My husband and I will be traveling to Vienna Sept 12-15, 2024 (late Thurs-Sunday). Our hostel is near the city center. We will be seeing a few sights, such as the Sisi combo, St Stephens, Schonbrunn Palace. We will likely arrive in Vienna by train from Germany and then fly out of Vienna. I know there are Vienna city cards and passes and wonder if we should get one of those or if we would be better off on our own. Sounds like the Vienna card is good if you are using public transit but it can be difficult when going to the airport. We also might rent bikes and use those to move about the city as opposed to public transit, depending on if our hostel has parking for them. Looking for insight. Also what else should we see not listed here. I'm a horse fan so we plan to see a Spanish Riding School performance.
We spent a few days in Vienna last June and had the same question. I read on this forum that the Vienna Pass is a better option than the City Card, but I can’t quite remember way. We didn’t get either, though, because when I did the math, we MIGHT have saved only a couple of euros when compared with the regular prices of the sights (your itinerary sounds similar to ours). So it didn’t seem worth it and wasn’t an amazing deal, at least in your case. I would recommend adding up the cost of what you want to do and comparing it to the cost of the Pass or City card.
But we did purchase a 3 day transit pass, though, and I felt it was a good value for unlimited rides.
The best option is to buy a transit pass for the week (€17.10). For going to the airport you just need an add-on ticket for €2.
Edit:
Effective July 1st, 2024 the calendar week transit pass will be replaced by two variants of the flexible 7-days pass (online or paper version).
In Rick's books he now devotes a section to whether to get city passes and helps you do the math, it often seems appealing but doesn't pencil out.
If you're really a horse fan, those white horses grow up on a farm outside Graz which you can do as a daytrip.
Do you know if they give seniors discount in Vienna?
Thank you all for the replies. I think we will try for the transit pass only and rent bikes for the majority of our moving about the city. I emailed the Hostel and they do have a garage we can park them in free of charge. Replying to Miami's question, I don't know anything about senior discounts. You would need to research that online or at the tourist info when you arrive. I've never been to Vienna but I am looking forward to it.
There is a bike sharing system in Vienna, see here: https://www.wienerlinien.at/wienmobil/rad
(It is in German only, but you can translate it with Google Translate or a translation extension in your browser.)
The bikes can be picked up at defined places, the required app will show you the availability. The bikes must be returned to one of those places, i.e., you won't need a garage.
Biking in Vienna can be tough, especially if you had not been in Vienna before.
A lot of places, e.g. museums, have senior discounts. You should always ask for it. There is no senior discount for public transport (except for single ride tickets and the one year transit pass, both of them not suited for tourists).
Museums and churches often have a senior discount but it's only a euro or two.
There is also a monthly public transport card that covers the underground, tram and bus systems. But, it only goes from the 1st of the month to the last day of the month. So if you get it on the 10th of the month, for instance, the cost is still the same as if you got it the 1st day of the month. I asked at one point why it wasn't calculated for a month starting the day you got it until the same date of the next month. The answer was "It just isn't done that way". So be it!! The cost in the past has been equal to about $53 USD for the month. I always get the card upon arrival at the airport, but have also gotten it at Westbahnhof (downstairs by escalator) and Hauptbahnhof. You can likely get it at other locations, but I know for sure it's obtainable at these three. Very inexpensive to get everywhere around Vienna using excellent, unlimited public transport.
By the way, if you arrive at the airport (as opposed to train arrival), taking the regular train instead of the CAT to Landstrasse (Wien Mitte), is only a few euros....so about 1/4th the cost of the CAT and goes to the exact same place, but a track or two over.**
There is also a monthly public transport card ...
This ticket will be abandoned effective July 1st, 2024 and replaced by the flexible 31-days pass in two variants (online or paper ticket).
https://www.wienerlinien.at/web/wl-en/tickets
By the way, if you arrive at the airport (as opposed to train arrival), taking the regular train ...
It depends on your final destination in Vienna, which is the best train to take (not the CAT in any case).
The S7 trains go to Wien Mitte, the RJ trains (RailJet) go to Wien Hbf (main train station).