Is the Go City Vienna Pass worth it? Go Vienna Explorer Pass 2024 review and prices
City passes such as the Go City Vienna Explorer Pass seem to almost be too good to be true. They offer choices of “free” museums and attractions for a fairly modest price, usually including an expensive bus tour and all of the most expensive attractions. The Go City Vienna Explorer Pass is similar to the others in that it’s easy to be confused, so I’ve broken down the best and most worthwhile attractions below, which can all be visited in 2 or 3 days.
Unlike the older style passes that had a time limit in days, the Go City Vienna Explorer Pass offers you 2 to 7 of the major attractions without having to race between them. As long as the important and included attractions are worth enough, a pass like this is usually a good deal. In the case of the Go City Vienna Explorer Pass, it’s pretty straightforward as good value for enthusiastic visitors, but not for those who are unable to plan their days out at least a bit in advance. They also offer the more traditional All-Inclusive Vienna Pass, which buys you a set number of days from 1 to 6 in which to see as many things as you like. We will discuss the pros and cons of both types below.
The Go City Vienna Passes stayed about the same price in 2024 compared to 2023 and some of them actually came down in price. They should be very good value for anyone wanting to do the most famous few things in Vienna so it’s really just a matter of deciding which is the better option for you and your schedule.
Is the Go City Vienna Explorer Pass worth it? (short version)
Vienna is one of Europe’s grandest and most important cities, and fortunately for the first-time visitor, it has a fairly short list of must-see attractions and tours. If you are the typical visitor with 2 or 3 days to explore Vienna and you want to see most or all of these famous top attractions, the Go City Vienna Explorer Pass will save you money and at least some time as well.
Your next choice will be whether you want a Go City Vienna Explorer Pass, which buys you a set number of attractions or the Go City All-Inclusive Pass, which buys you a set number of days. We will offer some advice for which is best for you in the section below.
Long story short, both passes can save you quite a bit of money and time as well because you skip the ticket queue in most cases. But you have to choose the one that suits you best and then plan your sightseeing in advance to get the most out of either of them.
Go City Vienna Explorer vs. All-Inclusive Pass: Which is better for you?
The Explorer Pass buys you a set number of attractions and the All-inclusive Pass buys you a set number of days to enjoy as many of the included attractions as you want. Choosing which is the best for you will largely depend on how long you have to explore Vienna and how fast you think you’ll be able to move. Most people don’t normally have more than 3 sightseeing days on a first visit to Vienna, and many will only have 2 sightseeing days. In these cases it can be a close call, so let’s go through the options below.
Two sightseeing days:
The All-inclusive pass is €114 for adults.
And for €104 you can buy a 5-Choice Explorer pass.
It’s definitely possible to visit 6 or more of the attractions in 2 sightseeing days, but you have to plan ahead and move pretty quickly. In fact, the guided tour of Schönbrunn Palace and the (highly recommended) hop-on, hop-off bus will take most of a day between the two of them, as both will take a few hours or more.
In this case it’s probably better to buy either the 5-Choice Explorer Pass or the 4-Choice Explorer Pass for €104 and save the €10. This way you don’t have to rush around on the other day to make sure you visit at least 3 more included attractions.
Three or more sightseeing days:
The All-inclusive pass is €139 for adults, which is a bit more expensive than the 7-Choice Explorer Pass for €129.
Aside from the Schönbrunn Palace and the HOHO bus, most of the rest of the attractions should take 1 to 2 hours each, and most of them are fairly close together. If you’ve got 3 or more sightseeing days, it should be very easy to enjoy at least 7 included attractions and you will come out ahead.
Only interested in a few attractions?
Of course, not everybody like to fill their days with sightseeing and many people enjoy shopping or relaxing at a sidewalk cafe or just strolling around through the gorgeous city center. If this sounds like you it is probably best to just pick out the attractions that REALLY Interest you and buy an Explorer Pass for that number.
If you JUST do the Schönbrunn Palace and the HOHO bus, it would cost you €87 on their own, or only €54 with a 2-Choice Explorer Pass. And since we have a 5% discount code, it’s really €53 compared to €84. A 3-Choice Explorer Pass is only €66 after our discount, so you can choose a third attraction and STILL save money.
