Guided Walks

Vienna Tour Guides (www.wienguide.at; adult/child €14/7) A collection of highly knowledgeable guides who conduct over 60 different guided walking tours, some of which are in English. The monthly Wiener Spaziergänge (Vienna’s Walking Tours) leaflet from tourist offices details all tours, departure points and tour languages.

Vienna Walks & Talks ( 774 89 01; www.viennawalks.com) Offers the excellent Third Man Tour (€17) based on the film, and many more.

Bus Tours

Vienna Sightseeing Tours ( 712 46 830; www.viennasightseeingtours.com; tours adult €39-109, child €15-45; 6.30am-7.30pm; Südtiroler Platz/Wien Hauptbahnhof, D) Runs the Hop On Hop Off city tours and tours by the affiliated Cityrama. These take in Schloss Schön­brunn, plus some thematic (mostly music) tours in Vienna. Buses depart from Südtiroler Platz – Wiedner Gürtel/Laxenburger Strasse, but a shuttle leaves from outside the Staatsoper 30 minutes before each departure.

Hop On Hop Off (Vienna Sightseeing Tours; 712 46 830; www.viennasightseeingtours.com; 01, Opernring; 1hr/2hr/all-day ticket €13/16/20; 10am-5pm; Karlsplatz, D, 1, 2, 71 Kärntner Ring/Oper) Buses stop at 14 sights around Vienna. Tickets range from one hour to all day, and you can hop on and off as often as you wish. Buses circle the Innere Stadt, with detours to Stephansplatz. Others take you east of the Danube Canal, and to Schönbrunn and Schloss Belvedere. See the website for details.

Oldtimer Bus Tours OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP ( 503 74 43 12; www.oldtimertours.at; 01, Departure from Heldenplatz; tours adult/child €19/12; May–early Oct; Museumsquartier, D, 1, 2, 71 Burgring) Vintage open-top (closed if rainy) oldtimer coaches trundle around the city centre and occasionally up to the Wienerwald (Click here). Tours last an hour and leave from in front of the Hofburg at Heldenplatz daily at 11am, 12.30pm, 2pm and 4pm.

Redbus City Tours OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP ( 512 48 63; www.redbuscitytours.at; 01, Führichgasse 12; tours adult €14-24, child €7-12; 10am-7pm; Karls­platz, D, 1, 2 Kärntner Ring/Oper) One and a half hour tours of the main sights in around the Innere Stadt and 2½-hour tours of the city’s big sights. Buses leave from outside the Albertina.

Boat Tours

DDSG Blue Danube ( 588 80; www.ddsg-blue-danube.at; 01, Schwedenbrücke; adult/child from €19/9.50, under 10yr free; tours 11am & 3pm Apr-Oct) Offers some of the most popular tours include circumnavigating Leopoldstadt and Brigittenau districts along the Danube Canal and the Danube or through the historic Nussdorf locks. Tour length starts from 1½ hours.

Wine Tours

Vienna Explorer ( 890 9682; www.viennaexplorer.com; Franz-Josefs-Kai 45; Wachau bike tours €59-115, Vienna Segway/walking/bike tours €70/15/26; 8.30am-7pm, tours Apr-Oct; Schwedenplatz, 1 Salztorbrücke) Does bike tours through the Wachau vineyards, and walking and Segway tours in Vienna itself. It also rents out bikes for short-term ( € 12 per day) and long-term. The website gives tour dates and office opening times (it is open much of the year, and has a telephone service year-round).

Other Tours

Fiaker (20min/40min tour €55/80) A Fiaker is a traditional-style Viennese open carriage drawn by a pair of horses. Drivers generally speak English and point out places of interest en route. Lines of horses, carriages and bowler-hatted drivers can be found at Stephansplatz, Albertinaplatz and Heldenplatz at the Hofburg.

Ring Tram ( 790 91 00; www.wienerlinien.at; adult/child €7/4; 10am-6pm) Continuous hop-on, hop-off guided tour of the Ringstrasse with video screens and commentary on a clockwise route stopping at 13 stations. You can get on and off at any stop on a tour that lasts 25 minutes without stops. The first tour leaves Kärntner Ring-Oper at 10am, the last from Schwarzenbergplatz at 5.28pm. See the Do-It-Yourself Ringstrasse Tram Tour in this chapter for a self-guided alternative.

City Segway Tours ( 729 72 34; www.citysegwaytours.com/vienna; tour adult €70; Apr-Oct; 59A, 62, Karlsplatz, D, 1, 2 Kärntner Ring/Oper) Run by Pedal Power (which conducts bicycle tours in and around Vienna), these Segway tours meet in front of the Staatsoper and cover the main city highlights including the Ringstrasse and the Rathaus , Hofburg and more.

Ringstrasse Tram Tour: Do-It-Yourself

Public trams are a cheap way to see the sights and enjoy a slice of everyday life in Vienna at the same time. This quintessential Vienna tram experience takes you past the city’s palatial monuments.

Board tram 1 at Schwedenplatz (platform B) heading towards Stefan-Fadinger-Platz and immediately look out on the left for the Monument to the Victims of Fascism at the former Gestapo headquarters site.

On your left on the Ringstrasse will emerge Vienna’s Börse Palais (Stock Exchange), a handsome structure bedecked in dusty brick with white trimmings, designed by renowned Ringstrasse architect Theophil von Hansen.

Pulling into Schottentor station you’ll be accosted on your right by two stone-carved steeples reaching for the sky – the marvellous neo-Gothic Votivkirche (Click here) is quite reminiscent of France’s Chartres Cathedral.

When the spires of an arresting Flemish-Gothic edifice beck on your gaze on the right, you will have reached the Rathaus (Click here) and Rathausplatz.

The neoclassical facade of Parlament (Click here), Austria’s parliament, with its majestic Greek pillars, will spill into view on the right, flanked by the Athena Fountain – the four figures lying at her feet represent the Danube, Inn, Elbe and Vltava, the four key rivers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

A majestic testament to Austria’s 1813 triumph over Napoleon in Leipzig, the Äusseres Burgtor (Outer Palace Gate) will loom into view on the left – the Roman gate leads the way to the Hofburg (Imperial Palace).

Directly opposite the Burgtor is Maria-Theresien-Platz, anchored by a statue of Empress Maria Theresia, the only female to ascend to the Austrian throne. Note the bundle of papers clasped in her left hand – these are the Pragmatic Sanctions of 1713, which made it possible for women to rule the empire.

The marvellous neo-Renaissance Staatsoper (Click here) (State Opera House) impresses the masses today, but when it was originally built the Viennese dubbed it ‘the Königgrätz of architecture,’ likening it to the 1866 military disaster of the same name.

The final stretch of the tram route (tram 2) continues past Stadtpark (Click here) back to the Danube Canal and Schwedenplatz.

RINGSTRASSE TRAM PRACTICALITIES

You can tour the Ringstrasse on the tourist Ring Tram, but it’s much cheaper to catch regular city trams below (without commentaries) if you already have a transport ticket.

Trams to catch Tram 1 heading northwest from Schwedenplatz, changing to tram 2 at Stadiongasse/Parlament, Dr-Karl-Renner-Ring, Burgring or Kärntner Ring-Oper to finish at Schwedenplatz.

Cost Use your normal transport ticket; 24-hour tickets are best (€6.70).

MORE INFORMATION

www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/tours-guides Official portal with a comprehensive overview of tour options.

Tourist Info Wien (Click here) Main tourist office, with walk-in service.