Two days is enough for Vienna's imperial headline sights if you stay central and start early, but you will leave the museum quarter and the local districts barely touched. The center is compact inside the Ringstrasse: St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Hofburg and the State Opera sit within a fifteen-minute walk, and the trams close the loop. Base yourself in the Innere Stadt so both mornings start on foot. The structure that works is one imperial-city day and one palace day: day one for the cathedral, the Hofburg and a coffee house, day two out to Schonbrunn in the morning and the Belvedere for Klimt's Kiss in the afternoon. Book Schonbrunn and Belvedere timed tickets and the Hofburg Sisi Ticket online before you arrive, because queues and sold-out slots are the only real threat to a 48-hour visit. What you sacrifice is the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the MuseumsQuartier and any slow evening in Neubau, which is exactly what a third day buys. Eat off the cathedral square, not on it.
Duration
2 days
Base
Innere Stadt (Old Town)
Mid budget
280 EUR
Best months
Apr · May · Jun
Picks sorted with our recommended base, Innere Stadt (Old Town), first. Book early: the good-value rooms go weeks ahead.
Landmark stay€€€Grand dame since 1876 · Innere Stadt (Old Town)
The address behind the original Sachertorte, right behind the State Opera in the very center. It is old-world formal and priced for it; the cafe downstairs lets you taste the legend without booking a room.
from ~400 EUR/night
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Design lovers€€Art-filled townhouse · Neubau
A designer boutique hotel in a Neubau townhouse, each room styled differently and hung with real contemporary art. You are in the gallery-and-cafe 7th district, one tram stop from the MuseumsQuartier.
from ~150 EUR/night
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Sunset drinks€€Rooftop bar · Neubau
A playful circus-themed hotel with a rooftop bar that looks straight over the imperial rooftops. It sits between the MuseumsQuartier and the Neubau bars, so you can walk everywhere in the evening.
from ~130 EUR/night
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Budget€Modern hostel · Mariahilf
A well-run hostel steps from the Naschmarkt food stalls, with private rooms as well as dorms and a real bar. Vienna is expensive, and this is one of the few central beds that is not.
from ~40 EUR/night
Check pricesReal hotel photos · prices are indicative from-rates, not live quotes · booking links support the site at no extra cost
Day 1
Morning
Start at St. Stephen's Cathedral around 8:30am while the square is still quiet, walk the free rear nave, then climb the south tower's 343 steps for the tiled-roof skyline before the first tour groups land.
TipThe rear standing area is free, but the nave, the catacombs tour and the two towers each cost separately, so decide before you go in. The south tower's 343 steps give the better climb and skyline; the north tower has a lift to the Pummerin bell and shorter queues, and the tiled roof pattern is best photographed from the Stephansplatz corner opposite.
Walk ten minutes to the Hofburg and enter the Imperial Apartments and Sisi Museum at 9am opening with your pre-booked Sisi Ticket. The included audioguide carries you through the Habsburg court in about ninety minutes.
TipThe single Sisi Ticket covers the Imperial Apartments, the Sisi Museum and the Silver Collection here plus the Schonbrunn Grand Tour, so buy it once if you plan both palaces and skip two separate queues. Enter the Imperial Apartments right at 9am opening; the audioguide is included, and the courtyards, Heldenplatz and the arcades are free to walk through any time.
Afternoon
Lunch and coffee at Cafe Central a few minutes north; arrive after the noon rush, take a small plate and a Melange, and use the coffee-house rule that one coffee holds the table for as long as you like.
TipThe vaulted hall is spectacular but the queue outside the door often runs 30 minutes at peak; arrive at 8am opening or after 3pm to walk straight in. Coffee-house etiquette means one Melange buys you the table for hours with no rush, so order a coffee and a slice of Sachertorte and linger; for the same ritual without the line, try Cafe Sperl or Cafe Landtmann nearby.
Cross back past the Hofburg to the Albertina for the Monet-to-Picasso collection and the Habsburg state rooms, then step onto the free terrace over the Opera for an elevated view of the ring.
