15 tips on what you absolutely must do to get cultured in Vienna this summer

And we bet you our Oma’s favourite bikini that you’ve only got a vague idea of all the awesome things happening around Vienna this summer.

So, do what’s good for your culture-loving self, and check out these 15 tips on how to get your daily dose of culture in Vienna this summer:

1. Make the most out of the events happening as part of the festival, Kultursommer Wien

Throughout summer, you can check out the hundreds of events happening as part of the city-wide festival, Kultursommer Wien. This festival going on all over the city is celebrating Vienna’s rich arts and culture scene.

The program is verrrrry diverse, with many artists hitting the stage. On the cultural menu, there’s Classical music, Jazz, Pop and Rap concerts, readings, comedy shows, along with dance performances, and lots more.

Events are taking place on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and the admission is FREE. Yup, you’ve read that right, it will cost you nothing to attend any one of these culture-packed events.

Be sure to check out the calendar on their website – they’re updating it almost regularly!

2. Explore the city’s fascinating museums by getting a Bundesmuseenkarte

You know, museums really aren’t as boring as people always make them out to be – actually, once you’ve spent some time in them, you realise they’re the complete opposite. But we don’t need to tell you that, since you’ve most likely been to one or two before, right? But what we’re challenging you to do this summer is to get the Bundesmuseenkarte, which gives you access to 8 museums for 59€! Check their website for more details!

Along your museum meanderings, be sure to check out these exhibitions:

+ George Hoyningen-Huene and Horst P. Horst, until August 8, at Westlicht
+ Collaborations, until November 6, at mumok
+ Wolfgang Tillmanns, until August 28, at mumok
+ Ai Weiwei, until September 4, at Albertina
+ La Turbo Avedon, until September 25, at MAK
+ Artificial Intellegence?, until October, at Technisches Museum
+ Rebecca Warren, until October 16, at Belvedere 21
+ Cranach the Untamed, until October 16, at Kunsthistorisches Museum
+ Brazil, until April 2023, at Naturhistorisches Museum
+ Widerständige Musen, until September 9, at Kunsthalle
+ Augenblick!, until October 23, at MUSA

3. Integrate some culture habits into your lifestyle

Don’t just be a cultural tourist – integrate culture into every day of your summer by trying out some daily culture habits. For example, read one new Austrian author a month, read an article from a different magazine every second day, or try integrating some music genres you don’t typically listen to, like Classical music or Hip Hop, into your Spotify playlists and let the algorithm take you on one wild ride of music.

Adopting habits that see you consuming more and more culture can only be a good thing, right?

Here are a few up-and-coming Austrian authors that you should check out:

+ Barbara Zeman
+ Elias Hirschl
+ Eva Reisinger
+ Jaqueline Scheiber
+ Lena Johanna Hödl

4. Visit one of the readings as part of the o-töne Lesungen festival at the MQ

The o-töne literature festival is a literature festival (duh!) that’s taking place in the funky open air location of the Museumsquartier courtyard, throughout summer.

The festival puts a spotlight on Austria’s rich contemporary literature scene, and showcases the diverse array of authors scribbling out masterpieces in our small, little, itsy-bitsy, cute country.

Readings will take place on eight selected dates throughout summer. For detailed info on the festival program, check out the website.

5. Go to an open air poetry slam, or participate in one

Just in case you haven’t been to one before, a poetry slam is a competition in which poems are performed (and we mean ‘performed’ – not just merely read) within a certain time limit on a stage. The audience chooses the winning performance, and yes, it always gets emotional, or emotionally-charged. And Vienna boasts a buzzing scene in regards to these spoken word performances.

So, take your chance to rhyme, all the time, in the lime…light. OK, so WE won’t be getting onstage, but that doesn’t mean YOU aren’t ready to step onto the stage. Or, you can also be one of those in the audience judging or getting deep into somebody else’s words.

This summer, take a look at the event calendar of the poetry slam-ming crowd, FOMP. They’re known for hosting fun poetry slam events, especially the ones throughout summer.

6. Spend some chilled nights at the Filmfestival

The Filmfestival happening smack bang at Rathausplatz is a longstanding tradition of this fine city, and many people look forward to it every year – us included.