Prices of the 2024 Go City Vienna Explorer Pass
- 2-Choice pass (adult): €54
- 2-Choice pass (6-14): €29
- 3-Choice pass (adult): €69
- 3-Choice pass (6-14): €39
- 4-Choice pass (adult): €89
- 4-Choice pass (6-14): €54
- 5-Choice pass (adult): €104
- 5-Choice pass (6-14): €64
- 6-Choice pass (adult): €114
- 6-Choice pass (6-14): €69
- 7-Choice pass (adult): €129
- 7-Choice pass (6-14): €74
Prices of the 2024 Go City Vienna All-Inclusive Pass
- 1-Day pass (adult): €79
- 1-Day pass (6-14): €44
- 2-Day pass (adult): €114
- 2-Day pass (6-14): €59
- 3-Day pass (adult): €139
- 3-Day pass (6-14): €69
- 4-Day pass (adult): €149
- 4-Day pass (6-14): €74
- 5-Day pass (adult): €159
- 5-Day pass (6-14): €79
- 6-Day pass (adult): €169
- 6-Day pass (6-14): €84
EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT for Price of Travel readers
If you decide to buy you can use promo code GO5POT for 5% off on all passes at The Go City Vienna Explorer Pass using this link.
Look for Have a Promo Code in the Review Your Order process to enter code: GO5POT
The Go City Vienna Explorer and All-Inclusive Passes are only available online so you can’t buy them at any of the attractions once you get to Vienna.
What's included with the Go City Vienna Explorer Pass
The Go City Vienna Explorer Pass includes free admission between 2 and 7 of Vienna’s top attractions, and the All-Inclusive Pass includes visits to as many attractions as you like in 1 to 6 days.
Unlike the older style, the Go City passes work using the Go City smartphone app, which is used as your admission ticket to each attraction. This means that you don’t have to pay for delivery or keep track of individual cards. You can print out the pass to use without a phone if you prefer.
As is typical with the city passes, this one includes many attractions that are either relatively cheap on their own, or fairly obscure, but it also includes every top attraction that nearly all visitors come to experience.
Here are the key attractions that you’ll want to focus on:
Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour: €39.00
Vienna has a compact center, but several key attractions are in other districts. This hop-on, hop-off bus tour features 6 different routes and is justifiably popular. One route covers the central Ring area, which is where most landmarks are located. Another goes out to Schönbrunn Palace, which everyone wants to see. This is one of the few HOHO buses that can efficiently be used as transportation by many visitors due to the layout of the city.
Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour (guided): €48.00
This amazing palace is the number one attraction in Vienna, in spite of its location outside of the center. You are going to want to do this tour whether you buy the Go City Vienna Explorer Pass or not. It’s on the outskirts of town so you have to take travel time into account. If you plan ahead you can start the morning on the Central Ring HOHO bus and then switch lines to the one that comes out to the palace. Once you reach the palace you can hop off (you won’t be alone, it’s a popular way of doing it), and then ride the bus back into town when you are done. It will take pretty much that whole sightseeing day, but by the end of it you’ll have seen most of the main attractions along a tour of the Schönbrunn Palace itself.
Empress Sisi Walking Tour, Hofburg and Imperial Apartments: €42.00
This slightly less impressive palace is located on the Ring in the center of Vienna so you’ll be passing it many times no matter what. The pass now includes a walking tour rather than just admission itself, which is normally €14.00, so it’s an even better deal.
If you don’t have the time or energy to take a bus or taxi out to the Schönbrunn Palace, then this is a great substitute. This one is right in the middle of town so visiting couldn’t be easier.
Craft Beer Tasting Tour: €59.00
Austria is a beer-drinking country and this two-hour tour includes tastes of four interesting beers and some snacks along with a proper tour of a brewing facility. Most brewery tours only include one sample of one beer, so this one is more geared towards beer fans who want to try some unique brews.
Schönbrunn Zoo: €26.00
The world’s oldest zoo (dating to 1752) is a fantastic stop for visitors with children. This is one of Europe’s finest zoos and it’s located on the Yellow hop-on, hop-off bus line that also goes to Schönbrunn Palace.
Madame Tussauds Vienna: €26.00
This one is optional, but if you have a Vienna Pass it’s definitely worth stopping in for an hour or two. These wax museums might not sound all that interesting, until you actually visit one and see how impressive they are. Seriously, I’m not sure I would want to pay full price, but when I get to visit one of these places for “free” as part of a pass, I’m always blown away by what they do and the professional presentation.
Giant Ferris Wheel in Prater Amusement Park: €14.00
Perhaps Vienna’s most famous landmark, this Ferris Wheel was famously featured in the movie The Third Man, and is incredibly popular with first-time visitors. You can reach it easily on the HOHO bus or a regular tram, and the views from the top are the best in the city.
Guided Walking Tours (1 hour): €25 to €35
New to the Go City Vienna Explorer Pass is a range of three different walking tours plus a Future VR bus tour that range in price from €25 to €35 each. Instead of just a standard generic city tour, you can choose one or two that most interest you and your group.
