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3 Days in Vienna Itinerary: Our Pick of the Sights (2026)

Last updated: May 23, 2026. Written by Laurence Norah - 46 Comments

We’ve been back to Vienna a handful of times now, and three days is the sweet spot for a first visit. You get all three palaces (Hofburg, Belvedere, Schönbrunn), an afternoon in a Viennese coffee house, and enough breathing room that you’re not chasing a timetable. Below is how we’d structure it for first-timers, with the palaces sequenced so you finish at Schönbrunn with the gardens to wander rather than fighting central-Vienna logistics at the end of a long day.

If you do have less time in Vienna, check out our itinerary for two days in Vienna. But now, let’s take a look at how to spend 3 days in Vienna.

Table of Contents:

3 Days in Vienna

Day 1 in Vienna

Day 1 covers the heart of the Old Town. Everything below sits inside a tight walking arc from Stephansplatz down to Karlsplatz and the Naschmarkt, so you won’t need public transport unless you’re staying outside the Ring. A coffee house break somewhere mid-afternoon is a good idea. The Coffee House Culture section further down has our four picks.

Mozarthaus Vienna

Vienna is very much associated with Mozart, one of the most well known composers of Classical music. Vienna was his home for many years during his prolific career, and he lived at a number of properties during his time in the city. Only one of these homes survives today – the Mozarthaus, which you’ll find in Vienna’s Old Town on Domgasse. Which is our suggested first stop on day one of our three day Vienna itinerary.

Mozart lived at this property for three years between 1784 and 1787, and it has been open to the public since 1941. In 2004 it was totally redesigned, and now the whole building is a centre dedicated to the life of the composer.

You don’t have to be a Mozart fan to enjoy a visit to this building – it’s a good insight into life in general in Vienna in the late 18th century. Naturally it’s also filled with information about Mozart and his life, so even if you don’t know much when you arrive – you’ll know a lot when you leave!

The Mozarthaus is open daily from 10am – 7pm, and there’s an admission fee. You can see the official website for more details.

Entrance is included for holders of the Vienna Pass.

You can also buy individual tickets online in advance here.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral

Just a short walk from the Mozarthaus is the magnificent St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the seat of the Catholic church in Vienna. This is found right in the centre of the old town. and is hard to miss!

As you approach you will instantly notice the roof, which is decorated with glazed and painted tiles in an ornate design. There are also two large towers – the massive south tower, which stands at 136m tall, and the smaller north tower which is 68 metres tall. Both of these towers are open to the public, and can be climbed for a fee. As expected, the higher south tower offers the best views over the city.

Naturally, you can also go inside the cathedral, which is of a largely Romanesque / Gothic design, and predominantly dates from the Middle Ages. The three nave design with it’s huge columns is definitely an impressive sight and you can visit for free. You can also visit the Treasury.

This does require a small fee (included with the Vienna Pass), but you get to see more stuff and it offers good views of the main church interior from a first floor viewing area. The fee also means it’s a lot less busy, so you can enjoy the building without feeling too hemmed in.

Vienna State Opera House Tour

Vienna has a world famous state opera house which dates from 1869 and has played host to some of the world’s most famous singers and conductors.

If you are particularly interested in the Opera, then a night here watching a performance is likely to be an experience you will never forget. You can check performance times and buy tickets for shows at various venues in Vienna here.

However, you can also visit the opera house without seeing a performance, by taking a guided tour.

These last around forty minutes, and you’ll learn all about the history of the building, see all the main highlights, and even get a behind the scenes look at how an opera house is run.

Tours run a number of times during the day – see the official website for information and pricing.

Wien Museum

If you’re interested in learning more about the history of Vienna, we suggest heading to the Vienna Museum, or Wien Museum.

This is spread out over a number of buildings across the city, but we recommend you visit the main building on Karlsplatz.

Spread across three floors, this building houses an excellent spread of artistic and historical exhibits that will give you an excellent overview of the history of Vienna, as well as some of its more notable artists and other residents over the ages.

