Vienna Pass Comparison: Which City Pass Should You Buy?

What Is a Vienna Pass and When Is It Worth It?

The city passes in Vienna are a compact admission ticket or discount card for many attractions, museums, the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus, or public transportation.

Prices for the passes range between 17 euros and 189 euros. The general rule of thumb is: the more expensive the pass, the more it includes and the longer it’s valid.

The cheapest pass is valid for one day. For longer stays, there are also passes valid for up to 60 days.

In these situations, it’s definitely worth taking a look at the passes:

#1 If You're Visiting Vienna for the First Time

For your first visit to Vienna, a pass is a great idea. A new city is often exciting enough on its own, and with a pass you have one less thing to worry about.

#2 If You're Especially Interested in History and Culture

For example, you buy the Vienna Pass and no longer have to pay admission at over 60 attractions, palaces, or museums in Vienna. The more attractions you visit, the more worthwhile the pass becomes.

#3 If You Know Exactly What You Want to Do

If you have a clear idea of what your Vienna trip should look like, just check whether one of the passes covers many — or even all — of your must-sees. That way you can see at a glance whether the pass will help you save money.

#4 If You Want to See a Lot but Have Very Little Time

At many places, a pass gets you priority entry. You get a little VIP treatment and can simply walk past the line. So with your pass, you save not only money on admission but also time.

#5 If You're Spending Multiple Days in Vienna

One of the passes is valid for six days. That one is naturally more expensive than the others, but you also have significantly more time and can take advantage of more activities in Vienna. In general, the longer the pass runs, the more you can save.

#6 If You Enjoy Riding the Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus

Then a pass is even more worthwhile. The Vienna Pass even includes the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus for the entire validity period. With the Vienna Pass for six days, you can ride the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus for six full days.

Want to learn more about Hop-On/Hop-Off in Vienna? We’ve written a detailed article with tips for Hop-On/Hop-Off tours in Vienna.

Our Vienna Pass Recommendation for Those in a Hurry

In this article, we’ve compared the Vienna city passes in detail. If that’s too much for you and you just want to quickly find out which pass is right for you, here’s a quick summary: which Vienna pass is actually the best?

#1 The Best Vienna Pass If You Want to See as Much as Possible:

Best Choice: The Vienna Pass

The Vienna Pass is by far the most comprehensive of the Vienna city passes. It’s available for one, two, three, or six days. The longer the pass runs, the more money you can save.

Since you also get priority entry at many places, the Vienna Pass lets you breeze past the occasional line and save a serious amount of time.

#2 The Best Vienna Pass If You Only Want to Visit the Most Important Attractions or Have Very Little Time:

Best Choice: The Vienna Flexi Pass

If you only have a few hours in Vienna, or if you’re there for a longer period but only want to visit a sight here and there, the Flexi Pass is the best choice.

With it, you can choose two, three, four, or five attractions from 40 options, and visit them back-to-back or spread across a 60-day period.

#3 The All-Inclusive, Worry-Free Package

Best Choice: The Vienna Pass, including public transportation

If you want everything taken care of and don’t want to think about anything else, get the Vienna Pass with a public transit ticket included.

With it, you get the widest selection of attractions, museums, and other highlights — plus unlimited use of the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus and public transportation for the entire validity period.

How Do the Passes Work?

With a city pass, you’re essentially buying a bundle of different services. If you’re not sure yet what you’d like to see and do in Vienna, feel free to check out our articles on Vienna’s top attractions or insider tips for Vienna.

Once you’ve picked out your highlights, you can compare your personal to-do list with what’s included in each pass.

The packages differ not only in what they include, but also quite significantly in their structure.

There are three different types of passes in Vienna:

#1 Time-Based Passes

These passes are valid for a specific period of time, during which you can visit as many of the included attractions as you like.

#2 Attraction-Based Passes

This option includes a set number of admissions that you can use however you like over a longer period of time.

For example, you buy a pass for four attractions. Within 60 days, you can then choose four attractions from the pass’s offering and get free admission to each one.

#3 Discount Pass

One of the passes doesn’t include free admission to attractions or museums — only discounts. You show your discount pass at the ticket counter and get your ticket at a lower price.

The City Passes Available in Vienna

Vienna offers three different passes that differ significantly from one another. There’s a time-based pass, an attraction-based pass, and a discount card.

The table below gives you an overview of the passes first. Then we’ll go into more detail on each individual pass and its pros and cons.

