What to see in Vienna. Vienna is the capital of Austria, located next to the Danube River and stands out for its imposing buildings.
Our itinerary will be 3 days which is what we have dedicated, but I can tell you that it was little, at least one more was needed.
Before starting, I tell you that here the Vienna Pass was our ally, it helped us to visit everything we saw without getting almost any extra tickets and often with quick access. As always I detail them in each attraction
Indice:
Day 1 What to see in Vienna
Stephanplatz
We will begin this tour of what to see in Vienna at Stephanplatz, the nerve center of the city. Later we will show you our accommodation which was just a few steps away from here.
St. Stephen’s Cathedral
We turn just our eyes inside the square and we find one of the most beautiful rooftops I have ever seen, St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
Built between 1137 and 1147, it is in Romanesque, Gothic style and of Catholic worship.
The interior is very worthwhile, free admission, access to the central nave with audio guide costs € 6.
But what I recommend you do is go up to the terrace, from where apart from getting some very good views of the city you will be able to admire the roof up close, the design is beautiful. The climb is by elevator and the cost is € 6.
►Taking a free tour of Vienna is also a good idea to have the first contact with the city.
Plague Column
We found the Plague Column, this baroque monument was erected in 1679 after the great plague of Vienna.
We leave this wonder and head towards the place where we will spend the next few hours of the day. The Hofburg Palace. But first we stop to admire the baroque-style St. Peter’s Church. Free entry.
Hofburg Palace
We come to the other essential thing to see in Vienna, the Hofburg Palace.
It was this winter residence of royalty, and is today one of the largest palace complexes in the world that includes the royal apartments, museums, library, church, and riding school.
The entire complex, as I was saying, includes many things, so you can do some of them each day since they have separate entrances. Most of them are included in the Vienna Pass and this is one of the places where I convinced myself that it had been a good idea to get it.
Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartments
Until the end of the monarchy in 1918, the Vienna Hofburg was the residence and workplace of the imperial family.
If there is something we have surely heard of before going to Vienna, it is Elizabeth of Bavaria, the Empress Sisi, whose story has come down to us from the novels of Marcel D’isard, the film starring Romy Schneider or more recently the Netflix series The Empress. So the first visit we will make will be to the Sisi museum.
In it we will see a little of its history, its costumes, and chambers. All with an audio guide that takes you through the rooms, the pity is that you cannot film or take photographs so we have not been able to document it for you. The number of people is large so if you can do it in the morning it will always be better. €17.50, included in Vienna Pass. The Sisi Museum, the Imperial Apartments and the Court Silver Collection can be visited with the same ticket.
Spanish Riding School
The Spanish Riding School, founded in 1565, is one of Austria’s most important cultural assets and is considered a true institution.
For the school you must book a time even if you already have the Vienna Pass, and it is right there on the day, if you go in the morning when it opens at 9 am you will find to see the practices of the day. Therefore, it may be a good idea to come here first to book the ticket and then start the day’s tour.
You get access to the internship, not the performance, it takes place on specific dates and prices start at €30. ►Web Vienna Riding School
The performance may not be on a day when you can attend or the price may be a bit high, so going to see the horse practices is a great option, whether you like horses or want to admire this palatial riding hall, which is one of the most beautiful in the world. The entrance fee for the practices is €16 and is included in the Vienna Pass.
You can’t film or take pictures here either.
Let’s go now to a place that I recommend you see
National Library of Vienna
The Great Hall of the Austrian National Library is one of the most beautiful historical library halls in the world. It was built by Emperor Charles VI. The hall was built between 1723 and 1726.
The beauty of this library is well worth the recommendation to add it to your list of “what to see in Vienna”. The entrance fee is €10 and is included in the Vienna Pass.
Imperial Treasury of Vienna
The most important Imperial Treasury in the world is in the Hofburg in Vienna, including imperial crowns. The entrance is €14 and is included in the Vienna Pass. As you can see, there are many things to do in the Hofburg but as they have separate tickets you can do them on different days. The sum of all the tickets is quite a lot of money but they are included in the tourist pass, so it can be a good option. We continue
►Entrance to the Imperial Treasury of Vienna
Church of the Augustinians
Located on the west side of the Imperial Palace, we will visit the Church of the Augustinians. Many marriages of the imperial family took place here, including the marriage of Maria Theresa and Francis Stephen in 1736 and of Emperor Francis Joseph I and Sisi in 1854.
