Is the Vienna City Card worth it? No free admissions, only discounts
The Vienna City Card has no free admissions, only discounts. Compared with a normal public transport ticket it costs €8.80 to €13.80 extra. We work out when the discounts make that up again.
What the card costs and what you pay without it
The Vienna City Card comes in 24, 48 and 72-hour versions and as a 7-day version. Every option includes public transport within the Vienna city area, and the 72-hour card even includes a 7-day ticket. The card prices are those at the ticket provider Tiqets, where you can book (as of 24 Sep 2026). Without the card the 24-hour ticket costs €10.20, the 7-day ticket €25.20 digital or €28.90 on paper. A single journey costs €3.20.
| Card | Price | Cheapest public transport ticket | Extra cost for the discounts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 hours | €19.00 | 24 hours: €10.20 | €8.80 |
| 48 hours | €31.00 | 2 × 24 hours: €20.40 | €10.60 |
| 72 hours | €39.00 | 7 days digital: €25.20 | €13.80 |
| 7 days | €39.00 | 7 days digital: €25.20 | €13.80 |
For three days the 7-day ticket (€25.20) is cheaper than three 24-hour tickets (€30.60). If you travel little, single journeys are enough: the 24-hour ticket only pays off from 4 journeys a day. With fewer journeys the extra cost of the card is therefore even higher. Prices: as of 23 Sep 2026.
The discounts: almost always a fixed amount
The issuer shows percentage badges. They often do not match current prices. We therefore only calculate with amounts that are stated in euros on the attraction's page or from the issuer. Our selection is listed under Vienna City Card attractions.
| Attraction | Regular price | With card | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haus der Musik | €19.00 | €15.00 | €4.00 |
| Mozarthaus Vienna | €16.00 | €12.00 | €4.00 |
| Museum der Illusionen | €19.00 | €15.00 | €4.00 |
| Naturhistorisches Museum | €18.00 | €14.00 | €4.00 |
| Tiergarten Schönbrunn | €29.00 | €25.00 | €4.00 |
| Kaisergruft | €15.00 | €12.00 | €3.00 |
| Albertina | €20.90 | €18.90 | €2.00 |
| Leopold Museum | €19.00 | €17.00 | €2.00 |
| Sisi Museum (Hofburg) | €20.00 | €18.00 | €2.00 |
| Oberes Belvedere | €23.00 | €21.50 | €1.50 |
| Prunksaal der Nationalbibliothek | €12.00 | €10.50 | €1.50 |
| Unteres Belvedere | €20.00 | €18.50 | €1.50 |
| Wiener Riesenrad | €14.50 | €13.50 | €1.00 |
| Heeresgeschichtliches Museum | €3.50 | €2.50 | €1.00 |
Two special cases: at the Kunsthistorisches Museum you pay €23.00 with the card, €24.00 on site without it. Online, though, the ticket costs €22.00, which is €1.00 less than with the card. At Schönbrunn Palace the discount only applies to passes according to the issuer, not to the simple palace ticket. The Classic Pass costs €42.00 with the card instead of €49.00, but only from 1 July to 2 November 2026 (as of 2 Oct 2026). Because it is time-limited and not a single admission, it is not counted here. For Madame Tussauds, the Donauturm and the Technisches Museum there is only a percentage badge without a euro amount. We do not count these discounts.
Two example calculations
Two days, four well-known venues: does not pay off
Albertina, Oberes Belvedere, Sisi Museum and Tiergarten with the 48-hour card. The discounts bring in €9.50 together. The extra cost compared with two 24-hour tickets is €10.60. You pay €1.10 more with the card. With Discounts Only (€9.00) plus two 24-hour tickets you save €0.50 here. The Kunsthistorisches Museum changes nothing, because the online ticket is cheaper.
Three days, seven admissions: pays off
The same four plus Naturhistorisches Museum, Haus der Musik and Mozarthaus with the 72-hour card. The discounts bring in €21.50, and the extra cost compared with the 7-day ticket is €13.80. You save €7.70.
