Last Updated on September 5, 2026

Visiting Vienna soon, or thinking about it? If the latter, don’t think about it anymore and get tempted with the things you can do in Vienna featured in the list below. I really liked Vienna, I’ve visited twice. It has beautiful architecture and a royal feel, but is relaxed at the same time. My advice is to visit Vienna on a weekend if you live in Europe and for one or two days if you are doing a trip around Europe or Austria. Anyways, these are my bucket list items for Vienna!

VIENNA ESSENTIALS

✈️ Getting There / Within Europe, low-cost flights get you to Vienna very cheaply. Book a private airport transfer with WelcomePickups for a hassle-free arrival. Search flights on Skyscanner.

🚗 Getting Around / Vienna’s city centre is extremely walkable, and the public transport (U-Bahn, trams, buses) is excellent if you need to cover more ground.

🎟️ Tours / A few things are worth booking ahead. The best ones to book in advance:
Vienna at First Glance Walking Tour
Mozart Concert at the Golden Hall
Skip-the-line Hofburg and Sisi Museum Tour

🏨 Stay / Skip the endless scrolling, these are the ones I’d point a friend toward:
Budget: Wombats City Hostel Vienna Naschmarkt
Mid-range: Hotel Beethoven Wien
Splurge: Hotel Sacher Wien

🧳 Luggage Storage / If you’re early for check-in or have time to kill after checkout, no stress, there are luggage storage points all over Vienna. Use this website to find one nearby.

📱 Connect / Stay connected from the moment you land with an eSIM. I use Holafly, use code TRAVELWITHPAU for 5% off.

🛡️ Get Insured / Things can and do go wrong when you travel. World Nomads offers coverage for over 150 activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more.

Vienna Bucket List: 23 Things to Do

1. Take a Walking Tour of Vienna

One of the things I love is to do a walking tour as soon as I arrive to a city to get an idea of its vibe, and what I would want to do with the rest of my time there. If you are also one of those, book this walking tour as soon as you get to Vienna.

2. Grab Lunch at the Naschmarkt

Vienna’s most popular market, the Naschmarkt, is just awesome. Stop here for lunch. There are fresh fruits, vegetables, spices, and foods of all world cuisines. The Middle Eastern food on offer is amazing. Plenty of options for veggies and vegans too, like Neni am Naschmarkt.

3. Eat at a Würstelstand

Don’t worry, you’ll see Würstelstands immediately in the city, they are pretty much everywhere in Vienna. They are literally sausage stands that also sell beer (& pretzels!). I recommend the one in front of the Albertina, which you’ll quickly identify as it has a bunny on top.

4. Watch a Show at the Vienna State Opera House

Vienna is all about music. If you stay a few days and meet some locals, you’ll almost certainly end up talking to someone who’s devoted their life to it, that’s just the city. For a budget option, head to the last-minute ticket office at the side entrance and grab a “standing only” ticket for a few euros. If you’d rather plan ahead, book a Mozart concert at the Golden Hall.

5. Walk Along the Danube

On the Vienna walking tour I did, the guide mentioned walking along the Danube was something he recommended. Essentially street artists in Vienna have an implicit agreement with the council where they have a free pass to paint the walls of the Danube’s river banks with the condition that they don’t paint the walls of the rest of the city. And the result is a colourful walk along the river.

6. Try a Pastry from Demel

Hopefully you’re visiting on a cold day, if so, get yourself a hot chocolate and a pastry from Demel, the famous, historical chocolaterie and pastry shop. Order the Anna Torte, layers of orange liqueur-spiked chocolate cream and sponge under chocolate nougat scrolls, it’s the house specialty, named after Anna Demel herself. Their own take on the Sachertorte is also genuinely a rival to Hotel Sacher’s.

7. Admire Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” at the Belvedere

Austria’s most famous painting, an Art Nouveau piece anyone who’s ever loved should see in person, hangs at the Belvedere. Don’t just go to see The Kiss though, hang around for a bit, it’s a great museum in its own right. Go first thing in the morning if you can, it’s genuinely a different museum by 11am once the tour groups descend. Book your entry ticket to skip the line.