Admission is free and well worth entering.
Weltmuseum
The Weltmuseum is one of the most important ethnological museums in the world and is located in the most recent part of the Hofburg. Among other things, it houses the Moctezuma headdress. The entrance fee is €16 and is included in the Vienna Pass.
Imperial Crypt
The Imperial Crypt (Capuchin Crypt) is located beneath the Capuchin Church on the Neuer Markt, close to the Hofburg. The remains of 149 members of the Habsburg family have been buried here since 1633.
The tour is done quite quickly, the entrance fee is €8.50 and is included in the Vienna Pass.
The Albertina
Here I leave you another option for a visit that is also very close. It is located in the monumental Albertina Palace, adjacent to the Hofburg, but which we have not done due to lack of time, and that is the visit to the Albertina Museum.
It is home to one of the largest and most significant graphic collections in the world, you can visit Habsburg salons and works by artists such as Monet, Cézanne, Klimt or Picasso among many other things.
The ticket price is €18.90 and is included in the Vienna Pass.
Vienna State Opera House
We ended the day at another elegant venue, the Vienna State Opera.
To visit the Vienna Opera you must book a time slot on the tour in Spanish. The entrance fee is €13 and is included in the Vienna Pass. If you have purchased the tourist pass you must go to the website and book a time slot for the tour in Spanish. We did this as soon as we picked up the pass at the pass office and immediately booked the time slot, getting it for the same day.
If you want to see a show in it, I leave you the website of the Vienna Opera
Throughout the tour we use the map to be able to guide us in the itinerary, for this and many more things we need internet. We travel with Holafly eSims, which have unlimited internet throughout Europe. Discount code: EUROPAACOMPANADA5
Want more information? we have a special post explaining how to use them► Our experience with Holafly eSims
Book a guided tour of Vienna and the Opera House
The visit is guided in Spanish and lasts 40 minutes. As I said, you must have a reservation in advance and be there before that time to get into the hall since there are a lot of people.
The Opera House was severely damaged in one of the bombing raids during World War II. After the end of the war in May 1945, it was announced that reconstruction work would begin immediately. The project called for the reconstruction of the hall in a similar design to the original, but with decoration more in keeping with the design trends of the time, although the traditional colours of red, gold and ivory were maintained.
Just like what we said at the Budapest Opera House, it is a visit worth doing.
Speaking of Budapest, have you seen our posts about Budapest and Prague?, if not, I’ll leave them here for you to take a look►What to see in Prague ►What to see in Budapest
Day 2 what to see in Vienna
Today we will dedicate almost entirely to one of the essential visits in Vienna, the Schönbrunn Palace.
Schönbrunn Palace
Schonbrun is to Vienna what Versailles is to Paris, saving the differences, so a visit will be a must.
It is located about 10 kilometers from the center of Vienna and you can go there by metro line U4, getting off at the Schonbrunn stop. If you have purchased a tourist pass, you can also go on the tourist bus, as it is included in the pass.
The price of the Grand Tour, which includes the interior of the Palace, is €29 and is included in the Vienna Pass. Opening hours are 8.30 am. On certain dates, it is advised that you may not be able to find a ticket for that same day, so I recommend going early in the morning, so that this is your first visit.
During the 18th century under the reign of Maria Theresa, what was once the imperial summer residence became the centre of splendorous court life. In 1996, Schönbrunn Palace and Park were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After finishing this tour, you can visit the Glorieta located on Schönbrunn Hill, from where you can get some very beautiful views of the palace.
You can either walk here or take the little train from Schonbrunn to avoid the walk, the cost is €12 and is included in the Vienna Pass. We did it that way.
Imperial Carriage Museum
Within the grounds of Schonbrunn you will find the museum of imperial carriages. The truth is that it was a visit that I enjoyed making, we visited it after finishing the tour of the interior of the palace and the trip to the gazebo.
With splendid carriages, paintings and dresses, it offers a picture of court life between coronations, weddings and travels.
