Vintage-Style Electric Car Sightseeing Tour Vienna

The Ringstrasse, Vienna's grand boulevard

In 1857 the emperor ordered Vienna's old city walls to be torn down, and in their place rose the Ringstrasse, a wide, tree-lined boulevard circling the Old Town. Over the following decades the empire's finest public buildings were built along it, each in a historic style, making the Ring one of the most impressive streets in Europe.

Your vintage car tour follows much of the Ring, passing the Albertina, the State Opera, the Academy of Fine Arts and the Burggarten with its glass Palm House and Butterfly House. Remains of the old city wall can still be spotted along the route. Seeing the Ringstrasse from a slow-moving vintage-style car is far more relaxing than a bus, and the driver points out details you would easily miss on foot.

The Hofburg and Heldenplatz

For more than six centuries the Hofburg was the winter residence of the Habsburgs, and today it holds museums, the National Library and the offices of the Austrian president. The tour passes through the monumental Outer Castle Gate onto Heldenplatz, the vast Heroes' Square, framed by the curved facade of the New Hofburg and two equestrian statues of famous military commanders.

Across the Ring, the twin Museums of Natural History and Art History face each other around the great monument to Empress Maria Theresa. The driver explains how the palace grew over the centuries and how these museums were built to show off the imperial collections. If you want to come back later for the Hofburg tours or museum tickets, this ride is a perfect way to get your bearings.

Parliament, Burgtheater, City Hall and University

The western stretch of the Ring is a showcase of 19th-century architecture. The Parliament building, in the style of an ancient Greek temple, stands beside the neo-Gothic City Hall with its tall central tower, while the Burgtheater, one of the most important German-language stages, faces it across a park. Next comes the main building of the University of Vienna, one of the oldest universities in the German-speaking world.

From here the car climbs past the Liebenberg Monument to the Mölker Bastion, one of the few surviving sections of the old fortifications, where the charming Dreimäderlhaus and other Biedermeier houses still stand. The driver shares stories of the composers and writers who lived in this quiet corner of the Old Town.

Old Town lanes and the Anchor Clock

Leaving the Ring, the tour dives into the Old Town, passing grand aristocratic palaces such as Palais Kinsky, Palais Harrach and Palais Ferstel on the way to Am Hof, the largest square in the inner city. You cross the Hohe Brücke, an elegant Art Nouveau bridge over a sunken street, and continue past Salzgries and Marc-Aurel-Strasse towards Hoher Markt, the oldest square in Vienna, where Roman ruins lie beneath your feet.

Here stand the baroque Wedding Fountain and the Anchor Clock, an Art Nouveau clock bridging two buildings, where historical figures parade across the dial throughout the day. These narrow lanes are hard to reach by bus, which is one of the joys of exploring them in a compact vintage-style car.

St. Stephen's Cathedral to the City Park

The route reaches the Gothic St. Stephen's Cathedral, the symbol of Vienna, with its soaring south tower and its patterned tiled roof shining in green, gold and black. The driver tells the story of its construction over centuries and of the great bell that hangs in its north tower.

The tour then follows Wollzeile to the City Park, where the gilded monument to the Waltz King stands among flowerbeds near the white Kursalon concert hall. You pass Schwarzenbergplatz and the Musikverein, venue of the famous New Year's concert, before returning past the State Opera to Herrengasse. It is a complete overview of the city in 90 minutes, ideal on your first day in Vienna.