In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Two companies run the buses. Vienna Sightseeing Tours (yellow) has four routes and 50 stops and tickets for 24, 48 or 72 hours, from €25 on GetYourGuide. Big Bus (red) has two routes, from €33. The buses go round the Ringstrasse and out to Schönbrunn, the Belvedere, the Prater and the Danube Tower. Add the bus to the Vienna City Card for €34 more: €53 for 24 hours with public transport. A 24-hour Wiener Linien ticket is €9.70 and reaches Schönbrunn and the Prater on its own. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices for one adult and move with the ticket length and date.
The two buses, compared
The Vienna Tourist Board lists both operators (wien.info), and each sells its own tickets at bigbustours.com and viennasightseeing.at. Prices here are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices.
| Vienna Sightseeing Tours | Big Bus | |
|---|---|---|
| Buses | Yellow, electric double-deckers | Red, electric double-deckers |
| Routes | Four, with 50 stops | Two |
| Tickets | 24, 48 or 72 hours | One day or more |
| Commentary | Audio in 19 languages, with a children’s channel in German and English | Audio through headphones in eight languages |
| Extras | A self-guided music walk to download | Higher tickets add a guided city walk and a boat tour |
| GetYourGuide from | €25ad | €33ad |
Vienna Sightseeing Tours
From €25 · 5,143 reviews · tickets up to 3 days
Vienna: Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Bus Tour in 19 Languagesad is the yellow bus. Its four routes run round the Ringstrasse to Schönbrunn and the Belvedere, and on a Danube route to the Kunst Haus Wien, the Prater and the Danube Tower. Every ticket includes HopPlay, the company’s self-guided music walk. The ticket shop is in the Opernpassage at the Karlsplatz U-Bahn station, open daily 9:00 to 18:00, and the service centre is at Opernring 3–5. Every bus has a wheelchair space.
A Vienna Sightseeing hop-on hop-off bus at the Universitätsring. Photo: C.Stadler/Bwag, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Big Bus
From €33 · 4,115 reviews · 1 to 2 days
Vienna: Big Bus Hop-On, Hop-Off Sightseeing Tourad runs two routes from the State Opera on the Ringstrasse: one to the MuseumsQuartier and Danube Island, the other to Schönbrunn Palace. The buses have free Wi-Fi, and there is room for one wheelchair on each. It is the one with live-guided evening tours in English.
A Big Bus double-decker on Nussdorfer Straße. Photo: Paul Korecky, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Evening buses and combinations
Big Bus evening tour
From €28 · 546 reviews · 1½ hours
Vienna: Big Bus Evening Sightseeing Bus Tourad is a panoramic ride on an electric bus, with audio in nine languages.
Panoramic night tour
From €25 · 1,016 reviews · 1 hour
Vienna: Panoramic Night Tour by Busad passes the Parliament, City Hall, the Burgtheater, the State Opera and UNO City when they are lit.
Bus, Ferris wheel and river cruise
From €84 · 128 reviews · 24-hour bus ticket
Vienna: Hop-on Hop-off, Ferris Wheel, and River Cruisead combines a 24-hour bus ticket with the Riesenrad and a Danube cruise. The Riesenrad alone is covered in Prater and Riesenrad.
With the Vienna City Card
The Vienna City Card with hop-on hop-off includes a ticket for either Big Bus or Vienna Sightseeing Tours, plus public transport for the same period. It costs €53 for 24 hours, €65 for 48 hours, €71 for 72 hours and €73 for 7 days: €34 more than the card alone in each case. One child under 15 travels free with each card. It is sold at Tourist Info Vienna on Albertinaplatz and at the airport, at the Vienna Sightseeing service centre, at the City Airport Train counter and online at viennacitycard.at (wien.info). Vienna Pass or Vienna City Card works out what the card pays back at the sights.
What the routes cover
- The Ringstrasse. The State Opera, the Imperial Palace, City Hall, the MuseumsQuartier, the Natural History Museum and the Parliament. The Opera, the Hofburg and the cathedral are also on the free walk in Vienna walking tours.
- Schönbrunn Palace. On the Vienna Sightseeing and Big Bus routes. The palace is also at Schönbrunn station on the U4: see Schönbrunn Palace tickets.
- The Belvedere. On the Vienna Sightseeing routes: Belvedere tickets.
- The Danube side. The Kunst Haus Wien, the Prater and the Danube Tower on the Vienna Sightseeing Danube route: Hundertwasserhaus and Kunst Haus Wien and Prater and Riesenrad. Praterstern is on the U1 and U2.
Which to choose
- Schönbrunn, the Belvedere and the Prater in one day: a 24-hour Vienna Sightseeing ticket.
- An evening ride: the Big Bus evening tour or the night tour.
- The centre only: skip the bus and use a walking tour.
- Transport and the bus: the City Card with hop-on hop-off, if you want the card’s discounts as well.
- Transport alone: the 24-hour Wiener Linien ticket at €9.70: see Vienna public transport.
What to book before you go to Vienna lists which sights need a ticket and which days they close. 3 days in Vienna plans a first visit round them, and where to stay in Vienna compares the areas by their U-Bahn lines. Airport to the city covers the first journey, and the best time to visit Vienna gives the weather by month.
Common questions
Which hop-on hop-off bus is better in Vienna?
Vienna Sightseeing Tours runs four routes through 50 stops, with tickets for 24, 48 or 72 hours, from €25 on GetYourGuide. Big Bus runs two routes on red buses, from €33. Vienna Sightseeing covers more ground, including the Danube side; Big Bus has live-guided evening tours in English.
How much is the Vienna hop-on hop-off bus?
From €25 for Vienna Sightseeing Tours and €33 for Big Bus, GetYourGuide's lowest 'from' prices for one adult, which move with the ticket length and date. The Vienna City Card with hop-on hop-off is €53 for 24 hours, €65 for 48, €71 for 72 hours and €73 for 7 days, with public transport included.
Is the hop-on hop-off bus worth it in Vienna?
For Schönbrunn, the Belvedere and the Prater in one day, with commentary, yes. For the centre alone, a walking tour or a 24-hour Wiener Linien ticket at €9.70 does the job: the U4 stops at Schönbrunn and the U1 and U2 at Praterstern.
Does the Vienna hop-on hop-off bus have an evening tour?
Yes. Big Bus runs a 1½-hour evening tour from €28 with audio in nine languages, and a panoramic night tour by bus is 1 hour from €25, passing the Parliament, City Hall, the Burgtheater and the State Opera.
