Tacony Palmyra

Haven't been to Vienna in a decade and I understand that there is now an intercity/Railjet station at the airport itself. But I'm having a bit of trouble understanding the best way to get from Vienna Airport to the (relatively new, apparently) consolidated main "Hauptbahnhof" train station (which is where the "Südbahnhof" station used to be).

Must I take the S-Bahn (or the CAT train) and transfer? I would think I could just grab an intercity train and travel the 1 stop, but that doesn't seem to really be presented as an option anywhere online. Is that not allowed?

I'm thinking maybe all the information online may just be out of date, before direct airport service on the rail was established? Or despite it being an option, it's not suggested for some reason? (Lack of frequency? Expense?)

For instance, here: http://www.viennaairport.com/en/pass...burban_railway

It seems to suggest that I can get to Linz or Salzburg on IC Railjet via Wein Hbf, but to get to Wein itself I have to take the S7 (which takes longer to get to Wein Mitt and then I have to transfer).

The short, direct trip sounds much more pleasant with luggage. Can I do this? Do I just buy a regular ticket to the city the same way and just jump on the next train that arrives? Is the frequency really bad?

Thanks in advance!

Non-NonRev

Addressing only rail from the airport:

If you want to go from the airport to Linz or to Salzburg, you do not have to go into Vienna.

Instead, go to the OBB website and plug in, from Flughafen Wien to Salzburg Hbf. Pick a time after 08:00 and you will see Intercity or Rail jet services that do no require a transfer:

http://www.oebb.at/en/

mherdeg

I flew through VIE in April and spent a week in the area, including transit from the airport to a suburban rail station, taking a bunch of various forms of public transit, and taking a few different Viennese rail services (to Bratislava and to Ljubljana).

For the journey you have planned the Viennese national rail site is pretty good — check out http://www.oebb.at/en/ . It will show you options on both a real train and via the commuter service on the local public transit network.

Direct rail service does run at least every half hour to Wien Hbf; I think the unrestricted fare on that sector is like €8.60. This service is a longer haul train line which happens to run thru the Vienna airport and main train stations en route from (somewhere in Austria) to (somewhere else in Austria). Almost like taking Amtrak from EWR to NYP. It's faster.

You can also book local Vienna public transit; I seem to recall from http://www.wienerlinien.at/ that a single ticket valid for one hour of transit on the network is €2.20. It's slower, but not a huge deal.

(Vienna's main train station is not QUITE at the city center, and the S7 public transit train which runs from the airport to the city center does not go directly to the main train station — you do need to change lines. It's not difficult. There are actually a bunch of different, almost equally good, routing options to get there.)

daKav

If you happen to use public transport within Vienna, just dont rely blindly on Google maps. It just wouldn't pull up underground metro lines (U1 through U4) and try and route via longer walking routes

deniah

just use a consolidated search like www.anachb.at

or the local transport's official engine

http://www.wienerlinien.at/eportal3/...annelId/-46649

both websites are equally good, and includes regional trains, local trains, and special airport train (cat).

depending on timing of arrival, you can have single stops or even direct trains on the railjet.

if you need to get to city center, there is also the option of the bus.

all told, there are a variety of options, are all quite good, and depends on where you ultimately want to go and when. (straight to linz or salzburg as fast as possible?)

google maps will show all metro lines. they also show tram lines, and bus stops, but in a much less good way. and also not integrated into the routing search.

Revilo199

What is your final destination?




There is a very easy way to figure this out. Click here:http://fahrplan.oebb.at/bin/query.exe/en?

Enter your Origin and Destination. VIE is "Flughafen Wien".

It gives you the best routes available.

Then click "Tickets and Prices" to book the connection.

railways

The fare from the airport to the central area on the S-bahn is €4.40, since you need to pay for two zones.

Regarding the IC/Railjet direct trains to Hauptbahnhof, you can use a Vienna zonal ticket on these too, so the fare is the same - €4.40. Do not buy a ticket for this journey on the OeBB website, because you will pay the OeBB tariff, as quoted by mherdeg. The ticket machines at the airport will sell you the €4.40 (Vienna zonal tariff) ticket only for this journey.

mherdeg

Cool, thanks. Lost my ticket and my transit map already. And it is really hard to find a zonal map of Vienna public transit which shows that the Flughafen station is in zone 101 (vs. most of the city in zone 100).

