Vienna

Understand

History

The low-lying Danube plain in and around what is now Vienna has had a human population since at least the late Paleolithic (see Prehistoric Europe); one of the city's most famous artifacts, the 24,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf, now in Vienna's Natural History Museum, was found nearby. Vienna's own recorded history began with the Romans, who founded it in the 1st century CE as Vindobona, one of a line of Roman defensive outposts against Germanic tribes. Vindobona's central garrison was on the site of what is now the Hoher Markt (the "High Market" so-called because of its relative height over the Danube), and you can still see astounding excavations of its foundations there today. Given its prestige, Vienna hosted the Habsburg court for several centuries, first as the Imperial seat of the Holy Roman Empire, then the capital of the Austrian Empire, and later of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which finally fell in 1918 with the abdication of the last Emperor Karl I. The court tremendously influenced the culture that exists here even today: Vienna's residents are often overly formal, with small doses of courtliness, polite forms of address, and formal dress attire. One distinguishable paradox of the quirky city is that its residents can be equally modern and progressive as they are extremely old-fashioned.

The empires also served to make Vienna a very metropolitan city at an early time, and especially so through the years of industrialization and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the turn of the 20th century. Imperial Austria and Austro-Hungary were multilingual, multi-ethnic empires and although the German speakers normally played the dominant role in Vienna there has long been ethnic and linguistic diversity in the city. Proof of Jews in the city dates back to 10th century. After World War II many of the city's minorities had been exiled or killed and much of the city lay in ruin. When Austria was given sovereignty after the post World War II occupation, it was eventually established that Austria would be neutral and not join the Eastern Bloc. So the city became more isolated from its previous ties to its Slavic and Hungarian neighbors; the east of Austria was surrounded by the Iron Curtain. Vienna had gone from being the well-established metropolitan city of Central Europe to the capital of a small, predominately German-speaking nation of states with strong regional identities. But when the Iron Curtain came down in the early 1990s an influx of immigrants and Yugoslav refugees came to Vienna. In 1995 Austria joined the EU and her neighbor

Getting there

By plane

Vienna International Airport

2 Vienna International Airport (Flughafen Wien-Schwechat VIE IATA) (just outside the city limits of Vienna on the far side of the City of Schwechat). To get to Vienna, you have three different railway options. The cheaper but slower S-Bahn line S7 (24 minutes; €4.60) and the more expensive but faster City Airport Train (15 minutes; from €11) both go to Wien-Mitte/Landstraße. If you are taking the S7 train, and you have a valid Vienna public transportation ticket, you only need to purchase a ticket from the airport to Schwechat, as all onward stations are covered by the zone 100 ticket. To Wien Hauptbahnhof (central aviation) and onwards, there are long distance trains leaving every 30 min (15 minutes; €4.20). There are also buses (Vienna Airport Bus) and taxis. For details on the airport transfer see the Vienna International Airport article. (updated Jul 2025)

Bratislava Milan Rastislav Štefánik Airport Another option if you're flying to Vienna is Bratislava Airport (BTS IATA) which is ~ 54 km (34 mi) from Vienna International Airport across the Slovak border and is the largest in the Slovak Republic. Budget airlines Ryanair and WizzAir have the most flights. Additional carriers are Norwegian Air Shuttle to Oslo and Copenhagen; UTair to Moscow and Sun d'Or to Ben Gurion Airport (seasonal flights). Transfer options:

FlixBus. 06:00-23:00. Services leave approximately every hour, but check schedule. Leaves from the airport terminal building and arrives at Erdberg (U3) in just over an hour. €4-10 each way. Postbus/Slovak Lines (Bus), ☏ +43 810 222 333 (Austria), +421 18211 (Slovakia), [email protected]. 08:00-18:35. Leaves from the airport terminal building and arrives to Südtiroler Platz (U1) in under two hours. Intermediate stops in Bratislava, at Vienna Airport, some at Erdberg (U3). Check schedule. €5, €8 return. Train. Bratislava public bus 61 to final stop, Hlavná stanica/Main Station (buy bus ticket at yellow machine before boarding and stamp in the bus). Buy a ticket to Vienna and take the train to Wien Hauptbahnhof. Takes about 1 hour. €13 (return ticket, not one direction ticket). Late arriving flights:. Should an evening flight arrive late, after 22:30 you can bargain for a cab or spend the night in Bratislava (last bus for Vienna leaves from the airport at 22:45). Early departing flights:. Take a cab or spend the night at a hostel or at the airport or take the early train leaving from Wien Hauptbahnhof (~05:20) to Bratislava hl. st. (arriving ~06:30) and then take bus No. 61 to the a

