In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Book a time for Schönbrunn (the Palace Ticket is €42), the Kunsthistorisches Museum (€22 online, timed slots only since 8 September) and the Imperial Treasury (€16, closed Tuesdays). The Spanish Riding School sells a performance, a Morning Exercise and a tour, and weekend performances can sell out. State Opera standing places cost €13 to €18 and are sold only on the day. The Sisi Museum’s museum rooms are closed to 18 November and the new route opens on 19 November. The City Card and Vienna Pass save little. The airport CAT is a bus until the end of October 2027, and the S-Bahn through the centre is closed. Prices are in euros. Or book a tour: the Schönbrunn Palace and gardens tourad (from €63) and the city-centre walking tourad (from €24) put the guide in one booking (GetYourGuide).
What to book before you go
Prices are the adult rate in euros, from the operators. Buy from the operator: search results for Schönbrunn, the Sisi Museum, the Riding School, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Belvedere include sites that are not the operator.
| Sight | Book how far ahead | Adult price | Book at | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Riding School | Booking opens 12 months ahead; weekend performances can sell out | Performance seats €29 to €245, standing €26 to €50; Morning Exercise €17 to €29; tour €24 | srs.at | Cameras are forbidden. No lift or luggage storage |
| State Opera | Seats: the current month and the next two. Standing places: the day only | Seats from €15; standing €13 to €18 | tickets.wiener-staatsoper.at | Standing places are online from 10:00 or at the desk from 80 minutes before |
| Schönbrunn Palace | Online, for a fixed admission time | Palace Ticket €42; Classic Pass €49 to 2 November | imperialtickets.com | From 3 November the palace opens 8:30 to 17:00 |
| Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartments | Online, for a fixed admission time | €15 | imperialtickets.com | Museum rooms closed to 18 November. The new route opens on 19 November |
| Kunsthistorisches Museum | A timed slot is required | €22 online, €24 on site | shop.khm.at | Open daily in October to December. Thursday to 21:00 |
| Imperial Treasury | A timed slot is required | €16 online, €18 on site | shop.khm.at | Closed Tuesdays. €32 with the museum |
| Belvedere | A slot for the Upper and Lower Belvedere; the stay is unlimited | Upper €23, Lower €20, Belvedere 21 €12 | belvedere.at | Klimt’s The Kiss is in the Upper. Under 19 free |
| Sunday Mass, Hofburgkapelle | Seats online or at the desk; standing places free from 8:30 | €14, €22, €38 or €52 | hofmusikkapelle.gv.at | The Girls Choir sings on some Sundays. No phones, cameras or bags |
| Musikverein concerts | General sale about seven weeks ahead | Set by the hall | musikverein.at | Coats and bags are not taken into the hall |
| Riesenrad | No reservation needed | €17 flexible; dated from €14.50 | wienerriesenrad.com | 12 to 15 minutes a ride |
| St Stephen’s Cathedral | No booking | €8 a tower, tour or visit; €29 all-inclusive | stephanskirche.at | Sightseeing at set times. Catacombs by tour only |
- The Habsburg set. Schönbrunn, the Sisi Museum, the Treasury and the Riding School are four tickets with four sellers. The Hofburg has no single ticket.
- The Riding School. The performance, the Morning Exercise and the tour are different products. Spanish Riding School tickets says which to book.
- The Opera. Vienna State Opera tickets has the standing-place sale rules, the €18 tour and the dress rules.
- Concerts. Vienna classical concerts separates the halls’ own programmes from the tourist concerts.
Does a pass pay back?
The Vienna City Card costs €19 for 24 hours, €31 for 48, €37 for 72 and €39 for 7 days. It includes public transport and discounts of €1 to €7 at the big sights. The Vienna Pass starts at €109 for one day. Vienna Pass or Vienna City Card has the sums.
- Sight discounts are small. At the Kunsthistorisches Museum the City Card’s €23 is above the €22 online price, and at the Imperial Treasury its €17 is above the €16 online price.
- Transport costs less on its own. Two 24-hour tickets are €19.40, against €31 for the 48-hour City Card. The 7-day ticket is €28.90 on paper or €25.20 digital, against €39 for the 7-day card.