The ticket price is €12 and is included in the Vienna Pass.
You have more activities to do in Schönbrunn, such as the labyrinth, the Orange Garden, the children’s museum of the palace, we show you the ones we did but keep in mind that you can add more things.
To finish this second day we will go to visit an amusement park. We’re going to the Prater.
The Prater
The Giant Ferris Wheel in the Prater Park is one of Vienna’s most iconic landmarks, and if you don’t want to go to the amusement park for all the other attractions, you might want to take a ride on the Ferris wheel. You can get there by metro. Vienna’s metro ticket costs €2.40, with a 24-hour ticket for €8 if you’re going to use it a lot.
Since the end of the 19th century, the Giant Ferris Wheel, one of Vienna’s emblems, has offered beautiful views over the city and is, with its privileged location at the entrance to the Prater amusement park.
The entrance fee is €13.50 and is included in the Vienna Pass.
A tour of the park for my taste is worth it, it looks very lively and many of the attractions very fun, a nice place to end this second day.
Day 3 what to see in Vienna
Our days were coming to an end and as you can see there are many things to do in this city, so we would start by having breakfast at Café Sacher
Café Sacher
Located opposite the Opera House due to the fame of the cake of the same name, it was invented in 1832 by Franz Sacher, who at that time was a young pastry apprentice.
We will go for a walk through the city and we will pass by the Ringstrasse, the Vienna Parliament, the City Hall, the Otto Wagner Pavilion, the Church of St. Charles Borromeo and we will go to enjoy an open-air market. The total route can be long so you can choose to go directly from the café (approximately 1 kilometer) or if you have purchased the tourist pass, take advantage of the fact that it includes the tourist bus during the days covered by the pass.
On the Ringstrasse, more precisely on Maria Theresa Square, we find two immense buildings, one opposite the other: the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Art History. Both were commissioned by the Emperor to house the formidable art collection of the Habsburgs and make it accessible to the public.
Admission to the Vienna Art History Museum costs €21 and is included in the Vienna Pass.
Naschmarkt
Naschmarkt is one of Vienna’s most famous markets, which has been held since the 16th century. Here you will find takeaway food, clothing and many sit-down food stalls.
A walk through it is highly recommended. We are now going to see another palace complex
Belvedere Palace
Linked by a beautiful garden, the complex consists of the two Belvedere palaces (the one above, and the one below), now converted into a museum.
In the Upper Belvedere we find the Belvedere Gallery, which is an important art museum. Its collection includes important works. Among the authors whose works it exhibits are Gustav Klimt, and many people come here attracted by his work The Kiss. This museum contains not only paintings but also other works such as sculptures.
In the lower Belvedere there are temporary exhibitions.
Tickets cost €16.70 for the Upper Belvedere and €14.60 for the Lower Belvedere, with a combined ticket that includes both for €24. Both tickets are included in the Vienna Pass.
We get around again by metro or tourist bus since we are separated by about 2 and a half kilometers and we go to a very striking construction
Hundertwasserhaus
The Hundertwasser House is a municipal residential complex built between 1983 and 1985. The architectural style combines undulating floors and facades, irregular openings, great colour and vegetation.
It is a place although it is not an essential to see in Vienna is striking, and if you have time it is nice to go and see.
Another place to see in Vienna can be the City Park, Stadtpark is one of the oldest parks in Vienna. But as you will see we fall short with the number of days since Vienna has a lot to offer.
Where do we have dinner?, one of the nights we chose a place in front of our hotel, the Reinthaler’s Beisl restaurant. And other Figlmüller nights, for the latter I advise you to make a reservation in advance because it is very popular to go there to try Schtnitzel.
Where do we stay?, the Hotel Graben, very close to Stephanplatz, the hotel is normal, nothing to highlight but the location is excellent, we don’t have breakfast there so we can’t tell you how the breakfast is.
On this visit to Austria we would add a visit to the Mauthausen concentration camp, of which we have a post with explanations of how to make the visit. If you are adding places in this beautiful country I recommend you to check out our visit to Innsbruck. ►What to see in Innsbruck
Map and video of what to see in Vienna
NOTE: The information in this article is based on our own experience, being totally objective. This article contains affiliate links