Getting around

Public transportation Vienna has a good public transportation system, which includes rail, commuter rail, underground, trams (trolleys), and buses. The underground is very efficient and will take you to within a few minutes walk of anywhere you are likely to want to visit. The subway alone has the second highest per-capita ridership in the world, and that is not accounting for the 27 tram lines, dozens of train lines or numerous buses. Enquiries for routes and timetables are possible with the mobile application WienMobil, that is supplied by the public transport operator. The app is available for Android, iOS and can be accessed without installation on the internet. Ticket inspections are frequent. Ensure your ticket is validated (time-stamped) before your journey begins to avoid a penalty fare.

Accessibility The entire U-Bahn system has step-free access, but entering the platform is only allowed with a valid ticket. Buses are all low-floor, with lifts for full wheelchair accessibility. The tram system runs a mixture of older high-floor and modern low-floor trams. At tram stops with digital displays, it is indicated whether the next tram arriving is step-free accessible. Wiener Linien generally schedules the trams so you won't have to let more than one go by before a low-floor one comes along. All U-Bahn stations have textured pavement on the platform to assist blind patrons in recognizing the platform edge. Service dogs can be taken anywhere on the system, but if they are not officially registered as such with the Austrian government, they must be muzzled (As a practical matter, the transit authorities will pretty much never question whether an obvious service dog is registered, though). Ordinary dogs can be taken almost anywhere on public transit, but must either be in an enclosed carrier or leashed and muzzled. More information about accessibility can be found online.

Fares

Public transportation within the city proper, including most everywhere you are likely to visit (the entire subway and tram network) is a single zone, the Vienna core zone (Kernzone Wien). Any transportation can be used: subway, any train – even high-speed ones – as long as you are traveling between two Vienna stations, trams, buses, night buses, most regional buses, and an interurban railway (the Wiener Lokalbahn) within the city limits. You must validate (stamp) your paper ticket if the time and date is not printed on it, before entering the subway platform or train or as soon as you get on a bus or tram. Digital tickets are valid from a start time selected by the purcha

See

Vienna has a rich history as the capital city of the monarchy, and thus, there is an abundance of historical buildings and museums. Most of these, including Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral) and the three most well-known museums, Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts), Naturhistorisches Museum (Museum of Natural History) and Albertina, are located in the Innere Stadt. The Ring Road (German: Ringstraße) is a circular road surrounding the Innere Stadt district of Vienna and is one of its main sights. Its architecture is typical of the eclectic, historicist style called Ringstraßenstil (Ring Road Style) of the 1860s to 1890s. Built in the style of the Renaissance according to plans by Heinrich von Ferstel, the MAK- Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art is the first museum building on the Ringstraße. The Schloss Schönbrunn palace, a part of the UNESCO World heritage list, is located in the Outer West area. Probably the best (and cheapest) way to get an overview of the city is on a tip-based "free tour": Good Vienna Tours offers daily two-hour walking tours in English, meeting at 10:00 and 14:00 in front of the Albertina.

Do

Ball Season: One thing you should not miss when you visit Vienna during the carnival season is to attend one of the many glamorous balls in the city, some of them in wonderful elegant locations like the Vienna Hofburg or the City Hall (Rathaus). The most widely known and elegant balls are the Opera Ball in the State Opera or the ball of the Wiener Philharmoniker. Many professional guilds have their own ball, e.g. the Kaffeesiederball by the Vienna Coffee house owners. A different twist is the famous Life Ball, an AIDS/HIV benefit which features celebrities and other attendees wearing outrageous costumes. The ball calendar can be found on the pages of the Vienna City Council River and Canal tours — The canal tours are horrible. All you see are trees and industrial buildings. It's a waste of money and time. There are also a lot of other open-air-film festivals in summer, e.g. at Karlsplatz, the Vienna Turf Krieau, the Prater, the Arena, the rooftop of City Library on Urban-Loritz-Platz and Schloss Neugebäude. In the summer, there is also the ImPulsTanz Festival for contemporary dance & performance. They are also good if you are interested in dance workshops. Football: international soccer matches are played at Ernst Happel Stadium on the riverbank in the Inner East district. The city has two club teams playing in the Austrian Bundesliga, the country's top tier: SK Rapid Wien play at Allianz Stadium in the Outer West, and FK Austria Wien play at Generali (or Viola) Arena in the Outer South.