The Comprehensive One: Vienna Pass

What Does the Vienna Pass Offer?

• Valid for 1, 2, 3, or 6 calendar days
• Free admission to over 60 attractions
• Priority entry at select attractions
• Hop-On/Hop-Off bus included
• Optional add-on: public transportation for 24, 48, or 72 hours

How Much Does the Vienna Pass Cost?

With the Vienna Pass for six days, you can only add a public transit ticket for a maximum of 72 hours. If you want to keep using public transportation after that, you’ll need to buy an additional ticket from a vending machine. The Vienna Pass with an added public transit ticket is only available for purchase here, but you must select pickup or shipping as your delivery method.

Since the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus is included for six days, though, you may not need an additional public transit ticket at all. It’s best to assess this yourself during the first three days and then decide whether to buy one.

As a Vienna Pass holder, you can bring children under six years old along for free.

Pros and Cons of the Vienna Pass

• Hop-On/Hop-Off included for the entire validity period of the pass
• Over 60 attractions included
• Excellent value for two, three, or six days
• Valid for 12 months from purchase, activated upon first use
• Mobile ticket available
• Very expensive for one day — really only worth it starting at a minimum of two days
• Valid by calendar day, not for 24 hours

Vienna Pass Verdict

The Vienna Pass is right for you if you’re spending at least two days in Vienna and want to visit as many places as possible.

If you have a full week in Vienna and want to explore a lot, you can save a serious amount of money with the Vienna Pass for six days at 189 euros. The Hop-On/Hop-Off bus alone, included in the pass, is worth 108 euros for that period.

If you only have one day in Vienna, the pass is only worth it if you have individually expensive attractions on your itinerary. To get the most out of the Vienna Pass with cheaper attractions, you’d have to pack your day pretty full.

The pass includes a very large number of attractions, giving you a huge variety to choose from.

Get the Vienna Pass (without public transit ticket)

For One Day, or for Flexible Longer Stays: The Vienna Flexi Pass

What Does the Vienna Flexi Pass Offer?

• Valid for 60 days for 2, 3, 4, or 5 attractions
• 40 attractions to choose from
• 24-hour Hop-On/Hop-Off bus
• Priority entry at select attractions

How Much Does the Vienna Flexi Pass Cost?

As a Vienna Flexi Pass holder, you can bring children under six years old along for free.

Pros and Cons of the Vienna Flexi Pass

• Affordable price
• Very flexible
• Long validity period
• 24-hour Hop-On/Hop-Off available
• Priority entry at select attractions
• No option to add public transportation
• Hofburg not included
• The pass must be picked up in Vienna

Vienna Flexi Pass Verdict

The Vienna Flexi Pass is an excellent choice for short stays of one or two days. If you’re only in the city for a weekend — arriving Saturday morning and leaving Sunday evening, for example — the Flexi Pass is a great option.

The Flexi Pass is also super well-suited for longer stays with only a little sightseeing, thanks to its 60-day validity.

Important: You must write the date of first use on the back of the pass. Your pass is valid for 60 days from the date you specify when purchasing.

The Vienna Flexi Pass is transferable to other people. However, you can only visit each attraction once with the pass. This means you can’t visit, say, the Albertina together with another person using just one pass — each person needs their own Flexi Pass.

If, however, you have an attraction left over at the end of your stay, another person can use your pass to visit an attraction that you didn’t use.

Get the Vienna Flexi Pass

The Public Transit Ticket with Plenty of Discounts: Vienna City Card

What Does the Vienna City Card Offer?

• 24, 48, or 72 hours of public transportation
• Discounts at over 200 locations for 7 days
• Optional: Hop-On/Hop-Off for 24 hours

How Much Does the Vienna City Card Cost?

For comparison, the Public Transit Vending Machine column shows the prices for a pure public transit ticket without discounts.

One child under 15 can ride along with you for free when you have a City Card. From age 15, or for a second child, the full price applies.

By the way: You receive the discounts for seven days starting from the first use of the City Card. So if you’re staying in Vienna for a week, you could get the cheapest City Card for 17 euros, which covers public transportation for the first 24 hours.

After that, you can buy a regular public transit ticket to keep getting around, and still enjoy the City Card’s discounts for the entire week.

Note: The Vienna City Card with the option for a 24-hour Hop-On/Hop-Off bus can be purchased here.

In our comparison of pros and cons, however, we’ll continue with the Vienna City Card version without the additional Hop-On/Hop-Off bus.

