The 8 best guided tours in Vienna!

Well, I’m not going to get into the suspense, Vienna is a fantastic city. Crazy architecture and, above all, the history that goes with it! This is the city of the Habsburgs, one of the most powerful families, reigning for centuries over the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Empire and having given kings to many countries such as Spain and Portugal.

A history like that needs to be appropriated more than just by visiting (although that’s good enough, isn’t it! there’s so much to see there). And that’s why I think Vienna is one of the cities where a guided tour is a must. Because around every corner you’ll find a monument, a house that belonged to someone important, that had its moment in history.

Vienna isn’t just about the reigning family, it’s also the mecca of classical music, or even a more recent, super-interesting history. There’s something to see absolutely everywhere in Vienna!

So I recommend that you let yourself be taken on a thematic or general guided tour (some are free!) to learn more, but above all to understand. The city really is at the crossroads of Europe. And that explains a lot!

Let’s take a look:)

The best seller: the guided tour of the historic center

Let’s start this list with the classics! A historic city like Vienna deserves to be visited not only for its most emblematic sites, but also for its hidden gems. That’s what this tour, which is the most famous in the city, does, because it really shows you what you need to know: the Hofburg Palace and its famous riding school, the historic center, the cathedral, but also the cafés, all with an excellent guide! And what’s more, it’s not expensive.

• Duration: 2 hours
• Price: €20
• Info and booking

A guided bike tour of Vienna!

Vienna is one of those cities that lends itself perfectly to cycling, and for many reasons. There are really good cycle paths, the streets are wide, and so are the paths and sidewalks. In short, everyone is really in their place, without stepping on each other. And it’s great fun. The atmosphere of the city, the respect that’s everywhere between people and different modes of locomotion, means that there’s no danger when cycling. Traffic lights and priorities are respected, which is weird as a Parisian 😀

And so, all that to say that this guided bike tour is super interesting, because it takes you to the Ring, the boulevard that runs around historic Vienna, where you pass some of the city’s most beautiful buildings, such as the magnificent Town Hall (Rathaus), the Opera House, the Parliament, the fabulous Karlskirche, and all the magnificent architecture along the way. Before heading off to the historic center and discovering St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
All at a very reasonable pace, with a guide who will tell you all about the city’s history!

• Duration: 3 hours
• Price: €47
• Info and booking
  • Discover a Segway alternative

A guided tour of Schönbrunn Palace and its gardens

At Schönbrunn Palace, the history of Austria, and above all of Europe, has been shaped. Many alliances were forged here, notably by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, head of the most powerful empire of her time, who married her daughters all over Europe, one of the most famous being Marie Antoinette. Napoleon married his niece, and his son Napoleon II died in the palace.
We could also mention the love story (but not only!) between Empress Sissi and Emperor Franz Joseph.

In short, as you can see, it’s a place full of stories, anecdotes and antics. And it’s pretty, too! So a guided tour can provide a lot more information than an audioguide (which isn’t bad either, mind you).

• Duration: 2 hours
• Price: €48
• Info and booking

4 recommended accommodations in Vienna

A free tour of Vienna’s historic center

A great way to discover Vienna’s most beautiful spots on a budget. A free tour is a guided tour with no fixed price. You pay what you want!

This free tour takes you to the heart of the imperial city. With your guide, you’ll discover the most beautiful places, including St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Hofsburg Palace (just fantastic), the historic quarter, the imperial crypt and much more. The essentials to give you your first taste of the city!

• Duration: 2.5 hours
• Price: you decide!
• Info and booking

A free tour to discover Vienna by night!

As explained above, a free tour is a guided tour with no fixed price. You pay what you like!

I find this free tour super interesting because I love visiting cities by night. Especially cities with such a rich heritage and culture as Vienna (which also applies to Budapest, Paris and London, for example), cities that know how to showcase their heritage.

Here, your guide will take you to the city’s classic landmarks: Hofsburg Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the historic center, Burggarten Park with its Mozart statue. In short, the essentials!

• Duration: 2 hours
• Price: you decide!
• Information and booking

Guided tour of the historic center and the Opera House

Here you have two quite distinct parts to this guided tour. Firstly, your guide will take you to the historic center to show you the essentials of Vienna. The impressive Hofburg Palace, then the Cathedral, Old Vienna and the city’s great classics. Then on to the Opera House, one of the most famous in the world. Vienna has always been a city of music. The greatest composers of classical music wrote and lived here. Mozart, of course, Beethoven, Strauss… Vivaldi is even buried here.