- The Riding School’s Vienna Pass rule. The pass cannot reserve; its holders can only collect Morning Exercise tickets by 9:15 on the day.
- Under-19s are free at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Albertina, the Belvedere, the Natural History Museum and the Imperial Treasury.
Hours and closed days
| Sight | Hours | Closed or late |
|---|---|---|
| Schönbrunn Palace | To 2 November 8:30 to 17:30; from 3 November 8:30 to 17:00 | Open daily, including public holidays |
| Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartments | 10:00 to 16:30 to 18 November | Museum rooms closed to 18 November |
| Imperial Treasury | 9:00 to 17:30 | Tuesday |
| Prunksaal | October to May, Tuesday to Sunday 9:00 to 18:00; Thursday to 21:00 | Monday, except December 2026 |
| Spanish Riding School visitor centre | 9:00 to 16:00 daily | |
| Kunsthistorisches Museum | 10:00 to 18:00; Thursday to 21:00 | Open daily October to December 2026 |
| Natural History Museum | Thursday to Monday 9:00 to 18:00; Wednesday to 20:00 | Tuesday |
| Albertina | 10:00 to 18:00 | Wednesday and Friday to 21:00 |
| Leopold Museum | 10:00 to 18:00 | Tuesday |
| Upper Belvedere | 9:00 to 18:00 | |
| Lower Belvedere | 10:00 to 18:00 | |
| Belvedere 21 | Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 18:00; Thursday to 21:00 | Monday, except holidays |
| Secession | Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00 | Monday; free on the first Wednesday of the month |
| KunstHausWien | 10:00 to 18:00 | |
| Haus der Musik | 10:00 to 22:00 | |
| Mozarthaus Vienna | 10:00 to 19:00 | |
| Imperial Crypt | 10:00 to 18:00 | |
| Karlskirche | Monday to Saturday 9:00 to 18:00; Sunday 11:30 to 19:00 | |
| St Stephen’s Cathedral | Sightseeing Monday to Saturday 9:00 to 11:30 and 13:00 to 16:30; Sunday 13:00 to 16:30. Towers 9:00 to 19:00 | Cathedral Museum closed on holidays |
| Prater | Free, open round the clock | Most rides closed from 1 November |
Opening times that change
- Mondays: Belvedere 21, the Secession and the Prunksaal (October to May) are closed. The Spanish Riding School has no Morning Exercise.
- Tuesdays: the Leopold Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Imperial Treasury are closed. The Morning Exercise runs from Tuesday to Friday.
- Wednesdays: the Albertina and the Natural History Museum are open late, and the Secession is free on the first Wednesday of the month: 4 November and 2 December 2026.
- Thursdays: the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Belvedere 21 and the Prunksaal are open to 21:00, and the Cathedral Museum to 20:00.
- Fridays: the Albertina is open to 21:00, and the Vienna Boys’ Choir sings concerts at the MuTh on selected Fridays.
- Sundays: the Hofburgkapelle Mass is at 9:15, St Stephen’s sightseeing starts at 13:00, the Karlskirche opens at 11:30, and the Musikverein’s tours do not run.
- 24 December: the Kunsthistorisches Museum closes at 15:00 and the Prunksaal at the same hour.
Free things worth a line
- The Prater and the MuseumsQuartier courtyards are open round the clock.
- The Schönbrunn park is free from 6:30, but the Privy Garden, Orangery Garden, Maze and Gloriette each need a ticket.
- The Hofburgkapelle Mass has free standing places from 8:30.
- The Hundertwasserhaus and Hundertwasser Village are free to look at and walk through. See Hundertwasserhaus and Kunst Haus Wien.
- The Secession is free on the first Wednesday of the month. Vienna museums covers the Albertina, the Leopold Museum and the others.
Vienna’s tourist tax
Hotels and rentals collect the Ortstaxe on top of the room price: 5 per cent of the price, without VAT and breakfast, from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, and 8 per cent from 1 July 2027. Whether a booking site’s total includes it depends on the site.
Getting in from the airport
Vienna Airport is at Schwechat. Vienna airport to the city centre compares the options. The S-Bahn trunk line between Praterstern and the Hauptbahnhof is closed to all trains from 7 September 2026 to the end of October 2027.