Wow, I had no idea! That is a great deal. Would a Vienna zonal ticket also be valid on the IC/Railjet service from Flughafen station to Wien Meidling? That was my destination during my recent trip, and I ended up going there via the S-Bahn + U-Bahn but if I had known the zonal ticket was valid on rail I would have used the train.

railways

Yes, anywhere in Zone 100.

EkekoBWI

Resurrecting an old thread with a similar question as OP. I'm very excited to be staying at DO & CO Hotel Vienna. It appears to be right across from the Stephansplatz U-bahn stop. But it also appears that any trip from VIE with baggage requires walking, transfers, and more walking.

Is the best idea for a mid-day arrival at VIE to take Uber, hotel car (EU 40, they told me), or am I missing a convenient, quick way?

FlyingJoy

Whenever I'm in Vienna, I always stay at the Hotel am Stephansplatz (a few steps from the DO & CO) and IMO you can very easily take public transport, especially at that time of day. It only involves one quick transfer which is all undercover, clearly signed, and IME, easily done even with luggage. All the major stations in Vienna have elevators. Stephansplatz is considered the absolute centre of Vienna, and as such, it has great connections. It's truly the perfect spot to stay in, as a visitor!

---

This is what I always do:

1) Take the S7 from Vienna Airport to Wien Mitte-Landstraße. (It's a combined S-Bahn/U-Bahn station, hence the two names). And refer to the above posts - you could also take an IC or Railjet using the same type of ticket.

2) At Wien Mitte-Landstraße, transfer to the U-Bahn; specifically, to the U3 (orange line) going towards Ottakring. Just two quick stops and you're at Stephansplatz, right at the doorstep of your hotel

---

*A note on ticketing: the airport is outside the Vienna transport zone, so if you're buying a single-trip ticket, make sure you get a two-zone ticket which covers Vienna and Schwechat. Alternatively, if you're planning on buying a multi-day transport pass for Vienna: buy the pass at the airport, and then on top of that, buy a €2.20 one-time zone supplement to cover the trip from the airport. All ticket machines have clear English instructions; otherwise, go to a counter.

*Word of caution: make sure to validate your ticket - they are really strict on this.

*I have also used the airport shuttle Postbus before, but I'm yet to find one which stops right on Stephansplatz, so it's actually less convenient.

deniah

Sorta depends on your budget, luggage, timing requirement, and tolerance, doesn't it?

Stephansplatz is accessible with a *single* transfer onto subway at Praterstern or Mitte or Hbf. Those 3 stations are accessible by S7 or IC or RJ or the CAT.

Even ignoring the bus, this means a lot of permutation of options going to destination from airport, requiring a single same-station transfer, available from sunrise to midnight.

Just use the aforementioned website to punch in times as needed.

Otherwise the Uber is a 30 Eur flat fee with very good availability.

EkekoBWI

As it turned out, we opted for the easiest option: DO & CO arranged a car for us from and to VIE. Heavy traffic on a Thurs PM resulted in a :45 door-to-door trip; virtually empty streets early on a Sunday AM took not more than :25. With a road closure ("adding a next exit"), both trips were a little longer than typical. This particular hotel being in a pedestrian zone, we had to walk a block with the bags. With big bags, I'd do the same again; traveling light, U-bahn would seem to make the most sense.

RichardInSF

One of our party used the Uber E30 deal and thought it was quite good.

I took the subway from the Park Hyatt to the Hauptbahnhof -- 1 stop on line 1, transfering to (I think) 3 stops on line 2. It's about a 4 minute walk from the hotel to the closest line 1 station. You will have to take your bags down one flight of stairs (coming up there is an escalator) but after that, no more stairs, always an escalator or lift.

From the Hbf there are two trains an hour to the airport, same frequency as the overpriced CAT train.