hours
- 3Private Walking Tour of the Central Cemetery★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2 hours
Four Vienna bookings that will not wait.
Most of this city can be arranged over breakfast. These four run on seating plans, performance calendars and timed entry slots that take no interest in when you land.
- 01Classical Concert in the World-Famous MusikvereinThe hall seats what it seats and nothing more. The programmes worth flying for are gone months ahead.
- 02Vienna Spanish Riding School Guided TourThe Lipizzaners perform to a published calendar with long summer gaps, and the morning training sessions go before the performances do.
- 03Wachau Valley, Melk Abbey Tour with Danube Boat TripThe Danube boats run from spring to late October and then stop. Out of season the Wachau is a coach ride with the river beside it.
- 04Christmas Markets TourThe markets run from mid-November to Christmas and then the huts come down. There is no version of this in March.
Sleet, drizzle and a January afternoon: Vienna is built for it.
The city spent three centuries building rooms to be indoors in. A gallery the size of a palace, a cathedral, a coffee house with a cake counter, and a concert at eight. None of it cares what the sky is doing.
Vienna gets better once the lights come on.
The Danube runs with the skyline lit behind it, Schönbrunn opens after the coaches leave, and the underground tours only work properly once it is dark.
Every Vienna night out →
Schnitzel, Sachertorte and wine grown inside the city limits.
Vienna is the only capital with commercial vineyards inside its boundary, and the Heuriger taverns on the northern slopes pour their own. Add the market halls, the coffee counters and a schnitzel worth the queue.
By landmark and quarter
By kind of day – hall, palace, table or road
Schönbrunn, the Innere Stadt, a concert, then one long day east or west.
HallstattThe newest Vienna tour reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
World War II History Vienna Old Town Private Walking Tour
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Winery and Wine Tasting Tour with a Wine Expert
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Vienna Urban Art Tour: Explore a different side of Vienna!
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Vienna Supreme Orchestra at Palais Niederösterreich
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