Classical music

Vienna is considered by many to be the spiritual home of European classical music, with many great composers such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Johann Strauss II spending a significant part of their careers in Vienna. From May to December you can attend concerts of the Vienna Hofburg Orchestra which take place in the Festival Hall and the Redoutensäle of Vienna's Hofburg Imperial Palace. The orchestra's program is composed of Viennese waltz and operetta melodies by Johann Strauss, Franz Lehár and Emmerich Kálmán along with opera arias and duets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Each year on the evenings of December 31 and January 1 the Vienna Hofburg Orchestra performs traditional Viennese New Year's Eve and New Year's Concerts in the Hofburg's festival halls. These concerts however, along with those that are from similar ensembles, are quite expensive for what they offer, and are intended for the entertainment of tourists. For a more serious program, other concerts at the Musikverein and the Staatsoper c

Buy

Store hours are generally M-F 08:00 or 09:00 to 18:00 or 19:00, and Sa 09:00 to 18:00, closed Sunday. There are slightly longer hours at some malls. Credit cards are normally accepted at large and at high-end stores. All chains that you can find in the malls also have stores on the city's shopping streets, which tend to be more accessible and tourist friendly. Flea markets are usually can be found on Sundays, where one can buy items at very reasonable prices.

Outdoor markets

There are 21 markets with stands and small characteristically Viennese hut-like shops that are open daily (except Sunday). Additionally many of these have true farmers' markets, often on Saturday mornings. There is a large variety of sellers and markets, from the upscale to the dirt cheap. Each has several shops of different kinds (butcher, bakery, produce, coffee, etc.) There is another handful of weekly farmers markets around the city and seasonal markets like the Christmas Markets.

Christmas markets

Open from November 15 or 20 to December 23 or 24, most Viennese Christmas Markets ("Christkindlmarkt", "Adventmarkt" or simply "Weihnachtsmarkt") are not so much for shopping as for eating and drinking. From midday until the late hours of the night, people gather at Christmas markets to drink mulled wine, punch, and chat to one another and the occasional stranger. Entry to all of these markets is free. While Vienna can be a delightful place to visit during the Christmas season, on December 25 and 26 the city is largely shut down.

Rathaus. More of a fairground than a Christmas market, this is Vienna's largest and busiest incarnation. Located on the large town square between Rathaus and Burgtheater, the Wiener Christkindlmarkt is by far the largest and probably best known Christmas market in Vienna. Large Christmas tree in front of the townhall, skating possibility, adorned trees in the park, often crowded! Spittelberg. Probably the most delightful, though often quite packed Christmas market in Vienna, the Spittelberg market is scattered over a series of lanes lined with picturesque early 19th century Biedermeier houses (many of them former brothels, which is the reason the area was spared early 20th century urban renewal). Some of the stalls are extensions of the shops and bars of this normally rather sleepy area. Maria-Theresien-Platz. A relatively new market between the two museums and en route to/from the MuseumsQuartier (MQ). It is easy to maneuver than some and the quality of the goods is better than most. Schönbrunn. One of the better markets with higher quality g

