Vienna Central Cemetery: Guided Tour or Visit on Your Own?
Updated October 13, 2026 · 5 min read
Go alone if you mainly want the composers’ graves; take a guided tour if you want the stories and do not want to search a very large site on your own. Entry to the cemetery is free, and the best-known graves cluster near the main gate. The most reviewed way to see more is the Vienna Central Cemetery Guided Walking Tour, rated 4.9 with 3,924 reviews, but read how it is priced before you book.
What the place is
The Zentralfriedhof opened in 1874 and covers about 2.5 square kilometres, with roughly 330,000 graves and about three million burials, according to the cemetery administration. Several faiths have their own sections, including the old Jewish cemetery near Gate 1.
The visit most people come for is the group of honorary graves close to Gate 2, the main entrance on Simmeringer Hauptstraße. Beethoven and Schubert were moved here in 1888, and Brahms and members of the Strauss family are buried nearby. Mozart has a memorial, not a grave: his burial place is not known. The Art Nouveau church of St Charles Borromeo stands at the centre of the grounds and was built between 1908 and 1911; it is also known as the Luegerkirche.
Visiting on your own
It costs nothing, and the cemetery runs a smartphone audio guide called “Friedhof to go”. There are also e-bikes for hire and Fiaker rides for covering distance, and a funeral museum on the grounds.
- Opening hours: daily 7:00 to 18:00 from 1 October to 2 November; 8:00 to 17:00 from 3 November to the end of February; 7:00 to 18:00 in March; 7:00 to 19:00 from April to September, and until 20:00 on Thursdays from May to August. Side gates can open and close up to an hour later or earlier.
- Start at Gate 2. There is an information point and an overview map; photograph it before you set off.
- It is a working cemetery. Funerals take place; keep your distance and your voice down.
Guided tours
| Tour | Duration | Price | Language | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vienna Central Cemetery Guided Walking Tour | 2 hours | €300 per group up to 10 | English, German | 4.9, 3,924 reviews |
| Central Cemetery and Famous Graves Guided Tour | 2 hours | €25.38 per person | German | 4.9, 591 reviews |
| Guided Walking Tour of the Central Cemetery | 2 hours | €25.11 per person | German | 4.8, 479 reviews |
Read the first row carefully. The most reviewed tour is priced per group of up to 10, not per person, and the listing adds a solidarity contribution of €3 for the Vienna cemeteries, rising to €4 from January 2027. For a couple or a family of three, the booking page shows what you actually pay; do not assume the headline price is per head. The listing offers a private group and has two meeting points depending on the option you choose.
The two cheaper tours are per person, but the listings state German as the language. If you need English, look at the language shown on the booking page for your date. The 25 € tour meets at Gate 2 near the overview map, and its listing includes the cemetery fee of €3. Its guide holds a blue flag with the operator’s logo.
Reviewers of the most reviewed tour rate the guide at 4.9 out of 5, and one has booked it four times.
Which one to book
- English speakers in a group of up to 10: the 4.9 tour is the strongest choice. The price is per group, so it works out best with a full party; check what your own group size pays on the booking page.
- German speakers, solo or in two: one of the per-person tours at about €25.
- Composers’ graves only, short on time: go alone, start at Gate 2, and use the audio guide. The graves of honour are a compact area near the entrance.
- Winter: from 3 November the cemetery closes at 17:00, so choose a morning or midday start.
For the Habsburgs, who are not buried here but beneath the Capuchin church, see the Imperial Crypt and Treasury guide. More walks are under walking tours in Vienna.