Feasting on the many international culinary experiences that can be had at the food stands, and catching a music video on the big screen, with the backdrop of the grand Rathaus, sure makes for a great chilled evening.

Visitors can enjoy various films, ranging from concerts, ballets, theatre and the opera. Check out the programme on their website to see which films you don’t wanna miss!

7. Get into all the smaller, more weird and wonderful museums of the city

Sure, Vienna’s got plenty of grand museums, but its also got a whole world of weird and wonderful ones – focused on very niche topics – to be discovered, as well.

You can try on some of the fabulous hats from the olden days of Emperor Franz Joseph I. in the hat museum, or spend some time in an observatory (Kuffner Sternwarte), or visit the circus and clown museum. Be sure to check out our guide of all the fantastically weird, and oddly specific, niche museums of Vienna for more inspiration.

8. Catch an Improv Show, or join an Improv Class

If you’ve ever wanted to see how people can make great things happen on stage out of nothing, you should definitely catch an improv show this summer.

We’re sure it’s a special feeling getting onto a stage not really knowing what’s going to happen and what role you’re playing, and it’s even more interesting to be in the audience watching it all organically play out.

For anyone interested in an improv class, check out the International Improv Community in Vienna, as they have regular workshops for beginners, and those a little more advanced. Meanwhile, keep an eye on our event guides for the Improv theatre events happening this summer.

9. If you don’t already, actively search and listen to some rising Austrian musicians

What do you mean you haven’t done a deep dive into the many up and coming Austrian musicians yet?? Hop on the webs and go on a treasure hunt, because there’s actually way more happening in the music scene of this fine country than Bilderbuch and Wanda, and it is definitely is worth taking a listen.

Here’s a few we think you should check out:

+ Kerosin95
+ Aze
+ Amanda
+ W1ZE
+ Fred Owusu
+ Nenda
+ Candlelight Ficus
+ Rania
+ Wolfram And The Funeral Orchestra

10. Get out of your comfort zone and learn a new style of dance

Vienna’s dance festival of all dance festivals, ImPulsTanz, is back in 2022 and they’ve sure got a lot of workshops and performances lined up that are worth doing your happy dance about.

There will be multiple performances and hundreds of workshops. So get your dancing pants on and get yourself tickets for one of the performances or register for one of the classes.

Check out the Impulstanz programme.

Good to know: The ImPulsTanz Festival also hosts special club nights to celebrate the festivities with the Kursalon. All in the name of the ImPulsTanz Social Festivallounge, which has different themes for every event. Be sure to check it out!

11. Visit one of these indie galleries in Vienna

There’s more to Vienna than Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka when it comes to art. You might be surprised, but Vienna’s contemporary art scene is thriving, and there are plenty of great indie galleries that are shining a spotlight on the local talent and artists from abroad. Check out our guide on the 8 independent and contemporary art galleries in Vienna.

12. Check out the beautiful Albertina Modern

We all have come to know and love the Albertina – but its younger sibling, Albertina Modern, really makes our minds happily thrive from the modern art exposed. Even with its young age of only a bit more than 2 years, it already has a collection of over 60.000 artworks by over 5.000 artists, damn! You won’t get such a huge, as well as well chosen selection anywhere near. Make sure not to miss Ai Weiwei’s exhibition, “In Search for Humanity”.

13. Pay attention to the names of streets, bridges, statues etc. you encounter every day and research where their names come from

Paying attention to the details hidden along the streets that you walk every day can be great inspiration for discovering artists, authors, philosophers that walked the same streets that you probably didn’t know before. Also, you’ll learn loads of history about our fine city just by Googling some of the street names, as well!

Also, paying more attention to the statues and plaques that you can find all over the city is also quite the fascinating history lesson.

14. Watch old movies that take place in Vienna and look for what’s changed in the city

Many films have used Vienna’s magical scenery as the backdrop to their romance, action blockbuster, drama and we’ve made a list of them for you.

15. Catch a film at an open air cinema

Since the dawn of time, stories have been told by humans under the starry sky. In the beginning, it was around a fire where stories were told and acted out in strange dances (we still do that if we’ve had enough to drink). Today, it’s done with popcorn, surround sound, and projector screens. Here’s a list of Vienna’s summer open air cinemas, complete with our tips on the films you shouldn’t miss!