With its lavish whirl of Hapsburg palaces, neoclassical concert halls, posh coffee houses and galleries stuffed with Old Master paintings, Vienna can seem overwhelmingly grand. So it might come as a surprise to know that with a little careful planning you can see a heck of a lot of the Austrian capital without spending a single cent.
Dodging Vienna’s tourist traps and making the most of the Austrian capital on a tight budget is easy when you know how – and we’re not talking second-rate experiences here.
Read on for our round-up of 12 top things to see and do for free, from museums showing Klimt masterpieces to bike rides around the Ringstrasse and saunters in baroque palace gardens.
1. Go gothic at Stephansdom
Popping up above the Innere Stadt, Vienna’s crowning glory Stephansdom cathedral – ironically nicknamed Steffl (“Little Stephan”) – quite literally stops you dead in your tracks and forces you to look skywards for a glimpse of its 12th-century stonework and dazzling chevron-tiled roof.
While you’ll have to pay to hook onto a guided tour, explore the catacombs or clamber up the south tower, you can get a sense of the scale and majesty of the cathedral for free by visiting the atmospheric interior and smaller altars.
Planning tip: Skip breakfast to be at the cathedral when it opens at 6am. It has a special atmosphere at this early hour and you’ll pretty much have it all to yourself.
2. See Vienna from above
MQ Libelle, on the roof terrace of the Leopold Museum, wows with knockout views all the way from the MuseumsQuartier to the Hausberge mountains. The glass structure of the Libelle, (German for “dragonfly”), is an artwork in itself, but there is also an exhibition space for art installations right underneath it called MQ Art Box, which is open 24/7 and you can visit for free. The rooftop area is open daily except for Tuesday and access is via two outdoor lifts on the east side.
For sweeping views, head to the new 360° Ocean Sky, on the 11th floor of a repurposed flak tower. You can stop for a drink, but you don’t have to. The elevator stops next to the entrance to the restaurant, so you can walk the entire platform and enjoy the panorama without entering the venue.
3. Admire sprightly Lipizzaner horses
Central Vienna’s backbeat is the sound of Fiaker (horse-drawn carriages) jauntily clip-clopping…
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