One of Vienna’s hop on, hop off buses is a wise option if you don’t want to get to grips with the (admittedly excellent) public transport system, or if you want a guided tour you can leave or join as you like.
Quick summary
There are two main options:
- The Vienna Sightseeing bus (prices start from €17 or free with the Vienna Pass)
- The Big Bus Tour (prices start from around €19. Tiqets.com advance tickets* are available and an upgraded Vienna City Card includes a 24hr pass)
Both take you around the main sites with multilingual audio guides and include various extras (such as a guided walking tour).
Vienna Sightseeing Bus
Unmistakably yellow and green, the Vienna Sightseeing Bus offers four different routes inside the city:
- Red: this encircles the old town, taking you to, from and past key sites like the Hofburg, natural and art history museums, Rathaus, opera house etc.
This should be your first-choice route, as it gives you a broad flavor of the best of Vienna. The different stops offer easy walking access to top sights, including those in the pedestrianized center.
- Yellow: this covers part of the Ring, including the museums and opera house, but takes you out to the two main tourist attractions away from the very center: the Belvedere and Schönbrunn palaces.
A good second choice – no trip to Vienna is complete without seeing at least one of those two palaces.
- Green: the main destinations are out into the hills, through Grinzing (a leafy, noble suburb with many wine taverns) to Kahlenberg mountain and the monastery in the town of Klosterneuburg, just outside Vienna.
This is recommended for warmer seasons – the views from the mountain are excellent and Vienna’s wine taverns (German: Heuriger) are a delight on summer afternoons and evenings. Most sell their own wine and offer a buffet of local specialties, including many you won’t find in normal city restaurants.
- Blue: takes you to Hundertwasserhaus and out across the Danube to the UN headquarters via the Prater amusement park that includes the giant ferris wheel.
Summer weekends also feature additional bus routes into the provinces for palace day trips or a visit to the Roman ruins at Carnuntum.
Ticket options
There are various tickets ranging from a single-route 24 hour ticket to a multiple-route 72 hour ticket that includes single trips on a boat and with a horse-drawn carriage (German: fiakir).
N.B. All tickets include a walking tour into the center. If you have a Vienna Pass, this covers all bus routes and one boat route, too.
For all the details, check the official website.
The Big Bus Tour
The red buses of the Big Bus Tour follow two routes:
- Red: like its namesake, this takes in the area around the old town, but also extends out to the Prater, across the Danube to the UN buildings. Kind of like a combination of the red and blue routes taken by the Vienna Sightseeing buses.
This is a great option if you’re stuck for time, since you see an awful lot of Vienna in under two hours (assuming you don’t do the “hop on, hop off” thing but stay on board).
- Blue: this is the palace route, bordering the Hofburg, then out to Belvedere and Schönbrunn.
The Big Bus Tours also include a guided walking tour.
Ticket options
The basic 24 hour tickets cover the red route or both routes for a small upgrade cost. There are also premium and deluxe 48 hour options that include, for example, a guided walk at Schönbrunn and a river cruise. As of April 1, 2017, certain Vienna City Card options include a 24hr pass for the Big Bus Tour.
For all the details, check the official website.