city sightseeing bus tour vienna

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• Tours & Walks

City tours by bus

On a city tour by bus, you'll learn about Vienna and the most beautiful sights in comfort and relaxation – from the "classics" along the Ringstrasse – like the State Opera, Imperial Palace, City Hall, and MuseumsQuartier – through to Schönbrunn Palace or Danube Island, all the highlights are included.

Whether you opt for a guided city tour or prefer a journey of discovery at your own tempo by Hop-On Hop-Off is left entirely up to you. With the Vienna City Card + Hop-On Hop-Off , you'll also enjoy the benefits of the Vienna City Card combined with sightseeing on a Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour.

On the Hop-On Hop-Off bus tours  of Big Bus or Vienna Sightseeing Tours , you can get on and off at the stops along the various routes to your heart's content. You decide when it's time for a break in the coffee house , a museum visit, or a quick shopping stop.

Big Bus Vienna

On the red Hop-On Hop-Off double-decker buses of BIG BUS Tours, discover the city along two routes, which take in the main sights in the city center – from the State Opera on the Ringstrasse to the MuseumsQuartier and Danube Island or Schönbrunn Palace.  Information on the sights is available to you in 14 languages via headsets during the ride. All buses feature free WiFi.

Hop-On Hop-Off tickets for city tours are available for one or more days, from Discover to Explore category, which, for example, also includes a guided city walk and a boat tour. The program also includes live guided evening tours with an English-speaking guide.

One wheelchair can be accommodated on each bus.

Tickets and information

• Online at www.bigbustours.com
• By phone on +43 1 905 910 00

Vienna Sightseeing Tours

The yellow Hop-On Hop-Off double-decker buses of Vienna Sightseeing Tours make their way through Vienna on three different routes . They run round the Ringstrasse with its magnificent buildings to Schönbrunn and Belvedere Palaces or on the Danube route to the Kunst Haus Wien, the Prater or to the Danube Tower. Tickets can be booked for 24, 48 or 72 hours. All tickets include the free download for a self-guided, music-walk light.

Explanations are available in 16 languages via audio guides. For little city explorers, there's a dedicated children's channel in German and English. Free WiFi is available on all buses.

All sightseeing buses for Hop-On Hop-Off rides are wheelchair accessible. A space incl. audio guide is available for wheelchair users (also electric wheelchairs).

• Online at www.viennasightseeing.at
• By phone on +43 1 712 46 83
• By email to [email protected]

Vienna City Card + Hop-On Hop-Off

With the additional Hop-On Hop-Off offer to the Vienna City Card , you can combine the benefits of the Vienna City Card, the official guest card for Vienna, with comfortable sightseeing. The Vienna City Card offers not only free travel in Vienna for 24, 48 or 72 hours on public transport, but also around 200 attractive benefits when visiting museums or sightseeing, leisure offers for the whole family, dining out at restaurants, etc.  The Vienna City Card + Hop-On Hop-Off includes a 24-hour Hop-On Hop-Off bus ticket for a city tour, optionally with Big Bus or Vienna Sightseeing Tours . One child under the age of 15 travels for free with each Vienna City Card + Hop-On Hop-Off. Tickets are available from €46 (includes a ticket for public transport for 24 hours) / €54 (48 hours) / €58 (72 hours)

The Vienna City Card + Hop-On Hop-Off is available

• at Tourist Info Vienna (Albertinaplatz) and at Tourist Info (Vienna International Airport)
• at the sales outlets of Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), tickets.oebb.at , ÖBB app
• at the City Airport Train ticket counter
• in the online shop at www.viennacitycard.at
• or in the free app ivie – the digital city guide for Vienna

Learn more about the many sightseeing options in Vienna in the overview Tours & Walks . 

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Visiting Vienna

Hop on hop off bus tours

One of Vienna’s sightseeing buses is a good option if you don’t want to get to grips with the (albeit excellent) public transport system, or if you want a guided hop on hop off tour.

• The Vienna Sightseeing bus
• The Big Bus Tour
• Both take you around the main sites
• Both offer audio guides, free WiFi etc.
• Sightseeing tips
• Review of a Future Bus VR tour
• Public transport & tours in Vienna

Hop on / hop off bus tours

Quick booking option with a choice of bus services:

(Booking service provided by Tiqets.com*, who I am an affiliate of)

Main options

In no particular order…

1. Vienna Sightseeing Bus

(Unmistakably yellow and green)

The Vienna Sightseeing Hop On Hop Off bus follows three different routes inside the city (at the time of writing):

• Red : this encircles the old town, taking you to/from or past key sites like the Hofburg palace, Kunsthistorisches Museum, opera house etc.

This should be your first-choice route, as it gives you a broad flavor of the best of Vienna. The different stops offer easy walking access to top sights, including those in the pedestrianised center.

• Yellow : this covers a small part of the Ring boulevard, including the opera house, but also takes you out to the two big tourist attractions away from the very center: the Schönbrunn and Belvedere palaces

A good second choice. No trip to Vienna is probably complete without seeing the Habsburg summer palace at Schönbrunn, for example. You also get a peek at the modern architecture around Vienna’s Hauptbahnhof railway station.

(Schönbrunn palace)

• Blue : this one takes you out to the architectural joy that is the Hundertwasser-designed Kunst Haus Wien as well as the Prater park and entertainment area (home to the Riesenrad giant Ferris wheel), the Danube, Danube Tower, United Nations HQ, and more

Particularly good for kids, if you want to let them loose on the rollercoasters and similar at the Prater and then take an iconic spin on the Riesenrad.

