Getting There and Away in Vienna

Flughafen Wien Schwechat is Vienna’s international airport and is served by over 80 airlines. Austrian Airlines is the national carrier. Bratislava’s MR Å tefánika Airport in Slovakia is only 60km east of Vienna, making it close enough to be an alternative to Schwechat. There is a number of options for shuttling from the airport as well as major car rental desks.

Vienna has no central bus station so if you are arriving by bus, your arrival destination will depend on which company you’re travelling with. Eurolines handles most of Vienna’s international bus connections and covers a plethora of destinations between England and Turkey.

Vienna’s Flughafen Wien Schwechat, 19km (12mi) east of the city centre, handles over 12 million passengers a year, the majority flying to/from London (two hours). The state-owned Austrian Airlines and Lauda Air, another home-grown airline, are the country’s main carriers, with flights to the USA, Asia, Australia and within Europe. The departure tax is factored into the price of the air ticket. The cheapest way to get to the airport is by S-bahn on line S7 (it takes about 35 mins). You can also take an airport bus from the City Air Terminal at the Hotel Hilton or Westbahnhof (20mins). You can take a taxi, but only if you have cash to splash.

Vienna is Central Europe’s main rail hub, so connections to other major European destinations are good. Eurostar’s London-Vienna service via Paris takes around 14 hours. Vienna has several train stations: check whether you’re arriving at Westbahnhof, Südbahnhof or Franz Josefs Bahnhof.

Bus connections across Western and Eastern Europe are plentiful, but they’re generally slower, cheaper and less comfortable than trains. Within Austria, buses can often be the best way of getting to more out-of-the-way places.

There are numerous road entry points from Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland. All major border crossings are open 24 hours and there are no controls between Germany and Italy thanks to the EU Schengen Agreement.

For something different, you can travel to Vienna from Amsterdam by riverboat, or from Budapest or Bratislava by hydrofoil.