- CAT by bus: the City Airport Train runs as a bus until 31 October 2027. It takes 21 minutes non-stop to Wien Mitte (The Mall, Marxergasse 1b), every 12 minutes from 7:00 to 19:00, and costs €14.90 single or €24.90 return. The last bus from the airport is at 23:37. Wien Mitte is not the Hauptbahnhof.
- REX 7 train: to the Hauptbahnhof in about 20 minutes, €5.50. The S7 stops at Wien St. Marx, outside the centre.
- Airport Bus: €11 single, €20 return. Line 1 goes to the Hauptbahnhof and Westbahnhof in 40 minutes, line 4 non-stop to Karlsplatz in 26 minutes and line 5 non-stop to Praterstern in 28 minutes.
- Taxi: Taxi 40100 charges a fixed €42 for up to four passengers when booked ahead.
Getting around
The U-Bahn, trams and buses cover the city, and the centre is walkable. Buy a ticket before you board and validate it. Vienna public transport has the rest.
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Single, 80 minutes in one direction | €3.20 |
| 24 hours | €9.70 |
| 7 days, paper | €28.90 |
| 7 days, digital | €25.20 |
There are no 48-hour or 72-hour tickets from Wiener Linien since 1 January 2026. Children under 6 travel free, and under-15s travel free on Sundays, public holidays and during Vienna school holidays. The U-Bahn runs all night on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Ringstrasse at the Burgring, with the tram tracks down its middle. Photo: Gugerell, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Entry rules for Austria
Austria is in the Schengen area, so the 90 days count across every Schengen country you visit.
| Citizen of | Visa | Passport | At the border |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | None for up to 90 days in any 180 | Issued less than 10 years before you arrive, and valid for at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen area | Fingerprints and a photo taken at your first entry |
| United States | None for up to 90 days in any 180 | Valid for at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen area, and issued less than 10 years ago | Fingerprints and a photo taken at your first entry |
| Canada | None for up to 90 days in any 180 | Valid for at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen area | Fingerprints and a photo taken at your first entry |
| Australia | None for up to 90 days in any 180 | Valid for at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen area, and issued less than 10 years ago | Fingerprints and a photo taken at your first entry |
| EU citizens | None | Valid passport or national ID card | No registration |
The photo and fingerprints are the EU’s Entry/Exit System, which replaces passport stamps for non-EU visitors and has been fully operational since 10 April 2026. It costs nothing and needs nothing before you travel (EU). The ETIAS travel authorisation, a €20 online form for visa-free visitors, is not yet required: the EU says ETIAS is not in operation and will announce the start date several months ahead (ETIAS).
Austria has reintroduced border controls on its Slovak, Czech, Hungarian and Slovenian borders from 16 September 2026 to 15 March 2027. Carry a passport or national ID card on every day trip to Bratislava or Budapest.
The rules above come from the UK, Canadian and Australian government travel pages, the EU’s passport rule for visa-free visitors and its guidance for EU citizens. For official safety advice, see the UK Foreign Office and US State Department pages for Austria.
Day trips
Day trips from Vienna compares every trip by train, boat and tour. Boat sailings on the Danube depend on the water level. The ones with something to know:
- Salzburg: the ÖBB railjet takes 2 hours 25 minutes and the standard fare is €67.70 each way. Advance Sparschiene and Westbahn fares can be much cheaper when booked early.
- Hallstatt: by train it takes about 3 hours 30 to 3 hours 50 with a change and a ferry across the lake, and a coach tour is the other way.
- The Wachau valley: the train to Melk takes about an hour, and boats run on the Danube to Krems.
- Bratislava: the train takes 56 minutes, and you need a passport.
- Budapest: the train takes between 2 hours 24 and 3 hours.
- Mauthausen Memorial: a memorial and the site of a concentration camp. Entry to the grounds is free.
Food, drink and when to go
Where to eat in Vienna lists the restaurants, Viennese coffee houses says what to order, and Heurigen covers the wine taverns. Vienna food tours sets the guided options side by side. Best time to visit Vienna gives the weather by month. For the winter calendar, see Vienna Christmas markets, Vienna New Year’s Eve and Vienna ball season.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- 1 January 2026: Wiener Linien withdrew its 48-hour and 72-hour tickets.
