It depends, and for most people staying in the centre the answer leans to no.
The numbers behind the verdict
The 24-hour ticket is €37 online against €9.70 for a 24-hour Wiener Linien ticket, buses come only every 20 to 30 minutes, and only six of the ten main sights are within 7 minutes of a stop.
The central ones sit within about 3 km of each other with trams circling them, and St Stephen's Cathedral is 9 minutes from the nearest stop.
Schönbrunn, 5 km west of the cathedral, is the exception.
The bus earns its price on the long legs: Schönbrunn, the Belvedere and the Danube in one ticket with commentary.
You want Schönbrunn and the Upper Belvedere on the same day. The blue line stops 4 and 2 minutes from their doors.
You would not otherwise see the Prater, UNO City and the Danube, which the red line strings together in one 100-minute loop.
You like recorded commentary and plan to ride both loops end to end, 2 hours 55 minutes in total.
You are buying the 48-hour ticket at €42.30, only €5.30 more than 24 hours.
Skip it if
Your list is St Stephen's, the Hofburg and the Opera. They are within 1 km of each other and the nearest stop to the cathedral is 9 minutes away.
You start sightseeing after lunch. The last departures are 16:30 on the red line and 16:45 on the blue.
A 30-minute wait in October weather would spoil your day. Ring trams come every few minutes.
You are a family with children under 15 visiting on a Sunday, when they ride Wiener Linien free and the bus charges €22 each.
Vienna sightseeing bus: the fact sheet
Routes and timetable
Route
Stops
Frequency
Full loop
First / last bus
Red Route
13
20–30 min
100 min
09:30 / 16:30
Schönbrunn Route (Blue)
7
20–30 min
75 min
09:45 / 16:45
Red Route
The city loop: 13 stops from Walfischgasse by the Opera, round the western Ring past the museums, Rathaus and Votivkirche, then out to the Prater, UNO City and the Danube piers and back via Stadtpark.
It takes 1 hour 40 minutes, with buses every 20 to 30 minutes and departures from stop 1 between 09:30 and 16:30.
These are the times on the operator's route page on 4 October 2026, which shows no end date.
The Hundertwasserhaus and Danube Tower stops printed on older maps are not in the current stop list.
Schönbrunn Route (Blue)
The palace line: 7 stops from Albertinaplatz out along the Gürtel to the Technisches Museum and Schönbrunn, then back through Hauptbahnhof and both Belvedere stops.
A full loop is 1 hour 15 minutes, buses run every 20 to 30 minutes, and departures from stop 1 are 09:45 to 16:45.
The two lines start 250 m apart, at Walfischgasse and Albertinaplatz, so changing between them means a short walk.
Audio guide in 9 languages. Wheelchair access: yes, according to the operator.
Ticket prices
Ticket
Adult
Child
24 hoursDiscover Ticket
€37
€22
48 hoursEssential Ticket
€42.30
€24.30
72 hoursExplore Ticket
€51.30
€33.30
Big Bus sells three plain tickets, all valid on both the red and blue routes with audio commentary in 9 languages.
Online on 4 October 2026: Discover, 24 hours, €37 (full price €39).
Essential, 48 hours, €42.30 (full price €49), with a hot dog voucher and a Swarovski store introduction and gift.
Explore, 72 hours, €51.30 (full price €59), which adds a guided walking tour.
Children aged 5 to 15 pay €22, €24.30 and €33.30, and under-5s ride free.
Bundles cost more: Discover with the Giant Ferris Wheel is €50, and a 48-hour ticket with a DDSG river cruise is €67.
The evening tour at 18:00 (€28) and the 70-minute non-stop Panoramic Tour (€30) are separate tickets.
Civitatis lists only the 24 and 48-hour tickets.
Child fare: ages 5 to 15.
The same day by public transport
Wiener Linien
Adult
Single ride
€3
One day, unlimited rides
€9.70
The day cost is the Wiener Linien 24 Hours Vienna ticket bought digitally in the WienMobil app or shop, €9.70.
The paper version from a machine is €10.20.
A single trip is €3 digital and €3.20 on paper.
Children under 6 travel free.
Children under 15 travel free on Sundays, public holidays and during Vienna school holidays, and otherwise pay a half-price single of €1.50 digital or €1.60 on paper.
Do the sum for your trip
Change the numbers to match your group. Fares are adult fares from the tables above.
Sightseeing bus–
Public transport–
Public transport is charged per ride up to the daily maximum. Multi-day passes can be cheaper still.
24, 48 or 72 hours
24 hours€37 Discover Ticket · €37 per day · 3.8 times public transport for the same days
48 hours€42.30 Essential Ticket · €21.15 per day · 2.2 times public transport for the same days
72 hoursLowest cost per day€51.30 Explore Ticket · €17.10 per day · 1.8 times public transport for the same days
Service runs for about seven hours a day and the two loops take 2 hours 55 minutes of riding between them, so a 24-hour ticket at €37 really buys one day in which you ride both lines and get off three or four times. The 48-hour Essential ticket at €42.30 costs €5.30 more and lets you give the blue line and Schönbrunn their own day, which is how the palace is best seen anyway.