On display you’ll find everything from neolithic finds through to Roman archaeological discoveries through to displays from the present day.

There are also notable artworks from Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele on display, as well as two incredible models of the city, one of which shows what Vienna would have looked like in the mid-19th century.

Even if you aren’t usually a “museum” person, we think you will enjoy the Wien Museum, and if you only visit one museum in the city, this should be it.

Karlskirche

Right next to the Wien Museum is the beautifully ornate Karlskirche, or St. Charles Church.

This is an 18th century Baroque style church with two impressive spiral columns on the exterior. It was built by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, largely to celebrate the end of the plague in the city, and is dedicated to St. Charles, known as a plague healer.

It’s a striking building with the central dome and two spires, and the lake in front of it offers a lovely reflection as well.

Of course, you can also go inside, where one of the highlights are the spectacular frescoes that adorn the interior of the dome.

You can also take a panoramic elevator for a closer view of the frescoes. There’s an admission fee for the church, and you can see that and the opening times at the official website.

Naschmarkt

We’re going to round off our first day of sight-seeing in Vienna with a visit to one of Vienna’s most famous markets – the Naschmarkt. This is just a short walk from Karlskirche.

The Naschmarkt runs for almost a mile along Wienzelle, and is Vienna’s largest market by far. It’s also got some pedigree, having existed here since the 16th century – although back then if you came here you’d largely only be able to buy milk.

Today there is a lot more on offer than milk. You’ll find fruit and vegetables from the around the world, exotic spices, olives, cheeses, meat, seafood – almost anything you can imagine in fact. There are also many restaurants and food stalls serving everything from sushi to Viennese specialities. A fine way to end your first day exploring Vienna, we think you’ll agree!

Day 2 in Vienna

Day 2 is the imperial day, and it’s a long one. Most of what’s below sits inside or right beside the Hofburg, the rambling former winter residence of the Habsburgs in the centre of the old town. Plan it as a Hofburg-complex morning, a museum or coffee stop in the afternoon, and Danube views or an interactive history attraction in the evening if you’ve got the legs for it.

The Hofburg Complex

The Hofburg is a sprawling palace complex rather than a single sight, and Day 2 essentially loops around it. It was the winter residence of the Habsburgs for the better part of six centuries, and over the years it’s accumulated half a dozen separate visitable attractions inside its walls, each with its own ticket. You won’t do all of them in a day, so the move is to pick the ones that interest you and book ahead where you can. The headline picks for this itinerary:

Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartments. Sold as one combined ticket (€20 adult), good for about an hour. Open daily. Covers Empress Elisabeth’s biography and the rooms where Franz Joseph and Sisi actually lived.
Imperial Treasury (Kaiserliche Schatzkammer). Home to the Habsburg crown jewels and regalia. €16 booked online or €18 walk-up, about an hour inside. Closed Tuesdays.
Austrian National Library State Hall (Prunksaal). A single Baroque library hall, and easily the most photogenic room in Vienna. Thirty minutes is enough. €12. Closed Mondays from October through May.
Spanish Riding School morning exercise. Covered separately just below.

The Albertina sits at the southern edge of the Hofburg too, so think of it as part of the same complex even though it has its own entrance and ticket.

Spanish Riding School

One of Vienna’s most famous attractions is the Spanish Riding School, home of the Lipizzan horses. These horses and their riders regularly perform shows in the winter riding school arena, a purpose built building which dates from 1729. The shows focus on classical dressage, and are rightly world famous.

However, you don’t have to book tickets for a show to see these beautiful horses in action. The riders run morning exercise sessions in the arena Tuesday through Friday, and sometimes Mondays, from 10am to 11am. The school publishes the schedule in seasonal blocks rather than year-round, so check the official website for current dates before you plan your visit. Tickets start at €17 for standing room (Category 3), with seats running €20 to €29.

