Vienna Pass

What the Vienna PASS is and who sells it

The Vienna PASS is a sightseeing card for Vienna, Austria, sold by VPG Vienna PASS GmbH, whose product it is, according to the about page. It does not run tours of its own in the usual sense: it sells one card that works as an entry ticket at a long list of palaces, museums and attractions in the city, plus a bus ticket. The about page says the pass has been "seit Beginn 2015 auf dem Markt" (on the market since the start of 2015), and the homepage calls it "Das Original - seit 2015!". A second product, the Flexi PASS, was introduced in 2017. Everything it sells is inside Vienna; the site does not cover other cities.

The about page is unusually open about ownership. It says the Blaguss group holds 42,5% of VPG Vienna PASS GmbH, the Dr. Richard Bus GmbH group another 42,5% and Elite Tours 15%, and that Lisa Frühbauer has been managing director since 1.1.2016. It also says VPG, as a shareholder, runs the partner company VIENNA SIGHTSEEING TOURS, which operates the hop-on-hop-off buses included in the pass. The shared service center for Vienna Sightseeing and the Vienna PASS is at Opernring 3-5, opposite the Vienna State Opera, open Monday to Sunday from 9 to 18. The site is in German with English, Spanish, French and Italian versions, and prices are in euros.

Two passes, one list of attractions

The homepage sets the two products side by side. The Vienna PASS is an all-inclusive card sold for 2 to 6 days, with free entry to up to 90 attractions and 365 days of customer support. The Flexi PASS is valid for 60 days and lets the buyer choose 2 to 8 attractions from up to 70. The attraction list shown for both includes the hop-on-hop-off buses, Schloss Schönbrunn, the Upper and Lower Belvedere, the Sisi Museum in the Hofburg, the Panoramabahn Schönbrunn road train, Tiergarten Schönbrunn, the Wiener Riesenrad, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the State Hall of the National Library, the Imperial Treasury, the Albertina, the Naturhistorisches Museum, the Great Palm House at Schönbrunn, the Donauturm, a City Cruise boat trip, Madame Tussauds, the Imperial Carriage Museum, the Kaisergruft (Kapuzinergruft), the Crown Prince Garden and the Gloriette at Schönbrunn, the Spanish Riding School, and a House of Habsburg tour of the Neue Hofburg.

The site works out the savings for you. Its example 3-day Vienna PASS itinerary covers 11 attractions, pricing them at the gate: day 1 the buses (€53,00), the City Cruise (€35,00), the Albertina (€19,90) and the Kunsthistorisches Museum (€24,00); day 2 Schönbrunn Palace (€30,00), the zoo (€29,00) and two parts of the Belvedere; day 3 the Riesenrad (€14,50), Madame Tussauds (€26,50) and the KunstHausWien Hundertwasser museum (€16,00). The page says the pass saves €105,20 on that plan. The Flexi PASS example uses 5 entries (the buses, Schönbrunn, the zoo, Madame Tussauds and the Kunsthistorisches Museum) and claims a saving of €53,50. The homepage does not show the price of either pass itself; buyers choose type and length in the shop, where a banner offers 10% off all passes bought online.

The bus ticket inside the pass

The bus page explains the one benefit most buyers will use every day. With the Vienna PASS, the Vienna Sightseeing buses are free for the whole validity of the pass; the Flexi PASS counts a 72-hour bus ticket as one of its attractions. The page gives the normal price of that 72-hour ticket as €55,00 for adults and €33,00 for children. It describes the network as the largest hop-on-hop-off route network in Vienna, with up to 4 routes depending on the season, up to 45 stops, an audioguide in 19 languages, a children's channel in German and English, free WLAN on all buses, and the option to bring your own headphones or take a pair on board.

The 4 lines are described one by one. The Red line follows the Ringstraße past the State Opera, the Hofburg, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Parliament, the City Hall and the Burgtheater. The Blue line heads out to the Donaupark and the Donauturm, then to the Prater and the Riesenrad. The Yellow line covers Schönbrunn with its Gloriette and zoo, the Naschmarkt, the Museum of Military History and the Belvedere. The Green line runs only in the summer months, out to the vineyards of Grinzing and the view from the Cobenzl. The bus page lists daily operating hours of 09:00 to 17:00 and points to Vienna Sightseeing's own site for the current timetable.

Using the pass on the day

The bus page says you can start at any stop. Staff in yellow check the pass at the stop; a Vienna PASS counts as the ticket itself, while a Flexi PASS holder gets a printed ticket that must be carried on every ride. If no staff member is at the stop, you board anyway and one joins at a later stop to check the pass or print the Flexi ticket. The page warns that traffic can cause delays at any time, and that larger disruptions are posted at stops and on the live tracking page.

Beyond the buses, the homepage lists "Fast-Track-Eintritt" (fast-track entry) under the tagline "Stellen Sie sich nicht so an!", a free pocket guidebook, and that the pass is available as a mobile ticket. The menu also carries pages on shipping and pick-up of passes, and on a suggested program for 3 days in Vienna. The site links to a live bus tracker so visitors can see when the next bus is due.

Refunds, support and extras

The footer of every page carries the refund promise: "100% Rückerstattung auf nicht genutzte Pässe bis zu 30 Tage nach Kauf" (a 100% refund on unused passes up to 30 days after purchase). Customer support is reached at info(at)viennapass.com or +43 1 712 46 83-300. The site names Miles & More as a partner, and it runs a B2B shop for trade buyers. Its blog section covers Vienna tips, from vegan restaurants to coffee houses and a piece on the Habsburgs.

What the site does not settle, and who it suits

The site does not say how fast-track entry works at each attraction, or which of the 90 sights it applies to. It does not say whether a partly used pass earns any refund, since the guarantee covers unused passes only. The homepage gives no pass price, so a buyer cannot compare the card against the example savings without opening the shop. The site does not say whether a pass can be handed to another person.

The Vienna PASS suits first-time visitors planning several paid sights a day for 2 or more days, especially around Schönbrunn, the Hofburg and the Belvedere, and who will ride the buses between them. The Flexi PASS fits a slower trip where a handful of chosen sights and 72 hours of buses cover the plan. Because the same group runs the buses and sells the pass, the bus benefit is well integrated. Visitors who plan just one or two museums will find single tickets simpler.