Plenty of places in Vienna let you sip a cappuccino with a slice of cake while you watch the world go past outside. The Donauturm does the same, though life goes past far below, rather than outside.
- Extensive views of the city and surrounds from a viewing platform at >150m
- Built in 1964 and refurbished in 2018
- Revolving tower restaurant and coffee house feature local specialties
- See also:
- Book tower tickets* online
- Best views of Vienna
The Danube Tower view
(Press photo © Donauturm)
Coffee with a view is a remarkably accurate description of the Donauturm. Austria’s tallest building looks out across Vienna and the Danube river.
Once inside the tower, express lifts take you up over 150m to the split-level viewing platform. This offers a 360° view across the entire city and beyond, with both open-air and weather-safe viewing options.
Look out, for example, for:
- The United Nations complex
- The Danube (hard to miss, it being long, wide, watery, and river-shaped)
- The wind farms beyond the city limits
- Various landmark buildings, including:
- Stephansdom cathedral
- The Votivkirche
- The Giant Ferris Wheel (not quite so “giant” from up here)
- The Prater entertainment complex
- The Spittelau incinerator with its remarkable contemporary design
- The Steinhof church built by Otto Wagner, which glints gold in the distance on the hills to the west
Interactive multilingual touchscreens let you zoom in and learn more about individual buildings and what it is you’re actually looking at.
Food and drink
A coffee house sits above the platform with a restaurant even higher up (170m). Both venues revolve, taking around 24 minutes to do a full turn: long enough for that cappuccino with a view.
The entire façade moves, which means your field of vision always remains clear because the window turns with you. The décor retains a simple retro look and feel.
(Press photo © Donauturm)
On the culinary front, the offerings are what you might call a celebration of Vienna and its environs, with local, traditional and seasonal specialities, wines from the region, etc. The prices aren’t cheap, but that reflects the logistical difficulties faced by such an establishment.
I had no time to stop, but the thought of a relaxing beer in the coffee house, watching the anthill of activity below, was one I’ll turn to reality sometime.
Incidentally, the tower also has a pub-restaurant on the ground floor, too.
Ticket and visitor tips
(Booking service provided by Tiqets.com*, who I am an affiliate of)
Some tips:
- I visited during the day, but I imagine Vienna by night on a clear evening provides quite a spectacular view.
- If you do want to eat/drink when there, check locally for seasonal opening times and whether reservations are necessary. Last time I checked, for example, the coffee house weekend/holiday brunches needed a reservation
- On that topic, the Donauturm is one of my suggestions for a romantic dinner location, especially given the evening view. They have different romance packages available.
- Check your accessibility needs before visiting. The Danube Tower is a listed building so it’s not possible to adapt it to all accessibility requirements
- The Vienna Pass (see a review) gets you up the tower once for free
- If you have time, enjoy the park around the tower, too. The Donaupark has gardens rich in bees and butterflies, water features, a miniature railway, small sculptures, and wide grassy meadows particularly well-suited to tiring out kids
- Walk a couple of minutes to the northeast of the tower to find the Alte Donau. This huge lake was once part of the actual Danube and has lakeside cafés and restaurants (like The Bootshaus), boat hire, walks and cycle paths along the banks, and (in warmer seasons) public lidos and other bathing opportunities
How to get to the Danube Tower
The tower sits between two subway stations:
- Take the U1 to the Alte Donau station
- Take the U6 to the Neue Donau station
Once at either subway station, catch the relatively sporadic 20A bus line to the Donauturm.
If you’re up for a 20 minute walk, go to the Alte Donau station and wander northwest along Arbeiterstrandbadstraße, then through the Donaupark (Danube Park) to the tower.
For rather obvious reasons, spotting the tower from afar is not a huge challenge.
Address: Donauturmstraße 8, 1220 Vienna | Website