What discounts does the Vienna City Card give?
Updated September 18, 2026
Quick answer
Reductions rather than free entry, at over 200 partner venues, plus unlimited use of Vienna's public transport for the card's duration. The discounts are typically a few euros per attraction and around 20% off food and drink at participating restaurants — not the free admission a Vienna PASS gives.
This is the distinction that decides whether the card is worth buying. The Vienna PASS is an admission product: you pay a lot and walk into museums for nothing. The Vienna City Card is a transport ticket with a discount book attached. If you understand that, the card is good value; if you buy it expecting free entry to the Hofburg, it is not.
What the card actually is
Read from the card's own site on 18 September 2026: unlimited use of public transport, discounts at over 200 participating venues, and optional add-ons such as an airport transfer or hop-on hop-off buses. Prices are EUR 19 for 24 hours, EUR 31 for 48 and EUR 37 for 72. The transport element is a tourist ticket valid on everything Wiener Linien runs — U-Bahn, tram and bus.
What it saves at the Hofburg, in euros
Here are the reductions we could read on the operators' own pages, rather than the card's marketing. They are worth having and they are not transformative.
- The Albertina — EUR 18.90 with the card against EUR 20.90 at the door. A saving of EUR 2.
- Weltmuseum Wien — EUR 15 with the card against EUR 16. A saving of EUR 1, and under-19s are free anyway.
- The Imperial Crypt — The reduced rate of EUR 13 against EUR 15. A saving of EUR 2.
- The Butterfly House — EUR 8.50 with the card against EUR 10. A saving of EUR 1.50.
- The palace day ticket — No City Card reduction is published on the operator's ticket page. Budget the full EUR 20.
The transport is the real product
Add the discounts above together and a diligent visitor might save six or seven euros in a day. The transport is worth more than that on its own if you use it: a 24-hour card at EUR 19 covers every U-Bahn, tram and bus journey you make. Whether that is good value depends entirely on where you are staying. In the first district, where the Hofburg, the cathedral, the opera and the Ring are all within a fifteen-minute walk, you may make two journeys a day and the card loses. Staying outside the Gürtel and commuting in twice a day, it wins comfortably.
When it beats the Vienna PASS
Almost always, for a normal visitor — because the two products are not really competing. The Vienna PASS covers free admission to a long list of sights and costs accordingly; our [comparison page](/compare/vienna-pass-vs-vienna-city-card) works through the break-even, which lands at around four or five paid museums in a single day. That is a punishing schedule. The City Card costs EUR 19 for a day and gives you transport plus small reductions. If your plan is two museums and a lot of walking, the City Card and individual tickets is the cheaper combination almost every time. The case for the PASS is a dense, ruthless sightseeing day using the hop-on hop-off bus. The case for the City Card is an ordinary trip.
A cheaper near-identical option
Worth knowing: Wiener Linien sells plain 24, 48 and 72-hour transport tickets without the discount book, and other city cards exist that bundle transport with their own partner lists. If you will not use the discounts, the plain transport ticket does the same job for less. Compare the transport-only price against EUR 19 before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Vienna City Card include free entry to museums?
No. It gives discounts at over 200 partners, typically one to three euros per attraction. Free admission is what the Vienna PASS sells, at a much higher price.
Does the Vienna City Card include public transport?
Yes. Unlimited travel on Wiener Linien's U-Bahn, trams and buses for the card's duration. That is its main value.
How much is the Vienna City Card?
EUR 19 for 24 hours, EUR 31 for 48 hours and EUR 37 for 72 hours, read from the card's own site on 18 September 2026.
Does it discount the Hofburg palace ticket?
No City Card reduction is published on the operator's ticket page for the palace day ticket. It does discount the Albertina, the Weltmuseum, the Imperial Crypt and the Butterfly House.
Sources