How to Spend One Day in Vienna, Austria’a Baroque Beauty

Vienna, Austria, is a popular travel destination for a reason. Its historic center, palaces, and museums are impressive. We made a return trip after years away to see the city’s Christmas scene, and that certainly didn’t disappoint, either.

While it didn’t rise to the top of my favorite cities — I get into that elsewhere as far as whether you should pull the trigger on a trip to Vienna — it’s still an essential city to see. That’s especially true if you love a good museum. We do. 

Vienna is grand, but maybe sometimes a little too serious. If you only have a day to see it, I won’t dissuade you from that. Stick to Vienna’s most walkable bits, and you can see quite a few highlights with this itinerary for one day in Vienna. 

I’ll include optional extras for the horse fans out there. 

You can do a lot in one day in Vienna.

While it’s a bigger city, there is quite a bit you can get to on a quick trip to Vienna. I’ve prioritized our favorites here, but I’ll include some bonus Vienna attractions along the way and toward the bottom of this guide.

I’m sure some of you are planning a full weekend in Vienna, and you won’t get bored. This is a cultural hub with plenty to do!

How to Spend One Day in Vienna

Vienna is bigger than Austrian cities like Salzburg, but many of its central highlights are found pretty close together. You can spend a day in Vienna like this:

• See The Kiss at the Upper Belvedere.
• Marvel at the Austrian National Library.
• Get some treats with a twist at Vollpension.
• See the views from St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
• Stroll along the Graben.
• Take a coffee break at Café Hawelka.
• Admire the dome at the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
• Finish with dinner at Glacis Beisl.

One Day in Vienna

With just the day, your Vienna itinerary will be a busy one. Coffee fiends, I’ll include time to savor Viennese coffee culture in the afternoon. If you need to start your day with some caffeine, find coffee houses with easy access to your starting point.

Co Rivo Rivo is a cute option near the Belvedere Palace. You have even more options near the Spanish Riding School, but they’re not all high-quality. CoffeeHouse is a decent option that’s open early if you don’t mind a 15-minute walk afterward.

Stop 1: Belvedere Palace

Belvedere Palace is two separate palaces, the Upper Belvedere and Lower Belvedere, set within some very pretty gardens.

It was built in the early 18th century as the summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy and a way to show off his wealth and fanciness, I reckon.

If you truly just have the day here, prioritize the Upper Belvedere in the palace complex. You can get timed tickets online for one of the first entrances, especially if you’re traveling during a busier month. 

The Upper Belvedere is where you’ll find Gustav Klimt’s iconic The Kiss. That’s what got us intrigued in making it happen in the first place. You may need to wait your turn to get a closer look and the obligatory photo, but it’s worth your time. It’s an evocative painting.

From there, you can spend at least an hour exploring its impressive Baroque interior, medieval sculptures, and any rotating exhibitions. 

Note: This isn’t the only art museum I include in this itinerary, so if that’s just not your thing, I have an alternative for you just below this stop. 

If the weather’s cooperating, you can stroll the gardens that link the Upper and Lower Belvedere palaces. They’re lovely and symmetrical, with all kinds of moody sculptures showing you around. 

Completionists may even want to pop inside the Lower Belvedere, too, especially if you got the combo ticket. This is where you’ll find temporary art exhibitions out of the former residences of Prince Eugene, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. 

Check the museum calendars for what’s being offered during your visit. There may be art that you’re dying to see inside, or something more skippable. 

Alternative Stop 1: Spanish Riding School

Horsey folks, I haven’t forgotten about you. The Spanish Riding School is one of Vienna’s most iconic institutions, famous for the white Lipizzaner horses and classical dressage tradition. 

Founded in 1572, this place has trained horses and riders in the haute école style for over 400 years, making it a living piece of Austrian history. 

Fun fact: If I’ve already lost you, all “haute école” means is the most elaborate type of dressage. That’s when the horses pull their little dances and maneuvers to ooing and aahing in the stands surrounding them.

You can attend the morning exercises as an intro to the discipline. That’s what we did. Morning exercises involve the horses warming up and practicing the moves before their full performances. 

I’ll be honest here. I was invested in the horses to start, but watching horses do the same maneuvers over and over again for a full hour can give the cursory horse fan a little fatigue. 

One of the horses was even doing that thing your old dog does, where they start hacking like they’re going to barf at any moment. It pulled us out of the mood, to say the least.

If you prefer a more polished, full performance, their shows are supposed to be pretty great. Tickets are available in advance, and they sell out regularly. You can skip the exercises if you’re able to book a show. 

You can also book tours of the arena if you want to learn even more about the horses. We only saw the exercises, so that’s all I can recommend, but our friends enjoyed their tour, too. 

