How To Reach Austria

A beautiful fairytale country in central Europe, Austria is a German-speaking land that is home to sunning mountain villages flanked by rivers and forests, with cities at the foothills. The architecture here is from a different era altogether and the imperial gothic feel with baroque buildings and cobblestone streets just take your breath away. Already in the mood for some Austrian idyllic holidays? Well, well, it is good because we have a little list here to help you reach Austria.

Vienna International Airport (VIE) is Austria’s premiere major international airport and is the most preferred place to land when flying from India. You have flights from Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore, the former being 6 hour long and the latter two 7 hours each. While in Austria, you have the option of choosing domestic flights to travel from city to city. You have options of airlines like Austrian Airlines, Eurowings Europe, easyJet, Niki airlines etc. To talk about transport from the Vienna Airport, you have private cabs as well as shuttle buses to take you to the city centre.

Austria is well-laid with railways and boasts of an intricate network that is as efficient as it is beautiful to traverse. You can travel to Austria from countries like Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein and Slovakia. The national railway service provider is Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). The hub of this operator is Vienna, boasting of two stations - Wien Westbahnhof and Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof. You can travel from these stations to other Austrian cities like Salzburg, Graz, Innsbruck, Linz etc. Some of these cities have a tram network too.

Austria has ratified with the Schengen Agreement, which means the country does not have any control over the borders where the member countries of this treaty are concerned. You can cross the border between 7 in the morning and 9 in the evening by road (bus, car, taxis). You will also be amazed to know that Austria falls on the map of major European routes like E 49, E 59, E 58, E 60 etc and hence is quite easy to traverse.

Local transport in Austria is basically the cheapest and most cost-effective on ground. Air travel will be on the more expensive side. So it is recommended you take the train between cities, sit back and enjoy the lovely scenery. Trains are very fast (143 miles/hour), offer WiFi and three classes of services. Buses are also a good bet. The drive-yourself option for those who want to hire a car needs some preparation because a lot of Austrian land is mountain terrain and requires some great driving skills to manoeuvre. Within a city, the best ways to commute is by hiring bicycles or a car. Places like Salzburg, Innsbruck and Graz have tram networks too.