Pros and Cons of the Vienna City Card

• Affordable price
• App ticket or printout available
• Public transportation included
• Discounts of 6 to 50 percent on museums and other attractions
• No admissions included, only discounts
• Discounts are not valid when purchasing tickets for attractions online — only at the on-site ticket counters.
• You have to collect discounts diligently for the City Card to be worth it.
• After purchase, the City Card must still be activated for a fixed time period.
• This time period cannot be changed afterward.

Vienna City Card Verdict

Honestly, we feel you have to put in too much effort for the Vienna City Card to really be worth it. The biggest discounts tend to be at the lesser-known attractions — that’s where they’re trying to steer visitors.

If you know exactly which attractions you want to visit and when, just do the math to see whether the Vienna City Card actually gives you a price advantage.

Personally, we wouldn’t choose the City Card — if nothing else, because the discount at attractions is only valid when you buy on-site. If you want to book your tickets online in advance, you won’t get the discount.

If you’re mainly interested in public transportation, you’re better off buying a regular daily ticket or multi-day ticket. You can also purchase those in advance online.

If attractions and museums are your priority, take a look at the Vienna Pass or the Flexi Pass instead.

The exception: The City Card can be worth it under certain circumstances if you’re traveling with a child! We’ll cover that in more detail in the “Which Pass Is Right for Whom?” section below.

Get the Vienna City Card on GetYourGuide

Get the Vienna City Card on the official website

The Differences Between the Individual Passes

Pull out your Vienna to-do list — now let’s compare the individual passes directly with each other so you can easily see which one fits your plans best.

Difference #1: Billed by Time or by Attractions

Some passes are valid for a specific period of time, during which you can visit as many of the included attractions as you like.

Vienna Pass: Valid for 1, 2, 3, or 6 days

Vienna City Card: Valid for 24, 48, or 72 hours

Then there’s a pass that’s based on the number of attractions rather than time. With it, you can choose 2, 3, 4, or 5 attractions from the available options:

Vienna Flexi Pass: 2, 3, 4, or 5 attractions from a selection of around 40 attractions within 60 days

Difference #2: How Your Pass Is Delivered

How does your Vienna pass get to you?

If this is one of your key criteria — maybe because you need the pass on short notice, or because you want to plan well in advance — here’s an overview of the delivery options for each pass.

A note on the Vienna Pass: The advantage of postal delivery is that you’ll have your Vienna Pass in hand ahead of time, along with a printed version of the accompanying booklet.

That way you can plan your stay in Vienna in detail from the comfort of your couch before you even leave home.

Difference #3: Getting Around Vienna by Public Transit, Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus, and Boat

One really important difference between the Vienna passes is the transportation options included.

The Hop-On/Hop-Off bus is perfect for first-time visitors. It travels from one attraction to the next, and in nice weather you get the best views from the roof of the open double-decker bus.

Through headphones, you’ll also get plenty of background information about the sights you pass by.

During the validity of your Hop-On/Hop-Off bus ticket, you can hop on and off as many times as you like.

A faster way to get from A to B in Vienna is public transportation — the subway above all, though you won’t see nearly as much of the city as you would on the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus.

If you’re flying into Vienna: You can also include the train ride from the airport into the city in your pass.

All passes also give you the option for a boat cruise on the Danube through the city.

Here’s an overview of which pass includes which mode of transportation.

Difference #4: The Included Attractions

By and large, the points of interest included in the passes are the same. They differ only in a few places.

When choosing your pass, you should primarily focus on the first three differences.

That said, we’ve of course also put together an overview of the attractions for you. The table shows the most important highlights and whether they’re included in each pass.

Unfortunately, we can’t list every single offering here — there are simply too many. If you’re looking for something specific that isn’t on this list, just check the passes’ websites to see if your favorite is included.

Attractions where you receive priority entry are marked with VIP. This can change from time to time, so just try at each entrance whether you can go straight in. The worst they can say is no.

Which Pass Is Right for Whom?

So, what does all of this tell us? If you still haven’t found the best pass for your situation, let’s take one more close look at which pass makes the most sense for whom.

We’ve grouped different types of travelers into categories:

Traveler Type 1: Everyone who wants to do as much as possible in just a few days.

Traveler Type 2: Everyone who only wants to visit a handful of key attractions.

And because many families travel to Vienna too:

Traveler Type 3: Everyone traveling with children.

