If you want to go abroad and get your fill of beautiful architecture, we have a suggestion for you. Beethoven and Mozart’s beautiful hometown, Austria’s capital, Vienna! While the beautiful buildings on its embroidered streets will make you dizzy, we will tell you about the places you can explore without spending a penny. Since the places you will visit will be free of charge, it is enough to budget for food and beverage, accommodation and airfare.
We’ll tell you what you can do for free in Vienna, and you can do the sightseeing.
Before we start our list of free things to do in Vienna, let’s answer a few basic questions and then move on to the places you can visit for free.
Let’s get started!
Where is Vienna?
Vienna, the capital of Austria, a Central European country, is located south of the Danube River. Situated in the north of Slovakia, the city is also very close to Bratislava, the country’s capital.
How to get to Vienna?
The easiest way to reach the region is to book a cheap flight ticket to Vienna.
Now, here are some things to do for free in Vienna:
Take Free City Tours
You can open the doors to the intellectual world of a city that deserves to be a cultural capital. All the streets and avenues you visit are already fascinating, but if you want to make sense of them by listening to their stories and learning their history, free city tours can help.
It’s best to learn about a city from those who know it. The Free Tours of Vienna website offers free city tours with different alternatives. Before you start touring the streets that smell of history, you must check the tours and make a reservation.
Visit Amazing Museums at No Cost
Vienna is a stop where you can admire its architecture. You must explore its culture and see its impressive buildings to return. Vienna is expensive for visiting museums. However, knowing the days when these museums are free can suddenly open doors for you! If you want to visit museums, you can plan your vacation around the days when museums are free. Most museums offer free admission to visitors under the age of 19. Here are the museums you can visit for free in Vienna:
Prater Museum: A Nostalgic Amusement Park
Prater is one of the most fun spots in the city. It is an amusement park with a giant Ferris wheel and various aides! To spend time in this amusement park, you need to spend a little money. We understand if you don’t want to spend money on such things, but visiting the amusement park and seeing people having fun will be fun.
You can visit the Prater Museum for free here. Prater is an ancient park built on the site of Wurstelprater. In the museum, you can find memories of the old Wurstelprater amusement park, which was demolished in 1945, in the last days of World War II.
To immerse yourself in the history and magic of the old Wurstelprater Park, you can visit the Prater Museum for free on the first Sunday of every month.
Kunsthalle Wien, Karlsplatz: A Viennese Window on Modern Art
Kunsthalle Wien is where you can find the best examples of international modern art. It is a must-stop if you are in Vienna and interested in modern art. If you say, “Contemporary art is not my thing,” the building, built with a unique combination of baroque and contemporary architecture, is worth a visit.
Kunsthalle Wien is located in two separate venues. The entrance to the museum in MuseumsQuartier is paid. You must visit the one at Karlsplatz for free entrance. You can visit the museum on Tuesdays and Sundays between 11:00 and 19:00 and on Thursdays between 11:00 and 21:00.
Otto Wagner Pavilion: Visit the work of Vienna’s architectural genius
Otto Wagner is a very special name for Vienna. As a city planner and architect, he is considered one of the pioneers of the Vienna Secession and Art Nouveau architecture movements, or, in other words, modern architecture. You can see his touch when you look at Vienna’s subway stations. The most notable metro station he designed is Karlsplatz, which also houses a museum. You can visit the Otto Wagner Pavilion, one of the free museums in Vienna, between 10:00 and 18.00 every day except Monday.
Follow the Street Art along the Donaukanal
One of the tributaries of the Danube River is organized as a water canal in the city. This area, known as Donaukanal, has been chosen as Vienna’s most significant legal graffiti zone. If you want to see another side of the city after the Baroque monuments and neat architectural details, you can catch the most striking street artworks along the canal.
The streets of Vienna, especially Stephansplatz Square, are home to some of the most architecturally beautiful buildings. The cathedrals and churches you will see are impressive inside and outside. Apart from these, we have listed below a few other buildings you can visit for free.
Vienna State Opera House: Majestic and Impressive
Discover Buildings, a World Brand in Architecture
Since we are talking about things you can do for free, we cannot recommend this place under the heading of watching a performance, but it is one of the buildings you should see from an architectural point of view. For this reason, you should visit the opera house and witness the beauty of this magnificent building.
Hundertwasserhaus: Like something out of a painting
One of the most interesting buildings in Vienna, the Hundertwasserhaus, was designed by architect and contemporary painter Friedensreich Hundertwasse. The building’s colours and transitions are like paintings. One of your most essential tasks as a tourist is visiting this building.
Burgtheater: The Second Oldest Theater in Europe
The Burgtheater, Austria’s national theatre in Vienna, is the second oldest theatre in Europe. Its exterior features Gottfried Semper’s Italian Renaissance style, and its interior features Carl von Hasenauer’s baroque touches. Even if you don’t see any plays, we recommend you enter this historic theatre and wander its corridors.
Spend Time in the Lush Gardens
Vienna, which steals hearts with its magnificent architecture, also opens the doors of nature with its green areas. After leaving those beautiful buildings, the impressive streets suddenly lead to lush parks and gardens.
Belvedere Palace Gardens: Enjoying a Walk in the Royal Garden
You can start here if you have a list of the most beautiful gardens in the world. Because the garden of Belvedere is one of the places we can call heaven on earth. You can discover Baroque garden architecture here. You can be sure that this place is more than a garden. Inside, you will find lakes, walkways accompanied by ivy-covered trees, symmetrical flower clusters, water basins, and neat fences. Add it to your list of Instagrammable stops. You can get detailed information about the entrance hours and other issues you are curious about the garden on the Belvedere Palace Gardens website.
Botanical Garden: A Green Oasis in the Heart of Vienna
Founded by Maria Theresa in 1754, the Botanical Garden near Belvedere has 11,000 plant species from six continents. A green oasis in the city, the botanical garden invites you to relax with its colourful flowers and old trees. Entrance to this beautiful green world is free!
