When are you going? You may be lucky but I doubt your schedule will work out that you will be able to see a performance which occur in the Winter Riding School on a schedule on most weekends when the horses are in town. If the schedule does work out, you'll need to book at the earliest opportunity (months in advance?). Performances are not inexpensive! Also, sometime in the spring the Lipizzaners are moved out of town to the breeding farm.
That being said, we visited twice in April 2018 during the Blue Danube stop in Vienna. First, after notifying our TD, four of us bailed out of the morning guided walk a few minutes before it ended and when we were right near the Spanish Riding School at the Hofburg Palace. We walked over to the nearby ticket office and bought tickets for the Morning Exercise (runs every weekday morning)- the younger, mostly gray, horses are gently exercised on ropes and introduced to and ridden by their new riders. You won't see any jumps or other maneuvers. It runs Tue - Fri from 1000 to 1100 and sometimes from 1130 - 1230. Note, photography of any kind was prohibited and there were minders, enforcing the restriction. We hadn't purchased tickets ahead, but since we got there a tad after 1000 we paid a reduced rate. 45 minutes was plenty. When we went seats were not assigned, now you pay by where you sit!
A few months prior we had booked a 1 hour guided tour of the Stables (the Stallburg) which are just across from the arena at the left as you face the Hofburg. Our tour started at 2:00. We got to see the stables, exercise equipment, tack room, and a few of the horses- touching them was prohibited.
Go to the Spanish Riding School website for up-to-date details: https://www.srs.at/en/ Also get familiar with the layout of the Altstadt and the Hofburg.
If you can see a Performance, definitely go. If it is only a practice, take a pass unless you are very interested in horses. As AlanS says, the practices are only very basic training for the horses.
The School's tour of the stable lets you see some of the horses up close. Alternatively, you can peek in the windows from the street and see the horses.
Vienna has a lot to see and do and unless I had tickets for a performance, I'd peek in the windows and spend my time elsewhere.
Comments
When are you going? You may be lucky but I doubt your schedule will work out that you will be able to see a performance which occur in the Winter Riding School on a schedule on most weekends when the horses are in town. If the schedule does work out, you'll need to book at the earliest opportunity (months in advance?). Performances are not inexpensive! Also, sometime in the spring the Lipizzaners are moved out of town to the breeding farm.
That being said, we visited twice in April 2018 during the Blue Danube stop in Vienna. First, after notifying our TD, four of us bailed out of the morning guided walk a few minutes before it ended and when we were right near the Spanish Riding School at the Hofburg Palace. We walked over to the nearby ticket office and bought tickets for the Morning Exercise (runs every weekday morning)- the younger, mostly gray, horses are gently exercised on ropes and introduced to and ridden by their new riders. You won't see any jumps or other maneuvers. It runs Tue - Fri from 1000 to 1100 and sometimes from 1130 - 1230. Note, photography of any kind was prohibited and there were minders, enforcing the restriction. We hadn't purchased tickets ahead, but since we got there a tad after 1000 we paid a reduced rate. 45 minutes was plenty. When we went seats were not assigned, now you pay by where you sit!
A few months prior we had booked a 1 hour guided tour of the Stables (the Stallburg) which are just across from the arena at the left as you face the Hofburg. Our tour started at 2:00. We got to see the stables, exercise equipment, tack room, and a few of the horses- touching them was prohibited.
Go to the Spanish Riding School website for up-to-date details: https://www.srs.at/en/ Also get familiar with the layout of the Altstadt and the Hofburg.
If you can see a Performance, definitely go. If it is only a practice, take a pass unless you are very interested in horses. As AlanS says, the practices are only very basic training for the horses.
The School's tour of the stable lets you see some of the horses up close. Alternatively, you can peek in the windows from the street and see the horses.
Vienna has a lot to see and do and unless I had tickets for a performance, I'd peek in the windows and spend my time elsewhere.