The Lipizzaner horses train inside the Winter Riding School, a baroque arena within the Hofburg Palace. You won’t be able to take photos of the horses at work, which makes sense. I can imagine duck lips being quite distracting. 

With more time, or even as an alternative to the horses, you can explore the Hofburg Palace. You can tour the Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum, and Silver Collection and fill up a full morning of activity. 

Stop 2: Austrian National Library

If you went with the horses, the Austrian National Library is just a short walk from the Hofburg. It’s a 30-minute walk from the Belvedere Palace, or a 10-minute tram ride with a shorter walk on the other side.

This was my favorite stop in Vienna. The Grand Hall, with its vaulted ceilings and old globes, is Baroque perfection, but it often has rotating exhibits on historical figures, too. 

Buy tickets online to skip the line upon arrival. This is one of those places where it feels really awesome to bypass the people waiting for their turn, as this place rarely gets a slow day. 

Stop 3: Vollpension

It’s time to have some sustenance. This café is run by pensioners who bake and serve everything themselves, which makes for a pretty special experience. 

I don’t want to infantilize them by calling them cute, but everyone here was super friendly.

Fun fact: I can’t say the same about all of the service in Vienna. They’re not the warmest!

There are two different locations to choose from, one in the 4th district near the Naschmarkt and a second in the 1st district, closer to Stephansplatz.

If you’re following along here, make a booking at the Johannesgasse location. It’ll set you up nicely for your next stop.

The cakes are the big draw at these, but we enjoyed their savory plates, too. Expect simple, homey offerings like cheese and cucumber sandwiches and sausages. Reservations are recommended.

If you can’t handle the thought of being in Austria for the day and not eating schnitzel, we had some tasty plates at Schnitzel One on another day. You can walk in for lunch at the casual eatery, and it’s an easy stroll to your next stop, too.

Stop 4: Stephansplatz and St. Stephen’s Cathedral

Vienna’s Stephansplatz is dominated by the cathedral that dominates the square. There has been some kind of church on this site since the 12th century, but what you’ll see here was shaped by expansions in the 1300s and 1400s. 

I mean, that’s still pretty old.

If you really want to experience the place, buy a ticket to go up one of its towers. We chose the North Tower, accessible by an elevator, to see the church’s colorful tiled roof. 

The views aren’t as high as from the South Tower, but as someone who has climbed SO many towers in Europe, sometimes you need a little something more. You’ll also get a closer look at the gigantic Pummerin bell, Austria’s largest and heaviest, from this one.

If you want the classic tower views, the South Tower involves a climb of 343 steps to the viewing platform, as there’s no elevator on this side. The payoff sounds pretty great, as you’ll be able to see the entire historic center, but I can’t say which one is better. 

You can also do both if you have the time!

Note: If you love a good church, St. Peter’s Church (Peterskirche) has some impressive Baroque interiors, generally without the crowds of St. Stephen’s.

READ MORE: If you love a historic tower, La Rochelle in France has three of them, along with an excellent seafood scene!

Stop 5: Graben

From Stephansplatz, it’s an easy stroll along the Graben, one of the Vienna city center’s most historic streets and the heart of the old town, or Innere Stadt.

This was once part of a Roman moat, so while I don’t generally spend much time shopping at luxury boutiques that have replaced that, I’ll still call it an upgrade. 

As you explore, you’ll pass the Plague Column, a monument built after the 1679 plague epidemic, and the Kohlmarkt, prime time for some of that fancy shopping I mentioned.

Even if shopping isn’t your thing — I relate! — the Graben is nice for taking in the details of this city, and potentially doing some people-watching. That I can get behind.

Stop 6: Café Hawelka 

It’s time for another break in the form of a classic Viennese coffee experience. 

Before I launch into why we chose this spot, a little background is in order about coffee culture in this city. While heralded as something of a big deal in Vienna, it has become quite hit or miss. 

Many places use the same industrial roasts, so even if the vibes are fun and old-timey, the actual coffee quality may not be that great.

What you go for is the atmosphere and the ritual, but I wanted to put out that disclaimer in case you want a modern shop with better coffee.

Anyway, the coffee at Café Hawelka is their own blend, and the atmosphere still feels like a classic one. The sweets are dangerously easy to overindulge on, too. This one is cash only, so make sure you have some bills on you if you’d like to partake.

Another popular option is Café Schwarzenberg, but much like many cafés in town, it uses Julius Meinl as its supplier.

Stop 7: Kunsthistorisches Museum

We snuck this one in while the friends we were traveling with toured the Spanish Riding School, and it was such a pleasant surprise. I wanted to visit to see Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Tower of Babel. 

The panel painting reimagines the biblical story of humanity’s attempt to build a tower reaching to heaven. Rather than focusing on the divine punishment attached, he was more concerned with the construction efforts behind that endeavor.

