Vienna Ugly

Accessibility: TOTAL - everyone is welcome here, and the entire route is manageable for a man in a wheelchair.
 

German version below.

Everyone knows Vienna is beautiful. But we take you to the dark side, and explore some very ugly mistakes, on a walking journey.

There is no reservation - just be there on time, on the day. There is no maximum number of participants. We walk in every weather. All walks are in English, led by Eugene Quinn. This walk can be arranged for private groups, birthdays, special events and school students, to practice their English. And there is also a German-language “ Ugly Vienna ” walk. Any other questions, please email: eugene@whoosh.wien

ARTE made a TV documentary about ugly architecture, and filmed the tour in Autumn 2024.
 

We want locals to explore their own city from an innovative perspective. A tour of beautiful palaces would not interest many of them, but this does. There is a fascination with death, failure and melancholy in Vienna, and this walk reflects that Ulrich Seidl mood.

Through humor, we want to make some serious points about the role of fashion, the popular press, city-planners, gentrification, postmodernism, pretentious language used by architects, UNESCO and greedy developers. Our walk focuses on the bad taste of rich people, and so we have so much choice of buildings in central Vienna.

We want to start a debate – and so participants vote on the attractiveness of each building. This is one of the cities with the biggest gap between its fantasy and reality. We want to explore that gap, and maybe close it a little. Vienna is more interesting than its reputation. In the spirit of Conchita, we want to transgress, and surprise people. To show another Vienna, beyond the cliches of Sissi and Schnitzel, a city which is more creative, contemporary and adventurous.

You have to come on the walk to find out which buildings we consider ugly. We include old and new architecture. Some structures are both beautiful and ugly. Through ugliness we can discover new dimensions of beauty, and the two have an interesting relationship in Vienna. Beauty can be boring – but ugly never is. And we love the cinematic qualities of Vienna at night, so some of our walks start at midnight.

Current walks of Vienna focus on the old city. We need new stories to tell. And because we break with traditions, so the City of Vienna and the Chamber of Commerce tried to close us down. & we fought against that and won. Just like Life of Brian & Jimmy Kimmel, when you attempt to silence interesting new perspectives, the people rise up - and powerful voices are embarrassed by their arrogant incompetence.

Here are TV reports showing what happened when we adapted the concept to a Munich Ugly tour, and how Die Tagesschau news program in Germany reported on Vienna Ugly.

You can offer tickets for this tour to friends as birthday or Christmas gifts, presented as stylish vouchers.

#viennaUgly
 

From Participants:

' unconventional, charming , has a good revolutionary spirit & is a lot of fun too. I absolutely loved it.'

'For over two hours, we were all captivated by E.'s rhetorical fireworks of knowledge . A superb experience; I've never experienced such a passionate city tour before, thank you.

'Eugene conveys a deep knowledge of, and affection for, Vienna.'

' Eugene Quinn simply knows how to show us a completely different side of Vienna and present it in an entertaining, witty and educational way at the same time.'

'The Vienna Ugly Tour is a beautiful tour of ugly buildings... cool, funny, refreshing. '

' A fantastic, funny tour guide , a truly exciting tour - even for those who have lived in Vienna for a long time , there are always new ugliness things to discover .'

' Unique... concerned with ideas as much as images... '

'It is refreshing to hear from a non-Viennese person and have it made visible what one perhaps did n't need to build .'

'More connections to this city's inner life than any other tour could offer - a must !'

'Each house has an interesting story , and the group regularly votes on how they perceive the "ugly " buildings.'

'... learned a lot about Vienna now (& architecture in general ) which I hadn't learned from the more typical tours - specially given the price which is a bargain .'

' Hilariously ugly buildings... charming with a British/Austrian black sense of humor .'

' Very ugly indeed . I live in Vienna and afterwards was recognizing more details in the streets.'

'... challenges your classic picture of the city. I joined a midnight (!) edition, which gave the whole tour a special adventurous atmosphere .'

GERMAN

Everyone knows Vienna is beautiful. But we'll take you to the dark side and discover some very ugly flaws during a walk.

There are no reservations – just show up on the day. There's no maximum number of participants. We hike in all weather. All hikes are conducted in English and led by Eugene Quinn. This hike can be arranged for private groups, birthdays, special occasions, and students to practice their English. There's also a German-language " Ugly Vienna " walk every November.

We want the residents to discover their city from an innovative perspective. A tour of beautiful palaces wouldn't interest many of them, but this would. In Vienna, there's a fascination with death, failure, and melancholy, and this walk reflects that mood, as envisioned by Ulrich Seidl.

In a humorous way, we want to address some serious points about the role of fashion, the tabloid press, urban planners, gentrification, postmodernism, the pretentious language of architects, UNESCO, and greedy developers. Our walk focuses on the bad taste of rich people, which is why we have such a wide selection of buildings in Vienna's city center.

We want to spark a debate – and so the participants vote on the attractiveness of each building. This is one of the cities with the biggest gap between fantasy and reality. We want to explore this gap and perhaps close it a little. Vienna is more interesting than its reputation. In the spirit of Conchita, we want to push boundaries and surprise people. We want to show a different Vienna, beyond the clichés of Sissi and schnitzel, a city that is more creative, more modern, and more adventurous.

To find out which buildings we find ugly, you need to participate. We're including both old and new architecture. Some buildings are both beautiful and ugly. Through ugliness, we can discover new dimensions of beauty, and in Vienna, the two have an interesting relationship. Beauty can be boring—but it's never ugly.

For questions, write to eugene@whoosh.wien.

The current walks through Vienna focus on the Old Town. We need new stories to tell.

Here you can see TV reports showing what happened when we adapted the concept to a "Munich Ugly" tour, and how the German news program Tagesschau reported on "Vienna Ugly".

#viennaUgly #eristamtsknown #tourismforlocals
 

Walk with us!

Future dates:

3oct

*November 7th IN GERMAN!

12dec

27feb