Hi, it will be our fist time in Vienna next week. Will it be better to take the hop on / hop off tour or just do it ourselves with # 1 and # 2 tram? Thanks.
The HOHO tour provides explanations. Alternatively there is the (yellow) "Vienna Ring Tram" which circles around the Ring every half an hour providing explanations in several languages. But beware, the Ring is the preferred street for marches of protesters and other demonstrations, so it can happen that the trams are not running.
When we visited Vienna in 2015, we used the HOHO because it was included with the Vienna Pass. We used the HOHO to reach the places we couldn't walk to - Schonbrunn, Belvedere and Military History Museum.
You didn't mention the Ring, but we walked the length (circumference?) of it one afternoon.
Riding the #1 and #2 trams around the Ring is a tradition for us when we visit Vienna -- never took a HOHO. But we also tend to get week-long transit passes, and sometimes ride to the end of a line just to see what's there.
... the Ring, but we walked the length (circumference?) of it one afternoon.
The Ring boulevard's circumference is 5.2 km (3.3 miles).
The interesting stuff is inside the Ring, not on the Ring. Get off the teams and buses and use your feet.