An imperial capital that ran an empire of fifty million and now has under two million people, so everything is built several sizes too large. Three days covers the Habsburg core, the art, and the coffee houses where sitting for two hours is the intended use.
Vienna · 3 days Austria
Best time: April to June and September to October for mild weather and open terraces.
The imperial centreDay 1
⛪9:00 AM
St. Stephen's Cathedral
The Gothic spine of the old city, with a patterned tile roof and catacombs holding Habsburg organs in copper urns.
🚶 ~11 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.4 mi
📍12:30 PM
Hofburg
The winter palace: imperial apartments, the silver collection, and a museum to Empress Elisabeth that is more interesting than it sounds.
🚶 ~8 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.3 mi
🖼️6:00 PM
Standing room at the State Opera
Tickets go on sale eighty minutes before curtain for a few euros. Queue early, bring a scarf to mark your rail spot, as the regulars do.
Art and the marketDay 2
🖼️10:00 AM
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Habsburg collection: the largest Bruegel holding in the world, and a staircase Klimt painted the spandrels of.
🚶 ~10 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.4 mi
📍2:00 PM
Naschmarkt
A kilometre of food stalls and lunch counters, with a big flea market at the far end on Saturdays.
🚶 ~27 min · 🚗 ~3 min · 1.0 mi
📍4:30 PM
Belvedere
Two Baroque palaces and a formal garden, holding Klimt's The Kiss. Go late in the day when the coach groups have gone.
Schönbrunn and the PraterDay 3
🏰9:00 AM
Schönbrunn Palace
The summer palace of 1,441 rooms, with gardens climbing to a hilltop colonnade and the oldest zoo in the world in the grounds.
🚗 ~9 min · 2.5 mi
🖼️2:00 PM
MuseumsQuartier
Modern art in converted imperial stables, with courtyards full of coloured benches that the whole city sits on in summer.
🚶 ~52 min · 🚗 ~7 min · 1.9 mi
📍6:00 PM
Prater and the Riesenrad
A public park with a fairground at one end, and an 1897 ferris wheel of wooden cabins turning very slowly over the city.
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Best time to goApril to June and September to October for mild weather and open terraces. December for the Christmas markets, which are the originals. January and February are cold but it is a museum-and-café city anyway.
Getting aroundU-Bahn, trams, and buses on one ticket; get a 24 or 72-hour pass. Tram lines 1 and 2 circle the Ringstrasse past most of the grand buildings for the price of a normal fare.
Local tip: A Viennese coffee house expects you to linger over one coffee with a glass of water and a newspaper. Order by name (melange, einspänner) rather than asking for a latte, and do not tip by rounding up dramatically.
The full plan as text
The same day-by-day plan as text. Times are starting points, not homework.
Day 1: The imperial centre
9:00 AM
St. Stephen's Cathedral
The Gothic spine of the old city, with a patterned tile roof and catacombs holding Habsburg organs in copper urns.
12:30 PM
Hofburg
The winter palace: imperial apartments, the silver collection, and a museum to Empress Elisabeth that is more interesting than it sounds.
6:00 PM
Standing room at the State Opera
Tickets go on sale eighty minutes before curtain for a few euros. Queue early, bring a scarf to mark your rail spot, as the regulars do.
Day 2: Art and the market
10:00 AM
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Habsburg collection: the largest Bruegel holding in the world, and a staircase Klimt painted the spandrels of.
2:00 PM
Naschmarkt
A kilometre of food stalls and lunch counters, with a big flea market at the far end on Saturdays.
4:30 PM
Belvedere
Two Baroque palaces and a formal garden, holding Klimt's The Kiss. Go late in the day when the coach groups have gone.
Day 3: Schönbrunn and the Prater
9:00 AM
Schönbrunn Palace
The summer palace of 1,441 rooms, with gardens climbing to a hilltop colonnade and the oldest zoo in the world in the grounds.
2:00 PM
MuseumsQuartier
Modern art in converted imperial stables, with courtyards full of coloured benches that the whole city sits on in summer.
6:00 PM
Prater and the Riesenrad
A public park with a fairground at one end, and an 1897 ferris wheel of wooden cabins turning very slowly over the city.
Make this Vienna plan yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.