Good Vienna Tours

A tip-based walking tour company in central Vienna

Good Vienna Tours runs its own walking tours in Vienna, Austria, with licensed local guides. Its core product is a tip-based free walking tour through the Old Town, and it adds a short list of paid themed tours and private tours on request. Everything on the site is in Vienna: the office is at Himmelpfortgasse 11/25a in the 1st district, and the free tour meets at Albertinaplatz 1. The about page calls the company "the most and best-rated operator of free walking tours in Vienna," cites a 4.9 rating on Google, and says it has been on the market for over 8 years and works with more than 50 licensed Austrian guides. The homepage also claims the tour is TripAdvisor's most popular free tour, a claim made without a figure.

The about page says free tours run in English, German and Spanish 363 days per year. The homepage timetable gives the English tour daily at 10:00 am and 02:00 pm, the German tour daily from 10:00 and the Spanish tour daily at 10:00 am. The FAQ is more cautious about Spanish, saying it is offered "occasionally," so it is worth checking the booking calendar. On December 24 and 31 the free tour runs in the morning only, and on January 1 there is no tour at all.

The free tour and the paid tours

The free tour lasts 2 hours 30 minutes. It starts at the Albrechtsbrunnen fountain on Albertinaplatz and, in the tour page's words, runs "from the opera to the Hofburg, from the oldest coffee house to St. Stephen's Cathedral," covering history, anecdotes and famous personalities. The FAQ adds the Jewish Quarter to the route and says the walk ends close to Schwedenplatz by the Danube canal. It is an outside tour: the FAQ states that guests do not enter any sights or museums, so no entry fees are involved. The company pitches it as a first-day overview that will "inspire you on what to do next."

The paid list has 4 tours: a Schönbrunn Palace tour, Hitler's Vienna, a Sisi tour called "The mysterious empress" through Vienna and the Hofburg, and a Belvedere Palace tour. The about page calls the Schönbrunn visit a skip-the-line tour and the company's most popular paid tour, describing the palace as "the number one tourist attraction in the country." It describes Hitler's Vienna as a "sensitive and highly acclaimed tour" exploring "the roots of one of history's most evil war criminals," and says the Sisi tour is "inspired by the famous Netflix series." The German tours page marks the Belvedere and Hitler's Vienna tours as English-language. None of the tour list pages shows a price. The FAQ explains why these tours are paid in advance: the company contracts specialized guides ahead of time, and it promises its paid-tour prices are "very reasonable."

On the day

The meeting point is in front of the Albertina, at the Albrechtsbrunnen fountain on street level, not up at the museum entrance. The tour page adds that it is next to the Big Bus stop and a hot dog stand with a green rabbit, opposite the tourist information, and says to look for the guide with the GREEN UMBRELLA. By underground, take U1, U2 or U4 to Karlsplatz, use the "Oper" exit and walk about 5 minutes; by tram, lines 1, 2, D and 71 stop at Kärntner Ring/Oper. The tour page asks guests to arrive 10-15 minutes early and the FAQ says 15 minutes, to check in with the day manager. Reservations expire 5 minutes before the start, and freed places go to walk-ins. Latecomers cannot catch up with the group along the route.

The FAQ answers the weather question directly: "We are 100% weather-resistant. Our tours operate 365 days per year, seven days a week," and it asks guests to bring raincoats or umbrellas, sunscreen, a hat and water, and to wear suitable shoes. Guides will stop for restrooms when asked, and most take a short break at a restaurant. Children under 16 accompanied by a parent are welcome and do not need booking. The site says nothing about wheelchair access on the route.

On guides, the about page says they complete "a rigorous training program that takes a couple of years and three difficult state exams to become licensed," and the FAQ describes it as a two-year apprenticeship. Guides work on tips only, with no set income from the company, and the FAQ suggests bringing small notes. It also sets the tip in context: in Vienna, it says, guided walking tours generally cost 20 to 40 Euro per person.

Booking, groups and payment

Booking is online. The tour page caps a free tour at 35 guests and allows up to 6 people per booking, while the homepage says up to 5 people per booking, and both say multiple bookings for one group are not accepted. The FAQ says tours aim to stay below 35 guests with an absolute maximum of 40 in the high season, and it adds a minimum: if fewer than 10 people show up, the tour is canceled. Groups of 6 or more are asked to email info@goodviennatours.eu for a private tour.

Private tours are aimed at schools, companies, parties and large families. The tours page says "Our prices are for groups, not per person" and that private tours "can be planned at any time, any place, on any topic in (almost) any language," though it does not list those prices. The footer shows Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and American Express as payment options, and the office is open Monday to Sunday, 09:00 to 18:00, by phone on +43 664 5544 315.

What the site leaves open, and who it suits

The site does not publish prices for any paid or private tour, and it does not state a cancellation or refund policy for the paid tours; for the free tour, the only rule given is that a reservation lapses 5 minutes before the start. The per-booking limit is stated two ways (5 and 6), and the Spanish schedule is described both as daily and as occasional. What happens to a booked guest when a tour falls below the 10-person minimum is not explained.

Good Vienna Tours suits first-time visitors who want a long, licensed-guide introduction to the Old Town at a fixed daily time and a price they set themselves, with the option of a paid palace or history tour afterward. Families with children are explicitly welcome. Groups of 6 or more, and anyone who needs a guaranteed price or accessibility details before booking, will need to contact the company directly.