The best things to do near the Hofburg Palace are all within a fifteen-minute walk: the Habsburg crown jewels in the Imperial Treasury, the imperial tombs in the Kaisergruft, a crypt of naturally mummified Viennese under St. Michael’s, the oval Baroque interior of Peterskirche, and the Holocaust memorial on Judenplatz. We’ve linked them into a half-day on foot, with a cake stop at Konditorei Sluka and a Tuscan lunch near the Stephansdom.
The short list
12 places, in the order they appear below.
- 1Imperial Treasury - SchatzkammerHabsburg regaliaWalk from the Hofburg: about 3 min
- 2Burggarten & Mozart StatueA green break, butterfliesWalk from the Hofburg: about 3 min
- 3Vienna State OperaOpera, the grand staircaseWalk from the Hofburg: about 7 min
- 4DorotheumA working auction houseWalk from the Hofburg: about 5 min
- 5Loos HausA facade without ornamentWalk from the Hofburg: about 6 min
- 6St. Michael's Church & CryptMummified remains, Roman ruinsWalk from the Hofburg: about 6 min
- 7Capuchin Crypt - KaisergruftHabsburg tombsWalk from the Hofburg: about 7 min
- 8Peterskirche InteriorBaroque interiorWalk from the Hofburg: about 10 min
- 9Jüdisches Museum WienJewish history of ViennaWalk from the Hofburg: about 7 min
- 10Judenplatz Holocaust MemorialRemembranceWalk from the Hofburg: about 13 min
- 11Konditorei SlukaCake and hot chocolateWalk from the Hofburg: about 9 min
- 12Cantinetta AntinoriTuscan lunchWalk from the Hofburg: about 11 min
What is worth seeing right next to the Hofburg?
The Imperial Treasury holds eight centuries of Habsburg regalia. The Burggarten turned imperial grounds into a public park, the State Opera opened in 1869, the Dorotheum is a working auction house, and on Michaelerplatz the Loos Haus has the plain facade that scandalised Vienna. Together they show the dynasty at its grandest, then the moment Vienna started arguing with it.
Start in the Imperial Treasury. The Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire, eight gold plates set with gems and enamel, dates to the 10th century. Nearby is the Holy Lance. Rome and Armenia both have rivals, but Vienna’s blade dates to the 7th century and was the one the Habsburg emperors venerated.
Imperial Treasury - Schatzkammer
Hours: Mon 09:00–17:30 · Tue closed · Wed–Sun 09:00–17:30
Address: Schweizerhof, Hofburg, 1010 Wien, Austria
Then cross to the Burggarten for some air. Viktor Tilgner’s Mozart statue has stood here since 1896. The Palmenhaus, an Art Nouveau greenhouse of curved iron and glass, keeps butterflies from around the world among its tropical plants.
Burggarten & Mozart Statue
Hours: Mon–Sun 06:00–22:00
Address: Josefsplatz 1, 1010 Wien, Austria
The Vienna State Opera opened on 25 May 1869 with Mozart’s Don Giovanni. An American bombing raid on 12 March 1945 destroyed most of the interior, and the rebuilding was finished by 1955.
Vienna State Opera
Hours: Mon–Sun 10:00–18:00
Address: Opernring 2, 1010 Wien, Austria
In 1707 the Dorotheum opened as a state pawn office, and its proceeds funded the city’s poorhouse. It grew into the largest auction house on the European continent. Collectors still bid on paintings, furniture and heirlooms in the Neo-Baroque palace that opened in 1901.
Dorotheum
Hours: Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00 · Sun closed
Address: Dorotheergasse 17, 1010 Wien, Austria
Adolf Loos built the Michaelerplatz store for the menswear firm Goldman & Salatsch between 1909 and 1912: green Cipollino marble below, bare plaster above. Franz Joseph reportedly called it the house without eyebrows. Window boxes were the compromise that let construction go ahead.
Loos Haus
Hours: Mon–Wed 09:00–15:00 · Thu 09:00–17:30 · Fri 09:00–15:00 · Sat–Sun closed
Address: Michaelerplatz 3, 1010 Wien, Austria
Which churches near the Hofburg are worth stepping into?