These are training exercises rather than a whole show, so don’t go expecting to see an elaborate co-ordinated spectacle. If that’s what you’re after, you should attend an actual performance. Also note that photography is not permitted at any point during the visit.

If you are interested in the behind the scenes operation of the Spanish Riding School, you can also take a guided tour. We were lucky enough to be taken on a private guided tour, and very much enjoyed getting to meet the horses and learn about their lives.

Just be aware that for the horses’ health, you aren’t allowed to actually touch the horses (although as you can see from the photo, the horses did try and have a nibble on my hair in case it was actually hay!).

For information on times and prices, see the official website of the Spanish Riding School.

Entry to the morning exercise is included on the Vienna Pass. You can also book tickets online here.

Albertina

The Albertina sits at the southern edge of the Hofburg, between the palace complex and the State Opera. This is an art museum which holds one of the largest print rooms in the world.

With over a million items in the collection, you are assured to see something you like, with art from world-class artists from Monet to Cezanne to Picasso on display. It’s also home to the Hofburg Palace staterooms, which are included as part of your entry fee.

The Albertina is open daily from 10am to 6pm, and until 9pm on Wednesdays and Fridays. There’s an admission fee – you can see more at the official website here. Entry is included on the Vienna Pass.

Picking a Museum: Natural History or Kunsthistorisches?

Two large museums sit directly opposite each other on Maria-Theresien-Platz, just west of the Hofburg complex. They were built as a pair in the 1880s, so the buildings are near-identical from the outside (Vienna has a lot of spectacular buildings). The contents are very different.

The Natural History Museum has fossils, dinosaur skeletons, the Habsburg natural-history collection (which runs to over 30 million items, collected over 250 years), and exhibits on the history of the solar system. If you’ve got a child along, or you grew up reading about dinosaurs, this is the one. Open Thursday through Monday 9am to 6:30pm, Wednesday 9am to 9pm, closed Tuesdays and public holidays. Full opening hours and ticket prices on the official website here.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum, opposite, holds the Habsburg art collection. The headline reasons to visit are the Bruegel rooms (the largest collection of his work anywhere, including The Tower of Babel and The Hunters in the Snow) and the Vermeer (The Art of Painting). Worth a full afternoon for serious art-history visitors.

Realistically you’ll have time for one of these in a 3-day Vienna trip, not both. Pick whichever sounds better to you. Both are included on the Vienna Pass.

Sigmund Freud Museum

With Jess’s background as a psychologist, naturally, we had to visit the Sigmund Freud museum in Vienna, and this might be something you’re interested in as well. This one’s an interest-based optional, so skip it if Freud isn’t your thing, and pick it up at the end of Day 2 if he is.

The museum is housed in the former apartment and office of Freud himself, and has been open to the public since 1971. It’s not a huge space, but it does contain a number of items related to Freud including some of his clothes and part of his antiques collection.

The museum also has information related to the history of psychoanalysis and its influence on art and society. However, it does not contain much original furniture, as most of this was taken to London by Freud when he moved there, and is now in the Freud Museum in London.

There is a small fee to visit the museum, and do be aware that there can be a wait at busy times as it is not a large space and it is a popular spot to visit. You can see opening times and prices at the official website.

Included on the Vienna Pass.

City River Cruise

We always enjoy taking a river cruise if it’s an option in a city, and Vienna of course has the Danube. A river cruise is a relaxing way to see a few sights whilst taking the load off your feet (and perhaps enjoying a refreshing beverage?), and there are a number of operators who run cruises in Vienna.

We took the tour with City Cruises Vienna on the MS Blue Danube, which was conveniently included on our Vienna Pass.

This was a fun and comfortable experience, and we saw parts of the city, including a lot of street art, that we hadn’t seen before. Cruises run throughout the year, but the schedule varies depending on time of year.

If you don’t opt for the Vienna Pass, you can book a cruise online in advance here.

Danube Tower

If you’re looking for a good view in Vienna, look no further than the Danube Tower. This tower, originally built to host the 1964 Viennese Horticultural show, is the tallest structure in Austria.

