Only 7 hours in Vienna - Any suggestions?

Suggest 2 things you'll have time for: 1) Take a Red Bus City Tour - lasts 1.5 hrs & starts near the Opera. You see all of the major city center sights. 2) Take the subway (U-bahn line 4) out to Schönbrunn Palace and spend a couple hours touring the palace and gardens. Many (me included) consider this as Vienna's number 1 attraction. http://www.redbuscitytours.at/

I wouldn't do Schoenbrunn with 7 hours. It's huge palace, it takes time to see. You're better off sticking to the city center, surrounded by the "ringstrasse" (ring road). You can do a nice walking tour of that area and have lunch easily in 7 hours, popping into a few of the sights. Starting at the Opera U-bahn stop (Karlsplatz), you could consider taking a tour if you want to, it's about an hour, but most of the theater is a reconstruction after WWII, so you can also just poke your head into the lobby, which is original. That said it's pretty cool in an afternoon tour to see them setting up the sets for the production that night. Other "fast" sights to see include the Haupsburg Tombs at the Capuchin monastery, , St. Stephen's (with or without crypt tour) and Mozart's house right behind St. Stephen's. That, combined with just walking around that area, will be a really nice trip. The tomb you can tour in about 15-20 minutes. The crypt tour at the cathederal was about 30 minutes. The Mozarthaus depends on how long you take but you can rush through it in less than 30 as well if you aren't listening to everything on the audio guide. Bretzelgwolb is a nice, atmospheric place for lunch. A little touristy, but tasty, too. Many other options in Vienna, obviously. If you enjoy wine, don't be afraid to enjoy a glass or two - Austrian wines are the hidden gem of worldwine wine culture!

Also depending on your interests, there some great museums at the Hofburg - the old Imperial palace. The royal treasury and Sisi's apartments are not huge and one of them could be toured in conjunction with the other stuff I outlined. There are also great art museums but your time frame doesn't really allow for them. If you forgo lunch, there's a lot of nice places to get coffee and cake throughout the city. Enjoying a cafe is a must.

Thank you for the suggestions. One person we spoke with suggested we do the hop on hop off bus. I have never been a fan of those, but since we have a tendency to get lost (we actually enjoy getting lost, but in this case don't have much time to waste), it might be a good idea. Any thoughts on the hop on hop off busses? Or reccomendations on good ones? Thank you!

My mom and grandma did the HOHO bus in Vienna because they have mobility problems. They liked it, but they like HOHO busses generally, whereas I don't so I'm not a good measure of whether or not the one in Vienna is good. I would say you could ride the street car that goes around the Ringstrasse and see the same sights that you would on a HOHO bus for cheaper, but you won't get as good a perspective or be able to take pictures well. But you can also hop off at the interesting sights and then grab the next tram. They run really frequently during the day. On the whole if you stay within the innerstadt bordred by the Ringstrasse I think it's pretty hard to get lost. There are numerous U-bahn stations that can take you back to the train station (which train station will you be at?) If you're going soon though, do be aware that a portion of the U1 from Karlsplatz going into the city is undergoing construction right now and not running.

Hop on Hop off is the easiest way to see it all in a short amount of time. I'm not saying they're any good ... just that that is the way to do it if you want to see a lot. You have to see St. Stephen's Cathedral and walk through the square there. That's less than 1 hour. Do the bus tour 1.5 hours. If you pass the Opera House take a peek but I've done the tour and it's not worth it. I'll compare it to people who've never seen Mount Rushmore or the Mona Lisa and they're expecting grand. Grand it is not. But it's worth 30 minutes to take a picture. Now, if you plan to see an Opera ... that's a different story. I say spend a good 2 hours in the Hofburg (Hapsburg) Palace. That's the heart of Vienna and the history of Austria is inside. You don't have to do a guided tour. Check out what they offer online and plan accordingly. Like the Louvre, Hofburg palace is huge and can easily take 5-6 hours.