Private Vienna Historical Landmarks Tour

Disappointing Experience – Expected Much More from a Private Historical Tour I rarely leave negative reviews, and in my experience with Viator, I have generally found their tours to offer fair value and good quality. Unfortunately, this Private Vienna Historical Landmarks Tour did not meet our expectations. The gentleman who accompanied us was very kind and courteous, and we appreciated his friendly attitude. However, the tour essentially consisted of taking us to Schönbrunn Palace, with the tickets included, and then returning us to our hotel. We had expected a private historical tour of Vienna with a knowledgeable guide who would introduce us to the city’s major landmarks and provide historical and cultural context. Instead, we ended up exploring the rest of Vienna on our own, looking up information online and using ChatGPT to better understand the history and significance of the places we were visiting. For a tour advertised as a Private Vienna Historical Landmarks Tour, we expected much more in terms of guided sightseeing, historical explanation, and coverage of the city. While our guide was genuinely pleasant and polite, the overall experience did not reflect the description or expectations of a comprehensive private historical tour. Unfortunately, based on our experience, I cannot recommend this tour at its current price and format.

Our guide was the best! He was knowledgeable, professional, personable, and very accommodating. He showed us everything we wanted to see and more.

Our driver was very knowledgeable and pleasant and helpful. We saw many places thanks to his excellent guidance.

We specifically asked for a local tour guide who would know about the culture and share stories with us to make the experience authentic. Instead they sent us someone who couldn’t speak proper English. He communicated via text messages and was extremely rude and intolerant. We were traveling with our children. Our son who is 4 years old had some dust on his shoes from the snow and muddy conditions outside and this driver complained about how our son damaged his car and that passengers need to keep their feet on the floor! He had the audacity to send us a picture with a time stamp and demanding compensation for the damage. Ridiculous! If you don’t know how to speak English, know nothing about the culture of Austria or have tolerance for little children you should not be in the hospitality industry. Terrible! Families spend a lot of money on vacations to have memorable experiences. Not to be insulted for dusty shoes and treated this way! You need to fire this Mr Ali Usman! He is not a good representation of Austrian culture.

Iva was the best.Shebwas really very friendly and helpful.We had a very good time. The car was clean and very nice.

Paid almost €400 (for 2 people) to Viator, who subbed it to Welcome. When I mentioned to driver I was displeased for how much we paid, he was shocked,, He Showed me the advertised price Welcome charges for the exact same 4 hour tour, when booked directly with Welcome, was €240!! ! Far too much markup!! ! I will NEVER book anything through Viator again!!! Also, driver’s English was difficult to understand and he was only a driver, not a guide.

If you are in Vienna for just a short time, or even longer, this is a perfect tour. Our guide Iva was awesome! Very knowledgeable and accommodating. And wonderfully friendly. She was the best. We got to see all the main highlights and some we didn’t know about but very glad we saw. She should get 10 stars!

Iva was the most amazing tour guide!! Her love and knowledge of Vienna was great. We saw so many fun & interesting places and truly enjoyed every minute. Great experience!!

The driver was nice and the car was very clean. However, he was not very knowledgeable about Vienna. I thought he would be able to give some context to the sites that we were seeing but that was not the case

Driver was 10 min late took calls during the tour and was driving extremely slow to the point we were unable to get to all of our targeted attractions. Total waste of time and money

I paid for a tour by an English speaking driver. A nice man picked us up at our hotel. Soon we realized he only spoke German while we only speak English. We tried Google translate but I don't have data here. I reached out to Viator during our 4hr private tour and they said that they would investigate why our driver spoke no English. We made the best of a poor situation and I didn't receive what I paid for. Viator came back with a 20% discount. I canceled other Viator Tours as a result. Originally I had well over a $1000 in tours but I canceled some. Shame on Viator for not standing by their description for what I actually purchased. I will likely be contacting my CC company next to reverse the charges. SMH

This experience fell flat, but it was partly my fault, so I'm not saying people should avoid it. I didn't read the detail of what was included - which was basically 20 minute stops outside the main sights in the city. It soon became apparent that we were looking at sights which we had already booked to visit on later days. So- this experience ok if you are visiting Vienna for one day and you want to take photos (from the outside) of the sights. But, not happy with our guide. He phoned me asking to meet early, which I couldn't do. He then arrived 15 minutes late. He looked more like a taxi than a professional guide (more on that later.) We did a foot tour for an hour, where he spent most of the time on his mobile, talking in his native Bulgarian. Later he asked if he could leave us (family of 4) at a park for an hour as he had to pick somebody up from the airport. I politely declined and asked to be taken back to our apartment. Completed about 2.5 hours of 4-hour booking. In summary, if you are booking this be aware of what's included and keep fingers crossed for a decent guide

