Day trips from Vienna to Bratislava worth it?

Slovakia was the poorer sister of the unified Czechoslovakia and that was apparent in it's overall development. I found the streetscape quite unappealing.

In the end, it was a waste of a day that would've been better spent in Vienna, that's me.

And I feel the complete opposite than periscope and wish I had spent one night in Bratislava. Rick Steves has an excellent self-guided walk in his Vienna and Budapest guidebooks. The view from the Sky Bar is why I believe views that are eye level are way better than looking up or down.
Wish I had more time so I could cross over the river and explore the many skyscrapers that were identical that reminded me of the communist era. You do need a good guidebook to lead you so you know what to see in the old town and beyond. I did get off the beaten path for dinner that was one of my best meals in Europe.

I took a day trip from Vienna to Bratislava about 3 years ago - it was a bus going there and included a short walking tour, and a boat ride back on the Danube. I thoroughly enjoyed it - I thought it was an interesting town with a relaxing vibe and interesting statues all over the town. I had been in Vienna previously and had extra time, which is why I took this day trip. There is a lot to see in Vienna, so you may not want to spend 1/3 of your time there on a day trip like this - maybe save it for a return trip, because in my opinion it is worth it.
I do have a suggestion for you in Vienna. Pre-covid there were classical concerts with a quartet in one of the small churches (I believe it was St. Anne, not too far from St. Stephan's cathedral - I'll bet you can find it on TripAdvisor) a couple evenings a week. It was a highlight of my trip to spend an hour listening to beautiful music in an incredible setting - it's a fairly small church but beautifully decorated and with the candlelight, it positively glowed.

Yes! Go! We took the bus from the airport. It was a great way to spend the day. I found it interesting a former communist country was such a hot bed for entrepreneurs and business. The old town area is charming. It’s a fascinating dichotomy between the old Europe vs the tacky communist buildings.

I like Vienna but it was great to get away from there and head to Bratislava. I like to see what’s happening in the world and seeing Vienna and Bratislava was a cool experience.

We take the train from Vienna right to Bratislava then the bus for a real short ride to the old town. I do see you only have 3 days in Vienna and with that amount of time I would stay in Vienna. Bratislava is worth a day trip but make it a day not a couple of hours. Vienna has so much to see that 3 days will not be enough in my opinion.

I misread your post and did not realize you had three days in Vienna. I suggest skipping Bratislava and when you return to that part of central Europe spend a couple nights in Bratislava. When I visited I took a direct overnight train from Bratislava to Auschwitz.

I spent close to 2 full days in Vienna and ended up going back on another trip for 4 nights because there was so much I hadn't had time to see and still didn't go to Bratislava. I'm sure it's a lovely place to visit, but Vienna is wonderful.

The answer is no.

I just returned from four days in Vienna. I was telling my sister if I had a few more days I might have gone to Bratislava for a day. But with just the three day you have stick to Vienna.