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St Charles Cathedral, Vienna

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Austria

Travel to Vienna

Flying to Vienna

Airlines offering direct flights to Vienna from the UK include Austrian Airways, British Airways, bmi and easyJet.

Flight times: 

From London - 2 hours 10 minutes; New York - 8 hours 50 minutes; Los Angeles - 12 hours 30 minutes; Toronto - 8 hours 45 minutes; Sydney - 22 hours 15 minutes.

Travel by road

Summary:

Austria has an excellent network of roads. Traffic drives on the right and the minimum driving age is 18 years. Speed limits are 130kph (81mph) on motorways, 100kph (62mph) on main roads and 50kph (31mph) in built-up areas. Drivers must carry a European driving licence or an International Driving Permit and third-party insurance is mandatory. 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 and from automobile clubs ARBÖ (www.arboe.or.at) and ÖAMTC (www.oeamtc.at).

Emergency breakdown service:

ARBÖ (tel: 123); ÖAMTC (tel: 120).

Routes:

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.

Driving times:

From Linz – 2 hours; Budapest – 2 hours 35 minutes; Salzburg – 3 hours.

Coaches:

Eurolines Austria (tel: (01) 798 2900; 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) 610 900 or (01) 501 80100; www.blaguss.com). National services are also provided by Postbus (tel: (01) 71101; www.postbus.at) and a number of private operators.

Travel by rail

Services:

Österreichischen Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) (tel: 051 717; www.oebb.at) operates the rail network in Austria. In addition to the usual onboard services (restaurant and bar cars, snack trolleys and telephones), ÖBB offers mini-office compartments (with power points for laptop computers) and women-only compartments.

Vienna's major rail stations and their U-Bahn connections are Westbahnhof, Europaplatz, on the U3 and U6, Südbahnhof, Südtirolerplatz, on the U1, Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof, Franz-Josefs Platz, on the U4, and Wien Mitte, Landstrasse Hauptstrasse 1, on the U3 and U4.

Operators:

Intercity trains within Austria follow the main eastbound route from Bregenz to Vienna (journey time – 8 to 9 hours) via Innsbruck, Salzburg and Linz, or travel north from Graz (journey time – 2 hours 30 minutes) or Klagenfurt (journey time – 4 hours 30 minutes), via Bruck an der Mur. There are departures to the major cities at least once every two hours. Domestic rail services pass through breathtaking Alpine scenery but unfortunately this is bypassed by the majority of international services. Travellers should watch out for the stunning view of the Melk Abbey on the main line approaching Vienna from the west.

There are international services from most Central and Eastern European capitals. Trains are available from most Western European countries, including Paris (journey time – 14 hours) and Berlin (journey time – 11 hours) and from as far east as Moscow (although this journey takes one and a half days). The service to Prague takes about 4 hours.

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