8. Eat a Wiener Schnitzel

All non-vegetarians must try this, it’s the dish people picture when you say Vienna, and it earns the reputation. The original Wiener Schnitzel is made of veal, not pork, and eaten with potatoes, don’t let anyone serve you a pork version and call it the real thing.

9. Walk Around the Museumsquartier

The Museumsquartier is one of my favourite pockets of Vienna to just stroll through, even if museums aren’t really your thing, the courtyards alone are worth the visit. If you do want to go inside somewhere, I’d recommend the Leopold Museum. Book a skip-the-line Leopold Museum ticket.

10. Learn About Freud at the Sigmund Freud Museum

A must for psychologists or Freud fans, the Sigmund Freud Museum is where Freud lived for 47 years in Vienna and produced most of his writings.

11. Visit Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens

The gorgeous baroque Schönbrunn Palace is really close to Vienna’s city centre and just a lovely visit, relax in the gardens and admire the beautiful rooms. Just don’t leave it for late afternoon, it closes at 17:30 or 18:30 depending on the time of year. The gardens themselves are free to walk, so even if you skip the paid palace interior, climb up to the Gloriette on the hill behind it, the view back over the palace and out across the city is one of the best in Vienna and costs nothing to enjoy from outside. If you’d rather skip the queues and have someone walk you through the state rooms, book a skip-the-line Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens tour.

12. Admire St Stephen’s Cathedral

Probably the most original cathedral I’ve ever seen, mostly down to its ornately patterned, richly coloured roof, a genuinely unique Vienna sight. If you want to climb one of the towers, decide how you feel about stairs first, the South Tower is 343 steps with no lift, while the North Tower has an elevator and gets you to the famous Pummerin bell with a lot less effort.

13. Pass by the Hundertwasserhaus

If you like original, out-of-the-box architecture, the Hundertwasserhaus is an incredibly quirky, colourful, kitsch residential apartment complex built by artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser between 1983 and 1986. He genuinely believed straight lines were “godless and immoral,” so there isn’t a single flat floor or matching window in the entire building, the floors ripple and slope on purpose, no two windows are the same shape or size, and around 250 trees and shrubs grow straight out of the rooftops, balconies, and even from inside some of the apartments. It’s still an actual residential building with real tenants, so you can only see the exterior and the public areas, but that’s honestly enough to get why it’s one of Vienna’s most photographed spots.

14. Try the Famous Sachertorte

Probably one of the most touristy things to do in Vienna, yes, but who could say no to chocolate cake? Sachertorte is a dense chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam on top, coated in dark chocolate icing, served with unsweetened whipped cream. Both Demel and Hotel Sacher fight for the title of “the Original Sachertorte”, try both and decide for yourself.

15. Have Coffee in a Kaffeehäuser

Coffee houses have always played a genuinely important role in Viennese culture, the meeting places for musicians, writers, philosophers, and artists for generations. Bring a book if you have one, nobody’s going to rush you out for nursing one coffee for two hours, that’s kind of the whole point. My picks: Café Schwarzenberg, Café Prückel, Café Central, Kleines Café, and Kaffee Alt Wien.

16. Stuff Yourself with Apple Strudel

Because who doesn’t love it? Try Café Prückel, Kleines Café, Café Eiles, Café Mozart, Café Amacord, or Café Landtmann.

17. Tour the Hofburg Palace

The Hofburg was the winter residence of the Habsburg royal family for over 600 years, and honestly, if you only have time for one palace in Vienna and can’t decide between this and Schönbrunn, this is the one right in the centre, no separate trip needed. Inside you’ll find the Imperial Apartments, the Sisi Museum dedicated to the famously private Empress Elisabeth, and the Imperial Treasury. Book a skip-the-line Hofburg and Sisi Museum tour.

18. Watch the Lipizzaner Horses at the Spanish Riding School

The Spanish Riding School, right next to the Hofburg, trains the famous white Lipizzaner horses in classical dressage, and it’s one of those things that sounds like a tourist trap on paper but genuinely isn’t, watching a performance in the baroque Winter Riding School, complete with live orchestral music, is unlike anything else on this list. Book Spanish Riding School performance tickets, worth booking 4 to 12 weeks ahead in peak season.