- 1 April 2026: the Imperial Treasury began selling timed tickets only.
- 10 April 2026: the EU Entry/Exit System became fully operational.
- 1 July 2026: Vienna’s Ortstaxe rose to 5 per cent. It rises to 8 per cent on 1 July 2027.
- 7 September 2026: the S-Bahn trunk line through the centre closed to the end of October 2027, and the City Airport Train runs as a bus.
- 8 September 2026: the Kunsthistorisches Museum began selling timed slots only.
- 16 September 2026: Austria’s border controls began on the Slovak, Czech, Hungarian and Slovenian borders, to 15 March 2027.
- 6 October to 18 November 2026: the Sisi Museum’s museum rooms are closed. The new route opens on 19 November.
- 2 November 2026: Schönbrunn’s summer season ends, and the Classic Pass is no longer sold.
Plan the trip
- Where to sleep: where to stay in Vienna compares the areas, and hotels near St Stephen’s Cathedral lists the hotels beside it.
- Getting there and about: Vienna airport to the city centre compares the bus, train and taxi, and Vienna public transport has the fares.
- When to go: best time to visit Vienna covers the seasons, and the Christmas markets, New Year’s Eve and ball season pages the winter dates.
- The sights: Schönbrunn Palace, the Sisi Museum and Hofburg, the Spanish Riding School, the State Opera, the Belvedere, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and St Stephen’s Cathedral each have a ticket guide. Vienna museums, the Prater and Riesenrad, the Vienna Boys’ Choir, Vienna classical concerts and the Hundertwasserhaus cover the rest. Vienna Pass or Vienna City Card runs the pass sums.
- How many days: 3 days in Vienna builds the plan round the bookings.
- Tours: Vienna walking tours and Vienna hop-on hop-off.
- Food and drink: where to eat in Vienna, Viennese coffee houses, Heurigen and Vienna food tours.
- Day trips: day trips from Vienna, with Salzburg, Hallstatt, the Wachau, Bratislava, Budapest and the Mauthausen Memorial.
- Another city: what to book before you go to Berlin has the Reichstag dome form, the Museum Island tickets and the closed days.
Itineraries
Day-by-day plans for a first visit.
Which ticket to buy
The official ticket, the tours that include entry, and which sells out first.
Tickets
Schonbrunn Palace Tickets: Prices, Passes, Tours
Schönbrunn Palace sells six tickets: the Palace Ticket at €42 (about 75 minutes, the whole piano nobile), the State Apartments at €30, the Classic Pass at €49 with the gardens, and a guided tour at €44. Every palace ticket has a fixed admission time. Prices, winter hours from 3 November, and the tours worth paying for.
Tickets
Sisi Museum and Hofburg Tickets: Prices and Hours
The Sisi Museum in the Hofburg sells one day ticket at €15 for the museum and the Imperial Apartments, on fixed admission times. The museum rooms are closed from 6 October to 18 November 2026 and reopen on 19 November with 12 new rooms. Prices, the Imperial Treasury at €16, and how the Hofburg pieces fit.
Tickets
Spanish Riding School Tickets: Show or Training?
The Spanish Riding School sells three things: a performance with seats from €29 and standing from €26, the Morning Exercise training session from €17, and a €24 guided tour. Which to book, how far ahead, the entrances, and why cameras and bags cause problems.
Tickets
Vienna State Opera Tickets: Standing Room, Tours
Vienna State Opera standing places cost €13 to €18 and go on sale only on the day, online from 10:00 or at the standing-room desk from 80 minutes before. Seats start at €15 and are sold for the current month and the next two. Discounts, the €18 tour, the dress rules and what to do if it is sold out.
Tickets
Belvedere Tickets: Klimt's The Kiss, Prices, Slots
Belvedere tickets: the Upper Belvedere, where Klimt's The Kiss hangs, is €23, the Lower Belvedere €20 and the Belvedere 21 €12. The Upper and Lower need a time slot, but your stay is unlimited. The €32 two-in-one ticket, under-19s free, the Gold Pass, hours and the tours.
