So, June in Vienna, the month where the weather sheds its capricious nature to bring us sun and frolics. A time for wandering through the historical centre without the burden of jackets and umbrellas (hopefully), all while the Viennese are still at work.
- Book a classical concert experience* for your trip
- See also:
Top activities in June 2025
Aside from the usual tours, museums, concerts, and sightseeing hotspots, just what can you do in this merry month?
My quick tip
Vivaldi’s buried close to Vienna’s Karlskirche church, and no doubt he can rest easy to the sound of The Four Seasons playing in the evenings there.
I was rather mesmerised by the performance and ambience, and it takes a lot to impress me these days.
Enjoy the June exhibitions
(The Albertina counts as a top address for special exhibitions)
So what museum joys does early summer bring?
Top tip
Insider tip
Highlights
- A 2025 highlight at Lower Belvedere: the Pigment & Pixel exhibition examines the methods and materials behind Klimt’s works. Be sure to catch the extraordinary reconstructions, too
- The same location also throws a deserved spotlight on female artists from the Modernism era in the Radical! exhibition (from June 18th)
- Upper Belvedere, meanwhile, gives us an in-depth look at The Bride: Klimt’s unfinished painting. Expect preliminary sketches, historical context, contemporary accounts and similar
- We have a fascinating exhibition around Arcimboldo, Bassano, Bruegel and contemporaries at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (until June 29th)
- Your last chance to see three exhibitions at the Albertina:
- Renaissance drawings by the likes of Dürer and da Vinci (until June 9th)
- Matthew Wong’s works juxtaposed with those of van Gogh (until June 19th)
- Jenny Saville’s solo exhibition (until June 29th)
- Meanwhile, the Albertina continues its Francesca Woodman photo exhibition and starts a new exhibition showcasing drawings and paintings from the 1700s and 1800s inspired by travel.
- The Remix exhibition at the Albertina Modern showcases works from the prestigious Viehof collection…from Gerhard Richter to Katharina Grosse. The same institute also has an exhibition of drawings by Damien Hirst
- The Anton Corbijn photo exhibition at the Kunstforum Wien brings the shutters down this month (runs until June 29th)
- Changing Times at the Leopold Museum pulls back the curtain on the final years of Egon Schiele, while the Biedermeier era also gets artistic treatment
- Schiele also appears in the Experiment Expressionism exhibition at the Heidi Horten Collection, exploring expressionism in painting, sculpture and even silent film. And the same location presents three artists separated by many decades but united in the motif of their art: Vienna
- The main exhibition at the MAK explores the socioculture and future of water and its management with artistic positions included
- Take a peek at a homegrown art movement with the Wien Museum musa’s exhibition on Viennese Realism after 1950
- Controlled Freedom at the Wien Museum site on Karlsplatz portrays post-WWII Vienna and asks how the influx of international culture with allied occupation helped shape a cultural reawakening. And Reinforced Concrete reveals the debt owed by Vienna’s historical cityscape to that material
- Moving a little bit forward in time, mumok presents some of the art of the 1960s and its cultural context and also offers a kind of self-reflective retrospective of the 1980s
- It’s a big year for Strauss, and the Theatermuseum has a special exhibition on his life and works
- Meanwhile, the Mozarthaus continues its look at Mozart at the Dining Table
- The Weltmuseum explores how the Qur’an has influenced European thought and takes us on a sociocultural journey through the history of the trousers
- Staying with the religious theme, the Jewish Museum has perspectives on God for your consideration, as well as photos revealing the ongoing legacy of the Shoah and WWII
- Review the last ten decades or so of Austrian history through the medium of photography at the National Library
- Finally, the Technisches Museum turns a dial or two to celebrate another centenary with 100 years of radio in Austria
(See the exhibition listings for more options.)
Related events
(The administrative home of this major festival)
More on the art front for you…
- The giant Wiener Festwochen multidisciplinary arts festival extends into this month (May 16th to June 22nd) with visual art, dance, music and much more
Vienna Pride & parade
(The national parliament joins in)
Perhaps the most colourful street parade of the year takes place this time of year (June 14th). The huge parade typically attracts over 300,000 participants and forms the climax of the long Vienna Pride festival (May 31st to June 15th).
The festival has numerous events, but look out for the Pride Village on the Rathausplatz (June 12th to 14th) and the many special LGBTQIA+ activities at Viennese attractions (particularly the museums).
