Vienna

Currency

Euro. Vienna is card-friendly but Austrians still like cash — some coffee houses and Heuriger wine taverns are cash only.

ATMs & cards

Erste Bank, Bank Austria and Raiffeisen machines are reliable. Refuse conversion. Independent machines in the Innere Stadt charge €3-5.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

Consistently rated among the world’s safest and most liveable cities. Standard big-city awareness around Praterstern station is all you need.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Worth having

• Routine vaccinations up to date
• Tick-borne encephalitis — Austria has one of the highest rates in Europe and the vaccine is routine for residents

Getting treated

EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment. Mountain rescue is superb and is charged for; check your insurance covers it before hiking or skiing.

Ticks in forest and meadow up to about 1,500m, from spring to autumn.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

A proper Viennese coffee house lets you sit for hours over one mélange. Order Wiener schnitzel made from veal if you want the real thing — pork is the cheaper substitute.

Getting around

• U-Bahn — 5 lines, immaculate, runs all night on weekends
• Tram — the Ring tram loops past most of the grand architecture
• Walking — the first district is small and entirely walkable
• Bike — excellent infrastructure and the WienMobil share scheme
• Airport: City Airport Train to Wien Mitte (16 min, €14) or S7 train (25 min, €4.30)

Must-see

Things to do

• Tour Schönbrunn Palace and gardens
• See Klimt at the Belvedere
• Get standing-room opera tickets for a few euros
• Sit out an afternoon in a coffee house
• Ride the Prater ferris wheel
• Visit a Heuriger wine tavern in Grinzing

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

German

• HelloGuten TagGOO-ten tahk
• PleaseBitteBI-tuh
• Thank youDankeDAN-kuh
• Yes / NoJa / Neinya / nine
• Excuse meEntschuldigungent-SHOOL-di-gung
• How much is it?Was kostet das?vas KOS-tet das
• The bill, pleaseDie Rechnung, bittedee REKH-nung
• Cheers!Prost!prohst

Religion

Catholic

Catholic in tradition and calendar — many shops close on religious holidays that are not obvious to visitors.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Use titles and surnames until invited otherwise; formality is real here
• Say Grüß Gott, which is the standard greeting rather than hallo
• Dress well for the opera, concerts and even a good coffee house
• Take your time in a coffee house — one order buys you the afternoon

Don't

• Do not call Austrians German, and do not assume the accents are interchangeable
• Do not be late; punctuality is close to a moral matter
• Do not talk loudly in public spaces
• Do not skip greeting shop staff on entering