Top attractions that are included in the Vienna Pass
- Hop-on, hop off bus tour: €39.00
- Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour: €48.00
- Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel: €14.00
- Empress Sisi Walking Tour, Hofburg and Imperial Apartments: €42.00
- Guided Walking Tours (1 hour): €25 to €35
- Madame Tussauds Vienna: €26.00
- Time Travel Vienna Magic Vienna History Tour: €34
- Schönbrunn Zoo: €26
- The Manhunt by Stephansdom: €39
- MAK: Museum of Applied Arts: €24
- Bike Guided Tour: €40
- VR Experience Schönbrunn: €24.90
- Danube Tower: €18
There are about 38 more attractions that are included, and some of those cost less than €10 on their own, so the ones above are the ones to consider when deciding on a Vienna Pass.
Top attractions that AREN'T included in the Vienna Pass
- Vienna Opera House Tour: €13
Is the Go City Vienna Explorer Pass a good deal?
If you are used to the city passes that are good for a set number of days and have you scrambling around to try to get your money’s worth, then the Go City Vienna Explorer Pass will be a relief because it’s much more straightforward. But if you have at least 3 sightseeing days in Vienna, the All-Inclusive Pass is probably the better deal.
Nearly everyone will want to do the guided tour of the Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour, which is €48 by itself, and this is true whether you buy the Go City pass or not. After that, with just one more attraction you are saving money and the more choices you buy the more you’ll save.
The hop-on, hop-off bus tour is also highly recommended whether you buy the Go City pass or not, and that’s €39 itself. The Madame Tussauds museums are also much more interesting and fun than you might think, so if you do just these three things then you’ll be saving at least €40 from the normal prices.
Needless to say, it’s important for you to check the attraction list to make sure that you are genuinely interested in enough of the more expensive attractions at all. You’ll be saving a lot of money if you buy the Go City pass and visit them, but it’s not worth it if you didn’t really care about them in the first place.
Who should buy the Vienna Pass
- First-time Vienna visitors who want to see the top sights in limited time
- Visitors who are organized with a genuine interest in seeing Vienna
- Visitors who want to do the Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour, the HOHO bus, and a walking tour as well
Who should NOT buy the Vienna Pass
- Visitors who don’t enjoy HOHO bus tours or walking tours
- Vienna visitors on very-low “backpacker” budgets
- Visitors who will be spending 3 or more days in Vienna and who prefer to space out their sightseeing
EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT for Price of Travel readers
If you decide to buy you can use promo code GO5POT for 5% off on all passes at The Go City Vienna Explorer Pass using this link.
Look for Have a Promo Code in the Review Your Order process to enter code: GO5POT
The Go City Vienna Explorer Pass is only available online so you can’t buy it at any of the attractions once you get to Vienna.
Dear Mr(s)
In your site:
https://www.priceoftravel.com/7682/vienna-pass-worth-vienna-pass-review-prices/
EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT for Price of Travel readers
If you decide to buy you can use promo code POT10 for a 10% discount on all Vienna Passes using this link. Expires December 31, 2019.
I tried obtain the discount and when I click the link to buy the tickets 3 days for two persons and try applie the code POT10 apears Not a valid promotion code or code has expired.
Best Regards
Jose Julio Duarte
Jose,
Sorry about that. The company told me a few days ago that they are trying to get the codes activated again and that it should be by the end of this week, which would mean by the end of the day today (Friday, 18-January). If it doesn’t work today it should be working by Monday. Thanks for your patience. -Roger
Thanks for the answer, now I also wonder if I can take with me both my kids, 2 and 4 years old as I travel alone. One way I’ve found that they are “2 categories – “Adult” and “Junior” (for children from 6 to 18 years) this way they shouldnt need a tickets.
on the other site I’ve read that “Each holder of a Vienna Pass is allowed to take one child aged 0-6 years with them for free”
https://www.wien.info/en/travel-info/tourist-info/vienna-pass
So what with lonely parents who take care for more than just a one infant? Do they tell me to buy another ticket if mostly everywhere kids under 6 have free access like to the zoo for example?
Kasia,
You’d have to ask Vienna Pass about that policy, but in cases like yours it does sound silly. I’ve seen that “one child per parent” rule on almost all of these city passes and attraction cards, as well as transportation cards, so Vienna isn’t alone. However, I think it’s probably only an issue on a very few attractions. I believe that pretty much all museums and places like that will allow anyone 5 and under in for free. On the other hand, when it comes to something like a hop-on, hop-off bus, if one paying adult brings on their 5-year-old quintuplets and the group of them takes up six prime seats on the top deck for the price of one, you can see why that could be a problem.
In Vienna I’d guess that kids that young will be free to just about everything with or without a Vienna Pass, and if you want to take a bus or something like that you’d probably be okay or at worst have to buy one child ticket as the other one rides with you for free. I hope this helps. -Roger
Helo
I would like to know if the holder of this 6 days vienna pass get also free access to the Haus des Meeres? Thanks for the post
Kasia,
Unfortunately I don’t see anything about the aquarium in Vienna in the information about the Vienna Pass, so it doesn’t seem to be a partner at all. Sorry about that. -Roger
Thank you Roger. I was able to buy the pass for 10% off as it was offered to us by an e-mail. We will see as much as we possibly can in the six days! Thanks again. – Joel
Hi, We are planning 9 sightseeing days in Vienna & vicinity in late September including as many museums & historic sights as possible. Six days for visiting sights and the other days for day train trips to place like Melk. Is the six day pass worthwhile?
thank you.
