Public Transport in Vienna.

General information - Austria

Currency: Euro (EUR) of 100 cents - 1 UK pound = approx €1.45; $1 US = approx €0.78.

Coins are from all twelve Eurozone countries are valid in Austria. They come in values of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 cents, and €1 and €2. Coins from all the Eurozone countries share the same designs on the obverse, but the reverse side is a specific design for each country. Coins produced for Austria have three different subjects: the copper-coloured 1-5 cent pieces depict flowers (1c - gentian, 2c - edelweiss, 5c - alpine primrose); the golden coloured 10-50 cent coins depict Vienna buildings (10c - St Stephen's Cathedral, 20c - Belvedere Palace, 50c - Secession building); and the bimetallic euro value coins depict Austrian personages (€1 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, €2 - Bertha von Suttner).

Banknotes are issued by the European Central Bank (ECB -- EZB in the German abbreviation) in values of €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200, and €500. Because Austria always had a tradition of using low-value banknotes, there has been some pressure on the ECB from Austria (and Greece and Italy) to issue €1 and €2 banknotes, so far unsuccessfully.

Vienna has one of the most integrated public transport systems I have ever come across. The city of Vienna forms the central region (kernzone) of the VOR - Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region (Eastern Region Transport Union), which extends from St. Pölten, around 50 miles west of Vienna, all the way to the Slovak and Hungarian borders to the east of the city. Single public transport tickets are expensive, but a 72-hour ticket (72-Stunden Wien-Netzkarte) valid for use on all trams, buses, U-bahn (metro) and S-bahn (suburban railways) in VOR Zone 100 (all the tourist areas and more!) can be bought from automatic machines for about the price of 6 or 7 ordinary tickets, or else buy the ticket from the tourist information office at the principal railway stations). Validate the ticket in the "Entwerter" at the entrance to U-bahn stations or on the tram or bus to time and date-stamp it to start your 72 hours. I strongly recommend buying one of these tickets, and you should buy a map of the city showing all U-bahn, railway, tram and bus routes (numbered) from the information office at the main U-bahn stations (Stephansplatz and Karlsplatz). Travelling without a ticket ("schwartzfahren", black riding) is possible, but not recommended -- if you get caught then it's a fine of €62 (but you do get a free trip to a police station!); remember, a monthly travel pass is considerably cheaper!

 Prices of tickets, 2005. All prices are for tickets valid in Zone 100 only.
 Single Ticket  €1.50 bought in advance, €2 bought individually.
 Vienna Shopping Ticket  €4 (day ticket, valid 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Mon-Sat, not valid on public holidays)
 The Vienna Card  €16.90 - valid 72 hours, plus gives discounts or benefits at museums, sights, theatres, concerts, shops, restaurants and cafes. Buy from hotels, Tourist Information offices, at Wiener Linien sales counters and information offices, or by phone if you're outside Vienna.
 24 hour Network ticket  €5
 72 hour Network ticket  €12
 8 day season ticket  €24
 Weekly travel pass  €12.50, valid Monday to Sunday.
 Monthly travel pass  €45, valid for one calendar month.
 Annual travel pass  €417, valid for twelve calendar months. Photograph required, and pass must be ordered from the Wiener Linien head office.

For an extremely comprehensive guide to the Vienna U-bahn and S-bahn system, including its history, with plenty of detailed maps and photographs, take a look at Horst Prillinger's excellent unofficial site, which since he's actually in Vienna will be a lot more up-to-date than this site!

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© Arwel Parry, 1997 - 2006.

Last updated: 08-06-2006.

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