Vienna Sightseeing Extreme: 1 Day, 42 Kilometers on Foot, 1 City

This Vienna tour is no walk in the park – it’s a challenge. 42 kilometers, 178 meters uphill, 183 downhill. It starts on the city’s western edge and ends in the heart of Europe, at Vienna Central Station. In between: World Heritage sites, socialist housing blocks, flak towers, cemeteries, shopping streets, and quiet gardens. This route doesn’t show Vienna in postcard format – but as a whole. Complex. Vibrant. And sometimes uncomfortable.

The Tour

1. Start: Hütteldorf Station
   Early in the morning, while the station still sleeps, the tour begins in Vienna’s west. Here, suburbia, forest, and railways meet – a perfect launchpad for a long day on foot.
2. Climb to Steinhof
   The first climb is tough – but rewarding. Through Dehnepark, past Klinik Penzing, up to the Otto Wagner Church. Golden dome, strict symmetry, crisp air. A place between heaven and history – with sweeping views across Vienna.
3. Baumgartner Cemetery
   Descending to Vienna’s fifth-largest cemetery. Quiet, meandering, framed by old trees. A glimpse into Vienna’s approach to death – calm, dignified, and slightly theatrical.
4. Schönbrunn Palace Park
   From the cemetery straight into a baroque dream. Past the Neptune Fountain, the vista opens: Gloriette on the hill to the left, the palace to the right. A UNESCO World Heritage Site joggers call home.
5. Technical Museum & Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus
   A brief look at turbines and gears, then a less glamorous section begins. Through Vienna’s 15th district – an urban stretch of housing, workshops, shuttered shops, and life off the tourist trail.
6. Westbahnhof
   Transport hub, station buffet, architecture between retro and functionality. Those with time should peek inside – a small ode to travel in transit.
7. Mariahilfer Straße & Neubaugasse
   Now Vienna pulses: shopping boulevard meets trendy district. Along Mariahilfer Straße to Neubaugasse, then into Josefstadt. Baroque Maria-Treu Church peeks through boutiques, Palais Schönborn radiates classic elegance.
8. District Court for Criminal Matters
   Where justice is served – and history was made. The remand prison tells stories of guilt, punishment, and systems.
9. Votive Church & Old General Hospital
   Votive Church: neo-Gothic, intricate, a token of gratitude. Right behind it, the Old General Hospital – now a university campus with history. Also home to the Narrenturm: Vienna’s dark medical heritage in circular form.
10. Alserbach Palace & Beaver Brewing Company
    The palace reflects the rise of the urban bourgeoisie. Next door: Beaver Brewing Company – craft beer, good food, modern vibes. A break for body and mind.
11. Friedensbrücke & Augarten
    Across the Danube Canal into Augarten. A baroque park with porcelain workshops and monumental flak towers – where idyll and history collide.
12. Brigittenau & Danube Island
    A gray stretch through Brigittenau, then the crossing at Handelskai. On Danube Island, things open up: water, wind, vast views. A perfect moment to breathe.
13. UNO City & Danube Tower
    Opposite, the skyline of modern Vienna rises: UNO City, Danube Tower, DC Tower. From the island, they appear as a futuristic vision of an old city – cool, angular, international.
14. Stuwerviertel & Prater
    Through the quiet Stuwerviertel, then into Prater’s colorful buzz. Schweizerhaus, bumper cars, cotton candy – a time warp to childhood. And of course: the Ferris wheel.
15. Leopoldstadt & Schwedenplatz
    Through Leopoldstadt to Schwedenplatz – with a quick stop at the legendary ice cream parlor. A classic that never disappoints. Cold sugar for hot kilometers.
16. Wien River & City Park
    Along the Wien River into the Stadtpark. Here, monuments, picnic blankets, ducks, and tourists meet. Golden Johann Strauss stands at the center – music and myth combined.
17. St. Stephen’s Cathedral & Graben
    Now for the heart of it all: Stephansdom – cool, solemn, monumental. Then down Graben with its historic facades and bronze fountains toward the Hofburg.
18. Stallburg, Hofburg & Volksgarten
    First the Lipizzaner stables, then under the Michaeler Dome into the former power center of the Habsburgs. The Volksgarten, with its roses, offers fragrance and poetry.
19. Burgtheater & Rathausplatz
    Grand backdrop, sober reality: Rathausplatz hosts markets, protests, events – depending on the hour. Pass by the Burgtheater, or linger if you like.
20. MuseumsQuartier & Rooftop Lift
    Time for culture. MQ combines museums, cafés, and creativity. Still got energy? Take the lift at Leopold Museum – for one of the best views of the Ringstraße.
21. State Opera & Resselpark
    Vienna’s high culture core. Past the State Opera, through Resselpark to Karlskirche. Sit, marvel – and use the free restroom in the Vienna Museum.
22. Schwarzenbergplatz & Belvedere
    Fountains, Soviet monument, palace gardens. The view from Lower to Upper Belvedere is a finale of its own. Optional detour: the Botanical Garden.
23. Schweizer Garten & Museum of Military History
    Through the Arsenal complex to the HGM. The museum shows more than weapons – the shaping forces of Europe in the 20th century. Outside: a quiet park full of shade.
24. Finish: Central Station
    42 kilometers later: you arrive at Vienna Central Station. A modern hall, international trains, escalators into the unknown. Celebrate your journey – with schnitzel at Kaisers, pizza at Piazza Colombo, or a beer at Columbusbräu.

Tour Map & GPS Data

View map & download GPX (outdooractive.com)

Recommended Food & Drink Stops

• Brauhof Wien Kaltenhausen, hearty meals, house-brewed beer (12.2 km)
• IKEA Westbahnhof, cheap food & drinks, unlimited refills (12.6 km)
• Maschu, excellent falafel (14 km)
• Stiegl Ambulanz (Old General Hospital), large summer beer garden, Austrian cuisine (17.4 km)
• Beaver Brewing Company, American food & great craft beer (18.6 km)
• Schweizerhaus, Vienna’s biggest beer garden, famous for pork knuckles and Czech beer (28.1 km)
• Ice Cream at Schwedenplatz, one of the city’s best parlors (30.7 km)
• Salmbräu, house-brewed beer, hearty food (38.4 km)

Public Toilets Along the Way

• Hütteldorf Station (0 km)
• Baumgartner Cemetery (5 km)
• Schönbrunn Desert House (8.8 km)
• Schönbrunn Palace (10.4 km)
• Vienna Westbahnhof (13 km)
• Schönborn Park (15.5 km)
• Old General Hospital (17.5 km)
• Liechtenstein Park (18.7 km)
• Gaußplatz (19.8 km)
• Handelskai (22.6 km)
• Danube Island (23.5 km)
• Danube Island (25 km)
• Max Winter Park (27.3 km)
• Giant Ferris Wheel Square (28.7 km)
• Schwedenplatz Subway Station (30.7 km)
• Hofburg (33.9 km)
• MuseumsQuartier (35.8 km)
• Vienna Museum (37.7 km)
• Lower Belvedere (38.4 km)
• Vienna Central Station (42.1 km)