Gay wien
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It is trendy with music video wall and good music directly in the gay scene of Vienna. The trendy bars, café and clubs and the cruise bars. It is a city that has many conventions and corporate events so it is always wise to book your accommodation in advance to guarantee availability and choice.
The city is relatively small and easy to get around so would recommend you stay in the Inner Stadt area of the city which is centre of city.
Sightseeing
Major tourist attractions include the imperial palaces of the Hofburg and Schönbrunn.
Cultural highlights include the Burgtheater, the Wiener Staatsoper, the Lipizzaner horses and over 100 art museums.
The city is also famous for the composers who lived in Vienna including Beethoven and Mozart so some of the tourist attractions are where they lived or where buried.
The historic Hofburg Imperial Palace has gay history connections as it is where the controversial Emperor Ludwig Viktor who frequented the Kaiserbrundl bathhouse in his day and was exiled to a remote castle for an infamous incident that took place at the baths with an Austrian army officer.
Viennese cafes have an extremely long and distinguished history that dates back centuries and plays a large part in making coffee a popular drink. Some of the oldest coffee houses in Europe are unique to Vienna.
The country is divided into nine states. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was the largest German-speaking city in the world. On one of his regular visits to the ›Centralbad‹ indoor swimming pool (today’s gay sauna Kaiserbründl) he quite literally touched off a public scandal, being slapped in the face by an officer who was none too flattered by his advances.
The bar and downstairs play area. Address Kettenbruckengasse 4.
Village Bar is another bar owned by the same people whom run Felixx. Dance through a night in Vienna's oldest gay club? Hundreds of exciting places are waiting to be discovered.
Vienna Gay Travel Guide 2025
Upcoming Events in Vienna
About Vienna and its gay life
Both in the past and in the present, gays have played a prominent role in Vienna’s public life.
The city is located in the eastern part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. Apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be "The City of Dreams" because it was home to the world's first psychotherapist – Sigmund Freud.
The city's roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city, and then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The historic centre of Vienna has Baroque castles, gardens, grand buildings, monuments and parks.
Vienna is one of those popular gay capitals of Europe with approximately 170,000 of the city’s inhabitants estimated to be gay or lesbian. Viennese gay life is attractive as there are plenty of cocktail bars, cafe hotspots, hangouts, meet-ups, fetish parties, saunas, clubs and discos all over town.
Getting Around
Vienna has an extensive public transport network provided by buses, trams and 5 underground metro lines (U-Bahn).
Relax in a historic sauna? The field of music, so closely intertwined with Vienna’s history, also has its share of gay figures. In addition, there are over 50 S-train stations within the city limits.
The railway system connects Vienna with other European cities such as Budapest, Bratislava, Munich, Prague, Venice, and Zurich that are within a few hours train ride away.
The easier way to get around the city is walking and using the U-Bahn metro lines.
Airport Transfer
Vienna is served by Vienna International Airport which is located 18 kilometres (11 miles) southeast of the city centre.
There are 3 modes of transportation available when travelling from Vienna International airport (VIE) to the city centre of Vienna: Taxi, Train and Bus.
A Vienna airport taxi will cost approximately €40 and it will only take 20 minutes to reach the downtown area of Vienna.
When it comes to travelling by train, travellers have 2 options.
Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin.
Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. You can either take the City Airport Train (CAT) or the public Schnellbahn S7.
City Airport Train (CAT) connects the airport with the transport hub at Vienna Mitte non-stop in only 16 minutes.
Express train S7 between Vienna Airport and Vienna Floridsdorf takes 37 minutes as the train makes a number of stops.
– All this can now be experienced in Vienna in a dedicated LGBTIQ+ guide in the ivie app.
14 locations
The digital guide covers 14 important aspects of Viennese LGBTIQ+ history and its community:
- Kaiserbründl
- Albertina
- Café Savoy
- Marea Alta
- Village Bar
- Hard On
- Thell
- Türkis Rosa Lila Villa
- Gayt
- Flinte
- Löwenherz bookstore
- Why Not
- Belvedere Palace
- Palace of Archduke Ludwig Viktor
ivie - Download now for free
ivie for iOS
ivie for Android
ivie, the digital city guide, knows Vienna like the back of its hand.
You can go big on nightlife.
Annual highlights and queer events in Vienna are the Regenbogenball in winter, Vienna Pride with the Rainbow Parade in June, and Wien in Schwarz (Vienna in Black) in October.
The center of today’s gay scene in Vienna and the lion’s share of its gay bars is situated in the area along Linke Wienzeile and Rechte Wienzeile.
So get ready, divas - Naschmarkt calls.