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Best Way to see Lipizzaner Stallions in Vienna?


esanders64
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Hello all - my wife and I are scheduled for the Viking Danube Waltz tour this spring, and we are seeking feedback on one of the activities we circled, the Lipizzaner Stallions in Vienna. What are the pros and cons of booking this excursion with Viking compared to doing it on our own?

 

Based on reading the excursion description and then looking at the Lipizzaner Stallion web site, it appears the tours of the riding school may be the same. The riding school offers about a one hour tour, which sometimes includes the horses practicing, if booked for the morning. The Viking excursion is 3.5 hours, and we’re guessing that the total time includes that same one hour tour of the riding school, along with extra time to get there, return, and stop at a Viennese cafe afterward.

 

My wife and I both speak reasonably good German and lived in Europe for multiple years, so we’re comfortable about our ability to navigate Vienna on our own. We also are fine with visiting a cafe on our own, rather than one that is part of an excursion. What we don’t know are some of the advantages the cruise excursion may offer.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

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We have done this on our own and it is just as easy as you suspect. There is no way that you need to spend 3.5 hours doing it. IMO you will have much more fun if you DIY, but I can't definitively tell you that the tour doesn't offer something "extra" which you might miss. I suspect the "extra" is the "fun" of clambering on and off a large bus with everybody else, and traveling back and forth to the ship. A fair trade, IMO.

 

You can go buy a ticket first thing in the morning and then go see whatever else you want to see while you are waiting for your tour to start. Or even easier, buy a ticket on line in advance, and then plan the rest of your day around the timing of your tour. Website: http://www.srs.at/en_US/start-en/ IIRC, the morning exercises are NOT held every day so you may be stuck with only being able to do an afternoon tour depending on what day you're there.

 

Vienna is easy to get around by U-Bahn. We have been there twice, and usually get a day pass for around 7-8E and then go wherever we feel like. The river boat docks are about 5 minutes from the nearest station. I posted detailed instructions on how to get from the boat docks to the U-bahn in my review of the April 2016 Danube cruise.

 

Enjoy Vienna! It's lovely. But it's overwhelming in a day.

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I'll second JP's advice to do it on your own. But, research the schedule in advance. We went to a morning session. We had the Vienna Pass, but still had to stand in a long line to get a ticket. Once they let everyone in, there was plenty of room. You can stay as long as you want, then be on your way. It's centrally located, so there's plenty more in the immediate area to see.

 

Robin

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We have been to the Spanish Riding School twice - once booked directly through them and once as part of a land tour. The tours were pretty similar, but the guide we had on the 'public' tour was much better and shared a lot more information. But that is the luck of the draw!

Another reason to do it independently is that the Spanish Riding School is basically in the Hofburg Palace and right in the heart of Vienna - so if you do it on your own there are lots of things right there to see and do!

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Hello all - my wife and I are scheduled for the Viking Danube Waltz tour this spring...

 

 

I previously cruised with Viking from Budapest and we were delayed at a lock for several hours. We arrived in Vienna 2+ hours later than scheduled and the bus tour started at 11 rather than 9am. If you purchase online, I suggest not booking too early in the morning unless the ticket will be honored later that day.

 

 

 

I started a roll call for the 2018 Danube Waltz. If you would like to be included, please post here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2540491

Edited by MURPHY27
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  • 4 weeks later...

Can this be done after our included Viking Vienna excursion (Panoramic Vienna) in the morning (3.5 hour excursion)? We are on the Romantic Danube cruise and not the Danube Waltz. Lipizzaner is not offered as an optional excursion. I am wondering if this is due to an earlier departure from Vienna in the afternoon rather than evening?

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We did the Viking Budapest to Amsterdam cruise in 2015. For Vienna, we were due there on a Saturday. Another couple had researched the dates that the full show would be performed at the riding school arena- yes, a show was scheduled for the Saturday we were to visit! The Viking concierge called and reserved tickets for 6 of us, center of the arena, along the rail looking down on the show. We took the Viking panorama tour in the morning, the guide said he would show us where to pick up the tickets, etc. We went to see the full show while the rest of the tour did the normal school tour (the stables, etc.) and continued on with the Viking tour. Excellent show and highly recommended if it is scheduled for the day you are in Vienna. Afterwards we did our own tour of the city, museum and a "tea time" stop at the Hotel Socher for the Socher Torte and apple strudel. Easy to take the subway back to the river boat docking area

 

See the schedule here: http://www.wmo.at/spanish-riding-school-performances-70-min-tickets-77-en.html

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We did the Viking Budapest to Amsterdam cruise in 2015. For Vienna, we were due there on a Saturday. Another couple had researched the dates that the full show would be performed at the riding school arena- yes, a show was scheduled for the Saturday we were to visit! The Viking concierge called and reserved tickets for 6 of us, center of the arena, along the rail looking down on the show. We took the Viking panorama tour in the morning, the guide said he would show us where to pick up the tickets, etc. We went to see the full show while the rest of the tour did the normal school tour (the stables, etc.) and continued on with the Viking tour. Excellent show and highly recommended if it is scheduled for the day you are in Vienna. Afterwards we did our own tour of the city, museum and a "tea time" stop at the Hotel Socher for the Socher Torte and apple strudel. Easy to take the subway back to the river boat docking area

 

See the schedule here: http://www.wmo.at/spanish-riding-school-performances-70-min-tickets-77-en.html

 

excellent, thank you. One question... when you say the rest of the tour group did the normal tour are you referring to the included Viking Panoramic Vienna tour or are you referring to the optional Viking Lipizzaner tour? In other words, does the included Panoramic Vienna tour go to the Spanish Riding School? thanks.

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The normal Viking tour went to the stables not to the 70 minute show. Maybe on days that there is no full show, there may be an opportunity to see a short training session. The 3.5 hour Viking tour started at 9AM, with a couple of stops where everyone got off the bus to do a foot tour. I don't see how, time wise, the Viking tour people would see much of the horses. Someone who did only the panoramic tour will have to give details on that. I would say that if the horses are important to you, do your own tour.

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