That is the one to buy. The 72-hour Explore ticket at €51.30 adds a third day and a guided walking tour.
Few visitors need the bus for three days in a city where the centre is walkable.
A 24-hour Wiener Linien ticket is €9.70 in the app, so two adults pay €19.40 against €74 on the bus. Trams 1, 2, D and 71 run along the Ring past the Opera, the Hofburg, the museums, Parliament and the Rathaus.
No single tram does the full circle, so change between line 1 and line 2 at Schwedenplatz or at Oper/Karlsplatz. Tram D continues from the Ring to Schloss Belvedere and Hauptbahnhof.
The U4 goes from Karlsplatz to Schönbrunn in 6 stops, and the U1 from Stephansplatz to Praterstern in 3. Between them these lines reach every sight on the sightseeing bus map, at intervals of a few minutes instead of 20 to 30.
Does it suit your trip?
With children
Children aged 5 to 15 pay €22 for 24 hours online and under-5s are free. A family ticket for 2 adults and 2 children is €96.
On Wiener Linien, children under 6 are always free and those under 15 are free on Sundays, public holidays and Vienna school holidays, so on those days the same family pays €19.40 in total. The bus does solve one real problem with children: the blue line links Schönbrunn Zoo, the Technisches Museum and the Belvedere gardens without any changes.
The buses are open-top double-deckers. Big Bus states that in bad weather the open-top bus may be swapped for one with a roof.
Vienna in October is often around 10 to 14°C by day and colder on a moving top deck, and from November it is cold enough that most people ride downstairs, where the view is through side windows only. With waits of 20 to 30 minutes at open stops, a wet day is a poor day to activate a ticket.
July and August afternoons often reach 30°C and the top deck has little shade on the Danube section of the red line. Ride the red loop from Walfischgasse at 09:30 and save indoor stops such as the Kunsthistorisches Museum for the early afternoon.
Schönbrunn is at its busiest between 10:00 and 14:00, so taking the first blue bus at 09:45 puts you at the palace by about 10:10.
If you cannot walk far
Big Bus says most of its Vienna buses are wheelchair accessible and asks passengers to contact it for details, so confirm before you buy if you need the ramp. The top deck is reached by a narrow staircase.
For people who cannot walk far, the bus is useful at Schönbrunn, the Upper Belvedere and the museums on Burgring, all within 4 minutes of a stop. It helps less in the old town: St Stephen's Cathedral is 9 minutes from the nearest stop and buses cannot enter the pedestrian streets.
Buy the 24 Hours Vienna ticket for €9.70 and make your own loop: tram 1 or 2 around the Ring, tram D to the Belvedere, U4 to Schönbrunn. Walk the old town between the Opera, St Stephen's and the Hofburg, which is 1 km end to end.
If commentary is what you want, the Big Bus Panoramic Tour is a 70-minute non-stop ride for €30, and guided walking tours of the first district cover the streets no bus can enter.
The red line starts at Walfischgasse 2 and the blue line at Albertinaplatz 1. They are 250 m apart on either side of the Opera, so check which one you are queueing for.
Do the blue line first. The first bus leaves at 09:45 and reaches Schönbrunn around 10:10, before the palace queues build.
Plan your last hop for about 16:00. The final departures from stop 1 are 16:30 on the red line and 16:45 on the blue.
For St Stephen's Cathedral get off at Opera/Walfischgasse and walk 9 minutes up Kärntner Straße. No stop is closer.
Use the Big Bus app for live bus positions. With a 20 to 30-minute interval, arriving just after a bus has left costs half an hour.
Book on the Big Bus website. On 4 October 2026 the 48-hour ticket was €42.30 online against a full price of €49.
Vienna hop-on hop-off bus: quick answers
How much is the hop-on hop-off bus in Vienna?
Big Bus Vienna charged €37 for 24 hours, €42.30 for 48 hours and €51.30 for 72 hours online on 4 October 2026. Children aged 5 to 15 pay €22, €24.30 and €33.30.
Does the Vienna hop-on hop-off bus go to Schönbrunn?
Yes. The blue route stops at Schönbrunner Schloßstraße 52, about 4 minutes from the palace forecourt. The first bus leaves Albertinaplatz at 09:45 and the full loop takes 1 hour 15 minutes.
How often do the buses run?
Every 20 to 30 minutes on both routes. The red route runs from 09:30 to 16:30 and the blue route from 09:45 to 16:45, measured at stop 1.
How long do the loops take?
The red route takes 1 hour 40 minutes and the blue route 1 hour 15 minutes without getting off, so riding both takes just under 3 hours.
Is a Wiener Linien day ticket cheaper?
Yes. A 24 Hours Vienna ticket costs €9.70 digitally and covers all trams, buses and U-Bahn lines in the city. The 24-hour Big Bus ticket costs 3.8 times as much.
Which tram goes around the Ringstrasse?
Trams 1, 2, D and 71 each cover part of the Ring. Lines 1 and 2 together make the full circle if you change at Schwedenplatz or Oper/Karlsplatz.
Big Bus Tours · ViennaOn Civitatis · rated 8.2/10 by 765 travellers
