This Vienna city card links you to 100+ partners, including the city's top museums, landmarks, tours, and transportation networks. So with one pass, you can cover all the highlights on your list.
What is the Vienna Welcome Card?
The Vienna Welcome Card is Vienna’s digital city card, combining core-zone public transport access with app-based discounts to attractions. The Vienna Welcome Card network spans 100+ partner attractions, tours, and mobility services, giving you solid, citywide coverage. It helps simplify transit and helps lower costs at the sights you already plan to visit. Expect discounts at Schönbrunn Palace, the Imperial Treasury, Spanish Riding School, Danube Tower, Prater Giant Ferris Wheel, and MAK. Choose 24/48/72- hour pass or a 7-day saver pass, and activate it when your trip begins.
Why should you buy the Vienna Welcome Card?
Backed by a 100-plus partner network
A duration that fits you
With 4 validity options, the Vienna Welcome Card lets you buy only the transport time you will need and make use of, instead of overpaying for longer coverage that may go unused.
Ideal for many travel plans
This Vienna Welcome Card suits transit-heavy first-timers, families with young children, and organized planners who will meticulously redeem partner discounts.
Vienna Welcome Card: An overview
Pass type: Transportation-based
Pass overview
- Valid for 24/48/72-hour sor 7-days, you can see top highlights of Vienna at a discount.
- It combines access to unlimited public transport, including the Underground, buses, trams, rapid transit railway, with a 24/48/72-hour Big Bus Hop-on Hop-off bus pass.
- Avail discounts at the House of Strauss, MAK, Danube Tower, Schönbrunn Palace, and other major sights.
Who will love this pass:
- First-time visitors who do not want the hassle of navigating a new public transport system and multiple transport tickets.
- Travelers who have a well-planned itinerary and want to make the most of the discounts available to them.
- Solo travelers who want easy and budget-friendly access to the city's public transportation system.
Pass validity and usage:
- Your pass is activated after you click ‘Activate Now’ on the Vienna Welcome Card app and is valid for the selected duration
- Download the Vienna Welcome Card app, and follow the link in your confirmation email to your card.
- Transfer the card to your device by entering the 8-digit code you’ll receive in the same email.
- Enter your name and email address to activate your card before your first use. You will find all information about venues, tours, transportation, and more on the app.
Recommended ticket: Vienna Welcome Card
What does the Vienna Welcome Card include?
Transport & sightseeing
- Big Bus Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour – Glide past Vienna’s grand boulevards and headline landmarks from an open-top deck, with flexible sightseeing built into selected upgraded card options.
- Vienna Underground – Zip across the city on Vienna’s U-Bahn network, turning distant districts, palace stops, and museum clusters into easy hops.
- Vienna trams & buses – Ride above ground through elegant avenues and neighborhood corners, perfect for slower sightseeing with everyday Vienna unfolding outside your window.
- Rapid transit railway & ÖBB core-zone trains – Journey farther across Vienna’s core zone with fast regional links that make longer city jumps feel smooth and uncomplicated.
Imperial sights & landmarks
- Schönbrunn Palace – Discover imperial apartments, manicured gardens, and Habsburg grandeur at Vienna’s signature palace complex, then unlock a partner discount before you go.
- Imperial Treasury Vienna – Step into vaulted rooms glittering with crowns, relics, and imperial regalia, where centuries of Habsburg power feel almost close enough to touch.
- Danube Tower – Soar up Vienna’s tallest tower for wide city views, the Danube curling below, and a fresh sense of just how grand Vienna feels.
- Spanish Riding School – Witness Lipizzaner elegance inside Vienna’s storied riding school, where centuries-old equestrian tradition still unfolds with ceremonial precision and old-world drama.
Museums & cultural spaces
- Leopold Museum – Discover Vienna Secession masterpieces, bold Schiele portraits, and one of the city’s richest modern Austrian art collections in the MuseumsQuartier.
- MAK - Museum of Applied Arts – Explore striking design, decorative arts, and craft-led innovation where Viennese elegance meets contemporary ideas in beautifully curated galleries.
- House of Strauss – Step into the waltz-soaked world of Johann Strauss, where music, history, and Vienna’s ballroom spirit come together under one roof.
- Chocolate Museum – Indulge your senses with cocoa-rich exhibits, hands-on displays, and a sweeter side of Vienna that feels playful, aromatic, and wonderfully family-friendly.
Family & immersive attractions
- Schönbrunn Zoo – Wander through the world’s oldest zoo, where giant pandas, rainforest habitats, and historic baroque surroundings make wildlife spotting feel extra magical.
- Madame Tussauds – Pose beside lifelike celebrities, royals, and sporting icons in a playful attraction built for easy laughs, quick photos, and crowd-pleasing fun.
- Time Travel Vienna – Journey through plague years, imperial drama, and wartime Vienna with moving sets, effects, and storytelling that makes history feel unexpectedly vivid.
- Prater - Insider – Dive deeper into Vienna’s famous fairground district and uncover the atmosphere, stories, and offbeat energy behind one of the city’s liveliest zones.
Please note that the Vienna Welcome Card offers only discounted entry to the attractions mentioned above. Public transport, on the other hand, is free to access with the card.
How to use a Vienna Welcome Card
Step 1: Choose your City Card
Pick the pass that best fits your needs! Ensure that you select a duration that best fits your travel plans.
Step 2: Book your tickets
Purchase your City Card easily using PayPal, a credit/debit card, or iDEAL.
Step 3: Check your email
Receive your ticket instantly in your inbox. Be sure to check the spam and junk folders.
Step 4: Download the Vienna Welcome Card app
Download the Vienna Welcome Card app on your phone and follow the activation instructions.
Step 5: Start exploring!
Present your activated pass on public transport and at attractions to avail discounts and enjoy your sightseeing!
Frequently asked questions about the Vienna Welcome Card Pass
Yes. The card is app-only, so you need the Vienna Welcome Card app on your phone to load, activate, and show it. There is no paper version, and you cannot use it just from the purchase email. Ensure you carry a power bank in case your phone runs out of juice halfway through the day.
No. They are different products with different apps, booking flows, and partner networks. Travelers often mix them up because both combine transport and discounts, but you should check the exact variant, app, and included rules before buying. You can check out the Vienna City Card here.
Activate it just before your first eligible use, not when you book. You can buy in advance and start using the pass later, but once you tap "Activate Now" on the app, your selected validity period begins.
No, it does not. The card may save ticket-buying time when a partner lets you book the discounted ticket online, but it does not guarantee fast-track entry or bypass security and timed-entry lines everywhere.
No. Airport transfer is not part of the base card. If you want the CAT train, you need to add it separately, so do not assume your public transport validity covers the airport journey.
No. Each attraction or landmark can be visited only once with the Vienna Welcome Card. If you want to return to the same partner attraction later, you will need to buy another ticket separately.
Usually no. Refunds are not possible because Vienna’s public transport system is open-access and usage cannot be reliably checked. So, ensure that you only buy once you are sure you will use the card.
