The newest player among Vienna’s passes for visitors combines a public transport network card with mobility discounts and savings at attractions, but is it worth buying? Here’s my review…
- The cheapest of the visitor cards
- Notably good for mobility service discounts
- Entirely digital so easy to use
- See also:
What you get
(The travel component includes Vienna’s trams)
The Vienna Welcome Card by DocLX has three core benefits.
You have free access to Vienna’s public transport system, optional add ons or discounts on other mobility services, and discounts on selected tourist attractions.
The card comes in five versions. Four differ simply in duration: 24hrs, 48hrs, 72hrs and 7 days. The fifth (the ToGo card) gives you 72hrs of access to the discounts but has no public transport component.
Prices at the time of writing are €14.90, €20.90, €25.90 and €29.90 respectively for the network card versions and €9.90 for the ToGo version. You might be lucky and pick up a seasonal offer, too.
Benefit 1: Travel
The transport part works like a network travel card.
Once you activate your digital card (see below), it’s valid for the period you bought starting from the time of activation. So a card activated at 3.45pm is valid until 3.45pm one, two, three or seven days later.
Vienna’s pubic transport system covers all municipal tram, bus and subway services within the city limits, which means all but a few private transport services (like the airport transfer buses).
Some of those private services can be booked as an add-on (at the time of writing: a hop on hop off bus service and the CAT express train that runs between Vienna and the airport).
Benefit 2: Mobility
The Welcome Card has a strong focus on additional mobility options, too. So the card entitles you to reductions or bonuses at a range of mobility services.
So, for example, you can rent a bike for free for 60 mins from one of the many WienMobil bike sharing stations. Or get discounts, for example, on an e-scooter (20% off), taxi (€1 off) and car rental service (10% off), Westbahn trains (10% off), and river cruise (10% off).
Benefit 3: Discounts
Various attractions and sights (and some gastronomy enterprises) offer discounts to holders of the Welcome card. Most discounts are in the 10% to 20% range with the occasional highlight, such as 50% off at the Vienna Actionism Museum.
The validity of the discounts works just like the travel portion of the card. So once you activate the ToGo card, for example, a visit to the Albertina art museum sometime in the subsequent 72 hours qualifies for a 10% discount.
At the time of writing, the partners cover the zoo, VR/immersive experiences, Schönbrunn and the Hofburg, for example, but not the Kunsthistorisches and Belvedere art museums.
How to buy the card
(The card works using an app; press photo courtesy of and © DocLX Welcome Card GmbH)
Purchasing a card online gets you a link/code which you use to ready the card on an app on your phone. You then need to actually activate the card using the app to start the period of validity.
You have a year from purchase to ready and activate the card. This means you can buy one well in advance of your actual trip, and only activate it when you need it.
As a digital app-based product, the card is easy to use (assuming you’re comfortable with apps!) with all card details on your phone. You can even buy some discounted tickets direct through the app. For others, you just show the activated card on your phone when you pay.
Is the card worth it?
You have two aspects to consider. First, the concept as a whole.
At the time of writing, the cost of the discounts when you remove the equivalent network travel card price are:
- 24 hours: €6.90
- 48 hours: €6.80
- 72 hours: €8.80
- 7 day: €7.30
- ToGo: €9.90
If you’re using public transport and can find a couple of discounted activities that match your needs, then you’re saving money. And, if you’re comfortable with apps on your phone, it’s an easy-to-use option.
Second, as a “network travel card plus discounts” offer, the Vienna Welcome Card by DocLX has much in common with the Vienna City Card.
The differences in the context of your particular needs determine which one is better suited to you.
- If your focus is on the travel component, then the Vienna Welcome Card is the cheapest option
- If your focus is on discounts, then the ToGo card is a unique alternative that gets you access to those discounts without having to pay for any travel component. So a strong choice if you’re not planning on using public transport (like if you’re just walking around the central areas)
- The Vienna Welcome Card also has a wider range of mobility discounts
- Where the Vienna City Card scores is on access to discounts at a greater range of businesses and services that includes selected stores
- If you’re planning to visit a lot of museums and similar, then consider the Vienna Pass, which is much more expensive but includes one-time free entry to pretty much every major attraction in Vienna
Summary
- Good for those on a budget or where the discount partners fit with your planned activities
- Particularly attractive for those planning on using different mobility and transport services
For an overview of the main visitor passes in Vienna, see my reviews.