In the warmest times of the year, the buses sometimes add a fourth option that travels to the wine-growing areas with their Heuriger wine taverns, possibly via the rather colourful public incinerator at Spittelau.

That seasonal extra lets you sample the Viennese wine culture and get a glimpse of how outlying villages might have looked before Vienna took over.

Ticket options

A hop on hop off ticket * includes, for example, on-board WiFi and an audioguide (with English a language option).

You choose between 24, 48, and 72 hour tickets. All include those red, yellow, and blue routes and are valid for the designated number of hours from the moment you first use them.

2. The Big Bus Tour

(Distinctively red)

The buses of the Big Bus Tour follow two routes (at the time of writing) and have bonus options:

• Red: this takes you around the Ring boulevard, but also, for example, out to Belvedere and the Prater & Danube area

This is a great option if you’re stuck for time, since you see many landmark sights in one circular trip.

• Blue: this is the noble route, bordering the Hofburg complex, then bringing you out to the Schönbrunn and Belvedere palaces (but also to Hundertwasserhaus)

All tickets * cover both routes, and you choose between Discover (24hr), Essential (48hr + bonuses), and Explore (48hr + more bonuses) options. The additional bonuses available include, for example, a guided walking tour or short river cruise.

The Big Bus folk also offer an evening tour as a separate product * (not a hop on hop off ride but a tour with a live guide and English commentary). Vienna looks lovely at night with the illuminated old buildings, especially when the Christmas lights are up.

Other bus tours

Vienna has a few other sightseeing bus tour options that I’ll add as I get to them. For example:

The Future Bus tour

(The stop on Albertinaplatz)

A recent addition to the tour landscape is the hybrid physical and virtual reality Future Bus tour. The one-hour route with audioguide takes you around the west edge of the old town, where many of the city’s major sights live.

You put on VR goggles at several stops to experience, for example, 360 degree reenactments of important historical events. For full details, see my tour review .

HOP ON HOP OFF 24H

Adults 37,00€ | Children 27,00€ | Family-Ticket 89,00€

It is mandatory to scan the QR code on your ticket at our validator when you board our HOP ON HOP OFF bus!

HOP ON HOP OFF Sightseeing Tour through Vienna

Get a quick overview of Vienna’s most popular sights with our HOP ON HOP OFF bus tour. With just one ticket you can get on and off at as many stops as you like.

Create your own city tour programme Choose from 3 routes and over 50 stops and create your own sightseeing programme. Our state-of-the-art tour buses are comfortable and offer a perfect view of the city. As a special service we provide free WIFI on board.

Protective measures  On our bus tour the currently valid, legal protective measures are observed.​​​​​​​

Up to 3 routes through the city

Gratis download for the App-guided Walk

Short waiting times at the stops

Free WIFI on all buses

Audio guide in 16 languages

Extra kids' channel in German & English

HOP ON HOP OFF city highlights (RED, YELLOW, BLUE lines)

Audio guide on the bus

Food and drinks

Please note that the HOP ON HOP OFF ticket is valid for 24 hours from validation. The voucher is valid for 1 year from the date of purchase.

German, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Romanian, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Greek, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic

Vienna State Opera Opernring 2, 1010 Wien

Follow our buses live with our BUS TRACKING . You can also download the station addresses HERE .

Metro:U1, U2, U4: Karlsplatz Tram:1, 2, 71, D: Kärntnerring/Oper Bus: 2A, 4A, 59A: Karlsplatz/Oper

Hop On Hop Off

Route: Red Line / Blue Line / Yellow Line / Green Line

Opernring 2 , 1010   Vienna Phone: +43 1 712 46 83

THE 5 BEST Vienna Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tours

Hop-on hop-off tours in vienna.

• Historical & Heritage Tours
• Cultural Tours
• Walking Tours
• Hop-On Hop-Off Tours
• Up to 1 hour
• 1 to 4 hours
• 4 hours to 1 day
• 4.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• 3.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• 2.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• The ranking of tours, activities, and experiences available on Tripadvisor is determined by several factors including the revenue generated by Tripadvisor from these bookings, the frequency of user clicks, and the volume and quality of customer reviews. Occasionally, newly listed offerings may be prioritized and appear higher in the list. The specific placement of these new listings may vary.

1. Big Bus Vienna Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Tour by Open-Top Bus

2. 48-hour Hop-On Hop-Off with Guided Walking Tour and River Cruise

3. Vienna Hop On Hop Off City Tour

4. Panoramabahn Schoenbrunn

5. Big Day Out in Vienna: Big Bus, Giant Ferris Wheel & River Cruise

6. Vienna: 1-Day Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour & City Airport Train

7. Vienna Fast-track Giant Ferris Wheel ticket with Big Bus Tour

Keep the fun going with other experiences in the area.

Sankt Polten: Historic Walking Tour

Sankt Polten: Old Town Private walking tour

Taste and Tour Small Organic Wineries with a Winemaker

Krems Private Walking Tour with Professional Guide

What travelers are saying.

• Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off - optional Guided Walking Tour, River Cruise & Night Tour
• 48-hour Hop-On Hop-Off with Guided Walking Tour and River Cruise
• Vienna Hop On Hop Off City Tour
• Big Day Out in Vienna: Big Bus, Giant Ferris Wheel & River Cruise
• Panoramabahn Schoenbrunn
• Wien mal anders
• Transfer Guru
• UNPLUGGED MOMENTS
• Wanderung Guides Vienna
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