So, as well as being superb, the opera is of enormous importance. It has been conducted by such giants as Mahler, Strauss and Von Karajan. You can immerse yourself in its history and discover it from the inside.

• Duration: 2 hours
• Price: €28, opera ticket included
• Information and booking

A Hitler-themed tour of Vienna

It’s hard to dissociate Vienna from Adolphe Hitler. Far from being an apologist for him (fortunately), this tour aims to show how he grew up politically, and how he got where he is today. On this tour, you’ll also discover the Jewish Quarter, the Great Synagogue and the Memorial, all accompanied, I think most importantly, by a historian. Who will explain the mood of the city during Hitler’s rise and the 2nd World War.

Not the happiest visit, but probably the most interesting!

• Duration: 2h30 hours
• Price: €25
• Info and booking

Discover Vienna by bus

This possibility exists in many cities but isn’t always super useful: the tourist bus. I’ve done it in Dubai, for example, and it’s not crazy. But in Vienna, a city full of scattered monuments and magnificent architecture absolutely everywhere in the city, it can be a good option to get a good overview of the wonders of the center.

In fact, I recommend discovering Vienna by sightseeing bus at the start of your stay, to sort out the “okay, you’ve got to go there, not there”, to take a tour of the Ring, which is really pretty, for example. The good thing is that you can hop on and hop off whenever you like. How convenient!

With Big Bus 24h, for example, you can make all 22 stops, get off at the best spots and hop on again to go to the next point, such as the Opera House, Schonbrunn Palace, Belvedere, Hofburg…

• Duration: 24h or 48h, unlimited ascent and descent
• Price: €35 or €44
• Information and booking

5 practical accommodations in Vienna

So you should know that Vienna is a city where accommodation is expensive. Sometimes very expensive, especially in the historic center. You need to plan well in advance to take advantage of the few quality accommodations that don’t cost an arm and a leg. And if you go outside the tourist season, you’ll have much better luck.

Also, the metro network is really good, so you can get out of the city center, which is still easily accessible. So here are a few recommendations, practical and fun:

• Hotel Daniel Vienna: from €75, located just south of Belvedere Park, so ideal without being totally in the center. Very good value for money, goes up in high season.
  • Information and booking
• Hotel Rathaus: from 90€, right behind the Parliament and 2 steps from the museum district, it has a super rating on Booking. It’s a hotel dedicated to wine, so there’s plenty of good stuff to choose from.
  • Information and booking
• Pension A und U: from €115, you can’t beat the location. Right in the heart of the city, 50m from the Peterskirche, this is a good, quality place to stay, even if you have to pay for the location.
  • Information and booking
• Austria Trend Parkhotel: want a view of Schonbrunn Palace? Then this superb hotel is for you! In a former imperial residence, with a sumptuous facade, and yet at a fair price: 109€. A little out of the way, but just a few metro stops from the center – super convenient!
  • Information and booking
• Hotel König von Ungarn: for a bit of luxury and a step upmarket, here’s a magnificent 4* hotel right in the center. Views of the Cathedral from the terrace, superb facilities and a price tag of between €250 and €300.
  • Information and booking

The Vienna Pass, an unlimited way to discover Vienna

An excellent opportunity if you’re interested in several of the city’s monuments and sites. You can find the full list on the website, but of course you’ve got the great classics like Schonbrunn, all the Hofburg Palace museums (horse riding, Crown Treasures, Sissi…), the Vienna Opera House or the Belvedere. And almost every museum in the city. Not bad, eh?

What’s more, you can hop on and off the hop-on hop-off bus whenever you like.

• Discover all the info and prices of the Vienna Pass

Must-see places

I’ve already mentioned it in a previous article, but Vienna has some absolutely exceptional churches! We’re obviously talking about the Cathedral, which you must visit from the top, but the superb Kalrskirche and Peterskirche are not to be missed. My favorite, however, is the tiny and super-cute St. Anne’s.

The imperial palaces are a must. The Hofsburg Palace, with all the history of the empire, but above all in an ultra-nice district, the Schonbrunn Palace, which is super interesting, but you mustn’t miss the Belvedere Palace! And don’t miss the Opera House.

Finally, I can’t recommend attending a classical music concert enough. The city has seen some of the greatest names (Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi…) pass through its doors, and the prestigious venues I’ve just mentioned offer regular concerts! So what could be better than attending a superb concert in a church or at Schonbrunn? In the following article, discover all the possibilities for a classical music concert in Vienna.

Find all articles on Vienne :

• Must-see places in Vienna
• Vienna’s most beautiful churches
• How to get to the city center from Vienna airport
• How to attend a classical music concert in Vienna