Things to do · Vienna · Austria
20 best things to do in Vienna
20 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 3.0 at
Quick answer
The essential sights in Vienna are Schönbrunn Palace, Hofburg Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum and Spanish Riding School. Of the 20 picks below, 4 are free, 11 work on a rainy day and 8 suit children. Allow about 4 days to see the highlights without rushing.
Key facts
- Top sight
- Schönbrunn Palace
- Free sights
- 4
- Good on a rainy day
- Hofburg Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum
- Time to see the highlights
- 4 days
At a glance
| Sight | Area | Time needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schönbrunn Palace | Hietzing | Half a day | Mid-priced |
| Hofburg Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum | Innere Stadt | 2–3 hours | Mid-priced |
| Spanish Riding School | Innere Stadt | 1–1.5 hours | Mid-priced |
| St Stephen's Cathedral | Innere Stadt | 1–1.5 hours | Free |
| Belvedere | Landstraße | 2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Kunsthistorisches Museum | Innere Stadt | 3 hours | Mid-priced |
| Prater and the Giant Ferris Wheel | Leopoldstadt | 2–3 hours | Low cost |
| Vienna State Opera | Innere Stadt | 1 hour tour; 3 hours for a performance | Mid-priced |
| Tiergarten Schönbrunn | Hietzing | 3–4 hours | Mid-priced |
| Albertina | Innere Stadt | 2 hours | Mid-priced |
| MuseumsQuartier and Leopold Museum | Neubau | 2–3 hours | Mid-priced |
| Naschmarkt | Wieden | 1.5–2 hours | Free |
| Hundertwasserhaus | Landstraße | 30 minutes | Free |
| Ringstrasse by tram | Ringstrasse | 30 minutes–2 hours | Low cost |
| Kahlenberg and the heurigen | Döbling | Half a day | Low cost |
| Secession Building | Wieden | 1 hour | Low cost |
| Central Cemetery | Simmering | 1.5–2 hours | Free |
| Natural History Museum | Innere Stadt | 2–3 hours | Mid-priced |
| Haus der Musik | Innere Stadt | 2 hours | Mid-priced |
| State Hall of the Austrian National Library | Innere Stadt | 45 minutes | Low cost |
The 20 best things to do
Palace · Hietzing
1.Schönbrunn Palace
The Habsburg summer residence has 1,441 rooms, of which around 40 are shown on the Grand Tour, including the Hall of Mirrors where the six-year-old Mozart performed for Maria Theresa. The vast baroque gardens, free to enter, climb to the Gloriette colonnade, with a view back over the palace and the city.
Book the first time slot, then walk up to the Gloriette and visit the maze and zoo in the afternoon.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Palace tours use timed tickets that sell out in summer and at weekends; book online in advance.
- Iconic
- History
- Architecture
- Views
- Kids
Palace · Innere Stadt
2.Hofburg Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum
The Habsburgs' winter palace grew over six centuries into a city within the city. One ticket covers the Imperial Silver Collection, the Sisi Museum about Empress Elisabeth and the Imperial Apartments of Franz Joseph and Sisi. Elsewhere in the complex, the Imperial Treasury displays the crown of the Holy Roman Empire.
Allow extra time for the Imperial Treasury, which is a separate ticket but holds some of the most important regalia in Europe.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Iconic
- History
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Experience · Innere Stadt
3.Spanish Riding School
White Lipizzaner stallions perform classical dressage under the chandeliers of the baroque Winter Riding School inside the Hofburg, a tradition dating back more than 450 years. Gala performances are the highlight; morning training sessions with music are a cheaper way to see the horses.
If performance tickets are sold out, book a morning exercise session or a guided tour of the stables.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Performances sell out weeks ahead; book on the official site.
- Iconic
- History
- Kids
- Rainy day
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Religious site · Innere Stadt
4.St Stephen's Cathedral
Vienna's Gothic cathedral is known for its roof of glazed tiles forming a double-headed eagle and its 136-metre south tower, climbed by 343 steps. A lift in the north tower reaches the Pummerin bell, and the catacombs hold urns containing the organs of Habsburg rulers.
Entry to the back of the nave is free; pay for the towers, catacomb tour or full nave only if you have time.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- Architecture
- History
- Views
Gallery · Landstraße
5.Belvedere
Two baroque palaces built for Prince Eugene of Savoy face each other across formal gardens. The Upper Belvedere holds the largest Klimt collection in the world, including The Kiss and Judith, alongside works by Schiele and Kokoschka; the Lower Belvedere hosts temporary exhibitions.