From the viewing platforms, which are 450ft above ground level, you get an excellent view of the entire city and much of the surrounding area.

As well as the viewing area (accessed by high speed elevator) there are also two revolving restaurants in the tower, which would make for a good spot for your evening meal. This would also be a great place to watch the sunset at the end of your second day exploring Vienna!

The Danube Tower is open from 10am – midnight every day, and there’s a fee for visiting. You can find out more on the official site here.

It’s included on the Vienna Pass, or you can buy tickets online in advance here.

Time Travel Vienna

If you’re travelling with kids, or you’ve still got energy at the end of Day 2 and fancy something that isn’t another palace or museum, Time Travel Vienna is a possibility for an evening optional. It’s a tour through 2,000 years of Viennese history, told through costumed guides, animatronic shows and a “5D” cinema experience, with various special effects and music.

The tour lasts around an hour, and is available in a number of languages.

Time Travel Vienna is open daily from 10am to 8pm, with the last tour starting at 7pm. There’s a fee for entry, and you can check times and prices here, and book tickets in advance here.

Day 3 in Vienna

Day 3 leans on the two palaces that sit at the edges of Vienna proper. Schönbrunn is half a day on its own (more if you do the gardens and the strudel show), Belvedere is the other half, and Prater’s Ferris Wheel makes a natural close to the day. If you’re visiting in winter, check seasonal closing. Prater shuts earlier than the spring and summer hours, and Vienna sunsets land around 4:30pm in December.

Schönbrunn Palace

No visit to Vienna is complete without a visit to the spectacular Schönbrunn Palace, home of the Habsburg empire.

This is a large complex with a lot to see and do, so we suggest you allocate at least half a day, if not more, to your visit.

You’ll also want to arrive as early as you can, as the queues here can become long as the day progresses.

There are three different palace tour tiers, so the first decision is how much of the palace interior you want to see:

The Imperial Tour covers 22 state rooms in about 40 minutes. €22 adult.
The Grand Tour covers 40 rooms (the Imperial Tour plus the Sisi-era apartments) in about an hour. €28 adult.
The Classic Pass adds the gardens attractions (Maze, Privy Garden, Orangery Garden, Gloriette) to the Grand Tour. Around two hours all in. €32 adult.

A note for visits through 2026: the Great Gallery (Große Galerie) is under restoration through the end of the year. It’s still on the tour route but partially obscured by scaffolding, which is worth knowing if it’s the room you were specifically coming to see.

The rest of the complex includes a big zoo (the oldest in the Western world), the Imperial Carriage Museum, and the Orangery. The Gloriette, a huge structure which crowns a hill at the back of the gardens, offers great views of the palace.

We’d also highly recommend taking the time to visit the Apple Strudel show, where you can learn all about traditional apple strudel making techniques, plus eat a slice yourself.

Schönbrunn Palace is open every day, including public holidays. Closing times vary depending on the time of year, but it opens every morning at 8am, when tickets and display rooms are opened. You can see opening times and prices here.

Schönbrunn Palace is also included on the Vienna Pass, and we highly recommend the pass if you are planning on visiting the palace, which is relatively expensive due to all the various attractions on site.

If you don’t want to buy a pass, we recommend buying a ticket in advance to skip the lines, which you can do from the official site here.

Another option is to take a guided walking tour of the palace, such as this well reviewed one. This will also skip the lines, as well as give you lots of information and historical context about the palace.

To be honest, if you have the time and inclination, you could easily spend all day at Schönbrunn Palace, and we wouldn’t blame you if you choose to do just that. On a warm sunny day it’s definitely one of the nicest places to be in the city.

If you’d rather do a bit more sightseeing though on your third day in Vienna, here are a couple more options for you to consider.

Belvedere Museum

If you have time, we very much recommend a visit to the UNESCO world heritage listed Belvedere Museum.