I found it to be really impressive, and no one was at the painting when Brian and I arrived. They were all at the café in the middle of the museum, which I get.

We didn’t want to wait in the long line to eat at the café, and you don’t have to either if you just want a look around. 

You can climb the staircases to the top level and take photos from above of the frescoed space that are just as impressive as anything you’d get seated down below. 

Buy tickets online for this museum if you’re interested, and don’t wait until the last minute. There was a long line when we arrived, so we decided to get tickets on our apps rather than wait. 

Apparently, it takes a while for the tickets to populate in their system. Even though we had QR codes to enter, they told us to return a few minutes later when our purchase showed up on their end. 

This made no sense, but we stepped aside until the ticket folks were no longer manning the entry, then stepped inside for the visit we paid for.

Give yourself a couple of hours to enjoy this one properly. It’s open until 6pm unless you’re there on a Thursday. Then you have until 9pm.

Stop 8: Dinner

We filled our bellies in the evenings with Christmas market offerings, but you have lots of options for dinner out in Vienna. I’ll be honest, though. We found the food in the city just fine, but it’s diverse enough that you can find something for every palate.

Glacis Beisl is a popular option for elevated Viennese cuisine. Reinthaler’s Beisl serves up a good schnitzel if you didn’t already have one at lunch. Reservations are a good idea at both.

With More Time in Vienna

I left off some biggies in this itinerary for one day in Vienna, in part because I didn’t want you to spend a good chunk of your day transiting from place to place.

If you’re here during the winter holidays, you’ll definitely want to spend some time at the Christmas markets. I have a detailed guide to Vienna’s holiday scene if you’re interested in that.

With another day or two, here are even more ideas for how to fill them:

• Tour Schönbrunn Palace or visit just to check out its impressive gardens. 
• See Karlsplatz and its domed Karlskirche, or St. Charles’s Church.
• Attend a concert at the Musikverein or the Vienna State Opera, the Vienna opera house.
• Explore more art in MuseumsQuartier Wien, starting with the Leopold Museum.
• Visit the Albertina for its temporary exhibitions and modern art.
• Wander Naschmarkt, Vienna’s most famous open-air market.
• Check out the Hundertwasserhaus, an apartment with a unique look in the Landstraße district.
• Visit Prater, an amusement park with a giant Ferris wheel, especially if you’re traveling with the littles.
• Stroll the Danube Canal at sunset or book a Danube cruise for a different view of the city.

Vienna’s a great base for day trips, too. Sound of Music fans won’t want to miss Salzburg, my favorite Austrian city. Salzburg is also home to a fairly wild Christmas tradition, too.

READ MORE: Love the sound of Salzburg? Their Christmas markets are super charming, too. Steal my guide to learn about them!

You can also tick off two countries in one go on a guided tour to Budapest and Bratislava. It’s a popular jumping-off point for travelers to Europe, in part because it’s so connected to the rest of the continent.

How to Get to Vienna

You’ll likely fly into Vienna International Airport for trips to Vienna. From there, the City Airport Train (CAT), ÖBB Railjet, or a rideshare can get you into the center quickly.

If you’re already in Europe, you can likely connect to Vienna from other cities in Austria and central Europe. Salzburg to Vienna’s Wien Hauptbahnhof takes just two hours and 30 minutes. From the main station, trams and metro lines connect you to the rest.

Once you’re in Vienna, this itinerary is quite walkable, but the city is well-covered by public transportation. 

Buy tickets before you board, no matter the mode of transport. You can buy tickets on the WienMobil app, online through WienMobil, or at tobacco kiosks. Some tram and train stations have ticket machines, too, but I wouldn’t rely on those.

If you use the app, your tickets are validated digitally. Paper tickets will require a stamp at the platform validators before you board a tram or bus.

Single-ride tickets are probably sufficient for this itinerary, but you can look into Vienna city 24-hour or multi-day passes if they make sense for you.

If you’d like someone else to take the reins, even for just a part of your day, there are lots of options for guided walking tours of Vienna’s highlights.

Where to Stay in Vienna

The Weekend Hotel was our pick for a few nights in Vienna, and I’d recommend it. We had easy access to everything I’ve suggested in this itinerary, and easy access to trains if we needed them.

Use the map below to search for more options:

You should see Vienna at least once.

Vienna is a bit of a beast to tackle in one day, but if you’re working with limited time, I’d never tell you not to visit a place, even if it means a return trip in the future.

One day gives you enough time to experience what makes Vienna so popular: its art, its architecture, and its coffee culture. You may fall in love with all of it or be fine heading elsewhere. That’s part of what makes travel such a personal experience.

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• Should You Plan a Road Trip in France?
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