The gardens are free and give the classic view of the Upper Belvedere reflected in its pool.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Timed tickets are recommended in summer and around holidays.
- Iconic
- Art
- Architecture
- Rainy day
Museum · Innere Stadt
6.Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Habsburg art collection fills a palatial building of 1891 on the Ring, with the world's largest group of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, including Hunters in the Snow and The Tower of Babel, Vermeer's The Art of Painting, Caravaggio, Titian and Rubens, plus an Egyptian collection and the Kunstkammer of curiosities.
Take coffee and cake in the café under the grand cupola, one of the most beautiful museum cafés in Europe.
- Time needed
- 3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Iconic
- Art
- Rainy day
- History
Theme park · Leopoldstadt
7.Prater and the Giant Ferris Wheel
The Wurstelprater amusement park has free entry and rides paid individually, from vintage carousels to modern roller coasters. Its symbol is the Riesenrad, a giant Ferris wheel of 1897 with wooden cabins, made famous by the film The Third Man. Beyond it the Hauptallee, a chestnut-lined avenue of about 4.5 km, runs through green parkland.
Ride the Riesenrad just before sunset, then walk or cycle along the Hauptallee.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Iconic
- Couples
- Views
- After dark
Architecture · Innere Stadt
8.Vienna State Opera
Opened in 1869 on the Ringstrasse, the Staatsoper stages a different opera or ballet almost every night of its season. Guided tours show the grand staircase and auditorium, and inexpensive standing-room places, released shortly before performances, make world-class opera affordable.
Check the official site for how standing-room tickets are sold for your date, and dress smart-casual for evening performances.
- Time needed
- 1 hour tour; 3 hours for a performance
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Seated tickets for popular performances sell out; book online well ahead.
- Iconic
- After dark
- Couples
- Architecture
Zoo · Hietzing
1.Tiergarten Schönbrunn
Founded in 1752 in the grounds of Schönbrunn, this is the oldest zoo still in operation in the world. Its enclosures radiate from a baroque imperial breakfast pavilion, and modern houses include a rainforest and a polar area.
Enter from the palace gardens and combine the zoo with the Schönbrunn maze and children's museum.
- Time needed
- 3–4 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Nature
- Outdoors
Gallery · Innere Stadt
2.Albertina
Housed in a Habsburg palace behind the State Opera, the Albertina combines restored imperial state rooms with a permanent collection running from Monet and Degas to Picasso, and one of the world's great collections of prints and drawings, including Dürer's Young Hare, shown only occasionally.
Walk out onto the terrace above the entrance for a view over the Opera and the Burggarten.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Museum · Neubau
3.MuseumsQuartier and Leopold Museum
The former imperial stables now form one of the largest cultural complexes in the world. The Leopold Museum holds the largest Egon Schiele collection and key Klimt works, mumok shows modern and contemporary art, and the courtyard fills with locals on colourful oversized loungers on summer evenings.
Even without a ticket, the courtyard is a free and lively place for a drink in the warmer months.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- After dark
Market · Wieden
4.Naschmarkt
Vienna's best-known market stretches for about 1.5 km along the Wienzeile with stalls of spices, cheeses, olives, pickles and fresh produce, plus restaurants serving everything from schnitzel to falafel and sushi. A flea market fills the southern end on Saturdays.
Go on a Saturday morning for the flea market, then look at the Otto Wagner apartment buildings on Linke Wienzeile opposite.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Food
- Free
- Shopping
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Architecture · Landstraße
5.Hundertwasserhaus
Completed in 1985, this public housing block designed by the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser has uneven floors, onion domes, trees growing from the balconies and a patchwork of bright colours. Residents live inside, so visitors see it from the street; the Hundertwasser Village shopping arcade is opposite.
Combine it with a walk along the Danube Canal or a ride on tram 1 to the Prater.
- Time needed
- 30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Architecture
- Photo spot
- Kids
Street · Ringstrasse
6.Ringstrasse by tram
The grand boulevard built from the 1860s on the line of the old city walls is lined with showpiece buildings: the State Opera, the Hofburg, the museums, the Parliament, the neo-Gothic City Hall, the Burgtheater and the University. Regular trams run along much of it, and a yellow sightseeing tram does the full loop with commentary.
Ride the regular trams 1 and 2 with an ordinary ticket for most of the loop, hopping off at the Parliament and City Hall.
- Time needed
- 30 minutes–2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Architecture
- History
- Kids
- Rainy day
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Experience · Döbling
7.Kahlenberg and the heurigen
Vineyards cover the hills on Vienna's northern edge. Kahlenberg hill gives a view over the city and the Danube, and the wine villages of Grinzing, Nussdorf, Neustift am Walde and Stammersdorf have heurigen, rustic taverns serving the owners' own young wine with cold cuts and spreads. A pine branch over the door signals that a heuriger is open.
