A self-guided tour ticket for Stephansdom gets you past the barriers and up close to 14th-century stained glass, a 15th-century pulpit, a 16th-century sarcophagus, 17th-century choir stalls, the main altar, and the chapel where they baptised two of Mozart’s children…
- View 700+ years of cathedral history
- Includes an audio guide with details & background stories
- Tour tickets available on site (cash only)
- Book all-inclusive cathedral tickets* in advance
- Check the calendar for any days with limited entry times
- A Stephansdom organ concert also gets you inside
- See also:
Tour contents
(Tour inside this ecclesiastical beauty)
Without a ticket and outside of services, you can only see the Stephansdom interior immediately around the entrance and a sliver up the northern side. Though that includes some side altars, the shop, and a view down the long nave.
That might be enough for you. If not, a ticket lets you view the main part of the cathedral in its entirety.
Thanks to the access restrictions, passing through the barrier means you get to enjoy the cathedral in (relative) quiet. Those outside the barrier are left pressing their noses up against the railings among the masses, vainly wishing their smartphone had a better zoom.
The audio guide that comes with a ticket takes you around various points of interest and provides an array of often intriguing stories and background information on the cathedral, its history, and the features inside.
The highlights for me, for example, were:
- The 1476 marble font in St. Catherine’s chapel, with its remarkable wooden crown featuring scenes that represent the seven sacraments
- The huge marble sarcophagus of Emperor Frederick III, complete with lamenting monks and bishops. It took so long to finish he only moved there 20 years after his 1493 death
- The 17th-century main altar, whose black and white marble introduces a beautiful ebony/ivory quality
- The late 15th-century sandstone pulpit, complete with snakes, lizards, and frogs crawling their way up the handrail to be repulsed by a stone guard dog
(The sarcophagus of Emperor Frederick III, possibly produced around 1850–1860, by the printer F. Kargl with art by Josef Bucher; Wien Museum; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)
Since Stephansdom is not as opulently baroque as many religious buildings in Austria, it’s easy to get a feel for the simple spiritual atmosphere that people would have enjoyed many centuries ago. You can imagine the awe such a building would have inspired.
(If you watch the final episode of the Vienna Blood period drama, you can indulge in a bit of televisual time travel and see a memorial service in Stephansdom as it might have been in the time of Emperor Franz Joseph.)
Tickets & visitor tips
At the time of writing, an audio guide ticket for an adult costs €7.00 from the information counter (purchases there are cash only at the time of writing).
If you’re doing more than a couple of Stephansdom activities, consider an all-inclusive ticket alternative.
The all-inclusive option covers the self-guided tour, access up both towers, the guided catacombs tour and the nearby Dom Museum (home to ecclesiastical and artistic treasures). This ticket can also be bought online in advance.
(Booking service provided by Tiqets.com*, who I am an affiliate of)
(NB: Check the cathedral calendar for occasional service-related limits on visiting times)
Some tips:
- An alternative way to see around the inside is to catch a recital on the Giant Organ or some other concert* and get there as soon as the doors open. The evening light and absence of casual visitors also give the place a special atmosphere
- You can get around in half an hour if you want, but take time to look more closely at what you pass. The interior has lots of tiny details to delight the eye (like the frogs mentioned above)
- When at the main altar, look back down the nave for a beautiful view of the cathedral with the bright stained glass at the other end
- Stephansdom is a working cathedral; entry may not always be possible at times, should a service take place
- For another Gothic church experience, walk along the pedestrianised Graben that leads off the square outside Stephansdom. At the end, turn left up Kohlmarkt to find the Michaelerkirche, parts of which date back to the 13th century
- For a more baroque church experience, a walk along the Graben takes you past the astonishing Peterskirche (another excellent venue for classical concerts, too)
- For tours of other historical buildings in Vienna, try these suggestions
How to get there
See the main Stephansdom article for tips on finding the cathedral, which is slap bang in the middle of town.
Address: Stephansdom, Stephansplatz, 1010 Vienna