Mr raja was a very knowledgable driver. V helpful and receptive. Cannot add anything more and hate these minimum 200 character requirements

A very good driver who knew the city well and the history. He was friendly and obliging. Being elderly and unable to walk long distances this was an ideal and very pleasant way to see the city

Iva was an amazing tour guide. On time, flexible, took time to explain the places we visited. Was interactive. I would highly recommend Iva and this tour. We could cover a lot in this tour in half a day

A complete letdown, though partly my own fault for not reading about this in more detail. If you are in Vienna for a short time and just want a whistlestop tour of the main sights, this may be for you. You are taken, by foot and car, to visit the main sights for about 20 minutes at each location. If, like me, you are in Vienna for a few days and are already intending to visit the main sights individually, then there is no need for this tour. Having said that, the ‘tour’ felt amateurish anyway. Our ‘’guide’’ phoned me and asked to meet an hour early, which I couldn’t do. He then turned up 15 minutes late for our designated time. First impressions not good – he arrived in flip-flops and t-shirt and looked more like a taxi driver (more on that later) than a tour guide. Our ‘’guide’’ walked us around the centre, on the way introducing me to a person in period costume outside the Hofburg offering to sell me discounted tickets! Our ‘’guide’’ spent most of his time on his phone talking in what I guess was Bulgarian, for that was where he was from. His commentary seemed no deeper than a Wikipedia opening paragraph. After 2 hours, he asked if he could drop us (i.e. dump us) at a park as he had to go to Vienna airport to collect people who had arrived late. He would pick us up in an hour to continue. I politely declined and asked him to take us back. I feel ripped-off by whole experience. Caveat emptor.

We booked weeks in advance. Our credit card was charged and we confirmed our pickup location. They were a total no-show. It was very hard to contact them. They were not apologetic. They did not offer to send a tour guide. Terrible, terrible, terrible.

Going to the different palaces was a nice experioence. However, the driver should have given us more description about the places.

Our guide was very accommodating and enthusiastic about getting us to all the places we wished to see…in addition to the pre-planned schedule. Thank you

Tour guide knew very little jewish history. Said to us Kristalnacht only happened in Germany. Never in Vienna. Otherwise he was good

Excellent and friendly guide. Good way to get the lay of the land, an overview of the sights you want to go back and visit.

We had a fantastic day in Vienna. Our guide was knowledgeable and explained the importance of each stop with a sense of pride in this city. A great blend of art, architecture and history. Saw so much more than we could have ever done on our own. Thank you

Veseline was so nice, even took us to landmarks that was not on the itinetary. Definitely recommend Viator to friends and family… and will always use it whenever i go vacation.

Iva was a thoughtful and exuberant guide and host for our tour of Vienna. Since it originally scheduled for the previous day, a bit of a mess between Trip Adviser & Viator, we found her to be delightful. She toured us through areas that were both touristy and hidden treasures. She was knowledgable & articulate. Five stars for her, four stars for the experience through Trip Adviser. Thanks!

Seeing main city attractions as well as parts of the city outside city center that could not be seen without Iva. We have also enjoyed seen the city from above as we have taken to the forest hill outside the city

Iva picked us up at our hotel right on time. Her vehicle was large and roomy which, for us, was plus as we are both tall. First off, she asked what we expected from our tour so that she could customize it to our interests. Of course, we wanted to see all Vienna's highlights but we also wanted to see and learn about how and where people live. Iva did not disappoint us. In addition to all the major landmarks and attractions, Iva gave us historical background. She explained the cities configuration, i.e. the neighborhood rings. We came away from each destination on the tour with an understanding of the role each played not only in Vienna's history but its present. She also timed our tour to t he Hofberg Palace so that we could see the Lippanzer stallions walk from the palace arena back to their stables after their training/exercise. Another highlight for us was time spent at Hunderwasserhaus as designed by Austrian artist Friendensreich Hunderwasser. Iva is very knowledgeable about the artist and his other works in Vienna. Our tour was longer than we anticipated and we are so grateful - Iva covered more ground than any tour guide in the past. We came away with a wonderful understanding of the city - its past, present where it might b headed in the future. Additionally, Iva offered us great restaurant and other recommendations for the rest of visit in Vienna and we followed he advice. We highly recommend this tour and Iva Tabakova. She is a phenomenal tour guide.

Georgi was very knowledgeable.. took us around all the attractions and gave enough time at each place!

I just finished a tour of Vienna with Iva. It was a fantastic experience. She was experienced, knowledgeable and professional. They selected the right guide for the tour. The tour itself was well organized. Because it’s a private tour, I got to see all the things I wanted to see and skip the ones I wasn’t interested in. There was flexibility in the schedule and the guide knew enough about Vienna that I could see any site I was interested in. I would certainly choose this tour again. I had a great experience.