Tickets
Kunsthistorisches Museum Tickets: Slots and Prices
The Kunsthistorisches Museum has sold timed-slot tickets only since 8 September 2026: €22 online, €24 at the museum, under-19s free, with a €32 combination for the Imperial Treasury. Open daily in October to December. The Bruegel room, Vermeer, the Kunstkammer, hours, bags and the Treasury's Tuesday closure.
Tickets
Museums in Vienna: Prices, Hours and Closed Days
Vienna's museums beyond the big three, with price, hours and closed day for each: the Albertina at €20.90, the Leopold Museum at €19, the Natural History Museum at €18, the Secession's Beethoven Frieze at €13 and free on the first Wednesday, Haus der Musik, the Mozarthaus, the Imperial Crypt and the Karlskirche.
Tickets
St Stephen's Cathedral Tickets: Towers, Catacombs
St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna charges €8 for the self-guided visit, the South Tower (343 steps), the North Tower (lift) and the catacomb tour, and €29 for the all-inclusive ticket with the Cathedral Museum. Visiting times, the English tour at 10:30 and what to do first.
Tickets
Prater and Riesenrad Vienna: Tickets and Hours
The Riesenrad, Vienna's Giant Ferris Wheel, costs €17 for a flexible ticket valid 365 days, or from €14.50 for a dated online ticket. The Wurstelprater funfair is free to enter, with rides at €3.50 to €15 each and most closed from 1 November. Platform 9, the combination tickets and how to get there.
Tickets
Vienna Boys Choir: Sunday Mass and Concerts
The Hofburgkapelle Mass is every Sunday at 9:15, but the Vienna Boys' Choir sings at only some of them: the Vienna Girls Choir sings on others. Free standing places from 8:30, seats at €14, €22, €38 and €52, the Friday concerts at the MuTh from €49, and the dates for 2026 and 2027.
Tickets
Classical Concerts in Vienna: Types, Prices, Venues
Vienna's classical concerts come in three kinds: the halls' own programmes at the Musikverein, Konzerthaus and State Opera; tourist concerts in costume or in palace rooms, from €15 to €135; and church concerts and light shows from €15. What each is, what it costs, and how the Musikverein's sale works.
Tickets
Hundertwasserhaus Vienna: Visit and Kunst Haus
The Hundertwasserhaus at Kegelgasse 36 to 38 is an inhabited apartment block that you can only look at from outside, free, at any hour. The KunstHausWien museum five minutes away costs €16 and is open daily 10:00 to 18:00, and Hundertwasser Village is free. Tickets, photography rules and how to get there.
Tickets
Vienna Pass or Vienna City Card: Which Pays?
The Vienna City Card is €19 for 24 hours, €31 for 48, €37 for 72 and €39 for 7 days, with transport and discounts of €1 to €7. The Vienna Pass starts at €109 for one day. The sums: the card saves €2 to €9 over 72 hours and costs more over 24.
Tickets
Vienna Walking Tours: Free, Paid or by Bike
Vienna walking tours from €22 to €35 for the centre, Good Vienna Tours' free walk that runs on tips from the Albertina at 10:00 and 14:00, World War II, Underworld and cemetery walks, ghost walks after dark, and bike tours at €47 to €49.
Tickets
Vienna Hop-On Hop-Off Bus: Is It Worth It?
Two companies run Vienna's hop-on hop-off buses: Vienna Sightseeing Tours, yellow, with four routes and 50 stops from €25, and Big Bus, red, with two routes from €33. The routes, the evening buses, the Vienna City Card add-on at €34 and when a Wiener Linien ticket does the job.
Day trips from Vienna
Out and back in a day, with the tours compared against going on your own.
Day trip
Day Trips from Vienna: Train, Boat or Tour, Costed
Bratislava is a 56-minute train, Salzburg 2 hours 25 minutes, the Wachau a train to Melk and a Danube boat, and Hallstatt a 13-hour coach tour from €65. The day trips from Vienna compared on fare, time, entry price and what a tour adds.
Day trip
Salzburg Day Trip from Vienna: Train or Tour
Salzburg is 2 hours 25 minutes from Vienna by ÖBB railjet, hourly from Hauptbahnhof, with the last train back at 22:07. The trains and fares, Hohensalzburg Fortress at €15.50, Mozart's Birthplace at €18, the Sound of Music tour and the coach tours from €100.