TipBook online to skip the ticket line, then start with the permanent Monet-to-Picasso collection upstairs before the temporary blockbuster show pulls the crowds. The Habsburg state rooms on the way in are included and often overlooked; the terrace over the Opera and Albertinaplatz is free to step onto and gives a rare elevated view of the ring.
Evening
Queue at the Operngasse side door of the State Opera about an hour before curtain for a 13 to 18 EUR standing-room ticket. Tie your scarf to the rail to hold the spot, then catch an act of whatever is on that night.
TipStanding-room tickets cost 13 to 18 EUR and go on sale about 80 minutes before curtain from the Operngasse side door, so join the queue at least an hour ahead for a good rail spot. Tie your scarf to the rail to hold your place, then step out; if you would rather sit, book seated tickets online weeks ahead, and note the opera closes for July and August.
Dinner at a traditional Beisl in the first district off the main squares, somewhere like Gmoakeller or Zum Schwarzen Kameel's bar, for Wiener Schnitzel and a glass of Gruner Veltliner without the Stephansplatz markup.
Day 2
Morning
Take the U4 metro to Schonbrunn and use your 8:30am timed slot for the Grand Tour of the palace interior before the coach groups arrive. Afterwards walk up to the free Gloriette hill for the classic view back over the palace.
TipBuy a timed-entry ticket online, since the palace admits by slot and same-day slots sell out by midday in season. Take the earliest slot around 8:30am or the last two hours of the day to dodge the tour-group peak; the vast gardens, the Gloriette hill and the maze are free, so save the paid interior for the Grand Tour and spend the rest outdoors.
Afternoon
Metro and tram across to the Upper Belvedere for your early-afternoon timed ticket and go straight to Klimt's The Kiss before the room fills, then work back through the rest of the collection.
TipBook an Upper Belvedere timed ticket and go at 9am opening, because the room holding Klimt's The Kiss is the single most crowded spot in Vienna by late morning. See the Kiss first before doubling back through the rest of the collection, and skip the Lower Belvedere unless a special exhibition draws you; the formal gardens between the two palaces are free.
Walk down through the free formal gardens between the Upper and Lower Belvedere, the best no-ticket view in this part of the city, and out toward the ring for the walk back to your hotel.
Evening
Stop at Karlskirche on the way in and pay for the dome lift that rises to the ceiling frescoes; a weekday early evening usually has no queue for the panoramic platform.
TipThe paid ticket includes a panoramic lift that rises inside the dome to within touching distance of the ceiling frescoes, which is the reason to pay entry rather than just admire the baroque facade from the reflecting pool outside. Go on a weekday morning when the lift has no queue; concerts of Vivaldi's Four Seasons run most evenings, but the daytime dome visit is the better value.
End with dinner near the Naschmarkt end of the sixth district, then a last floodlit loop past the Opera and the Hofburg gates, which are at their best empty after dark.
For 2 days, base yourself in Innere Stadt (Old Town). The historic first district inside the Ringstrasse, built around St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Hofburg palace. This is the imperial core, all grand boulevards, arcaded courtyards and the classic coffee houses, and everything a first-timer wants is within a fifteen-minute walk. It empties of day crowds in the evening and turns quiet and elegant. Compare all neighborhoods in the full where-to-stay guide.
Got longer?
Vienna in 3 days →
Got longer?
Vienna in 4 days →
Two days is enough for Vienna's imperial headline sights if you stay central and start early, but you will leave the museum quarter and the local districts barely touched. The center is compact inside the Ringstrasse: St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Hofburg and the State Opera sit within a fifteen-minute walk, and the trams close the loop.
Base yourself in Innere Stadt (Old Town) for this itinerary. The historic first district inside the Ringstrasse, built around St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Hofburg palace. This is the imperial core, all grand boulevards, arcaded courtyards and the classic coffee houses, and everything a first-timer wants is within a fifteen-minute walk. It empties of day crowds in the evening and turns quiet and elegant.
The plan works year round, but April, May, June give you the best weather-to-crowds ratio.