Vienna had to deal with a lot of problems post WWII, including what to do with the huge flak towers. Fortunately for us, one turned into a giant zoological attraction: the Haus des Meeres.
- Hundreds of species of fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds & mammals
- Diverse displays, including mammoth fish tanks
- Highlights include sharks and a multi-level tropical house
- Roof terrace has great views of Vienna (and a restaurant)
- Consider tickets to Vienna zoo* too
- See also:
Inside the Haus des Meeres
(The 360° shark tank; press photo courtesy of Haus des Meeres & © Daniel Zupanc & Dominik Moser)
Vienna’s flak towers formed giant concrete blockhouses with 3.5m thick walls, built to house air defences to counter bombing raids by the allied forces.
Too big to easily demolish, the flak tower in Esterhazy Park now houses the Haus des Meeres; 12 floors of watery entertainment. The literal translation is House of the Sea, which gives you an idea of what to expect.
Essentially, you have an aquarium and vivarium, with numerous glassed displays. But that description undersells it.
The Haus des Meeres is not row after row of identikit tanks. Instead, these tanks come in all sizes and shapes, from tunnels to giant, two-storey showpieces.
(The tropical house. Press photo courtesy of Haus des Meeres & © Dominik Moser)
The contents of each display cover themes as well as different types of animal. So you might have a tank with baby seahorses or one illustrating symbiosis.
Added to that are walkthrough zoological enclosures. For example:
- A multi-level tropical house with rope bridges and free-roaming bats, birds and monkeys. I often lose time in there just watching the animals close up or (on my previous visit in July 2025) seeing a bat insouciantly eating lunch just an arm’s length from me
- An exhibition on environmental protection of the oceans with some eye-opening videos
- A 70m long Australian experience featuring free-ranging marsupials, parakeets, and more
I always enjoy visiting (I have an annual pass), and I’ve put some fish and animal highlights in a separate article.
(The view from below)
A lot of love clearly goes into the facility. It’s full of bright colours, well-maintained displays, and friendly staff. You’d expect a flak tower to be dingy, but the opposite is true.
The Haus des Meeres does a marvellous job with the space available, and nowhere feels as cramped as you might imagine.
They also do a wonderful job full stop. For example, this is the first zoo in the world to breed the Namaqua chameleon in captivity.
(A baby Namaqua chameleon arrived in 2024. I have no idea what the technical term is for chameleon offspring. A quite outstanding breeding success for the Haus des Meeres; press photo © Dominik Moser)
Recent extensions have even added airy glass-walled areas that offer views across Vienna. Some of the floors do have only a very few displays, though, with the rest of the space given over to offices, storage rooms and similar.
All in all, consider it an excellent way to spend an hour or three, particularly in wet weather and particularly if you have kids.
Tickets & visitor tips
Get your tickets direct from the Haus des Meeres. At the time of writing, a standard adult entrance ticket cost €23.50, with various concessions.
A few tips and notes:
- The dollop of whipped cream on the aquarium pie is the top floor Ocean Sky restaurant and terrace with table service and a 360° panorama across the entire city: one of the best places to get views of Vienna
A ticket to the Haus des Meeres allows you to visit the viewing terrace. But you can also go up without one: a separate Panorama Lift in the entrance foyer takes you directly to the top floor. However, that lift is only available for those who actually use the restaurant.
- The tower also has Café Sharky: a small, self-service café (also with views)
- Lifts take you everywhere. My tip: take a lift once up to the top, then walk down the stairs visiting each level as you go
- Don’t rush to the lift or stairs once through the ticket barrier: the ground floor already has some memorable exhibits: an aquarium tunnel and fish to stroke, for example
(The haus regularly adds new areas and aquariums, like this 13,000 liter facility for breeding sturgeon for release into the Danube through the LIFE-Boat 4 Sturgeon reintroduction project; press photo © Dominik Moser)
- An ongoing expansion project will add more animal displays and improved visitor facilities, so expect to see changes
- If you enjoy animals, or need more furry (or scaly) friends to entertain the family, then another stop on your Vienna stay should be the zoo
- Two kid-friendly locations live near the Haus des Meeres:
- The Retro Gaming Museum in the shadow of the flak tower combines displays with hands-on entertainment
- The Apollo Kino opposite is one of Vienna’s English-language cinemas (and has an IMAX screen)
- Mariahilfer Straße (one of our major shopping streets) is nearby, so consider combining a trip with a retail expedition or lunch in the many restaurants there. Or walk east down Gumpendorfer Straße to find Café Sperl: an absolutely classic Viennese coffee house
How to get to the Haus des Meeres
Subway: take the U3 line to Neubaugasse station (a 5-minute journey from Stephansplatz in the centre) and walk down.
Tram/bus: if you want to be dropped off a little closer, then take a 13A, 14A or 57A bus to the appropriately-titled Haus des Meeres stop.
Address: Esterhazypark, Fritz-Grünbaumplatz 1, 1060 Vienna | Website