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| Home > City Guide - Vienna - Tours of the City | ||
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Tours of the City Walking Tours There are 11 tours available in English (and many more in German), as part of the Vienna Walks programme (tel: (01) 876 7111; website: www.viennawalks.tix.at or www.wienguide.at). These vary from ‘Vienna in the Footsteps of The Third Man’, which scouts out the locations of the famous film, to tours of the homes of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. Other popular options include tours focusing on a historical period, Jewish life in Vienna, or the underground city of crypts and wine cellars. Tours take from 90 minutes to two hours and cost €11 (except The Third Man tour, which rises to €14). These do not need to be pre-booked, although any admission fees and transport on the U-bahn, trams or buses is extra. Departure points for the tours vary and are listed on the website, in the guide leaflet and at the main tourist office. For The Third Man and the Underground Vienna tour, sturdy footwear and a torch (flashlight) are advisible. Original Vienna Walks (tel/fax: (01) 889 2896; e-mail: contact@verliebtinwien.at; website: www.verliebtinwien.at) also offers a number of walks in both German and English, taking place daily at 1000 and 1430 from August to October. The tours cover such aspects of the city as Art Nouveau architecture, medieval quarters and hidden courtyards and the Imperial Palace. Tours are between 90 minutes and two hours and cost €10.50, with a minimum of three walkers per group. The meeting place is Kärntnerstrasse 38, behind the Staatsoper, although visitors should confirm this beforehand. Bus Tours Vienna Sightseeing Tours (tel: (01) 7124 68380; fax: (01) 714 1141; e-mail: vst@viennasightseeingtours.com; website: www.viennasightseeingtours.com) offers a number of half-day city tours, as well as full day tours to Prague, Budapest and other locations. The three-and-a-half-hour Historical City Tour, which includes a visit to Schönbrunn Palace, costs €32. Hotel pick up is arranged and participants are given the option to transfer to Vienna Sightseeing Tours’ hop on-hop off service, the Vienna Line. This route involves 13 stops at major attractions and shopping destinations, departing 1000, 1100, 1300, 1400, 1500 and 1600 from the Staatsoper. A full circuit takes two hours and 45 minutes and tickets cost €18. These are available for purchase on the bus, at the Staatsoper stop or from many hotel concierges. Theme tours and day trip excursions are also available. Cityrama (tel: (01) 534 1312; e-mail: office@cityrama.at) offers a similar full city tour as well as number of other tours of Vienna and other destinations, in both German and English. The Sisi Tour (Sisi is the name given to Emperor Franz Joseph’s wife, Elisabeth) covers the historical sites of the city and includes a visit to St Stephen’s Cathedral, Hofburg and a training session at the Spanish Riding School. The three-hour tour costs €32, which excludes entrance to the Spanish Riding School. Free hotel pick up is arranged. Boat Tours The DDSG Blue Danube Schiffahrt GmbH (tel: (01) 5888 0442; fax: (01) 5888 0440; e-mail: info@ddsg-blue-danube.at; website: www.ddsg-blue-danube.at) offers sightseeing and dancing cruises on the Danube, available from mid April to the end of September. Boats depart from Schwedenplatz or Reichsbrücke (see Getting There By Water), near the Vorgartenstrasse U-bahn station. The full Grand Danube River Tour and the Hundertwasser Tour, both lasting an hour and a half, each cost €14. Special themed cruises are offered on Friday and Saturday evenings. Other Tours Three- to four-hour bicycle tours are provided by Pedal Power, Ausstellungsstrasse 3 (tel: (01) 729 7234; website: www.pedalpower.at), departing from the Prater ferris wheel, daily at 1000 May-September. Tours cost €23, which includes a bike and guide, and cover a number of city sites, such as KunstHausWien, St Stephen’s Cathedral and the Danube Canal. The Old-Timer Tramway tour departs from the Art Nouveau subway pavilion at Karlsplatz, on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets and information are available from the information office of the Vienna Transport Authority, Karlsplatz (tel: (01) 587 3186). The trams date from 1929 and the service runs from May to October. Tours depart from Karlsplatz, near the Otto Wagner Pavilion, at 1130 and 1330 (also 0930 on Sunday). Points of interest include the Rathskeller, the Burgtheatre, the University of Vienna, the Schönbrunn Palace and the Riesenrad. Tickets for the two-hour tour cost €15 (concessions available). Alternatively, a romantic, albeit expensive, way for visitors to see the city is by a traditional Fiaker (horse-drawn carriage). These are available for hire on Graben and just to the north of St Stephen’s Cathedral, at Heldenplatz (near the Hofburg) and at Albertinaplatz (behind the Staatsoper). The cost for up to four people is approximately €40 for 20 minutes (klein), €56 for 40 minutes (gross) or €95 for one hour (Stunde). The exact prices and lengths of the ride must be negotiated in advance. |
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