ASUDan130

Hello, What is the best way to get to Vienna airport from the main train station for a 645 AM flight? Looks like the trains don't leave until well after 5 AM. So is my only option a taxi/uber?

roberta_h

the first local train (S7) from wien-mitte to the airport leaves at 4:19a, arriving at 4:42a -- should get there in plenty of time for a 6:45a flight

S7 runs every half hour so you could probably even take the ~4:45a or ~5:15a one

i usually take the 5:15a train from praterstern for 6:55a flights w/ and w/out checked bags, no problems so far...

caverunner17

The airport is dead at that time in the morning. We had a 6:25 flight yesterday and arrived at 5am and we literally walked directly up to security and were at our gate by 5:10am. I'd say we could have gotten there by 5:30-5:45 and still had plenty of time (hand baggage only).

penguintalk

I befriended an Austrian on my flight from Munich and he insisted I have his girlfriend drive me to my destination when we arrived in Vienna. This has brought two issues to bear:

A) I have no idea how to get to the airport when it comes time to leave. I am staying off neubaugasse metro stop. Google maps seems to be missing options as it says it would take about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the airport, and that seems way too long to be correct.

B) My friend and I were so enthralled in our conversation when we deplaned that we both walked out through the "EU citizens/nothing to declare" exit in Vienna's airport. So the only stamp I have is one from my layover that says "Flughafen Munchen." I didn't even think about this lack of an arrival stamp in Vienna until we were already a good 10-minute drive from the airport. Any thoughts on how much of an issue this will be when going to depart? Will showing the transit stamp from Munich and the Lufthansa electronic ticket from my flight be good enough to not have a problem?

craz

From what I remember if you fly into VIE from any other EU Country then the PP isnt stamped, sort of flying from NY to FL. The same applies no matter which 2 EU countrys you're flying between

JBord

Right, since the passport was stamped in MUC, the poster easily could have taken the train or driven to Vienna.

roberta_h

you can take the U3 metro from neubaugasse to landstrasse/wien mitte (direction simmering); from wien mitte take the S7 train to the airport (runs every half hour and takes ~30min)

you can also take the CAT (city airport train) from wien mitte (more expensive, but nonstop/quicker)

:D!

This is inaccurate.

In general there are no passport checks by government officials between Germany and Austria because both countries are in the Schengen area, not just because both are in the EU. However as we have seen in the past 12 months governments can sometimes introduce passport checks.

Several EU countries are not in the Schengen area (notably the UK) and and several non-EU countries are in the Schengen area (notably Switzerland).

When you arrived in Vienna you didn't pass through an "EU citizens" exit. You passed through a channel for "arrivals from the EU", which happened to be the same channel as "nothing to declare".

Your new friend was probably flying from Germany so that was the correct exit for him, and he probably expected that you had nothing to declare, so he did not stop his conversation with you and just walked through.

On your return trip there will be no passport control / stamps until you depart Munich.

JBord

Correct, it's Schengen.

But the OP still does not need to worry, as his passport was stamped in Munich. Even if he had been checked when crossing into Austria, he was fine.

Question though...when they are doing random passport checks now, which I believe was happening for a while at the Germany-Austria border near Salzburg, are they stamping passports or just doing a visual check?

craz

After Paris and Brussels attacks things may change somewhat. But at times when going from Schengen to Schengen Ive walked as if I flew NY-MIA. I do remember 1 time having to give in my passport and it was checked w/o any stamping and when I asked for a stamp was told we dont have them here any longer at these counters

Revilo199

A) Take the U3 towards Simmering, get off at Landstraße/Wien Mitte. Walk over to the train platforms and take an S7 train towards "Flughafen Wien" or "Wolfsthal". Trains leave at xx:19 and xx:49 of every hour and take 23 minutes.

B) Immigration and customs are two entirely seperate things in the Schengen Area. Immigration is done at your first point of entry into the Schengen Area, which was Munich. You have been correctly stamped into Schengen at Munich Airport.

Customs is done at your final destination, in your case Vienna. By walking through the green exit you basically said "I have nothing to declare" which I can only assume was true. Absolutely nothing to get worried about.

GUWonder

Just visual checks (in the main). I've been thru intra-Schengen checks several dozen times in the past few quarters; and yet my US passport has not been checked against any scanner nor has it been stamped at these "temporary" intra-Schengen checkpoints.

FWIW, on my exits from Schengen, it's rare that passport control finds a stamp for my most recent Schengen entries.

penguintalk

I ended up doing the CAT train just because it was the next one coming, I liked that I could check my bags and get my ticket right there at the train station, and ~10 euros doesn't seem like much of an inconvenience when I had that much in change in my pocket left over from the trip.

Just wanted to post that everyone saying not to worry was correct. Got home safe and sound. The only real "issue" was I left my Premium Economy Lufthansa amenities kit on the plane so will never know what I missed out on, ha.

Thanks everyone!