The cheaper combination: discount card plus public transport ticket
The issuer also sells the discounts without public transport: 7 days of Discounts Only for €9.00. For 2 days with two 24-hour tickets (€20.40) that is €29.40 instead of €31.00 for the 48-hour card. Together with the digital 7-day ticket (€25.20) it is €34.20. That is €4.80 less than the 72-hour card and just as much less than the 7-day card, which costs the same at Tiqets. The discounts apply for 7 days. With the paper ticket (€28.90) the combination costs €37.90, which is still €1.10 cheaper than the 72-hour card. Two catches: the digital ticket is not transferable, and with Discounts Only no child travels free.
With a child: the family bonus
Per card, one child up to their 15th birthday travels free. Without the card a child's journey costs €1.60, so with 4 journeys a day that is €6.40. This does not count on Sundays and public holidays or during the Vienna school holidays: then children under 15 travel free anyway. Children under 6 never pay.
When the card does not pay off
- You only visit one or two venues in a day. Two discounts of €4.00 each bring in €8.00, less than the €8.80 extra cost of the 24-hour card.
- You book tickets online. At the Kunsthistorisches Museum the online ticket is cheaper than the card price.
- You stay 2 days or longer and travel without a child. Then Discounts Only plus a public transport ticket is cheaper: for 2 days €29.40 instead of €31.00, for 3 days €34.20 instead of €39.00.
- You travel little. Under 4 journeys a day, single journeys are cheaper than the 24-hour ticket.
Which option suits your plans is shown on the Vienna City Card prices page. Whether the card pays off for your selection is shown by the Vienna City Card calculator, including when the result is negative.
Calculate the Vienna City Card for my trip
Frequently asked questions
How much does the Vienna City Card cost?
At Tiqets it costs €19.00 for 24 hours, €31.00 for 48 hours and €39.00 each for 72 hours or 7 days (as of 24 Sep 2026). Discounts Only without public transport costs €9.00 for 7 days from the issuer.
Are admissions included in the Vienna City Card?
No. The card includes public transport and discounts. The documented discounts on single admissions are between €1.00 and €4.00. At Schönbrunn Palace there is a discount only on passes, for example with the Classic Pass until 2 November 2026 it is €42.00 instead of €49.00 (as of 2 Oct 2026).
When is the 72-hour card worth it?
If your discounts bring in more than €13.80, the extra cost compared with the digital 7-day ticket at €25.20. Without a child, Discounts Only plus the 7-day ticket is cheaper at €34.20 (as of 23 Sep 2026).
Sources
- Card prices at Tiqets (our price page with source and history), checked on 24 Sep 2026
- Discounts and individual prices (our attraction list with a source for each price), checked on 23 Sep 2026
- Discounts Only and family bonus: viennacitycard.at, checked on 2 Oct 2026
- Validity of Discounts Only: Vienna City Card FAQ, checked on 2 Oct 2026
- Discount partners (Schönbrunn, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum): viennacitycard.at, checked on 2 Oct 2026
- Public transport tickets and child rules: wien.info, checked on 2 Oct 2026
- Kunsthistorisches Museum, prices online, on site and with the card: khm.at, checked on 2 Oct 2026
- Schönbrunn Palace, Classic Pass: schoenbrunn.at, checked on 2 Oct 2026
- Vienna City Card: discounts 2026, Giant Ferris Wheel €1 off (brochure, wien.info), checked on 6 Oct 2026
Prices can change. Admission and card prices change, sometimes at short notice. We check admission prices at the official source and card prices with the ticket provider you book through. We show the date for every price and check all prices again once a month. The price shown to you at checkout is always the one that applies. If you spot an outdated price, let us know at info@citycardcheck.com.
Data source: Vienna City Card prices from the ticket provider Tiqets, where you can book (price database, as of 24 Sep 2026, unchanged on 2 Oct 2026), plus individual prices and card discounts for 15 attractions from our price database (prices as of 23 Sep 2026). Discounts Only, family bonus and discount partners from viennacitycard.at, public transport prices from wien.info, Kunsthistorisches Museum from khm.at and Schönbrunn Palace from schoenbrunn.at, all checked on 2 Oct 2026.
Photo: Taras Terletskyy / Unsplash