Tips and Tricks for Visiting Vienna, Austria
This past week I traveled to Vienna, Austria to see my fiancé. We spent most of our time in the city but also took a few day trips, including one to Bratislava, Slovakia, and another to Semmering, a small ski town in Austria. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when traveling to Austria. I did not know much about the country, and I was unsure what the city would be like. I can now say with confidence that Vienna is an incredible city full of beautiful architecture, delicious cafes and restaurants, and friendly, welcoming people. My fiancé and I had the best time during our stay in Austria, and we learned a lot about the people, culture, and how to navigate the city. We also picked up a few tips and tricks along the way that I hope will help anyone who is looking to travel to Vienna in the future.
Tips & Tricks
Buy the Weekly Public Transport Ticket
There are three main ways to travel through the city in Vienna; bus, railcar, and the metro. All three count towards the weekly transit ticket, which can be purchased at any metro station ticket kiosk, as well as at the ticket kiosk on the railcars. The weekly tickets include every form of public transportation and are valid from Monday-Monday. These tickets are such a great deal if you are going to be staying in Vienna for a week, or even a few days, as we were able to explore the city so easily using public transit, and the tickets only cost €17.10. They also have 24, 48, and 72-hour tickets available, but the deal for the weekly ticket is the best (a daily ticket is €5.80, 24 hours is €8.00, 48 hours is €14.10, and the 72-hour ticket is the same price as the weekly ticket). After a few trips the ticket paid off, and after using public transit every day multiple times a day, we would have spent way more than €17.10 if we were buying single-use or daily tickets.
Download the Google Translate App
Unless you speak/are able to read German, the Google Translate app will be your best friend while you’re in Austria. Many restaurants and places in Vienna have menus or guides available in other languages, however, if you are outside of the city center where tourism is more common, there may not be an English option (or your home language option) available. Nearly everyone we came into contact with during our trip knew English, so we were very fortunate to get help from those we spoke with, who were more than happy to answer any of our questions or give us directions. However, when we wanted to do some translating on our own, the Google Translate app made it incredibly easy. You can either type in the words you would like to translate or hold the camera above the text you wish to translate and it will translate it in real time into whatever language you need. This was the coolest feature, and we used this often to read menus while we were out at restaurants.
Find Accommodation Outside of the City Center
Although the city center is beautiful and the location is unbeatable in terms of easy access to all of the sites and attractions, you will save so much money by staying in one of the outer boroughs of Vienna. My fiancé and I opted for an Airbnb that was about 25 minutes outside of the city center, and by doing so we saved about €50-100 per night. Because of the efficient public transit system in place in Vienna, we were easily able to get from our Airbnb to the city center. We were also able to get even more living space by renting an apartment on Airbnb, whereas if we had stayed in a hotel, we would have paid more money for less space. Plus, having a kitchen in our apartment was a great feature that allowed us to have the option to buy our own food at a grocery store and cook for ourselves, which again is a good way to save some money. I would highly recommend looking for a place to stay outside of the city center for these reasons, and then you might even be able to put some of the money you saved towards fun experiences in the city.
Book Experiences on Airbnb
In other cities I have visited while traveling, I have found that the best experiences have been ones I booked on Airbnb. Locals to the place you are visiting are usually the guides for these experiences, and activities can range from walking tours, cooking classes, food tours, and private concerts, to even more thrilling experiences, like plane rides, snow-shoeing, or even rides in a real dog sled. The experiences all range based on your location and what the hosts have available for the time you are there. We decided we wanted to take a walking tour, but we wanted to find someone on Airbnb, as the hosts are usually locals that are running their own small businesses. We found this walking tour hosted by a local named Hannes that was the best at telling stories and made the walking tour such a fun experience. We got to see all the sites, learn the history, and hear some great jokes that made the experience even more memorable. Plus, our group was small and so the tour felt more personal than if we had done a tour with one of the large tour companies. I would highly recommend this walking tour, and would definitely recommend finding an experience on Airbnb while you’re in the city.
Get the Wise International Currency Card
This is more of a general travel tip, as you can transfer money to this debit card in any of the 21 currencies that the company offers. I previously had the Travelex card, but they recently halted operations in the United States and closed out any cards held by United States citizens. I loved using that card, as it was the easiest way for me to instantly transfer money from my bank account to the card in whatever currency I needed. Plus, the card had no fees, which was great for making purchases and withdrawals from local ATMs. The Wise card is nearly the same, and it comes with an easy-to-use app that allows you to make money transfers easily and instantly directly from your bank account. The conversion rates were good, and it was great knowing that I had a card pre-loaded with Euros that would work at any location when I needed it to. You can have multiple currencies loaded on the card at one time, which is very convenient if you are on a trip where you will be in countries with different currencies. The card costs nine dollars to open, but to me, it is worth it for the assurance that I have a working way to pay for things while I am traveling. I would recommend looking into this card, it was very useful to me while I was in Austria, and I know I will be using it again for travel in the future.
I hope that these tips are helpful for anyone who is looking to travel to Vienna. I know that I was unsure of what to expect when going to Vienna, and I think I could have benefitted from knowing these few bits of information before I went. We loved the time we spent in Austria, and I know we both hope we will get to go back someday to experience even more of what the country has to offer.