This actually consists of two buildings, the Upper and Lower Belvedere. which were constructed in the early 18th century as the summer residence for Prince Eugene, a military commander and statesman of the Holy Roman Empire.

The two palaces are separated by sloped landscaped gardens which contain a number of water features and sculptures, and are considered some of the finest examples of Baroque architecture in Europe.

Within the museum are a number of artworks, including the largest collection of Klimt paintings in the world, as well as works from Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir and Cezanne. The Upper Belvedere also affords an excellent view of the city.

The Upper Belvedere is open daily from 9am – 6pm (9pm on Fridays), and the Lower Belvedere is open daily from 10am – 6pm (9pm on Fridays). Each palace has an individual entry fee, and you can see full details of fees and opening times here.

Both are also included on the Vienna Pass, or you can buy your tickets online in advance here.

Prater Park and Ferris Wheel

Prater closes out Day 3 as a sunset anchor. It’s an old traditional amusement park, a couple of metro stops northeast of the old town centre, and it’s home to Vienna’s iconic Giant Ferris Wheel.

Originally built in 1897, this was the world’s largest ferris wheel for decades, right up until 1985 in fact. It was seriously damaged in World War 2, and today’s version is the rebuilt model from after the war.

If you’re visiting with a partner and feeling romantic, you can even hire out your own cabin on the Giant Ferris Wheel and have a romantic meal. Group cabin reservations are also possible, perhaps if you are celebrating a special event.

Otherwise, you can just do what we did, and take the standard tour which lasts around twenty minutes, and offers lovely views of the city.

Prater Park itself is also a lot of fun, especially for families. There are rides, an arcade, a Madame Tussauds and a number of places where you can get food. One thing to be aware of though is that the attractions aren’t open as late all year round, so check opening times on the official website before you go to avoid disappointment.

For the wheel, there is a fee to ride it, and it’s also included on the Vienna Pass. You can also purchase tickets in advance here.

Viennese Coffee House Culture

Vienna’s coffee house tradition was added to UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011. It’s a roundabout way of saying that sitting in a coffee house for two hours over one melange is a culturally protected activity in this city, which is a position we’re firmly in favour of. These aren’t Starbucks. They’re places to read the paper, write your novel, eat cake at five in the afternoon, and not be hurried by waiting staff. We make a point of working at least one coffee house stop into every Vienna trip we do.

Four picks for somewhere on the itinerary:

Café Demel, at Kohlmarkt 14 in the old town, a two-minute walk from the Hofburg’s Michaelerplatz entrance. Hofzuckerbäckerei to the imperial family since 1786, which is the kind of pedigree only a Vienna café would casually mention. Open daily from 10am to 7pm. They don’t take reservations, so show up and wait if it’s busy.
Café Sacher, at Philharmonikerstraße 4 next to the State Opera. Open daily from 8am, reservations recommended at peak times. This is where the Original Sacher-Torte was invented, and the queues reflect that.
Café Landtmann, at Universitätsring 4 overlooking the Burgtheater. Open Monday through Saturday 7:30am to midnight, Sundays 7:30am to 10pm. Step-free access, reservations available, which makes it the most “modern operation” of the four despite being a 19th-century institution.
Café Sperl, at Gumpendorferstrasse 11 in Mariahilf (outside the Ring, a 10-minute walk south of the Naschmarkt). Open Monday through Saturday 7am to 10pm, Sundays 10am to 8pm, but closed Sundays in July and August. Less polished than the others, which is the point. Billiards in the back and 1880 panelling, not a tourist queue.

3 Day Vienna Itinerary Map

To help you with your planning, we’ve put together a map of all the attractions in our three day Vienna itinerary. You can see this below, and access the original on Google Maps here.