19. Ride the Giant Ferris Wheel at Prater

The Wiener Riesenrad, Prater’s Giant Ferris Wheel, has been turning since 1897, making it one of the oldest still-operating Ferris wheels in the world, and there’s something genuinely charming about how unhurried it feels, no fast-track queue-jumping thrill ride, just a slow, enclosed wooden cabin and a proper panoramic view over the city. Time it for just before sunset if you can, one rotation takes about 15 minutes, which is plenty of time to actually enjoy the view rather than just snap a photo and move on. Book Giant Ferris Wheel tickets.

20. Get Delightfully Weirded Out at the Narrenturm

Housed in a former 18th-century insane asylum, the Narrenturm is home to the world’s largest public collection of pathological anatomy exhibits, around 50,000 items in total, syphilitic skulls, a narwhal tusk, and taxidermied specimens included. Genuinely not for the squeamish, but unforgettable if you’re into the strange side of history.

21. Visit the Third Man Museum

Dedicated entirely to the 1949 film noir classic shot on location in Vienna, the Third Man Museum packs a private collection of memorabilia into 16 small rooms, and doubles as a genuinely fascinating window into the city’s grim post-war years. It only opens Saturday afternoons (2–6pm), or by private tour appointment, so plan around it.

22. Wander Spittelberg

Tucked just behind the Museumsquartier, Spittelberg is a pocket of narrow cobbled streets, Biedermeier-era houses, and ivy-covered courtyards, a much quieter, more residential contrast to Vienna’s grander imperial sights. It’s especially lovely (if crowded) during its Christmas market in December.

23. Go Hunting for Vienna’s Flak Towers

Six colossal grey Flak Towers (Flaktürme), built to defend the city against Allied air raids in WWII, still loom over Vienna’s skyline in pairs across three parks, deliberately left standing because they were too solidly built to safely demolish. A slightly macabre but genuinely striking scavenger hunt if you’re up for tracking down all three pairs.

Best Day Trips from Vienna

Wachau Valley

A UNESCO World Heritage stretch of the Danube, Wachau Valley is dotted with medieval castles, quaint villages, and terraced vineyards, about an hour by train from Vienna’s Hauptbahnhof or Westbahnhof to Krems or Melk. Visit Melk Abbey, stroll the romantic town of Dürnstein, and taste the region’s crisp white wines in Krems. Book a Wachau Valley day tour covering Krems, Dürnstein, and Melk if you’d rather not sort the train connections yourself.

Hallstatt and Salzburg

Salzburg on its own is generally too far for a comfortable Vienna day trip, a 3-hour drive each way, but a combined day tour that also takes in Hallstatt, the impossibly picturesque lakeside village that’s become an Instagram staple, makes the long day worth it. Book a Hallstatt and Salzburg day tour.

Vienna Woods

Right on the city’s doorstep, the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald) combine forested hiking country with a genuine curiosity, Seegrotte, Europe’s largest underground lake, plus a stop for local wine tasting. Book a Vienna Woods tour with the underground lake and wine tasting.

Bratislava, Slovakia

Just an hour away by train, or about 75 minutes by high-speed catamaran along the Danube, Bratislava is a completely different country and a genuinely easy add-on, a fascinating mix of medieval charm and communist-era architecture right on the riverbank. Book a 7-hour Bratislava tour by bus and boat.

Where to Stay in Vienna

Stick to the 1st district (Innere Stadt) if you want to walk to everything, it’s the historic centre and home to the Hofburg and St Stephen’s Cathedral, though it’s also the most expensive. The 6th and 7th districts (Mariahilf and Neubau) give you the best balance of location, atmosphere, and price, and that’s exactly where Naschmarkt sits.

Budget

Wombats City Hostel Vienna Naschmarkt

I’m going to make quite a statement, but I think this is the best hostel I’ve been in my life, and I don’t usually do hostels, or generally like them, I guess I’m too old for them at least now! But Wombats in Vienna completely exceeded my expectations. It’s really clean, the room and locker both open with a card key, which I found genuinely impressive, and every room has an ensuite bathroom. There’s a nice bar in the hostel where I met a lot of people in about two seconds, and they even give you a free welcome drink. Breakfast is excellent and cheap, and they run a free walking tour of Vienna too. It’s been a while since my own stay, but it’s clearly not a fluke, it’s still sitting at 9.1 on Hostelworld from over 34,000 reviews and ranked in Vienna’s top 12 specialty stays on Tripadvisor, so whatever they’re doing, they’re still doing it right. There’s also a second location, Wombats The Lounge, close to Westbahnhof Train Station. Best for: solo travellers and anyone who wants to actually meet people.