Music, culture, comics, food, film & more
Vienna is, of course, a city of music and culture. We have, for example, more orchestras and concerts than Emperor Franz Joseph had titles (and he had a LOT of titles). Even so, June offers up a few particularly excellent opportunities…
- The Donauinselfest (June 20th to 22nd) is a three-day festival held on the Danube that features multiple stages and hundreds of hours of music from rock to rap and all things in-between. And it’s free, too
- A notable free open-air concert is the world-famous summer night concert (June 13th) from the Wiener Philharmoniker in the glorious landscaped grounds of Schönbrunn Palace. I’ve written about my experience at a past event.
- The Wiener Symphoniker also give a free open-air concert out in a meadow of the Prater park area (June 26th and 27th)
(One of Vienna’s world-class orchestras plays for free: one of many concert opportunities in the city)
- The open-air classical music AMADEUS Festival Vienna takes place in the historical grounds of the former Semmelweis Women’s Clinic (June 26th to 29th)
- If jazz is more your thing, then the Vienna Jazz Festival (next dates TBA) attracts some of the very best performers from around the world. The list of alumni reads like a who’s who of jazz history
Music also features strongly at some broader cultural events:
- The Vienna Meets Prague festival (2025 dates TBA) brings highlights of Czech culture to the city and usually includes some events of interest to English speakers, such as concerts or a film showing with English subtitles
- The Südwind Straßenfest (skipping 2025; 2026 dates TBA) celebrates the work of NGOs, with food stands, a fair-trade market, and the chance to learn about the work done by dozens of charities
Food and street festivals
(The Waldviertelpur event moves to May in 2025)
A couple of opportunities for some food, drink and more:
- The annual Stefflkirtag fair (May 29th to June 9th) is kind of the spring version of a Christmas market and surrounds a couple of sides of the main cathedral
- The Veganmania spring event pitches up in front of the MuseumsQuartier, covering all things meat-related (no, not really, but I think the event name needs no explanation; June 6th to 9th)
- …and on the beer front, we have the start of the summer-long Ottakringer Bierfest (June 26th to August 29th)
Comics and Film
(Part of the food area at the Rathausplatz open-air film festival)
Moving across to the big screen…
- Kino am Dach takes place across all of June with open-air movie showings on the roof of Vienna’s main city library. Expect many days to feature an English-language movie with German subtitles
- The prestigious Vienna Shorts Festival (May 27th to June 1st) tackles the short form version of movie-making, covering numerous genres and featuring some high-quality competitions, too
- And the Rathausplatz Film Festival begins towards the end of June (from the 28th and until August 31st) with its free and open-air showings of concerts on the big screen. Opera and classical music, but also other genres and global stars feature. And it all comes with a huge international food court
Finally, Vienna COMIX (May 31st to June 1st) is a huge event covering comics in their widest sense and featuring artists, merchandise booths, cosplay and more.
Seasonal tips(s)
(One of the Prater rides)
Although the Prater outdoor entertainment complex opens all year round, many of the rides close for winter. But the summer season sees the roller coasters and other funfair attractions start up in earnest again.
The Prater area also has the giant Ferris wheel, Madame Tussauds, the Planetarium, and much more to offer. Not to mention a feast of restaurants.
Enjoy the flowers
I talk about this for May, but June is another good month to take in the displays of flowering shrubs and other delights that grace Vienna’s parks and gardens (and roadsides).
(A good time to visit the rose garden)
Can I particularly recommend the Volksgarten park in the city centre, to one side of the Hofburg complex? Imagine walking into a living French impressionist painting…full of different colours thanks to the hundreds of rose varieties within.
And a more secretive option is the Hirschstetten Botanical Gardens (much loved by locals and rarely discovered by visitors).
Enjoy the streets and river banks
(The Bootshaus, one of many restaurants, bars etc. with open-air areas)
By June, many of the cafés, famous coffee houses, bars and similar establishments have put out their chairs, tables and sunshades so you can enjoy coffee and cake (or beer and Schnitzel) in the June sun.
Top options here:
- Enjoy continental street-side coffee culture, debating Proust and Kafka (or the coming football season) among the bustle of city life
- Take the D tram out to Nussdorf or the 38 tram to Grinzing (both leave from, for example, Schottentor station in the centre). Then walk up to the Heuriger (wine taverns) in the leafy suburbs and rolling hills, with their in-house wines and buffets bursting with local fare
- Another option for a Heuriger visit is Neustift am Walde, reachable on the 35A bus
- Drop down to the Danube canal with its open-air bars and restaurants and Summerstage (ditto but along with a programme of events like live music, outdoor art exhibition, boules etc.)
- Visit the huge Alte Donau lake, which has various lakeside cafés and restaurants, such as the popular Bootshaus pictured above
Finally, if the sun proves too much, pop into the cool interiors of the central Schlumberger winery. They have a self-guided tour through their production cellars, which you can end with a glass or two of chilled sparkling wine.