Vienna - Getting There
By train:
Trains from western regions and from Hungary terminate at the Westbahnhof, situated on the outer ring road or Gürtel, 2 km west of the centre close to Mariahilferstrasse, Vienna’s brashest shopping street. From here the U-Bahn metro line U3 leads directly into the city centre. Trains from eastern Europe, Italy and the Balkans arrive at the Südbahnhof, 2 km south of the centre. from here tram “D” goes down
Prinz-Eugen-Strasse to Schwarzenbergplatz and the Ring. Some trains arrive ar Wien-Nord (North of centre, take U-Bahn Praterstern) or at Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof, connected to the Ring by tram “D".
By bus:
Most international buses arrive at Vienna’s main bus terminal beside Wien-Mitte, on the eastern edge of the city centre (U-Bahn Landstrasse).
By plane:
Vienna’s airport is called Wien-Schwechat and is located 20 km outside the centre. It is connected to the city centre by the S-Bahn-line S7, which runs underneath the airport. Trains leave every 30min, taking half an hour to reach Wien-Mitte, near the Ring. In addition, there is a reguler bus, which runs every 20 min o the City Air Terminal, next door to Wien-Mitte. Other buss run from the airport to both main train stations.
Related Travel Information
Vienna - Sights
Vienna has a compact historical centre, bound to the northeast by the Danube canal and surrounded on all other sides by the majestic sweep of the Ringstrasse. From here, the main arteries of communication radiate outwards. Most of the important sights are concentrated in this tourist-clogged district and along the Ring, but a lot of essential Vienna lies beyond it, in the initially forbidding grid of barracks-like 19th century apartment blocks. There are also outlaying sights, such as Schloss Schönbrunn, or the funfair and parklands of the Prater. To discover Vienna by walking needs more than only some
Vienna - Getting Around
Vienna has an exellent public transport system of trams, busses and subways. Since it's a large town and there's not much (free) parking space available, public transport is the easiest and cheapest way to get around. You can get a wide range of tickets, including tickets valid for an hour (22 schilling), 24 Hrs. (60 schilling), 8 days (300 schilling), etc. The advantage of an 8 day-ticket is that it doesn't have to be 8 consecutive days. It doesn't even have to be 8 days, you can use it for more than one person at a time,
Vienna - History
Most visitors connect Vienna with a romantic place full of Habsburg nostalgia and musical resonances. It is, still today, but more.
The first settlement of any substance was Roman. The city was called Vindobona, but was in fact never more than a garrison town. It was only with the rise of the Babenberg clan in the tenth century that Vienna became an important city. In the 1278 the city fell to Rudolf of Habsburg, but had to compete for centuries with Prague, Linz and Graz as the imperial residence on account of its vulnerability to attack from the Turks,
Vienna - Accommodation
Vienna offers its visitors a wide range and choice of rooms of every quality level, especially for those who are able and willing to splash out. However, extreme pressure on the cheaper accommodations end of the market means that booking ahead is essential in summer, and advisable during the rest of the year. It is hard to find anything affordable in the central area, and the cheapest double rooms within reach of it will set you back at least 350 ÖS a person. The best hunting grounds for cheap accommodation are in the western districts between the Ring
Vienna - Eating Out
Austria's cooking is great. If you like flummeries, pastries and sweets, it is the paradise on earth. These dishes are not necessarily served as a dessert, they can also be a complete main dish. The traditional venue for eating out in Vienna is the Beisl, an intimate neighbourhood place, somewhere between restaurant and pub, providing good home cooking and a cosy refuge for local beer drinkers. There are plenty of these both within and beyond the Ring. The best places to look are districts 6,7 and 8.
Vienna is also the true home of the traditional Kaffeehaus or