Day trip
Hallstatt Day Trip from Vienna: Tour or Train
Hallstatt is a 12 to 13 hour coach tour from €62 or a train with a change at Attnang-Puchheim and a ferry, 3 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 50 minutes each way. Four tours compared, the ÖBB fare of €65.10, coach and parking rules, and the salt mine at €49.
Day trip
Wachau Valley Day Trip from Vienna: Melk and Boat
The Wachau is a 53-minute train to Melk Abbey, a DDSG boat down the Danube to Krems and a train home, from €77 with the ÖBB Wachau-Ticket. Boats depend on the water level. The abbey at €16, Dürnstein at €9.50, and coach tours from €119.
Day trip
Vienna to Bratislava: Train, Bus, Boat, Day Trip
Bratislava is a 56-minute ÖBB REX 8 train from Hauptbahnhof every hour, a RegioJet bus at €4.90 or €5.90, or the Twin City Liner boat at €34 to €39. Times, the castle at €14, passport rules to 15 March 2027 and the day tours from €66.
Day trip
Vienna to Budapest: Train, Bus or Day Tour
Budapest is 2 hours 24 minutes to 2 hours 31 minutes from Vienna on RegioJet, four trains a day at €9 to €39.90, or 2 hours 39 minutes to 2 hours 58 minutes on the hourly ÖBB railjet to Keleti. The times, the border rules to 15 March 2027 and the 12 to 13 hour day tours from €135.
Day trip
Mauthausen Memorial from Vienna: How to Visit
Entry to the Mauthausen Memorial is free, with no registration. It is open daily until 26 October 2026 and closed on Mondays from 27 October. The public tour is €8 and runs in English only in July and August. The train from Vienna takes 1 hour 46 minutes to 2 hours 2 minutes, then 4 km.
Where to stay
Areas and hotels, chosen for a visitor rather than a resident.
Where to stay
Where to Stay in Vienna: Areas Compared
For a first visit, stay in the Innere Stadt, inside the Ring: St Stephen's Cathedral is 40 to 520 m from the hotels below. Six areas compared with distances and U-Bahn stations, 19 hotels with rooms and addresses, and the city tax of 5%, rising to 8% on 1 July 2027.
Where to stay
Hotels Near St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna
Ten Vienna hotels from about 40 m to 830 m from St Stephen's Cathedral, in straight lines: Hotel am Stephansplatz, Kaiserin Elisabeth, Wandl, Rosewood, Topazz and Lamée, the Park Hyatt, Sacher, the Guesthouse and two Ring hotels. Rooms, addresses, and the Christmas market on the square.
Airport transfers
From the airport to the centre, every option priced and timed.
Getting around
Tickets, passes and the transport a visitor actually uses.
What's on, month by month
Festivals, holidays and closures that change a visit.
Events
Best Time to Visit Vienna, Month by Month
Vienna month by month from GeoSphere Austria's 1991 to 2020 averages: highs of 17 to 21°C in April, May and September, July the warmest at 26.4°C, 57 hours of sun in December. The Christmas markets from 6 November 2026, the balls, Easter on 28 March 2027 and the summer festivals.
Events
Vienna Christmas Markets 2026: Dates and Hours
Vienna's Christmas markets open on 6 November (Schönbrunn, Stephansplatz), 13 November (Rathausplatz and most others) and 20 November (Belvedere, the Prater). Dates and hours for 13 markets, what each is like, and why most close on 23 December.
Events
Vienna New Year's Eve 2026: Silvesterpfad, Concerts
Vienna on 31 December 2026: the free Silvesterpfad from 14:00 to 02:00 on eight sites, the midnight waltz and Pummerin bell, the Philharmonic New Year's Concert (a lottery that closed in February), the State Opera's Fledermaus and the shop and market hours.
Events
Vienna Ball Season: How a Visitor Goes to a Ball
The Vienna ball season opens on 11 November 2026 and peaks in January and February. The Opera Ball is on 4 February 2027 and its entrance tickets are gone, but registration for the dress-rehearsal raffle runs 11 to 18 November. Dates, ticket sales, prices and dress codes.
