Private Tours Vienna

One guide, private tours, Vienna and its surroundings

Private Tours Vienna is the site of Susanne Waldeck, a certified Austrian tour guide who presents every tour on the site as one she guides herself. She is not a booking platform: the site lists her own private walks in Vienna, a handful of day excursions out of the city (the Wachau Valley, by car or by bike, and the Vienna Woods) and one virtual tour for schools. Every price is per tour, for a private group, and is shown in euros. If your trip does not include Vienna, there is nothing here for you; if it does, the menu covers the city center, Schönbrunn Palace and the countryside within a day's drive.

The About page explains the background. Susanne was "born and raised in Vienna," studied at Vienna University (the homepage gives an "Associate Degree in Tourism and PhD in Linguistics"), and worked as a flight attendant for Austrian Airlines before moving to Los Angeles, "where America became a second home to me and my twin children." Back in Vienna she "completed the demanding two-year training to become a certified Austrian tour guide," and she says that having lived in both countries "helps me understand what American visitors want to experience when discovering Vienna." The homepage counter shows "1130 Satisfied Guests" and "15 Years Experience," alongside a joke tally of "500 Sacher cakes eaten & 5 kilos gained."

The tour menu and what it costs

The homepage prices every product, per tour rather than per person:

• Vienna's Must-See Sites: 3 hours on foot with a coffee house stop, 285 EUR for up to 10 people.
• Vienna Christmas Market Tour: 2.5 hours of markets and "festive city lights," 285 EUR for up to 6.
• Family Photo Tour: 2.5 hours, 285 EUR for up to 10.
• Schönbrunn Palace & Garden Tour: 2.5 hours, 285 EUR for up to 6.
• Kids Foodie and Fun Tour: 3 hours, 285 EUR for up to 10.
• The Kiss, The Klimt's & The Belvedere: 3 hours, 285 EUR for up to 10.
• City & KHM Museum: a 3-hour city tour with a guided visit to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, 285 EUR for up to 10.
• Mozart in Vienna: 4 hours including St. Marx Cemetery, 365 EUR for up to 10.
• Jewish History and Vienna in the Third Reich: 3 hours each, 285 EUR for up to 6.
• Grand Sightseeing Tour: 4 hours with a minivan ("4 hours/3h Car Ride"), 590 EUR for up to 6.
• Smart Sightseeing Tour: 7 hours of "Vienna's Highlights," 595 EUR for up to 10.
• Wachau Valley Tour: an 8-hour excursion, 1150 EUR for up to 6.
• Wachau Valley Bike Tour: a 10-hour bike excursion to the Wachau, 790 EUR for up to 6.
• Vienna Woods: a 6-hour excursion, 790 EUR for up to 6.
• VIRTUAL, Vienna in the Third Reich: a 1-hour online tour for schools, 250 EUR for up to 25 students.

The About page shows where her interests lie. She writes about the Habsburgs, "Austria's dark path into National Socialism and World War II," and Jewish Vienna "from the medieval Jewish community to the persecution and destruction of Jewish life during the Nazi era, as well as the remarkable revival of Vienna's Jewish community today," and says her Jewish Vienna tours also cover restitution and the story of Adele Bloch-Bauer and Klimt's Woman in Gold.

Schönbrunn, the Vienna Woods and the photo tour

Three tours have full pages. The Schönbrunn tour meets at the palace's main entrance by the Iron Gate, goes inside the palace with stories of Maria Theresa, Marie Antoinette, Franz Joseph and Empress Sisi, then heads into the gardens, where guests can stroll, "hike up to the Gloriette," or try the Maze. Time permitting, it adds the Carriage Museum or the Apple Strudel Show, and a small family photoshoot can be included on request. The price is 285 EUR, with local cash needed on top: 27 EUR per palace ticket, about 17 EUR for the strudel show and 17 EUR for the Carriage Museum.

The Vienna Woods Tour starts with a hotel pickup "with a professional driver and car." It visits Liechtenstein Castle, then Heiligenkreuz Abbey, which the page calls "the true highlight of the tour," a working Cistercian cloister founded in the Middle Ages. For Habsburg enthusiasts it continues to the Karmel Mayerling, the site of Crown Prince Rudolph's murder-suicide, then rides through the Helenental valley to Gumpoldskirchen for a glass of Austrian white wine, with an optional lunch at Freigut Thallern. Local cash listed: 14 EUR for the abbey, 9 EUR for Mayerling and 10 for the wine, plus lunch.

The Vienna Photo Tour draws on Susanne's second trade; she describes herself as "a trained photographer with a degree from UCLA Extension." She can photograph a family at landmarks or coach enthusiasts on "camera settings and composition," and the tour can be scheduled "at 7:00 am in Schönbrunn Palace Gardens or at 9pm in the city with professional lighting gear." The route runs from Hotel Sacher past the Albertina ramp, the Imperial Palace, a coffee house break and Graben Street to St. Stephen's Cathedral, and images are shared "within 24h on a downloadable link." The coffee costs about 10 EUR per person.

How the day works

Each detailed tour page lists the guide's languages as German, French and English, all "fluent." Walking tours go on foot; the Vienna Woods tour uses a car and minivan and can start from your hotel or "in front of Hotel Sacher, main entrance." Group caps are printed on every tour card, from 6 to 10 people, and the About page says "Every tour is private, so I can adapt the experience to your interests, your pace and the time you have available."

For families, the About page says that as "a mother of twins" she designs family tours "to keep both children and parents interested," and points to the Kids Foodie and Fun Tour. The reviews she shows mention a guest touring with an "82 year old mother," a group aged "from 58 to 80," and a Wachau day that took in Krems, a Danube lunch cruise and Melk Abbey. Those are guests' accounts, not a published itinerary.

Booking

The menu has a Booking form, a Prices page and a Contact page, and each tour page ends with a "BOOK THIS TOUR!" button. The homepage and the tour pages do not describe payment, deposits or a cancellation window, and the site shows no online checkout.

What the site leaves open, and who it suits

The bike tour is the thinnest listing: the homepage gives only "Bike Excursion to the Wachau Valley," 10 hours and 790 EUR for up to 6, without saying what kind of bikes are used, how far the ride goes or how the group gets there. The site does not describe wheelchair access, does not state a minimum age for any tour, and does not publish cancellation terms on the tour pages, so those questions go to the booking form.

The strengths are clear. This is a single named guide with a published price for every tour, a fixed per-group cap, clear meeting points and a list of the entry fees to bring. Her About page shows a particular interest in Jewish history and the Nazi era, and she also offers family and photo tours. It suits families and small groups who want one guide to themselves, travelers with a serious interest in Habsburg, Jewish or Nazi-era Vienna, and anyone wanting a day out to the Wachau or the Vienna Woods with transport arranged. It is less suited to solo budget travelers, since every price covers a whole private group.