Nerds on Tour: Free Things to Do in Vienna

One of the things you’ll notice that you do a lot of in Vienna is look up. The buildings there are spectacular – they put Buckingham Palace to shame. Because of this, there are so many brilliant completely free things to do in Vienna!

I only paid for 3 tourist attractions in Vienna (check them out on my post here) and although there is lots more to see museum-wise, I don’t feel I missed out at all! The rest of my time was spent wandering the streets in hope of stumbling across somewhere spectacular.

Every single building in the centre is at least as high and as grand as the Queen’s house itself, and absolutely covered in gold, reliefs, statues. It’s all so grandiose! Even just looking at the buildings from the outside, it’s a brilliant day out.

Everywhere you walked, there was something to gawp at and take pictures of. We bought a city travel pass (kudos to Vienna for their transport system!) and jumped on and off trams and buses with ease so we could wander the streets and public parks.

What to do in Vienna that doesn’t cost a thing!

St Stephen’s Cathedral is actually free to enter and look around inside. You can pay to go up the tower, and down to the catacombs but the building itself is pretty beautiful anyway with it’s gothic architecture and incredible sculptures!

The Hundertwasserhaus is an incredible and bizarre piece of architecture that is so strange to see among the other plain buildings of Vienna. It’s magnificent but in a totally different way to the others! You can check it out, a short tram ride between the centre and Praterpark!

There’s a completely free amusement park called Prater, that you can visit which is open 24 hours! Unfortunately when we went, it was February and much too cold but I’d imagine it’s pretty lively in the summer.

There are some lovely little boutiques, markets and bookshops around if you know where to look! Just take a little detour and you’re sure to stumble across some lovely little finds where you can do some window-shopping.

We wandered in a few of the many parks and “platz” taking in the astonishing sights – if the weather is nice there are so many beautiful places to sit outside one of these magnificent buildings and have a packed lunch.

I hope these few things help you on your way to finding affordable Vienna tourist spots! For my other post on cheap and affordable things to do in Vienna, like the National Library, check it out here! (It’s a Ravenclaw’s dream!)