St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna

St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna tickets: which one to buy

Entry to the back of the nave is free; everything else is ticketed, and the choices matter. The main body of the church, seen from behind a barrier unless you pay, is covered by an all-inclusive ticket that also opens the catacombs, the north tower lift, the south tower stairs and the treasury; buying the parts separately makes sense only if you want one of them. The south tower is the serious climb, 343 steps up a spiral to the watchman's room at 67 metres, with the best view of the tiled roof.

The north tower has a lift and takes you to the Pummerin, the great bell recast from Ottoman cannon. The catacombs are visited only on a guided tour that runs every half hour and takes you past the ducal crypt and the bone chambers where thousands of plague dead were stacked. Audio guides are rented at the door and concerts in the nave are sold separately by promoters.

Visiting St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna: what to see

A parish church was consecrated on this site in 1147, and Duke Rudolf IV began the Gothic rebuilding in 1359 that produced the present church. The roof is the signature: 230,000 glazed tiles laid in zigzags and, on the south side, in the arms of the city and the double-headed imperial eagle, relaid after the fire of 1945 that destroyed the medieval timbers. Inside, the stone pulpit of about 1500 is carved with the four fathers of the church and, under its stairs, a self-portrait of the master mason leaning out of a window.

The Wiener Neustadt altar of 1447 stands in the north choir, and the tomb of Frederick III in red marble took forty-five years to carve. Below, the catacombs hold the urns with the entrails of the Habsburgs, whose hearts are in the Augustinian church and whose bodies are in the Capuchin crypt, an arrangement that says a great deal about Vienna. The Pummerin, at 20 tonnes, is rung only a handful of times a year, including at midnight on New Year's Eve when it is broadcast across Austria.

St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna opening hours and the best time to go

The cathedral is open daily from early morning to late evening, but the ticketed areas run on shorter hours and the tourist route through the nave closes during services, which are frequent. Catacomb tours run all day and are the most reliable option when the nave is closed. The south tower stairs are narrow, two-way and unventilated, and are punishing in August; go early. Vienna's Christmas market fills Stephansplatz in December and the cathedral is at its busiest and most atmospheric then.

Concerts of Mozart and Vivaldi in period costume are advertised aggressively in the square; the cathedral's own music, sung at the main Sunday mass, is free and far better. Dress modestly, with shoulders covered. Photography without flash is allowed in the free area. Allow an hour for the church and catacombs, ninety minutes with a tower. Stephansplatz is the centre of the city and the pedestrian streets around it stay busy until late, so the cathedral is easy to fit in at the end of a day.