5 hours in Vienna

Since you'll only be there for such a short time, 5 hours, time is of the essence and must be used wisely. Therefore, regarding transport from the train station to downtown....take a taxi. Walk out of the station, taxi stand is right there by the exit. Don't send time on bus or trying to figure out the excellent public transport system..take a taxi. BTW, they take cash or credit card...ask first just to be sure but they all do.

Therefore, regarding transport from the train station to downtown....take a taxi.

This is a waste of money, and more importantly of time. From main train station to the very center of the city (St. Stephen's Cathedral) there is the subway line U1 (red line) which needs 6 minutes for the ride.

To save time buy a 24-hours ticket in advance, print it, and bring it with you (or store it on your mobile phone). Having this ticket you can use all means of public transport as often as you like. It is cheaper than to buy single ride tickets.
https://shop.wienmobil.at/en/products/244872_VIE

https://bit.ly/Vienna_in_3_days
This is a little folder, targeted at short-time visitors. It gives you a good overview of the main sights in Vienna, suggesting two walks in the city center which might appeal to you. (Ignore the very last page which is not up to date, as this folder has not be renewed since 2020 due to Corona times without tourists in Vienna.)

Thank you so much. That's a great link you provided. And the public transportation sounds fantastic:)

The link was good, I saved the link for my trips up the road to Vienna. But we have several people here with a lot of experience in Vienna so this answer just puts the post back to the top where maybe one of the "experts" will notice it.

OP, what is the date, that might help. What time does your train arrive and are you leaving by train or plane and what time? Seems like a lot of detail but really does help in plannng a day. Someone might be kind enough to lay out the five hours for you. And a taxi might make sense depending on where stop is LOL.

And, have you got luggage?

Sorry for not providing more details. We are arriving at about 1pm from Prague (no luggage) and returning back to Prague at 6:50 pm.
Thanks so much for your help.

That will really help one of the experts, if they chime in. Sorry i'm not better with Vienna. If it were here (Budapest), I would walk you through the full 5 hours.

To maximize your time you could combine having Wiener Schnitzel for lunch and Sacher Torte as dessert in one place, which is five minutes away from St. Stephen's Cathedral: https://oberlaa-wien.at/en/locations/standort-neuer-markt/

IMHO, this place has the best cakes and sweets in Vienna. Notice the variety of 30+ different handmade chocolates.

The Wiener Schnitzel they serve is from pork. If you insist of having one from veal, then I recommend this place:
https://www.plachutta-oper.at/en/plachuttas-gasthaus-zur-oper.html
(In this case alight from the subway U1 at Karlsplatz-Oper.)

This is an app for your smartphone, specially designed for tourists, it might be useful:
https://www.wien.info/en/travel-info/ivie-app

IMO Vienna has the best public transit system on the planet, fun to try it out.

Great suggestion above to go out to lunch and eat local fried meat and famous cake in one stop. Will save a lot of time.

If it was me and I could do one thing in Vienna I would visit the art museum at the Belvedere palace. It's in the center but a little bit awkwardly located for your precision strike mission. So probably you don't have time. Poke around the old town and Steffl probably best call.

EDIT! Sorry I screwed up my mental geography. I've never walked to the Belvedere from the Vienna train station, but according to the internet it's only 12 minutes. Take a look at the collection online and if it's of interest it's doable.

Also, maybe you could check out Karlskirche. My wife just this morning randomly was recalling what an interesting experience it was. Gorgeous Baroque church. Inside you can take an elevator up to a sturdy, safe scaffolding platform and walk around eye level to the beautifully frescoed dome. Quite the unique experience. I'd do this again before any of the St. Stephen's tours. St. Stephens is an impressive huge Gothic-ish cathedral, but IMO it works well for a 10-20 minute look around and then move along. You could lunch, St. Stephan's, walk out to the ring and poke your head into a pretty museum building and/or the Opera house, maybe walk past the interesting and historically important Secessionist museum building, walk to Karlskirche and tour its dome, public transit back to the train station. Not a bad afternoon out :)

Karlskirche. .... Gorgeous Baroque church. Inside you can take an elevator up to a sturdy, safe scaffolding platform and walk around eye level to the beautifully frescoed dome.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the platform does not exist anymore. Originally, it was erected for the renovation works of the frescoes, which lasted more than a decade. After that it was kept for visitors for severals years, but eventually dismantled to have the church in its undisturbed state again.

Nevertheless, Karlskirche is worth a visit.

Hank, a short visit to Vienna is something well within expectations for me from time to time, so the suggestions are excellent. Thank you

If you plan to go to Plachuttas at the Opera, instead of taking the Ubahn, you can take the "D" Tram to the same stop. It's less walking to the train stop than to the Ubahn.

What you do when you get off the train is instead of walking into the station itself, walk the other direction (east) to the glass elevators. Take them down to street level. Go outside, cross the covered street and get the "D" tram. It travels above ground to Oper-Karsplatz U.

I've done this numerous times. The Ubahn is on the other side of the station from the train platforms and down three levels.

BTW....on this tram, you will pass the Belvedere Palace.

wmt1, bummer, and thanks very much for the update.

I'm glad that my family was able to take advantage of this apparently rare opportunity. Very memorable.

There are nearly 20 Christmas markets (not one).

You really don’t have enough time to do all of these things.

I despise Sachertorte, but please do yourself a favor and avoid Cafe Sacher, Demel and Central.

For Schnitzel, you’ll find it at just about any restaurant.

Here’s what I would do:

The tourist option - Take the U1 subway line to Karlsplatz, then switch to the U2 line exiting at Rathaus. Explore the main Christmas market at the Rathaus and then go across the street and have Schnitzel and Sachertorte at Landtmann, a classic cafe. Walk to Stephansplatz and take the I1 line back to Hauptbahnhof.

Best option - Take the U1 to Karlsplatz and explore the Art Advent market at Karlsplatz, which is the best one of all the markets (beautiful setting and only local crafts permitted), and then Schnitzel and sachertorte at Kaffee Alt Wien, my favorite cafe. Walk to Stephansplatz and take the U1 to Hauptbahnhof.

Thank you so much for the great suggestions. Really appreciate your knowledge and help.

I just finished up four days in Vienna - on Friday the crowds within the Ring were almost unbearable in spots.

Please try to make a reservation for your meal, as I saw long lines at several of the "name" cafes.

Here’s what I would do:

There are times when that is the best way to answer.

I've been watching these answers for my own visits to Vienna, so thank you Emily.

markcw
Here, tourism had been a tad slow this winter. Or maybe it was "as usual" which is in its self a tad slow. Then things started picking up about 10 days ago and just kept ramping up. Right now it feels like its very near summer levels. We are large enough to handle it without the crunch some places feel so its more of a curiosity. I wonder if this is a trend across Europe?

I wonder if this is a trend across Europe?

I suspect it's the Christmas markets - visiting colder locations in winter seems counter-intuitive, unless there are now many trying to avoid crowds by visiting in what used to be the "off" season.