Vienna City Guide - Getting There By Road

Austria has an excellent network of roads, with Autobahnen (motorways indicated by an ‘A') between major centres and connecting to the ‘E' trans-European routes. Bundesstrassen (national roads) have a ‘B' prefix. Traffic drives on the right. Speed limits are 130kph (81mph) on motorways, 100kph (62mph) on main roads and 50kph (31mph) in built-up areas. Tolls are payable on a number of mountain roads, tunnels, motorways and main roads. Toll stickers (Autobahnvignette), which must be attached to the windscreen, are valid for either 10 days, two months or one year and can be purchased from tobacconists, border-crossing points, filling stations near the border and from automobile clubs ARBÖ (website: www.arboe.or.at) and ÖAMTC (website: www.oeamtc.at).

The minimum driving age in Austria is 18 years and drivers must carry a European driving licence or an International Driving Permit. Third party insurance is mandatory. Seat belts must be worn and children under 12 years old may not sit in the front seat. The legal maximum alcohol to blood ratio for driving is 0.05%. Winter tyres are essential during the colder season and travellers who require snow chains can hire them at major border-crossing points.

Information on road conditions is available in English from the Austrian Automobile Club (tel: 0810 120 120; website: www.oeamtc.at). Regular road reports in German automatically interrupt the chosen radio station on car radios.

Emergency breakdown services: ARBÖ (tel: 123) or ÖAMTC (tel: 120).

Routes to the city: The Westautobahn (A1) connects Vienna to Linz, Salzburg and Western Europe. The Südautobahn (A2) leads to Graz, Klagenfurt and the Italian border. The Ostautobahn (A4) passes the airport on its way to Bratislava and Budapest. The A22 connects the city to Prague, in the north.

Approximate driving times to Vienna: From Linz - 2 hours; Budapest - 2 hours 35 minutes; Salzburg - 3 hours.

Coach services: Eurolines Austria (tel: (01) 798 2900; website: www.eurolines.at) offers coach services throughout Europe, departing from their bus station at the U3 U-Bahn station Erdberg and occasionally from Südbahnhof. Coach services within Austria are operated in partnership with Blaguss Internationale Buslinien, Stubenring 4 (tel: (01) 213 100; website: www.blaguss.com). National services are also provided by Postbus (tel: (01) 71101; website: www.postbus.at) and a number of private operators.