Mozart at eight, Klimt by noon. Pick your box.
Which church concert is worth the ticket, how early the Schönbrunn slots go, whether the Wachau beats Hallstatt for one spare day. Reviews of the tours you can book in Vienna, with what each one costs.
Evening
Afternoon
Day out
Any hourThe Musikverein, Schönbrunn, the white stallions and a lake in the Alps.
Most first trips to Vienna hang off these four. What each one costs, and what the people who went say about it.
01The first eveningClassical Concert in the World-Famous MusikvereinA concert at the Musikverein, the hall the New Year’s Concert is broadcast from every 1 January. The acoustics are the reason to go.
02The palace morningSchönbrunn Palace & Gardens Skip-the-Line TourSkip the ticket hall and see the State Apartments with a guide. The gardens behind the palace are free to wander afterwards.
03The white stallionsVienna Spanish Riding School Guided TourBehind the scenes at the Spanish Riding School: the stables and the Baroque Winter Riding Hall, for anyone who missed a performance date.
04The day outHallstatt & Alpine Peaks Day Trip with Skywalk LiftHallstatt and the Alpine lakes in one long coach day. Worth it when the Salzkammergut will not fit into the trip any other way.
A Baroque church, the Golden Hall or a Habsburg palace. In Vienna you choose the room first.
Wherever you sit the programme leans on Mozart, Strauss and Vivaldi. What changes is the room and the price, so here are the three kinds of concert evening and what a seat costs in each.
Schönbrunn, the Hofburg, the Belvedere: three palaces, one long weekend.
Six centuries of one family’s taste, spread across the city. Give Schönbrunn a morning, keep the Hofburg and the Sisi Museum for a grey afternoon, and save the Upper Belvedere for Klimt’s Kiss.
The Belvedere from the garden pond
From the Karlskirche to the Riesenrad: Vienna’s most popular bookings.
Browse every Vienna review →The tours more visitors take than any others in the city, and what each one costs.
1
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Concert in Karlskirche
Spend 75 minutes at Vienna’s Karlskirche for Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, performed by Orchestra 1756 on period instruments. The program may include additional works by Mozart, Bach, Biber, or other composers. Your ticket covers entry; seating position, church temperature, and the changing program are worth checking before you book.
Seats from $40
Read our review →
2
Spanish Riding School Training
from $20
3
Skip-the-cashier-desk-line Giant Ferris Wheel Ride
from $17
4
Schönbrunn Palace & Gardens Skip-the-Line Tour
from $63
5
Light of Creation Votive Church Immersive Light Show
from $25
6
Vienna Spanish Riding School Guided Tour
from $28
7
Classical Concert in the World-Famous Musikverein
from $17
8
Skip-the-Line Sisi Museum, Hofburg and Gardens Tour
from $61
The Danube runs past Vienna, not through it. Go out and meet it.
City cruises leave from the Danube Canal at Schwedenplatz, the Wachau boats sail between Melk and Krems an hour to the west, and the fast boat downriver to Bratislava takes about an hour and a quarter.
Vienna to the Alps and two other capitals: how far each day trip goes.
Road times from the Ring, roughly. Anything past three hours each way is a long day on a coach, so pick one and give it the whole day.
The Wachau1 hour west · apricots, Grüner Veltliner, Melk Abbeyfrom $21
Bratislava1 hour east · by road or riverfrom $73
Budapestabout 3 hours eastfrom $163
Salzburg3 hours west · Mozart’s birthplacefrom $44
Hallstatt3½ hours · lake and salt minefrom $44
Prague4 hours north · the longest dayfrom $183 What a day out in Vienna costs, from a church concert to a private guide.
Every tour on the site, sorted by price. A surprising amount of imperial Vienna costs less than dinner for two.
Museum entries, church concerts, the Riesenrad and walks around the Innere Stadt.
Guided palace tours, dinner on the Danube and the Wachau by coach and boat.
Budapest or Prague in a day, private guides and the Alpine lake days.
Three things Vienna does that no other capital bothers with.
Plenty of cities have palaces and orchestras. Only this one keeps a riding school from the sixteenth century, a coffee-house culture on Austria’s UNESCO heritage list and working vineyards inside the city limits.
The Lipizzaners of the Hofburg
The Lipizzaner stallions perform in the Winter Riding School, a Baroque hall built inside the Hofburg in the 1730s. The horses are born dark and turn white over six to ten years. Morning exercise costs a fraction of a gala performance and shows the same horses at work.
- 1Spanish Riding School Training★★★★★★★★★★ 3.9 · 9,281 reviews
- 2Vienna Spanish Riding School Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 6,765 reviews
- 3Performance Of The Lipizzans At Spanish Riding School★★★★★★★★★★ · 4,190 reviews
The Viennese Coffee House
A coffee house sells time as much as coffee: one Melange buys a marble table, the papers on their wooden holders and no pressure to leave. The glass of water arrives unasked. Add a slice of Sachertorte or apple strudel and the afternoon is spoken for.
- 1Hard Rock Cafe with Set Menu for Lunch or Dinner★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 643 reviews
- 2Vienna Coffee, Cake & Pastries Tour with Local Stories★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 470 reviews
- 3Guided Foodie Walking Tour with Tastings and Coffee★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 246 reviews
The Heuriger
Vienna grows serious wine inside its own borders, mostly Grüner Veltliner and the field blend called Gemischter Satz. A Heuriger is a winemaker’s own tavern on the northern hills, pouring this year’s wine beside a cold buffet. A pine branch over the door means it is open.
- 1Wachau Valley Wine Tasting Bike Tour from Vienna★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 829 reviews
- 2Countryside Half Day Wine Tour near Vienna★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 545 reviews
- 3Wachau Valley Small-Group Tour and Wine Tasting from Vienna★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 540 reviews
Four Vienna bookings that will not wait until you land.
Most of the city can be decided over breakfast. These four run on set dates, capped halls and timed entry.
- 01Performance Of The Lipizzans At Spanish Riding SchoolPerformances run on set dates, mostly at weekends, and the good seats go weeks ahead. Morning exercise is the fallback.
- 02Schönbrunn Palace & Gardens Skip-the-Line TourEntry to the State Apartments is by timed slot, and in summer the morning slots are gone days in advance.
- 03Classical Concert in the World-Famous MusikvereinThe Golden Hall seats fewer than two thousand, and the summer Mozart programmes fill it.
- 04Christmas Markets TourThe markets open in mid-November and close around Christmas. Outside that window there is nothing to tour.
When the wind off the Danube plain cuts through your coat, Vienna moves indoors.
Winter days here are short and grey, and the wind is raw. The city was built for it: museums with a whole room of Bruegels, coffee houses that keep you for hours, a concert every night of the week and kitchens that will teach you strudel.
By place: the city and the roads out of it
By kind of day: music, palaces, food or the road
New Vienna tour reviews, fresh off the Ring.
Every review added this month →
Kunsthistorisches Museum Guided Tour incl. admission
Read our review →
Klimt Villa (Gustav Klimt Atelier & Museum) Ticket
Read our review →
Johann Strauss – Immersive Audiovisual Experience Ticket
Read our review →
Johann Strauss 200th birthday anniversary exhibition
Read our review →