3 Day Vienna Itinerary Summary

Day 1: Mozarthaus Vienna, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna State Opera House, Wien Museum, Karlskirche, Naschmarkt
Day 2: Hofburg complex (Sisi Museum + Imperial Apartments, Imperial Treasury, State Hall, Spanish Riding School morning exercise), Albertina, Natural History Museum or Kunsthistorisches, Sigmund Freud Museum (optional), City River Cruise, Danube Tower, Time Travel Vienna (evening optional)
Day 3: Schönbrunn Palace (Imperial / Grand / Classic Pass tiers), Belvedere, Prater Park and Ferris Wheel

Where (and what) to Eat in Vienna

Vienna has a wide range of excellent restaurants and cafes to choose from, at a variety of price points. There are also plenty of bars of course. Local food specialities in Vienna include Wiener Schnitzel (a breaded veal cutlet), Tafelspitz (boiled beef) and of course, Apfelstrudel, or Apple Strudel.

Many of the restaurants throughout Vienna will serve the classics, with prices ranging from 13 – 18 euros for a main course in our experience. We enjoyed particularly good food at Zwolf Apostkeller and Glacis Beisl, both of which serve high quality traditional Viennese food at reasonable prices.

Make Reservations in Advance

A handful of Vienna’s headline sights and a couple of the coffee houses get busy enough that turning up unbooked will cost you time, money, or both. Worth booking ahead for:

Schönbrunn Palace. Both the timed-entry palace tour and the Apple Strudel show fill up.
Spanish Riding School. Morning-exercise tickets and the behind-the-scenes guided tour both sell out in peak season.
Belvedere. Upper Belvedere especially, where Klimt’s Kiss is the queue magnet.
Vienna State Opera tours. They release in batches and have smaller capacity than you’d expect.
Café Sacher and Café Landtmann. Reservations recommended at peak times.

Where to Stay in Vienna for 3 Days

As we often do when visiting a city like Vienna, we opted for an apartment. This was right in the city centre, and meant that we had room to work, cook meals and do our laundry.

Of course, there are plenty more options in Vienna, with everything from hostels through to mid-range hotels and of course, luxury five star hotels available. Here are some recommended options to consider:

wombat’s CITY Hostels Vienna – Found in Naschmarkt, near the large city market, and close to the museum quarter, this is a highly rated hostel that offers both dormitory and private rooms at a great price.
Motel One Wien-Staatsoper – just 100 yards from the Vienna State opera, this three star property is fantastic value. Air conditioned rooms are all en-suite, and WiFi is available throughout.
Hotel Pension Suzanne – A small family-run pension a minute’s walk from the State Opera and Karlsplatz U-Bahn. Antique furniture, en-suite rooms, and a few studios with a kitchenette if you want the option to make your own breakfast.
Hotel Domizil – A mid-range four-star on Schulerstraße, a couple of minutes’ walk from Stephansdom and the U-Bahn. Free WiFi throughout, en-suite rooms with mini-bar and kettle, 24-hour reception.
Hotel Am Parkring – A highly rated and great value four star property with city views from its high floor location
Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth – A historic four-star just off Kärntnerstraße, steps from Stephansdom and the State Opera. Air conditioned rooms, full buffet breakfast, period interiors that lean into the old-Vienna setting.
Hotel König von Ungarn – Vienna’s oldest hotel, this four star property is well reviewed and rooms come with free WiFi and air conditioning
Hotel Imperial – a great value yet impressive 5 star luxury hotel in the centre of the city, with a range of rooms that include luxury amenities, marble bathrooms, and at the higher end, a butler service
Grand Hotel Wien – a highly rated and centrally located 5 star historic property which offers 5 restaurants, luxurious rooms, spa and business centre. A fantastic choice at the high end

We recommend you checkout the Vienna listings on Booking.com if you prefer a hotel stay, we find they usually come back with the widest choice and best deals, plus once you book a few times you get access to Genius discounts, which can save you even more.

For more tips and ideas on how to get the best deals on accommodation (and more!), check out our comprehensive travel resources page.

How to Save Money on your Vienna Trip

As a European capital. Vienna is not exactly a budget destination, although there are ways that you can save money on your trip.

