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.