Eat

Viennese restaurant menus offer a bewildering variety of terms for dishes, most of which the visitor will never have heard of and many of which aren't in the brief lists of menu terms included in phrase books. However restaurants that have any foreign patrons at all usually have an English menu, though you may have to ask for it: the phrase "English menu" usually will be understood even by wait staff who don't speak English. A small bilingual dictionary will be useful for trying to decipher menu listings: at least it will enable you usually to determine what sort of food (chicken, beef, potato, etc.) is concerned, even if you can't tell how it's prepared. Not only savoury but also sweet main dishes are common in Austria. Classic Viennese dishes to try are the famous Wiener schnitzel, a thin veal cutlet lightly breaded and fried, and the perhaps less well known Tafelspitz, where a beef roast is simmered in a broth with root vegetables and herbs. Schnitzel made from pork ("vom schwein", also called "schnitzel Wiener art") is also popular. By law, restaurant menus are supposed to clarify if anything sold as "Wiener schnitzel" is made from something other than veal. As is common in much of eastern and central Europe, mushrooms are very popular, and when they're in season, you'll find a plethora of varieties on restaurant menus and for sale in markets, often for surprisingly low prices, at least if you're from North America. Chanterelles for €10/kg, anyone? Viennese restaurant portions tend to be large. Many restaurants now include vegetarian options. Most restaurants have daily specials listed on a chalk board or sometimes on a printed insert in the regular menu. These are usually the best bet, though they may not be on the English menu, so you may have to ask to have them explained or try to translate them yourself. Bread in Viennese restaurants is usually charged as an extra; if there is a basket of it on the table, you'll usually be charged by the piece only if you take some. Hotel breakfasts vary, but typically consist mainly of a buffet with a variety of rolls, cold cuts, and cheese. Fruit, yogurt, muesli, and often other types of cold cereal are also typically available. Many places will cook some eggs if you ask, or sometimes, especially for guests that are American or British, will offer to do so, but that's mainly seen as something for foreigners, cooked breakfasts not being typically Viennese, and you're unlikely to find any cooked food besides eggs on offer. Still, while the overall style may be "continental," Viennese breakfasts are often conside

Drink & nightlife

Cafés

Vienna's Kaffeehäuser (coffee houses) are world famous for their grandness and the lively coffee house culture. Skipping the Kaffeehauskultur is missing out a big part of Viennese culture. You should at least visit one of the countless traditional baroque 19th- or funky 20th-century coffee houses where you can sit down, relax, and enjoy refreshments. Most cafés also serve beer, wine and liqueurs. Many serve meals, especially at lunch, and these are often cheaper than in restaurants. Most have a fine selection of Torten (tortes or cakes), some offer other baked goods. In general some are more restaurant-like, some more café-like and some more bar-like.

Coffee

Coffee is obviously an important part of the coffeehouse culture. Vienna was not only the center of the Austrian Empire but also the center of a much larger coffee empire, and the local roasts were sold across Europe. Today many people are still familiar with the term Vienna roast. Vienna prides itself in its dozens of varieties of different coffees, although the Italian style and names are better known by many youth than the Viennese, the cafés are keeping the traditions alive. Most commonly:

Kleiner Schwarzer also known simply as a Schwarzer or as a Mokka is the Viennese version of espresso. It is made with a tick more water, a Viennese roast (the point between origin and roast flavor) and it is pulled slowly allowing it to oxidize. Großer Schwarzer is a double Schwarzer (similar to a double espresso). Kleiner Brauner is a mokka (espresso) with cream, often on the side. Großer Brauner is a double Mokka with cream. Melange is perhaps the most typical Viennese coffee. Similar to cappuccino but with the Viennese style mokka and more foamy milk in equal parts. Verlängerter is mokka (espresso) with extra hot water, similar to a small Americano. Kapuziner is a mokka (espresso) with a dollop of whipped cream on top. Kaffee Verkehrt (or in the more modern places Kaffee Latte) is the local version of a latte.

Also consider specialties like the Kaisermelange (coffee, milk, egg yolk and cognac) on the menu. Most cafés have a house specialty (for instance, "Kaffee Central" at Café Central). Many coffee houses have a huge selection of international newspapers.