Take bus 38A to Kahlenberg, walk down through the vineyards to Nussdorf or Grinzing, and end with dinner in a heuriger garden.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Low cost
- Views
- Food
- Outdoors
- Couples
- Active
Gallery · Wieden
8.Secession Building
Built in 1898 for the Vienna Secession artists' group, this white exhibition hall is crowned by a dome of gilded laurel leaves, nicknamed the golden cabbage. In the basement is Gustav Klimt's Beethoven Frieze, a 34-metre painted cycle inspired by Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Read the motto over the entrance — 'To every age its art, to art its freedom' — then go straight down to the Beethoven Frieze.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- Art
- Architecture
- Rainy day
- Off the beaten path
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Historic site · Simmering
9.Central Cemetery
The Zentralfriedhof, opened in 1874, is one of Europe's largest cemeteries, with hundreds of thousands of graves among tree-lined avenues. Group 32A holds the honorary graves of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Johann Strauss, with a memorial to Mozart, and the Art Nouveau Church of St Charles Borromeo stands at its centre.
Take tram 71 to the main gate (Tor 2) and head straight down the avenue to the composers' graves.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Off the beaten path
- Outdoors
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Museum · Innere Stadt
10.Natural History Museum
The twin of the Kunsthistorisches Museum across Maria-Theresien-Platz displays the Venus of Willendorf, a limestone figurine about 30,000 years old, a dinosaur hall, one of the world's largest meteorite collections and halls of minerals and animals in their original 19th-century cabinets.
Head first to the Venus of Willendorf in her own small room and the dinosaur hall, the favourites of most children.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
- History
- Nature
Museum · Innere Stadt
11.Haus der Musik
An interactive museum of sound and music in a palace near the State Opera, with rooms on the Vienna Philharmonic and the city's great composers, sound experiments and a virtual podium where you conduct the orchestra yourself.
Try the virtual conductor station; the orchestra stops playing in protest if your tempo is poor.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
Architecture · Innere Stadt
12.State Hall of the Austrian National Library
Built in the 1720s within the Hofburg, the Prunksaal is one of the most beautiful baroque libraries in the world: a long hall of walnut shelves holding around 200,000 old volumes under a frescoed dome, with marble statues of Habsburg emperors.
Visit early in the day to see the hall before the light dims and the crowds arrive.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Architecture
- History
- Rainy day
- Art
Pick by interest
| Interest | Best picks |
|---|---|
| Art and museums | Belvedere, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Albertina and MuseumsQuartier and Leopold Museum |
| History | Schönbrunn Palace, Hofburg Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum, Spanish Riding School and St Stephen's Cathedral |
| Views | Schönbrunn Palace, St Stephen's Cathedral, Prater and the Giant Ferris Wheel and Kahlenberg and the heurigen |
| Outdoors and nature | Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Kahlenberg and the heurigen, Central Cemetery and Natural History Museum |
| Food and markets | Naschmarkt and Kahlenberg and the heurigen |
| After dark | MuseumsQuartier and Leopold Museum, Prater and the Giant Ferris Wheel and Vienna State Opera |
| With children | Schönbrunn Palace, Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Spanish Riding School and Prater and the Giant Ferris Wheel |
| On a rainy day | Hofburg Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum, Spanish Riding School, Belvedere and Kunsthistorisches Museum |
What to book ahead
- Schönbrunn Palace: Palace tours use timed tickets that sell out in summer and at weekends; book online in advance.
- Spanish Riding School: Performances sell out weeks ahead; book on the official site.
- Belvedere: Timed tickets are recommended in summer and around holidays.
- Vienna State Opera: Seated tickets for popular performances sell out; book online well ahead.
Plan the rest of your trip
Questions travellers ask
+What is the number one thing to do in Vienna?
Schönbrunn Palace. The Habsburg summer residence has 1,441 rooms, of which around 40 are shown on the Grand Tour, including the Hall of Mirrors where the six-year-old Mozart performed for Maria Theresa.
+What can you do for free in Vienna?
St Stephen's Cathedral, Naschmarkt, Hundertwasserhaus and Central Cemetery. More free things to do.
+What is there to do in Vienna when it rains?
Head indoors to Hofburg Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum, Spanish Riding School, Belvedere and Kunsthistorisches Museum.
+What is there to do in Vienna at night?
MuseumsQuartier and Leopold Museum, Prater and the Giant Ferris Wheel and Vienna State Opera are best after dark.