Mid-range

Hotel Beethoven Wien

A small, classically styled B&B ranked #1 of 175 B&Bs and inns in Vienna on Tripadvisor, with an overall rating of 9.4/10 across review sites. Each floor has its own decor theme, expect parquet floors and genuinely comfortable beds, and there’s a warm, personal touch, afternoon coffee and cake, and complimentary house concerts with chamber music most weekends. Worth knowing: it’s central for most sights but Schönbrunn Palace itself still needs a short tram or metro ride, it’s not walkable from here despite the name.

Splurge

Hotel Sacher Wien

The legendary home of the Original Sachertorte, right across from the State Opera House, about as central and iconic as Vienna gets. It opened in 1876, built by Eduard Sacher, son of the pastry chef who invented the Sachertorte, on the site of the old theatre that stood before the Opera itself. It’s still privately owned by the same family today, the Gürtlers, four generations in, one of the last privately-owned luxury hotels left in the world. Currently sits on The World’s 50 Best Hotels list and holds 3 Michelin Keys.

None of these float your boat? Search all Vienna hotels.

How Long to Spend in Vienna

1 to 2 days is enough for a weekend trip if you live in Europe, hits the main sights, a coffee house, and the Sachertorte debate.

3 days is the sweet spot, adds Schönbrunn Palace properly, the Belvedere, and time to just wander without rushing.

4+ days lets you add a day trip, the Wachau Valley or Bratislava are both easy, worthwhile additions.

Getting To & Around Vienna

Within Europe, low-cost flights get you to Vienna very cheaply, search on Skyscanner, and book a private airport transfer with WelcomePickups if you’d rather have it sorted in advance. Depending on where you’re coming from, the train can also make sense, both in terms of time and money, especially from nearby cities like Prague or Budapest.

Once you’re here, Vienna’s city centre is extremely walkable, and the public transport network (U-Bahn, trams, buses) is excellent whenever you need to cover more ground.

Best Time to Visit Vienna

The best time to visit Vienna is spring (April to May) or autumn (September to October), mild weather and manageable crowds. Summer (June to August) is warm and busy with tourists, while winter brings the famous Christmas markets but genuinely cold temperatures, worth it if that’s your thing.

Vienna FAQs

What is the best time to visit Vienna?

Spring (April to May) and autumn (September to October) offer the best weather-to-crowds balance. Winter is worth it for the Christmas markets if you don’t mind the cold.

How many days do I need in Vienna?

A weekend (1 to 2 days) works if you live in Europe, but 3 days is the sweet spot for a proper first visit.

Is Vienna expensive?

Vienna is mid-range by Western European standards, not as pricey as somewhere like Paris or Zurich, but not a budget destination either. Coffee house culture and museum visits add up, but public transport and food markets like the Naschmarkt keep costs reasonable.

What’s the best day trip from Vienna?

The Wachau Valley (castles, vineyards, about an hour by train), Bratislava (a different country entirely, also about an hour), and the Vienna Woods (hiking plus an underground lake) are all genuinely easy and worthwhile on their own. Salzburg alone is too far for a comfortable day trip, a 3-hour drive each way, but a combined tour that pairs it with the lakeside village of Hallstatt makes the long day worth it if you want to tick both off.

Do I need to book museum and palace tickets in advance?

For the big ones, Schönbrunn Palace and the Belvedere especially, booking ahead is worth it in peak season to skip the queues. Smaller museums like the Sigmund Freud Museum or Leopold Museum are usually fine to just show up.

Enjoyed this article? Support my work by buying me an oat capuccino. Otherwise, do me a great favor of leaving a comment and following me on Instagram (@travelwithpau). Feel free to say ‘Hello!’ I don’t bite. And make sure you save the article for later on Pinterest!

Enjoyed this article? Support my work by buying me an oat cappuccino. Otherwise, do me a great favour and leave a comment, and follow me on Instagram (@travelwithpau), feel free to say hello, I don’t bite. And make sure you save the article for later on Pinterest.

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