Joel,
This isn’t an easy call because you’d have to do most of the more expensive included attractions in order to save money. In six sightseeing days you’ll have time to do pretty much all of them, and you’ll be passing right by probably all of them as well. One example is Madame Tussauds. If it wasn’t included you might scoff at €23 per adult to go in, but if you have the Vienna Pass you can just pop in for an hour and have a look. I’ve done it at a few of these Madame Tussauds locations and they are WAY more impressive than I was expecting. The hop-on, hop-off bus is a great way to see a lot on your first day, and I’d recommend it with or without the Vienna Pass. The City Cruise is also quite good, so with six days you should be able to get very good value out of a Vienna Pass. The main thing is to go through the list and make sure that enough of the included attractions interest you.
By the way, I’m trying to get that 10% discount going again, so hopefully I’ll have that in place Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. -Roger
Hi Roger
I’m planning a visit to vienna, landing 23 June, staying till 27th. I am keen to see most of the places covered by the Vienna pass however, me and my wife are traveling along with our 10 month old son. I am not sure considering the same reason that a Vienna pass would be justified.A superfast visit to all tourist attractions will be tiring for the little one as well.
Please advise
Rishi
India
Rishi,
I’m sorry but I don’t think I’m much help with this situation. I know Vienna’s attractions and how the city is laid out, but I don’t have any children of my own and I don’t know how a 10-month-old is likely to react on a sightseeing trip. I can tell you that Vienna is great for things like bathrooms with baby-changing tables and sidewalks and ramps that make strollers easy to use, and the trains and public transport tend to be quite well adapted for strollers as well. I hope that helps at least a little. -Roger
Thank you for the reply, it helps a lot. Can you also give us the advice of which SIM cards to use or such? Since we aren’t likely to get phone calls, the mobile data (wifi) is our main concern.
Aileen,
I didn’t buy a SIM card last time I was in Austria so I don’t have good advice. There are a few websites that cover the mobile phone situation very well, so I’m sure you’ll get a good answer. And recently the situation changed a bit when Europe enforced a law where countries have to allow roaming at reasonable prices. Best of luck on this. -Roger
My sister and I have to go to Vienna this July to take language courses there and plan to look around the city on weekends, do you have any suggestions about getting the Vienna pass or not ? If it’s anything, both of us aren’t fluent in German
Aileen,
The Vienna Pass is a good deal if you want to see enough included attractions within a short period of time. If you had to do all of your main sightseeing over a weekend it could be helpful to get a 2-day pass, as long as those attractions interest you. The language situation won’t be a problem as English is widely spoken in Vienna, and especially by people who deal with tourists. At a supermarket or that sort of place the clerks will probably only speak German, but at museums and restaurants and cafes and such, you can just speak English and you’ll be understood. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Thanks a lot Roger. This was very helpful.
Hi Roger,
You have a wonderfully succinct and helpful blog here that is of great help.
I will be travelling to Europe this upcoming June with my family of 7 and our last stop is Vienna. We will be spending about two days there and our itinery is as follows:
Day 1-Reach Vienna from Salzburg at around 10 in the morning and do the city tour comprising of the Schonbrunn Palace and garden,HofburgPalace alongwith the Imperial Treasury and the Silver Collection,the Providentia Fountain and finally a ride on the Ferris Wheel.
Day 2-Take a train to Melk,followed by a boat ride to Durnstein,a train to Krems and then back to Vienna.
Do you think that this plan is feasible and if so should we avail a Vienna Pass?
Samaditra,
Thank you for the nice comment. It sounds like you are referring to a specific Vienna tour that might include those places you have listed. If so then the Vienna Pass would not be good value for you, and hopefully you can get those attractions bundled in your tour. You could buy the Vienna Pass and do all of those things on the hop-on, hop-off bus, but you’d need to do both routes in order to make it to Schonbrun and all the others. It could be done, but the timing might be tight because it would take almost four hours to do both bus routes even if you stayed on the whole time. Since they only come every 30 minutes, each time you hopped off would probably take 60 to 90 minutes before you are back on board.
Really it’s just Schonbrun Palace and the Ferris wheel that are somewhat distant, so you might be able to do only partial routes with few hop offs. Still, if you only have that one day it’s probably better to book a bus tour that goes to those places, so you don’t have to rely on the HOHO bus. I hope this helps. You’ll love Vienna. -Roger