St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna: the nave, catacombs, towers and treasury

The short answer

St. Stephen's Cathedral on Stephansplatz in Vienna is a working cathedral that you can enter free of charge, according to its own FAQ, which adds that some areas inside are paid.[8] Those paid areas are what this guide is about. The cathedral's visit page lists them as separate visits: the cathedral itself, on your own or with a guide; the catacombs, guided only; the South Tower and the North Tower, both visited on your own; and evening tours of the attic.[1] The cathedral treasure is not one of them any more. The cathedral's tours page places the medieval treasure in the Cathedral Museum at Stephansplatz 6, which is the Dom Museum Wien.[10][7]

Tourist visits are fitted around worship. The cathedral's home page gives separate opening times and, within them, shorter visiting times, which it says are subject to change for liturgical reasons.[2] XTOUR does not repeat the times; the cathedral's page and calendar are the reference.

The cathedral interior

The visit page describes the cathedral interior as open to independent and guided visits: a public tour in German or English, or an audio guide.[1] According to the cathedral's tours page, an independent visit needs no registration, for individuals or groups, and neither does the public cathedral tour, except for groups of 15 or more, whom the page asks to register separately for a private tour.[7] The FAQ names the Riesentor, the "Giant's Door" on the west side, as the main entrance, and the history page counts it among the Romanesque parts of the west front still standing.[9][8]

The catacombs: guided only

The cathedral's catacombs page is unambiguous: "The catacombs can only be visited as part of a public guided tour." A cathedral guide leads through the tombs of bishops and royals and the old cemetery under the square.[3] The cathedral's history page explains how they came to exist: when the cathedral's churchyard was closed in 1732, burial places were set up underground beneath the square, and burials there ended after Joseph II abolished the inner-city cemeteries in 1783.[9]

Individuals need no registration for the public catacomb tour, the tours page says; groups of 15 or more register separately.[7] The FAQ's accessibility list says the catacombs are not barrier-free.[8]

Two towers, two different visits

South Tower. The tall spire, called "Steffl" by the Viennese, is climbed on foot: according to the cathedral's South Tower page, 343 steps lead up to the Türmerstube.[4] The FAQ gives the tower's height as 136.4 metres and the Türmerstube's as 67 metres, the highest point of the cathedral a visitor can climb to.[8] The history page dates its completion to 1433 under the master builder Hans Prachatitz.[9] The FAQ lists the South Tower as not barrier-free.[8]

North Tower. The unfinished north tower, which the cathedral also calls the Eagle Tower, is 68.3 metres high and is reached by lift, according to its page.[5] At the top is the plateau with the Pummerin, which the German visit page calls Austria's largest bell; that is the cathedral's description.[1] The history page says the original Pummerin of 1711 was destroyed in the cathedral fire of 12 April 1945 and that the present bell, weighing 21,100 kg, was cast in 1951 in St. Florian in Upper Austria and has hung in the North Tower since October 1957.[9] The FAQ describes the lift as barrier-free but only partly suitable for wheelchairs.[8]

On 9 October 2026 both tower pages carried the notice that the tower "is already open again"; neither says when or why it had been closed.[5][4]

The attic and special tours

The cathedral's attic, under the steel roof truss built after the 1945 fire, is listed on the visit page as a guided evening special tour.[9][1] According to the tours page, these special tours are held exclusively in German and need written registration, as the number of places is limited.[7]

The treasury is next door, in the Dom Museum Wien

Visitors looking for a "Stephansdom treasury" inside the church will not find it on the cathedral's current visit page. The German page's source still contains a Domschatz entry, but inside an HTML comment, so it is not displayed, and its link leads back to the home page.[1] The cathedral's tours page instead lists a Cathedral Museum at Stephansplatz 6 where visitors can "admire the medieval cathedral treasure".[7] The Dom Museum Wien, at that address, describes itself as an institution of the Archdiocese of Vienna that houses the medieval treasures of St. Stephen's, objects connected with Duke Rudolf IV, who in the 14th century laid the foundation of the Gothic rebuilding. It has been on its present site since 1973 and reopened in 2017 after a rebuilding by Boris Podrecca. Its site sells its own admission tickets.[10]

The tours page also lists the Treasury of the Teutonic Order at Singerstrasse 7, a separate collection at a different address.[7]

The All-Inclusive ticket, described two ways

The cathedral sells an All-Inclusive ticket. According to the tours page, it covers the cathedral with a digital audio guide, both towers, a public catacomb tour and a visit to the cathedral museum, includes one child under 14 free per ticket, is valid for one year, and is sold in the cathedral or online.[7] The cathedral's separate All-Inclusive page lists the inside of the church, a catacomb tour and both towers, but names the treasury of the Teutonic Order, not the cathedral museum, as the extra.[6] XTOUR cannot tell from the pages which description is current; the ticket's own wording at purchase is the reference.

Conduct

The cathedral's FAQ asks all visitors, worshippers and tourists alike, to wear clothing appropriate to the dignity of the church, and asks men to remove any headwear. It allows photography and filming for private use only and prohibits tripods.[8]

What XTOUR does not know

XTOUR publishes no prices, opening or visiting times, tour times or last-ascent times; the cathedral's tours page lists them and says they can be reduced or cancelled for liturgical or organisational reasons. It has no accessibility information beyond the cathedral's own list, does not know how busy the towers or tours are, and does not sell tickets. For the city, see the Vienna destination page and Austria.