Coffee houses Finding a café is not hard in Vienna; Finding a particular café you are looking for is another story. Most of the baroque "top" coffee houses are on the Ring and main streets of the Innere Stadt, mostly cozier and often less formal 1970s or 80s modern-style coffee houses are hidden away on the Innere Stadt's backstreets, an

Sleep

Vienna is a major tourist hotspot and offers a complete range of accommodation options. Prices are relatively higher than in neighboring countries, or even in the rest of Austria. Many of the Viennese hotels, hostels and pensions, especially its centre, are housed in historic buildings dating from before the Second World War, most from the 19th-century Gründerzeit. This means that many of them offer relatively small rooms with sometimes compromised views, and rooms within the same property can vary widely, even at the same price. You will probably find that Viennese hotels usually offer very traditional decor, bathrooms with bathtubs and, again, relatively space-limited quarters. There are very few "modern design" hotels, and those looking for American-style over 30m² rooms should do good research before booking and make sure their booked room matches the expectations. On balance, breakfasts in Vienna are usually relatively good, with a good variety of products, even at the less pricey establishments. Moreover, you can count on many local cafes to offer you breakfast should your booking not include one. A typical Viennese hotel breakfast is buffet-style and fairly substantial, and consists of bread and rolls (usually very good quality), a variety of cold cuts, and fruit, as well as muesli and other cold cereals, and juice and coffee.

In choosing an accommodation it is important to know which part of the city you want to spend time in. Most accommodations claim to be centrally located, which for the Viennese would mean they should be in or next to the 1st District, few actually are. Many are even outside the core districts 2-9. Still, from the ones located within a 5-minute walk of an underground or at least a rail or tram station, you should be able to get to the center within 20 minutes or less on public transportation. Smoking rooms are relatively common. Non-smoking rooms are in limited supply, and hotels with non-smoking floors are less common. Sensitive non-smokers may be bothered that public areas of the hotel, including the hallways, are often heavy with tobacco smoke. During summer there can be several days where the temperature is over 30°C. There are very few hotels that have air conditioning. People who are used to sleeping in a cool environment should seek out hotels that have air conditioning or schedule their trips during those times of the year when the temperature will be cooler.

Go next

Vienna area Vienna's metropolitan area is large, and its suburban rail takes you to suburbs so large that they are worth a visit in their own right. All of the following places are within the metropolitan area and reachable on an all-zone Vienna travelcard (and yes, this also applies to Sopron).

Krems, a smaller and historic town at the entrance of the Wachau valley about 80 km east of Vienna. Reachable by rail from Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof, Wien Spittelau (U4, U6) and Wien Heiligenstadt (U4) with suburban trains to "Krems/Donau". There are hourly connections and the travel time is about one hour. Krems is relatively small, so you can walk there or rent a bike. Baden bei Wien, is a smaller historic town 25 km south of Vienna. Famous for its bathes and thermal waters. It features many beautiful buildings and parks from the Biedermeier period. There is a direct tram line going from the Vienna Opera to Baden otherwise faster trains are available too. St. Pölten, the capital of Lower Austria, hosts many sights. One is the Dom zu St. Pölten, a baroque church which until 1722 served as a Roman basilica cathedral. The St. Pöltner Rathaus (city hall) and the Pottenbrunn Castle (which can only be seen from the outside) are also worth a visit. St. Pölten is accessible by an hourly suburban rail service from Westbahnhof station (U-Bahn U3) which takes 80 minutes to St. Pölten (passengers for Pottenbrunn Castle should get off at Pottenbrunn, one stop before St. Pölten). Total travel time from the city centre is 100 min. Wiener Neustadt also has a lot to offer for tourists: the cathedral, renovated in 1975-1999, the castle and the city museum to name a few. The city is reachable by suburban train from Wien Mitte station on the S-Bahn S6 (via Ebenfurth) and S9 (via Baden) routes, and the travel time is 75-80 min. Eisenstadt, the capital of Burgenland, hosts several large churches as well as the Esterházy castle which offers a wine cellar, gift shop, guided tours, and concerts in the famous Haydnsaal as well as the large garden on the back. There are two suburban rail connections: the direct service Hauptbahnhof - Eisenstadt - Wulkaprodersdorf - (Wiener Neustadt) which takes 67 min to Eisenstadt, and the Deutschkreutz-bound service from Meidling to Wulkaprodersdorf + connecting service on the Hauptbahnhof route (opposite direction, towards Hauptbahnhof) to Eisenstadt, which takes 1 hour from Meidling and is thus slightly faster. However, from the city centre both routes take 80 minutes so you might as well go with the direct service from Hauptbahnhof. Sopron, a his