Nearly all the attractions on this list carry an entry fee, which ranges from a few euros up to thirty euros per person. So the cost of sightseeing can very quickly add up.

Thankfully there’s a solution, which is the excellent Vienna Pass. We’re big fans of using city passes like this to save money, and think that the Vienna Pass is one of the best value city pass cards available.

To give you an idea of the savings, if you visited all the attractions on the itinerary above, you’d be looking at over 250 euros in attraction entry fees per person.

With the Vienna Pass, all of the attractions above are included, with the exception of the Karlskirche, Wien Museum, Time Travel Vienna and the Vienna State Opera Tour. It also includes a great many other attractions not listed above, which means you can see even more should you want to.

A three day Vienna Pass currently costs around 157 euros. Against the 250+ euros you’d otherwise spend on attraction entry across this itinerary, that’s a considerable saving.

Of course, you’ll want to check your own savings against the attractions you want to visit, and you can see many of the attractions covered by the Vienna Pass here. We definitely think you’ll find it saves you money, and the included Hop on Hop off bus is a real bonus as well for helping you get around the city.

Finally, if you don’t think you’ll use the Vienna Pass enough to get value out of it, you might instead consider the Vienna City Card. Worth knowing these are two different products despite the similar names. The Vienna Pass gives free entry to around 86 attractions plus a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus (98 to 179 euros depending on duration). The Vienna City Card is a transport card with attraction discounts at a much lower price point, but it doesn’t include free entry to anything. Get the Pass if you’re sightseeing-heavy, the Card if you’re mostly riding the metro.

Where to see Live Music in Vienna?

A popular question that we are asked from visitors to Vienna is where to attend a classical music concert in the city.

There are many venues throughout the city which offer live music, from the opera house through to performances in churches, many of which will be classical music concerts.

Popular performances include:

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at Karlskirche
Mozart and Strauss concerts at Kursalon Vienna
Classical Concerts at Schönbrunn Palace
Classical Concerts in St. Anne’s Church
Classic Ensemble Vienna in St. Peter’s Church

For more options, visit this page on the official website for Vienna, which has event listings for every type of musical event, and in particular, classic music lovers will want to check out the Classical Music listings.

You can also purchase tickets for live music in Vienna on this website.

How to Get Around Vienna

Vienna is a very walkable city for the most part, and the majority of this itinerary can be done on foot. There are a few locations that are a little further out of the old town centre, like Schönbrunn Palace, the Danube Tower and Prater Park, for which you might need to take public transport or a taxi.

Vienna has an excellent public transport system that includes a metro, buses, and trams. We invested in a three day travel card for our time in Vienna, which gave us free access to all the public transport options in the city.

To be honest though, we didn’t use it enough to really justify the cost – we found ourselves walking between most of the sights, or taking Vienna’s hop on hop off bus.

As discussed above, if you pick up a Vienna Pass, this includes a Hop on Hop off bus pass good for the duration of the pass, which is excellent value.

There are multiple routes around the city, including to all the major sights in this itinerary (including Schönbrunn Palace), and it’s a fun way to do a bit of sight-seeing whilst resting your legs as well.

If you don’t pick up a Vienna Pass or a travel card, instead consider the Vienna City Card. This includes free transport around the city, as well as discounts at the major attractions and museums.

FAQ: 3 Days in Vienna

Is 3 days enough in Vienna?

For a first visit, yes. Three days lets you cover the three signature palaces (Hofburg, Belvedere, Schönbrunn), spend an afternoon in a Viennese coffee house, and pick a museum or two.

It’s not enough to dent the museum collections though, so the trip works best if you treat the museums as a pick-one-or-two decision rather than trying to see them all. We’ve been back to Vienna several times and three days has felt like enough for both first and repeat visits without anyone feeling rushed.

How many days do you need in Vienna?

Three is the sweet spot for a first visit. With less than three days you’ll have to drop either Schönbrunn (a half-day commitment on its own) or one of the central days, which means missing either the imperial sights or the Old Town.