Three church stops slow a Hofburg morning down. St. Michael’s, on Michaelerplatz, has a crypt of naturally mummified bodies. The Kaisergruft, beneath the Capuchin church, holds 150 Habsburgs. Peterskirche is ten minutes away, and its oval Baroque interior has no front or back. The buildings run from Gothic to Baroque, and the two crypts show how Vienna, imperial and otherwise, dealt with its dead.
St. Michael’s mixes 13th-century Gothic ribs with 18th-century Baroque ornament. Still, the reason to come is underground. About 28 bodies from the 17th to 19th centuries lie in the crypt, preserved by limestone soil and cool, dry air, many still in their clothes. Beneath the square outside are Roman remains from Vindobona.
St. Michael's Church & Crypt
Hours: Mon–Fri 07:00–22:00 · Sat–Sun 08:00–22:00
Address: Michaelerplatz 5, 1010 Wien, Austria
The Kaisergruft has been the Habsburg burial vault since 1633. Inside, Maria Theresa’s double sarcophagus, carved with allegorical figures, sits in sharp contrast to Franz Joseph’s plain iron coffin. The hearts aren’t here. They were kept apart, in a silver urn at the Augustinerkirche.
Capuchin Crypt - Kaisergruft
Hours: Mon–Sun 10:00–18:00
Address: Tegetthoffstraße 2, 1010 Wien, Austria
Completed in 1733, Peterskirche was Vienna’s first domed Baroque church. Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt gave it an oval plan with no single focal point. Look up at Johann Michael Rottmayr’s ceiling frescoes of saints and angels, then find Matthias Steinl’s gilded pulpit of 1726, with the Holy Trinity on its canopy.
Peterskirche Interior
Hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–19:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–19:00
Address: Peterspl., 1010 Wien, Austria
Where can you learn about Jewish Vienna near the Hofburg?
Two stops, seven and thirteen minutes from the Hofburg, tell the part of the story the imperial sights leave out. The Jewish Museum on Dorotheergasse traces the history of the city’s Jews inside an 18th-century palais. On Judenplatz, a memorial commemorates the 65,000 Austrian Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
Vienna opened the world’s first Jewish museum in 1895. Within weeks of the Anschluss in 1938, the Nazis had dissolved it. Today’s museum was founded in 1988 and moved into Palais Eskeles in 1993. Its second site, at Judenplatz, is built around the excavated remains of a medieval synagogue.
Jüdisches Museum Wien
Hours: Mon–Fri 10:00–18:00 · Sat closed · Sun 10:00–18:00
Address: Dorotheergasse 11, 1010 Wien, Austria
Rachel Whiteread’s memorial, unveiled in 2000, is a library cast in concrete from the inside, with blank book spines facing inward. There is no plaque, no bench and no flattering night lighting. You face the absence without explanation.
Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial
Hours: Open 24 hours
Address: Judenpl., 1010 Wien, Austria
Where can you stop for cake or lunch near the Hofburg?
Konditorei Sluka, nine minutes from the palace, is an Imperial-style pastry shop with cakes made in-house. Cantinetta Antinori, eleven minutes away near the Stephansdom, serves Tuscan cooking and has a terrace facing the cathedral. Sluka fits mid-morning, between museums, while Antinori suits a long, proper lunch at the end of the half-day.
Sluka dates to 1891 and still rolls its marzipan figures by hand. Order the Esterházy-Schnitte or the Sluka-Torte. In winter, have the hot chocolate, made with proper bitter chocolate.
Konditorei Sluka
Hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–20:00 · Sat 09:00–20:00 · Sun 10:00–17:00
Address: Kärntner Str. 13-15, 1010 Wien, Austria
The Florentine wine estate’s Vienna outpost cooks Tuscan essentials: handmade pappardelle, ribollita, bistecca Fiorentina. Its wine list comes entirely from the Antinori cellar. The terrace is calmer at weekday lunch. If the ribollita is on, order it, and ask for a glass of the current Tignanello rather than the house pour.
Cantinetta Antinori
Hours: Mon–Sun 11:30–23:30
Address: Jasomirgottstraße 3/5, 1010 Wien
Walking times on the cards are measured from the Hofburg, not between stops, so plan your order before you set out. Peterskirche, Judenplatz and lunch are furthest from the palace. Book a table if lunch matters. And leave time for the crypts, which reward a slow pace.
