47.85° N · 16.52° E
Day trip from Vienna to Eisenstadt, Haydn's town: the Esterházy palace and its Haydnsaal, the composer's house, his tomb and the old Jewish quarter.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Visit · 1 h 30 · €19 or €25 with a guide · the princes' palace and Haydn's concert hall
Museum · 1 h · €9 · the house where the composer lived, with a programme for children
Visit · 45 min · Haydn's tomb and an artificial hill of chapels with a view over the plain
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
All year, but from April to October everything is open: the palace daily, the Jewish Museum Sunday to Thursday, the St. Margarethen quarry and Forchtenstein Castle on full hours. In November and December the palace can only be seen on a guided tour on weekdays and Forchtenstein only at weekends. September brings the Haydn concerts in the Haydnsaal.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
Eisenstadt can be seen entirely on foot: the palace, Haydn's house, the Bergkirche, the Jewish quarter and the park are all within a kilometre. The direct train from Wien Hauptbahnhof or Meidling drops you 15 minutes from the palace. Only Forchtenstein and the St. Margarethen quarry need a car.
By car you are in Eisenstadt in about 50 minutes from Vienna, and in the same day you can add Forchtenstein castle, 25 km away, or drive down to the St. Margarethen quarry and Rust, on Lake Neusiedl.
Eisenstadt is 65 km from Vienna-Schwechat airport (VIE), which has direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities. By hire car you arrive in about 45–50 minutes; without a car, take the airport bus to Wien Hauptbahnhof and the direct train to Eisenstadt from there.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Eisenstadt works for families if you alternate sightseeing and the outdoors: the palace has family tours on some days and Haydn's house has Sunday workshops, the Schlosspark is huge and free, and Forchtenstein castle, with its armoury, appeals to older children. Children under 6 enter Esterhazy sites free.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Upper-range four-star design hotel beside Esterházy Palace, with 120 rooms, a spa with sauna, the Paulgarten restaurant and a rooftop bar with a view over the plain.
Why we like it: Three-star family hotel on the Ruster Straße, with 39 air-conditioned rooms, one adapted, a Burgenland restaurant and free parking all around.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: the weekend breakfast, or the surprise menu on Saturday night.
What to order: in autumn, the OHR Gansl, the house's crispy roast goose.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
47.80° N · 16.67° E
By carBy bikeCar-freeBy plane
48.01° N · 16.23° E
Car-freeBy carBy plane
48.09° N · 16.28° E
Car-freeBy carBy plane
48.11° N · 16.86° E
Car-freeBy carBy plane
Tips
On weekdays, from November to March, the palace can only be seen on the winter tour at 11:00, 13:00 or 15:00.
It is closed on Fridays and Saturdays, and in winter; it is open from May to October, Sunday to Thursday.
Esterházy admits only assistance dogs.
Eisenstadt is the capital of Burgenland, a small town at the foot of the Leithagebirge, 57 km south of Vienna. For centuries it was the court of the Esterházy princes, the great Hungarian noble family, and their Baroque palace still dominates the square. Joseph Haydn worked here for more than forty years, thirty of them as Kapellmeister, and he is buried here. In a day you can see the palace with its concert hall, Haydn's house, his tomb in the Bergkirche and the old Jewish quarter, one of the best preserved in Austria.
By train, direct trains to Eisenstadt leave Wien Hauptbahnhof almost every hour, via Meidling and Wulkaprodersdorf; others go via Bruck an der Leitha and Neusiedl am See. While the closure of the central stretch of the S-Bahn lasts, until October 2027, board at Hauptbahnhof or Meidling. From Eisenstadt station to the palace it is a walk of about 15 minutes. By car it is 57 km on the A3. Vienna airport is 65 km away.
Start with Schloss Esterházy: the princes' rooms, the silver treasury and the Haydnsaal, the hall where Haydn premiered many of his symphonies, with an acoustic that is still used for concerts. Five minutes away, Haydn's house is where he lived during his years at court. Then climb up the street to the Bergkirche, with Haydn's mausoleum and the Kalvarienberg, an artificial hill with chapels and wooden figures. Next to it begins the old Jewish quarter, with the Austrian Jewish Museum and Samson Wertheimer's private synagogue. To finish, the Schlosspark, a landscape garden of almost 50 hectares with the Leopoldina temple.
With a car, 25 km away, Forchtenstein Castle holds the Esterházys' armoury and treasury, and 15 km away, on the way to Lake Neusiedl, the Roman quarry at St. Margarethen is the setting for the summer opera.
For eating on the palace square, the Henrici, in the former stables, is open Tuesday to Sunday. The Restaurant Platane at the Hotel Ohr is Burgenland cooking from a family that has been at it since 1951. To sleep, the Hotel Galántha is next to the palace, with a spa and a rooftop bar, and the Hotel Ohr is the simple option, with free parking. A night here lets you link up with Lake Neusiedl the next day.
Questions
By direct train from Wien Hauptbahnhof or Meidling, almost every hour. By car, 57 km on the A3.
€19 without a guide and €25 with a guided tour; family tickets €44 or €60. Under-6s get in free.
No: the public ones are in German and Hungarian, and in English at 13:00.
In the mausoleum at Eisenstadt's Bergkirche (Haydnkirche), since 1954 with his skull, which had been separated from his body for almost a century and a half.
Yes: Rust is about 15 km away. It is easy by car; by train and bus, better with one night.
Yes, at weekends the palace is open from 10:00 to 16:00 and Forchtenstein has an Advent market.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/austria/burgenland/eisenstadt