If you have four or five days, you can add slower museum time (a full day for the Kunsthistorisches), or a day trip to Wachau Valley or Bratislava. We’ve never felt three days was inadequate for the city itself.

What should you see in Vienna in 3 days?

The core circuit is the Old Town on Day 1 (Stephansdom, the State Opera, Wien Museum, Karlskirche, Naschmarkt), the Hofburg complex on Day 2 (Sisi Museum, Imperial Treasury, Spanish Riding School morning exercise, plus one of the two big museums on Maria-Theresien-Platz), and Schönbrunn plus Belvedere on Day 3, with the Prater Ferris Wheel as a sunset close.

Build in time for a coffee house break somewhere. The historic Viennese coffee houses are on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage and they make better mid-afternoon stops than the museum cafés.

Which order should you do the three palaces (Hofburg, Schönbrunn, Belvedere)?

Hofburg first, then Belvedere, then Schönbrunn last.

The Hofburg sits in the centre of the old town, so it’s easy to fit into a city-walking day. Belvedere is a short tram ride south of the Ring. Schönbrunn is the furthest out and easily the largest, which is why we anchor it to Day 3. You finish the trip walking the gardens at the edge of the city rather than rushing back across town for something else.

When is the best time to visit Vienna for 3 days?

April to June and September to October are the easiest months. You get comfortable weather, full opening hours, and the Christmas market crowds haven’t arrived yet.

July and August get hot and busy, with the inner courtyards of places like Schönbrunn feeling crowded. December is atmospheric for the Christmas markets but cold and dark by 4:30pm. We’ve visited in both spring and autumn and both work well.

Where should you stay in Vienna for 3 days?

Inside the Ring (the 1st district) makes sense for a 3-day trip because it puts you within walking distance of most Day 1 and Day 2 sights.

Hotels right next to the State Opera (Motel One Wien-Staatsoper) or near Stephansdom (Hotel Domizil, König von Ungarn) put you closest to the action. Apartments work well if you want to cook a meal or do laundry, and Vrbo and Booking both have central options.

How do you get around Vienna in 3 days?

Mostly on foot. The inner city is small enough that everything on Day 1 and most of Day 2 is walkable, and the U-Bahn handles the longer hops (Schönbrunn, Prater, the Danube Tower).

A three-day travel card is convenient but not essential, since you’ll only use it for a few rides. If you buy the Vienna Pass, it includes a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus which doubles as transport between Schönbrunn and the centre.

How much do 3 days in Vienna cost?

Vienna is mid-tier for European capitals. It’s pricier than Prague or Budapest, comparable to Berlin, and cheaper than Paris or Zurich.

Budget around 60 to 80 euros per person per day for sights and food on a normal trip, plus accommodation (100 to 200 euros a night for a central mid-range hotel). The big-ticket items are the palaces: Schönbrunn’s Classic Pass is 32 euros, Belvedere combined ticket is 23 euros, and a Vienna Pass at 157 euros for three days breaks even if you visit four or more pass-included attractions.

Is Vienna walkable in 3 days?

Yes. The historic centre inside the Ring is roughly 1.5 km across and almost entirely flat, which makes it one of the more walkable European capitals.

We’ve crossed the inner city in under 25 minutes on foot. You’ll need the U-Bahn for Schönbrunn, Belvedere (technically walkable but a stretch), Prater, and the Danube Tower, but those are the only stops in this itinerary that require it.

Can you do a 3-day Vienna trip with kids?

Yes, and we’d add three things to the itinerary specifically for younger travellers.

Prater Park on Day 3 has rides, an arcade, and Madame Tussauds beside the Ferris Wheel. Time Travel Vienna’s “5D cinema” history experience is a hit with kids who don’t want to walk through more state rooms. Schönbrunn’s zoo (the oldest in the world) is a major draw for animal-mad children, and you could swap half the palace tour for the zoo without losing the Schönbrunn experience.

Sigmund Freud Museum is a skip for kids.