Airport
Vienna International Airport
IATA Code: VIELocation: The airport is located 11 miles (18km) southeast of Vienna.
Time: GMT +1 (GMT +2 between April to October).
Contacts: Tel: +43 (0)1 7007 22233 (24-hour telephone information service).
Transfer to the city: Local trains and buses leave regularly for Vienna. There is also a City Airport Train, which provides a fast and direct service to the centrally located City Air Terminal that is connected to the underground, bus and tram networks. Trains depart every 30 minutes and operate between 6:05am to 11:35pm costing EUR9 for the 16 minute ride. The S7 train also connects with Vienna every 30 minutes, although the ride is a bit longer with several stops. Taxis are available to the city centre from the arrivals hall (Tel: +43 7007 35910) and can be found outside the arrivals hall. A bus service takes 20 minutes to the city centre every 30 minutes between 6:20am and 12:20am and costs EUR7.
Taxis: There are taxis available from in front of the arrivals hall, call +43 7007 35910 to arrange bookings. The taxi fare is metered and will be about EUR35 to the city centre, and the drive takes around 30 minutes.
Car rental: Car hire companies include Avis, Hertz, Budget, Sixt and Thrifty.
Facilities: There are more than 70 shops, including duty-free, as well as various restaurants and bars in both terminals. Bureaux de change and banks are available. Other facilities include airline lounges, luggage storage, business centres, Internet cafes and wireless Internet access, and a medical centre.
Parking: Short- and long-term parking is available. The parking lots and multi-storey car parks are connected to the terminal by signposted footpaths.
Departure tax: None.
Website: www.viennaairport.com
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Vienna
It is difficult not to be moved to hum a Brahms lullaby or a Strauss waltz as you explore the sights of Austria's beautiful Baroque capital, Vienna, which for centuries was the centre of the splendid Hapsburg Empire. The city remains infused with the grand imperial spirit in the form of magnificent palaces and grand mansions peppering the Innerestadt. The city's cultural heritage is mainly musical, the great composers like Strauss, Brahms, Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn and Mozart all having lived and performed here. Today the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the State Opera House help keep alive the city's tradition by offering more classical music performances a year than any other city in the world.
Vienna is a city of music, but it is also synonymous with gourmet fare, cream cakes, superb coffee, the angelic strains of the Vienna Boys' Choir and the proud prancing of the Lippizaner stallions at the world-famous Spanish Riding School.
Vienna started out as a Celtic settlement on the banks of the Danube and became one of the Roman's most important central European bases. Its central location on the strategic river contributed to the city becoming a mighty empire, reaching its peak during the tumultuous reign of the dazzling Hapsburg dynasty. At the end of the 19th century the golden age of empire began to decline as Vienna's coffee houses filled with radical intellectuals like Freud, Klimt and Mahler. The Second World War Nazi occupation left scars, but Vienna survived it all to remain a captivating capital that blends Italian romanticism with a Germanic orderliness.
Most of the city's tourist attractions are within the largely pedestrianised inner city area, which was once enclosed by the city walls. The walls have been replaced with the Ringstrasse, a wide ring road. Further out in the suburbs is the thrilling Prater amusement park with its massive ferris wheel, and the opulent Schonbrunn summer palace. Visitors also should not miss a trip to the Vienna Woods, peppered with ancient 'heuringen' (wine taverns).
