Standing room is sold online now. The Staatsoper’s standing tickets are €18 in the parterre, €15 in the gallery and €13 on the balcony, and they go on sale at 10 a.m. on the day of the performance on the opera’s website, through a free account, a couple per person, each for a numbered place at the rail. The old two-hour line at the side door is over; the box office sells what is left 80 minutes before curtain.
Sunday music. The Vienna Boys’ Choir sings the 9:15 a.m. Sunday mass at the Hofburgkapelle from mid-September to June. Seats are €14 to €52, sold at the chapel on Friday afternoons and at the tourist office on Albertinaplatz; standing room is free from 8:30 a.m.: you hear everything and see nothing. The Musikverein also sells cheap standing places at its box office.
Palaces. Schönbrunn opens at 8:30 a.m. and every ticket carries an entry time; the first slots are the empty ones. Buy only from the official shop, where the short State Apartments route starts around €20 and the full Palace Ticket around €30, more in high season. The Upper Belvedere, where The Kiss hangs, is €23 with a timed slot, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; €32 adds the Lower Belvedere. The Sisi Museum in the Hofburg rarely sells out.
Sunday and holidays. Shops and supermarkets close on Sundays and public holidays, of which Austria has many. Open: the supermarkets inside the Hauptbahnhof and Praterstern, bakeries until noon, museums, cafés and restaurants.
Public transit. There are no gates. A single ride is €3.20 on paper or €3.00 in the WienMobil app, valid 80 minutes one way with changes; a 24-hour ticket is around €10 and the 7-day ticket €25.20 digital. The 48- and 72-hour tickets were withdrawn in January 2026, so for three days buy the 7-day ticket or the 72-hour Vienna City Card. Stamp a paper ticket once in the blue box before the first ride; the fine is over €100.
The coffee house and the Heuriger. One coffee buys the table for as long as you like, with the newspapers and the glass of water that comes unasked. Order a Melange or a kleiner Brauner, pay the waiter and round up: €4.20 becomes €5, a €38 dinner €40, said aloud as you pay. In Grinzing, Nussdorf and Stammersdorf a pine branch and the word Ausg’steckt over a Heuriger door mean it is pouring, spring to late fall, with Sturm, the cloudy new wine, in September and October.
Alarm. Set a 10 a.m. alarm for the opera sale and keep the ticket in Waystop’s Documents. Eat early and lightly; standing for a full opera can mean four hours on your feet.