A gentle ride around the central sights with a live guide? Sounds lovely, but what’s it really like? And what do you see?
- Relaxing car drive past attractions in and around the old town
- Insightful commentary in an electric “old timer”
- Accesses locations the buses don’t reach
- Find a walking tour* of Vienna
- See also:
Old timers, new perspectives
(Me in research mode)
Wander around the centre of Vienna, and you’ll likely spot old timer-like cars taking visitors on a tour of the sights.
This particularly variety of sightseeing tour has grown significantly in recent times, which led me to think I should probably take one and report back on the experience. A press opportunity to sample the 60-minute Gold Tour offered by Ring Tours Vienna seemed like the right moment.
The electric tour cars, as the photo below reveals, are, of course, as sweet as they come and complement a city steeped in historical ambience.
And driving in one is rather delightful, even if a little disconcerting to begin with.
The (very friendly and accomodating) driver-guide picked me up near the Albertina and off we set. My normal experience in a car is noisy and rushed. So I caught myself thinking, are we going to accelerate away with a roar at any moment?
Of course not.
(Press photo courtesy of Ring Tours Vienna)
This is a gentle and relaxing ride in an electric vehicle, not a hurried trip to get home after a day’s work. And soon it became entirely pleasant to enjoy a quiet, elegant, and slow journey around as others zoomed past in world’s of their own.
Of course, the “slow” part has the added advantage of more time to take in the sights you pass.
All of which is fine, but what does the tour actually show you?
Most bus tours tend to focus on the Ring boulevard that surrounds the old town, along with more outlying sights like the Belvedere and Schönbrunn palaces.
The advantage of a car as tour vehicle, though, is the ability to access more of Vienna’s historical old town.
Beginning at the Albertina, the route went through the centre to Schwarzenbergplatz, along past the Karlskirche, Musikverein and Albertina Modern, down to the Staatsoper and then around that Ring boulevard with its monumental buildings like the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Parliament and the Rathaus.
(Michaelerplatz and the entrance to the Hofburg)
However, we also took a dip onto Heldenplatz, for example, for a close up of the Neue Burg. And turned off the Ring down Schottengasse to reach such lovely old town sights as the historical Freyung, Am Hof, Josefsplatz and Michaelerplatz squares with their notable palais, church, palace and other buildings.
The journey actually took in many of the sights and locations I recommend for a self-guided walking tour route, so you get to see many important locations in the centre.
And all accompanied by insightful information from the guide: the car had an onboard audioguide with speakers, but we soon switched to live guide only. With a small group in a car, questions are easy and you have more flexibility to focus on topics that might particularly interest you.
While the tour covers a wealth of classic attractions and locations, it also included one or two details that go beyond the normal. Like passing the very first McDonalds that appeared in the city(!)
As such, I was reminded that however much I might think I already know, there’s always room for more.
Tickets & tips
Book a tour direct from the official website.
At the time of writing, Ring Tours has various tour choices that include:
- Sightseeing tours with different durations. Some include, for example, hotel pickup and/or a bottle of Prosecco
- Private sightseeing tours that include meals (one of my suggestions for a romantic dinner in Vienna) or even wine tasting
- Special seasonal tours around Easter, Christmas etc.
Vienna obviously has many other tour alternatives and experiences. See, for example, my tours overview page for more suggestions.