Overview
Austria’s beautiful landscape ranges from the majestic Alps to the green valleys of the Danube. The Austrian cities are also attractive destinations. In 2018, the British magazine The Economist named the capital Vienna the most livable city in the world. Austria is known for its historical buildings, impressive museums and galleries as well as for its first-class ski areas. Austria’s influential sons include the musical geniuses Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert, as well as the “father of psychoanalysis”, Sigmund Freud. Architecturally particularly valuable are the buildings of the once powerful Habsburgs, which dominated Central Europe for seven centuries, as well as Vienna with the ornate Opera House and Imperial Palace, and numerous other historic cities. Mozart’s birthplace, Salzburg boasts beautiful Baroque churches and a backdrop of snow-capped mountain peaks. Austria is a member of European Union defined by topb2bwebsites.
Getting there
Arriving by plane
The national carrier Austrian Airlines (OS) flies to Austria from most major cities in Germany and Switzerland. International flights are served to Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Linz and Salzburg, for example by Lufthansa (LH), Eurowings (EW) and Swiss (LX). Wizz Air (W6) serves Dortmund-Vienna and Cologne-Vienna, among others.
Flight times
Frankfurt – Vienna: 1 hour 20 minutes; Frankfurt – Innsbruck: 1 hour 05 minutes; Frankfurt – Graz: 1 hour 20 minutes; Frankfurt – Salzburg: 55 minutes; Berlin – Vienna: 1 hour 20 minutes; Cologne/Bonn – Vienna: 1 hour 30 minutes; Munich – Vienna: 1 hour; Zurich – Vienna: 1 hour 20 minutes; Basel – Vienna: 1 hour 35 minutes; Bern – Vienna: 1 hour 30 minutes; Geneva – Vienna: 1 hr 40 min
Arrival by car
An excellently developed network of motorways, expressways and federal roads connects Austria with all neighboring countries. All main connecting border crossings (motorway and federal highway border crossings) are open day and night. Long-distance bus: Flixbus and Eurolines, among others, travel from Germany and Switzerland to Austria. Toll: In Austria, all motorways and expressways are subject to tolls. Car travelers need a vignette (sticker); This is available for 10 days, 2 months or a year from the ADAC, at petrol stations near the border and in the ASFINAG sales offices. A digital vignette has also been available since 2018. Documents: The national driving license is sufficient.
Arrival by train
EuroCity and InterCity trains connect Austria with all neighboring countries. There are direct ICE connections from Frankfurt, Dortmund and Nuremberg to Vienna several times a day. There is also a connection between Halle – Erfurt – Bregenz and Landeck in Tyrol. With the Austrian Railjet there are direct connections between Munich and Vienna every 2 hours. The Railjet also runs directly from Zurich to Vienna (journey time: 7 hours 50 minutes) and Innsbruck (journey time: 3 hours 30 minutes) several times a day and to Graz (journey time: 9 hours 34 minutes) once Every day. There are connections to Prague from Graz (journey time: 6 hours 40 minutes) and Vienna (journey time: 3 hours 57 minutes). The Vindobona connects Berlin via Dresden and Prague with Vienna. The InterCity-Express from Hamburg to Munich (every hour) has connections to Salzburg, Vienna, Graz and Klagenfurt. ICE trains run every two hours from Nuremberg to Vienna, and EuroCity trains run from Zurich to Vienna. The Vindobona Express with dining car connects Vienna with Hamburg. The night train portal http://trainite.eu/ provides an overview of night train connections. A night ICE connects Berlin with Vienna once a day. Nightjet night trains (www.nightjet.com) run from Germany and Switzerland to Austria: Vienna – Berlin Hamburg-Hanover-Göttingen-Vienna Düsseldorf-Cologne-Bonn-Mainz-Frankfurt-Nuremberg-Vienna Hamburg-Hanover-Göttingen-Munich-Augsburg-Innsbruck Düsseldorf-Cologne-Bonn-Mainz-Frankfurt-Augsburg-Munich-Innsbruck Zurich – Innsbruck – Linz – Vienna Zurich – Feldkirch – Innsbruck – Leoben – Graz and Zurich – Feldkirch – Villach. The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express luxury train connects Vienna with Paris, London and Venice. Trenitalia and ÖBB connect Vienna with Venice via Villach. An ÖBB car train operates on the routes – Vienna, Graz, Villach and Feldkirch – Vienna and Hamburg, Düsseldorf – Innsbruck and Hamburg, Düsseldorf – Vienna and Livorno, Verona The Train4You Holiday Express offers night trains on the following routes (car transport on the German part of the route possible): – Hamburg – St. Anton – Hamburg. – Münster – Dortmund – Essen – Cologne – Wörgl – Innsbruck – Ötztal – St. Anton – Düsseldorf. – Münster – Dortmund – Essen – Cologne – Wörgl – Kirchberg – St. Johann – Zell am See – Düsseldorf. The Urlaubs-Express runs as a car train on the Düsseldorf – Villach route.
rail passes
The Interrail One Country Pass and the Interrail Global Pass are valid in Austria.
Arrival by ship
Various tour operators offer Danube cruises from Passau via Vienna to Budapest and on to Bucharest and the Black Sea, including DDSG-Blue Danube Schifffahrt, Tel. +43 1 58 88 00. The tour operator Wurm + Köck offers trips on the Danube from Passau to Vienna via Linz. Evening and fireworks trips are also organized in summer. Further information from Donauschifffahrt Wurm + Köck, Tel. +49 851-929 292.
