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Visiting Vienna

The Time Travel tour

Time travel sign

Life is incomplete unless you’ve run up to the roof of Vienna’s cathedral, soared across a ballroom, sheltered from an air raid, or relaxed in a plague pit. Just some of the Time Travel tour experiences.

Travel back in time

Time Travel Tour sign

(DeLorean not included; the city speed limit is 50 km/h so it wouldn’t help anyway)

Not going to lie: I went into this with low expectations. And I came out having rather enjoyed myself. Think of the Time Travel tour as an experience, rather than a tour.

It all takes place in the underground chambers of an ancient monastery (genuinely) right in the centre of Vienna, with around 1300m2 fitted out with various rooms and tracts containing what we might call edutainment stations.

You walk from one to the next, accompanied by a friendly guide.

Each of the several stops tends to deal with a major event in Viennese history (like WWII) or a theme (like music or painters).

And each involves some kind of immersive technology, whether a simple talk from an animatronic emperor or a full-blown VR and multimedia experience.

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Three standout highlights for me:

  • The opening 5D cinema with a film that takes you through (figuratively and literally) key historical moments, such as Roman Vienna, the plague, or the siege of 1683.

Your chair moves, you feel the wind on your face and “enjoy” a particularly impressive sensory surprise (no spoilers) as you scamper up into the roof of Stephansdom cathedral

  • A virtual reality tour through Vienna’s musical history. Find yourself among the dancers in an opulent ballroom, enjoying a drink in a traditional wine tavern, or standing over the shoulder of Mozart at his piano
  • A flying horse and carriage journey above Vienna’s historic buildings, complete with snow, laser effects, and even fireworks

Don’t take it all too seriously and just lean back and enjoy the ride.

Tickets & visitor tips

We got in almost immediately after turning up to buy tickets, but you might want to reserve a time (or book cheaper e-tickets and a time) online during busy months.

(Booking service provided by Tiqets.com*, who I am an affiliate of)

A few tips:

  • For example, the attraction owners have a sister location over the road that takes you on a diverting virtual reality boat ride with Empress Elisabeth. Bored of court formalities, the empress appears to have taken a second job as a tour guide
  • The Time Travel Tour guide and audio use German, but you get a free headset which gives you exactly the same information and entertainment in English (or a number of other languages)

The audio is timed precisely to match the displays. It worked perfectly on my visit and did not make the experience any less enjoyable.

After your visit, go north for the Graben pedestrianised street that leads to Stephansdom cathedral to see the real thing. Or go south to reach Michaelerplatz and the start of the Hofburg palace complex.

You’re also close to two of Vienna’s most resonant locations for coffee and cake. Slip across to parallel streets to find:

  • Demel Konditorei: a favoured supplier to Empress Elisabeth and extremely popular. Expect queues to get in
  • Hawelka coffee house: a traditional second home to Vienna’s artists and intellectuals. Also famous for its Buchtel pastries

How to get to the tour

Like many sights and activities in Vienna’s city centre, the Time Travel tour is probably already on your walking route around the old town.

Subway: just a short walk from two central stations: Herrengasse (on the U3 line) and Stephansplatz (on the U3 and U1 lines).

Tram/bus: trams don’t come to this part of the town as no tram lines run through the historical heart of the city. The 1A and 2A buses that squeeze their way around the centre both have a stop at Habsburgergasse.

Address: Habsburgergasse 10A, 1010 Vienna | Website

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