Traveler Type #1

As Many Attractions as Possible in a Short Time: The Vienna Pass

If you want to visit as many attractions as possible, the Vienna Pass is probably your best bet.

Keep in mind, though: The pass is not valid for 24 hours, but for a calendar day. It doesn’t make sense to use the Vienna Pass on your arrival day if you won’t be starting until midday.

Only get the Vienna Pass for days when you can devote yourself to Vienna’s highlights from morning to night.

An example of how the Vienna Pass pays off for two days:

If you’re staying at a hotel in the 1st district, you won’t need an additional public transit ticket during the validity of your Vienna Pass. You can easily reach all the attractions on foot and by Hop-On/Hop-Off bus.

If you don’t mind walking a bit further, this also applies to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th districts. In these neighborhoods, it’s at most two kilometers from the hotels to the nearest Hop-On/Hop-Off stop.

For more on the districts and the hotels available there, check out our article on where to stay in Vienna.

If you still want to add the public transit ticket, you can do so when buying the Vienna Pass directly during the online purchase. You won’t get a price advantage, though — the ticket costs the same as if you got it from a vending machine in the subway.

But that’s exactly the point: if you’ve booked the public transit ticket together with the Vienna Pass, it’s one less thing to deal with. So it’s not cheaper, just a little more convenient.

Our recommendation: Book your Vienna Pass without the public transit ticket and see first whether the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus is enough for you. If you find you’d like to use public transportation too, you can always get individual tickets or daily tickets from a vending machine at any subway station.
An example of how the Vienna Pass pays off for one day:

If you only have one day in Vienna, the Vienna Pass is only worth it if you either pack in a very full schedule, or if you only want to visit the most expensive sights. Even then, it only pays off if you really have the whole day available.

Traveler Type #2

The Most Important Attractions or Longer Stays: The Flexi Pass

If you only want to visit a few attractions in Vienna, take a look at the Flexi Pass. It includes admission to up to five attractions or museums of your choice.

The big advantage of the Flexi Pass: You have 60 days to use those visits. So it doesn’t matter whether you visit your two, three, four, or five attractions on the same day or spread them out over multiple days.

For a short weekend in Vienna, for example, you could pick up your pass at the State Opera on Saturday afternoon and hop straight onto the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus. You can use it until Sunday afternoon and visit your included attractions in between.

Or you could start right at the Albertina, which is just a few steps from the State Opera, and only board the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus later in the afternoon. That way you can use the bus even longer the next day.

Even if sightseeing isn’t your main reason for being in Vienna — say, if you’re there for a longer stay or even for work — the Flexi Pass is a great way to play tourist on the side. You have 60 days to visit your chosen attractions, and you can use the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus for 24 hours at any point within those 60 days.

An example of how the Vienna Flexi Pass pays off in just one day:

The Hop-On/Hop-Off bus counts as one attraction with the Flexi Pass. If you’d rather not use the bus, you can of course visit a different attraction instead.

Traveler Type #3

With Children Between 5 and 14 Years Old: The Vienna City Card with Transfer and Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus

With children up to and including age 14, the Vienna City Card can save you a few euros.

You buy a City Card for 48 hours for 25 euros, and one child under 15 can use Vienna’s public transportation with you.

That alone makes it worthwhile, since children in that age range normally have to pay for public transportation.

So if you’re traveling with a child between 5 and 14 years old, the Vienna City Card is genuinely worth considering.

On top of that, you’ll also get discounts at many places for a whole week with the City Card. If you want to know exactly what discounts you get where, take a look at the City Card Bonus Booklet.

By the Way: The Vienna City Card Without a Child

Without a child, you have to work pretty hard to make the City Card worth it. You’d have to cram quite a lot into two days for the ticket to really pay off.

If you’re staying in Vienna for more than two days, you can still use the City Card as a discount card even after it’s expired for public transportation. You receive the discounts for seven days from activation.

Personally, we’d only buy the City Card for the child benefit. Without a child, we’d go with a different pass.

Vienna Without a Pass

Of course, a Vienna pass is not required for a visit to the city. If you simply don’t plan to visit multiple paid attractions, a pass naturally doesn’t make sense.

You can also skip the line at many attractions without a pass and save time by simply buying individual tickets online in advance.

For the top highlights especially, we strongly recommend doing this — otherwise you could end up standing in line for hours on busy days.

Here’s an overview of which tickets you can buy online in advance:

Frequently Asked Questions

Here we answer the most common questions that come up when searching for the right Vienna pass.