If you drift through Vienna’s centre in August, you may wonder why you rarely hear a Viennese accent.
It’s because we’re all on holiday. The city is yours, now.
(P.S. Be sure to water the plants and feed the parrot.)
- See also:
Top activities in August 2022
The cool interiors of cafés, museums, and palaces are a strong option in August, but what else might you do in the hottest month of the year?
Incidentally, if you’re worried about keeping cool, the Vienna authorities install numerous mobile drinking water fountains around the tourist hotspots, as well as water spray facilities in selected locations.
August exhibitions
Top tip
Read More
Insider tip
Highlights
The museum summer normally offers a few distractions for visitors to the city. We can already expect the following, for example, for August 2022:
- Enjoy solo exhibitions for Ai Weiwei at the Albertina Modern, Hans Weigand (until August 21st), Francesco Clemente, and Tony Cragg at the Albertina, and one for George Nuku at the Weltmuseum
- Belvedere looks at around 100 years of realist painting in their True to Life exhibition and also offers up the landscapes of Joseph Rebell
- The same institution’s Viva Venezia! exhibition examines Venice in art, exploring its portrayal, role in myths and metaphors, and influence on Vienna’s own art
- The Wien Museum MUSA takes us onto the streets of Vienna with the Instantly! photography exhibition
- The Jewish Museum introduces us to the lives of philanthropist Stefan Edlis and espresso pioneer Alfred Weiss, not to mention an intriguing look at love and sexuality in the context of Judaism with the Love me Kosher exhibition
- The Kunsthistorisches Museum offers a look at the early years of the Renaissance painter, Lucas Cranach the Elder and also takes us around the world in 80 coins
- Discover the Chaekgeori genre of Korean contemporary art at the Weltmuseum
- We have the When the Wind Blows photo exhibition at the Kunst Haus Wien (until August 28th)
- Grab your last chance to explore the beauty and history of Italian majolica at the MAK museum (until August 7th)
- Talking beauty and history: the Natural History Museum has a special exhibition on Brazil
- …and your last chance to see writer portraits from the Klewan collection at the Leopold Museum (until August 29th)
- For more suggestions, check the full exhibition listings
Stay on the Rathausplatz
As mentioned for July, much fun may be had on the main Rathausplatz square.
The open-air film festival continues through August, with evening showings of music and dance performances on a huge screen.
I like to get there in the early evening for something intriguing to eat and drink from the food court, which features cuisine from around the world (and Austria). Then find a seat to catch a bit of Sheeran or Tchaikovsky.
A fair few open-air cinemas also fire up the popcorn machine come August. For example:
- The dotdotdot film festival for short films has its showings in the garden of the Volkskundemuseum (July 31st to August 31st, 2022)
- Frameout open-air cinema carries on in the courtyards of the city’s main contemporary art quarter, the MQ (July 8th to August 27th)
- For a bit of baroque flair, try the open-air cinema in the privy garden of Lower Belvedere Palace: Kino im Kammergarten usually has several films in English or with English subtitles (2022 dates TBA)
Find accommodation for August
(Service provided by booking.com*, who I am an affiliate of)
Watch the old timers
Classic car enthusiasts gather in the city in August for the Vienna Classic Days old timer festival.
The highlights for visitors is the Old Timer Parade (late afternoon on August 20th), when vehicles of all shapes, sizes and eras do a turn of the Ring, waving cheerily as we all remember the days of flapping scarfs and picnic hampers tied to the boot.
Watch the beach volleyball
The A1 CEV BeachVolley Nations Cup takes place right in the centre of Vienna (August 2nd to 7th), where the top-ranked European countries compete to be declared Europe’s No.1 in beach volleyball.
Enjoy the urban flair
Vienna may have a reputation for imperial elegance and genteel coffee house culture. But it’s also a modern, diverse city with quite a few areas that weren’t actually built by a Habsburg monarch.
- The Calle Libre festival (August 1st to 7th), for example, celebrates street art as a true art form, with the chance to watch those at the top of their profession creating giant street murals and similar at the festival site
- The Gürtel Nightwalk (August 27th) highlights the urban regeneration success story that is the Gürtel road. A stretch of the Gürtel has become a popular nightspot for clubs, bars and venues, who throw open their doors for an evening of free live performances both inside and on open-air stages
Of course, if it’s quiet elegance or leafy suburbs you seek, then see July’s suggestions for enjoying the street cafés and wine taverns.
A taste of Vienna (and the world)
The Afrika Tage African festival from July continues through until August 8th, with its food, fun, music, and marketplace.
And a pop-up farmer’s market enters the historical palm house in the central Burggarten park from August 25th to 28th.
Several summer events that continue daily (or almost daily) through August are:
- The Ottakringer beer festival, with its changing rota of guest breweries (in normal years), Ottakringer’s own traditional and craft beers, and food that goes well with a pint (actually half a liter) on a balmy evening
(On August 12th and 13th, the Summer Nights mini version of March’s Vinyl & Music festival joins the fun.)
- Summer in the MQ is not a formal event as such, but the expression of seasonal flair in Vienna at the MuseumsQuartier, where open-air bars and the famous summer furniture invite you to imbibe something cold, relax, and watch the occasional cloud meandering through blue skies above (hopefully)
- Talking open-air bars, Summerstage on the Donaukanal has a fair few, with accompanying live music, outdoor art and other waterfront delights
Take to the water
And, finally, all of July’s advice on waterways obviously applies to August, too.
If you want to make more of a trip of it, there’s always the option of a short cruise along the Danube. Ships leave from moorings on the Donaukanal, for example, at the edge of the city centre.
Plenty of tour operators will happily show you other options. I can recommend a trip up the Danube through the beautiful Wachau wine-growing area or one across the border into Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital.