Things to Do Near the Hofburg
Updated September 18, 2026
The Hofburg is in the middle of the first district, which means the question is not what is near it but what to leave out. Everything below is inside a kilometre of the palace, and the distances are straight-line measurements from the Hofburg's own coordinates to each site's, so walking times run a little longer. The list is ordered by how far you have to go, and there is a half-day route at the end that strings the best of them together.
- #1
St Michael's Church and Michaelerplatz
Free, thirty seconds from the ticket desk, and most people walk past it.
The square you arrive at holds a thirteenth-century church with a neoclassical face, the Roman excavation of Vindobona's civilian suburb sunk into the middle of the road, and Adolf Loos's 1912 building facing the palace across it. Entry to the church is free and the excavation is open to the air. Fifteen minutes here before you go in will change how the palace reads.
- #2
The Spanish Riding School stables
160 metres. The Lipizzaners live here, and you can get in without a performance.
The Stallburg, off Michaelerplatz and Reitschulgasse, is where the sixty-eight resident stallions are stabled, and it is Vienna's most significant Renaissance structure. A 55-minute guided tour from EUR 24 covers it and the Winter Riding School and runs independently of the performance calendar. If you only want a look, the school's shop and visitor centre are on the square.
- #3
The Imperial Crypt
About 460 metres. Where the Habsburgs actually are.
Under the Capuchin church on the Neuer Markt: twelve emperors, roughly 150 bodies, Maria Theresa's 1,700 kg sarcophagus, and the graves of Franz Joseph, Elisabeth and Rudolf side by side. EUR 15 adult, EUR 13 reduced, daily 10:00 to 18:00 with last admission at 17:30. Allow forty minutes. Visitors who do the Sisi Museum and skip this have seen the story without the ending.
- #4
The Albertina and the Burggarten
Inside the complex. Free garden, late-opening museum, butterflies under glass.
The Hofburg's southern tip holds three things at once: the Burggarten, which is free and open air; the Albertina at EUR 20.90, free for under-19s and open until 21:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays; and the Butterfly House in the art nouveau palm house, EUR 10 for around 500 free-flying butterflies. The late Albertina evenings are the quietest hours in any museum here.
- #5
The Kunsthistorisches Museum
About 400 metres across the Ring. The Habsburgs' picture collection, and Bruegel.
The imperial art collection, in the building facing the Natural History Museum across Maria-Theresien-Platz. It holds the largest group of Bruegels anywhere and the Kunstkammer of Habsburg curiosities, and Canova's Theseus group — the statue the temple in the Volksgarten was built for — stands on its main staircase. Half a day if you do it properly, two hours if you are selective.
- #6
St Stephen's Cathedral
About 800 metres, straight down the Graben and the Kohlmarkt.
The walk from Michaelerplatz to the cathedral runs along two of the best streets in Vienna and takes eight minutes. The nave is free; the towers, the catacombs and the treasury are ticketed separately. The Ducal Crypt below holds the Habsburg entrails, the third leg of the dynasty's split burial — so this and the Imperial Crypt and the Hofburg's own Augustinerkirche are one story told in three buildings.
- #7
The Vienna State Opera
About 500 metres. Guided tours by day, standing room by night.
Ten minutes' walk through the Burggarten. Daytime guided tours get you into the auditorium and the state rooms; in the evening, standing-room tickets go on sale shortly before the performance for a few euros and are the cheapest serious night out in the city. Both sell out, and neither needs a whole evening if you stand.
- #8
The MuseumsQuartier and the Naschmarkt
Fifteen minutes, and the two places locals actually go.
The MuseumsQuartier, across the Ring behind the Neue Burg, holds the Leopold Museum and mumok around a courtyard that functions as the city's living room in warm weather. The Naschmarkt, a little further south, is Vienna's main produce and street-food market, busiest on Saturday. Neither is imperial, which after a day in the Hofburg is exactly the point.
Frequently asked questions
What is the closest attraction to the Hofburg?
Michaelerplatz and St Michael's Church, which are at the palace gate and free, and the Spanish Riding School stables about 160 metres away.
How far is the Imperial Crypt from the Hofburg?
About 460 metres in a straight line, or five minutes on foot via the Kohlmarkt and the Graben to the Neuer Markt.
How long is the walk from the Hofburg to St Stephen's Cathedral?
About eight minutes, roughly 800 metres, straight down the Kohlmarkt and the Graben.
What is a good half-day route from the Hofburg?
Michaelerplatz, then the Kohlmarkt and the Graben to the cathedral, down to the Neuer Markt for the Imperial Crypt, back through the Albertina and the Burggarten. Around three hours with stops.
Sources