Travel Tips Austria for planning and on the go

Costs

Daily budget Basic €60 /occasional treat €80. Drink Beer (0.5l €4), wine or coffee €3. Food Schnitzel €10 Hostel/budget hotel €22/€65 Travel Train: Graz–Vienna €37.30; Vienna–Salzburg €25.50

Emergencies

Austria is law-abiding and reasonably safe. Dial 059133 for the nearest police station (Polizei). Pharmacies (Apotheke) follow shopping hours; a rota covers night-time and weekend opening, with details posted in pharmacy windows.

Emergency numbers include: police 133; ambulance 144; fire 122.

Information

Tourist offices (usually Information, Tourismusverband, Verkehrsamt or Fremdenverkehrsverein) are plentiful, often hand out free maps and almost always book accommodation.

Internet

Internet access is widespread (€2–5/hr) and many hostels and hotels have wi-fi.

www.austria.info Austrian Tourist Board website.

www.oebb.at Train website; including excellent English-language journey planner.

www.tiscover.com Detailed information on all regions of the country.

www.wienerzeitung.at Website of the official Vienna city authorities’ newspaper.

For unlimited Wi-Fi on the go whilst travelling Austria, buy a Skyroam Solis, which works in 130+ countries at one flat daily rate, paid for on a pay-as-you-go basis. You can connect up to five devices at once. Prices start from as little as €5 a day.

Mail

Most post offices are open Monday to Friday 8am to noon and 2 to 6pm; in larger cities they stay open through lunch and also open Saturday morning. Stamps can also be bought at tobacconists (Tabak-Trafik). Telekom Austria is the main mobile phone network and also operates call boxes; other mobile networks are T-Mobile and 3. You can search the phone book free online (wherold.at). Most hostels and hotels have wi-fi, and some cities, including Vienna, Salzburg and Linz, have free public wi-fi hotspots.

Money and banks

Austria’s currency is the euro (€). Banking hours tend to be Monday to Friday 8am to 12.30pm and 1.30 to 3pm; Thursday until 5.30pm. Banks charge less commission than exchange bureaux.

Opening hours and public holidays

Most shops are open all day Monday to Saturday, though out of cities they can close at lunch and on Saturday afternoons. Many cafés, restaurants and bars also have a weekly Ruhetag (closing day). Shops and banks close, and most museums have reduced hours, on public holidays: January 1, January 6, Easter Monday, May 1, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, Corpus Christi, August 15, October 26, November 1, December 8, December 24-6.

Phones

You can make international calls from all public phones, but it’s easier to do so from booths at larger post offices. The operator and directory enquiries number is 118 11.

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