St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna

One of the best attractions in Vienna is St. Stephen’s Cathedral.  It is the most important religious building in Austria.  There has been a church on the site since the 12th century.

When you arrive do not be surprised to see a lot of scaffolding and cloth covering the building.  This is due to pollution turning the limestone exterior black.  Restoration is currently underway.  There is a scale model outside where you can get a perspective of what the cathedral looks like.

First thing to do is tour the outside of the cathedral.  There are plenty of photo opportunities.

Inside the cathedral you can purchase an all-inclusive guide tour.  This costs €12.90 and includes an audio guide, a tour of the Catacombs and access to climb both the North and South Tower.  The tour of the cathedral with the audio guide follows a set path with twelve points of interest.  This takes about one hour to complete.  This tour can be purchased at a cost of €5.00.

The Catacombs can be toured separately for €5.00. Also known as the Ducal Crypt it holds the bodies and internal organs of over 70 members of the Habsburg family. The tour lasted for 30 minutes. Photography is not allowed.

I would love to tell you about the North and South Towers.  However, I was visiting on Friday and the cathedral was closed for a lunchtime service.  I could use my ticket for later on in the day.  But I missed out as later in the evening as another service was taking place.  My tip is to avoid visiting on Friday and Sunday.

Until the next post stay safe, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Steve