Food and drink
Where to eat, what to order and when to book.
Food and drink
Where to Eat in Vienna: Michelin Tables and Schnitzel
Where to eat in Vienna: Steirereck and Amador with three Michelin stars, the Falstaff and Gault&Millau scores for the top tables, then Figlmüller, Plachutta and Meissl & Schadn for schnitzel and Tafelspitz, the Glacis Beisl, Schweizerhaus to 31 October and the Naschmarkt, with hours and booking rules.
Food and drink
Vienna Coffee Houses: Which to Try and What to Order
Eight Vienna coffee houses with the operators' own hours and booking rules: Café Sacher (Sacher-Torte €11.50), Demel (no reservations), Landtmann, Hawelka, Sperl, Prückel, Schwarzenberg and Jelinek. What a Melange, an Einspänner and a Verlängerter are, and where Café Central stands.
Food and drink
Heurigen in Vienna: Wine Taverns and Hours
A Heuriger sells only its own wine and is open when a pine bunch and an Ausg'steckt sign hang out. Vienna's Heurigen with their official hours: Mayer am Pfarrplatz, Wolff, Fuhrgassl-Huber, Sirbu and Mayer on the Nussberg, Stammersdorf. How to get there and what to order.
Food and drink
Vienna Food Tours Compared: Which One to Book
Vienna food tours from €65 for a 2½-hour Naschmarkt tasting to €165 for an evening dinner walk, with three operators' own prices beside GetYourGuide's: Food Tours Vienna at €135 to €150, Secret Food Tours at €99.99, Do Eat Better from €109.95. Coffee-house tours and cooking classes from €39.
Plan your trip
The rules and costs that apply to every city on the site.
Common questions
What do I need to book before going to Vienna?
The Spanish Riding School performance, which opens for booking 12 months ahead and can sell out on weekends; a time for Schönbrunn Palace on imperialtickets.com; a timed slot for the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Imperial Treasury; and a slot for the Upper Belvedere. State Opera standing places, St Stephen's Cathedral and the Riesenrad are bought on the day.
How do I get cheap State Opera tickets?
Standing places cost €13, €15 or €18. There are 435, sold only on the day, online from 10:00 or at the standing-room box office from 80 minutes before the performance. Seats start at €15 and are sold for the current month and the next two.
How much are Schönbrunn Palace tickets?
The Palace Ticket, with an audio guide and the whole piano nobile, is €42, and the State Apartments ticket is €30. The Classic Pass with the gardens is €49 and is sold to 2 November 2026. Every palace ticket has a fixed admission time.
Is the Vienna City Card worth it?
Only for the transport on a longer stay. The card is €19 for 24 hours, €31 for 48, €37 for 72 and €39 for 7 days, with discounts of €1 to €7 at the big sights. At the Kunsthistorisches Museum its €23 is above the €22 online price, and two 24-hour transport tickets are €19.40 against the card's €31 for 48 hours.
How do I get from Vienna airport to the centre?
Until the end of October 2027 the City Airport Train runs as a bus: 21 minutes to Wien Mitte, €14.90 single. The REX 7 train reaches the Hauptbahnhof in about 20 minutes for €5.50, and the Airport Bus is €11. The S-Bahn trunk line through the centre is closed from 7 September 2026.
Does Vienna have a tourist tax?
Yes. Hotels collect the Ortstaxe: 5 per cent of the room price, without VAT and breakfast, from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, and 8 per cent from 1 July 2027.
Do I need a visa or any other permit to enter Austria?
Not as a UK, US, Canadian, Australian or EU citizen. The first four can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa, on a passport valid for at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen area. Visitors from outside the EU have their fingerprints and a photo taken at the border by the EU's Entry/Exit System, fully operational since 10 April 2026. The ETIAS travel authorisation is not yet required. Austria has border controls on its Slovak, Czech, Hungarian and Slovenian borders to 15 March 2027, so carry a passport or ID on day trips.
Which Vienna sights are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays?
On Tuesdays the Leopold Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Imperial Treasury are closed. On Mondays Belvedere 21 and the Secession are closed, and the Prunksaal from October to May except in December 2026. The Kunsthistorisches Museum is open daily in October, November and December 2026.