How to save money on travel to Austria

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

How to spend less on communications, transport and visiting museums, where to eat is cheaper, and how to find inexpensive parking in Vienna are valuable tips for those traveling to Austria.

Austria is an expensive country to live and travel, but these life hacks will help you not to spend too much.

Accommodation

• In order not to spend money on suburban transport, choose housing within the city (Kernzone or Zone 100 zones on the transport schemes).
• I managed to find inexpensive hostels in Vienna in the areas of Mariahilfer Straße and Westbahnhof. It is relatively close to the center (if desired, you can walk), there is infrastructure (accessible transport, cafes and restaurants, shops) and enough options on Booking and Airbnb.
• In the low season, from October to May, housing in cities will be cheaper. The exception during this period is holidays and school holidays. Accommodation in resorts almost all year round is equally expensive, since in winter it is a ski vacation, and in summer it is a walk in nature.
• A budget option in the warm season for unpretentious tourists is campgrounds located in the city. Keep in mind that you can only pitch your tent in designated areas.
• You can try to find free housing through CouchSurfing.

Nutrition

• You don't need to buy water at all. You can take it from special street fountains (here they are on the map of Vienna, actual in summer) or in ordinary toilets. All potable street water is labeled Trinkwasser, non-potable water is labeled Kein Trinkwasser.
• The most affordable food option is to buy food (including cooking) and drinks in supermarkets. The cheapest are Lidl and Hofer. There are other networks as well: Billa, Spar, Merkur, Penny. If you want to save even more, pay attention to the supermarket's own brands: Clever in Billa, Budget in Spar, Merkur in the chain of the same name.

• Each store has promotions for certain products, which can be found on posters at the entrance, in special free magazines or on the website. By the close of supermarkets, especially on Friday and Saturday, many perishable products are sold at a 20-50% discount.
• On the price tag of drinks in glass containers, the security deposit (Pfand) for this container is indicated in small print, which is added to the price of the drink at the checkout. This deposit is refunded when you return glass bottles from special machines in supermarkets. In return, you will receive a check - you can use it at the checkout when checking out and get a discount. There is no deposit for plastic and tin containers, but they cannot be returned either.
• Another option is to eat street food. The most satisfying, but not the healthiest option is Asian noodles or rice with meat in a box for 4–5 euros. Next come doner kebab (in fact, shawarma - meat with vegetables and herbs in a bun) and durum kebab (the same in pita bread) at the same price. You can also try pizza for 2-3 euros per slice, different sandwiches from 2 euros or sausages for 3-5 euros. For a price of 6 euros, you can eat schnitzel with potatoes.

• There are buffets where you pay 5–7 euros and eat as much as you want: Chap In, Liu’s Wok, Bamboo 5, Wok House, La Koliba, May Lee, Lili Asia-Restaurant. There are Asian options and other national cuisines. In the Pakistani cafe Der Wiener Deewan, you can generally pay as much as you see fit.
• You can also save money on tips. If it's really tough, then just don't leave them. If you really want to leave some amount to the waiter, 10% of the check is enough. You can also leave a tip from the card, this is done immediately when calculating: just tell the waiter the amount of payment, taking into account the tip.
• McDonald’s has special coupon sheets (can be found on the tables or right at the checkout), which have nice discounts and economy offers. Just show the coupon to the cashier or enter the code from it into the self-service machine.
• Many good desserts are sold with a 50% discount in the AIDA pastry chain after 5 pm.
• You can have a budget meal at Vienna Airport in one of the supermarkets - right inside the building, before going through security.

Shopping

• It is better to buy edible souvenirs (sweets, butter, alcohol) in regular supermarkets (Billa, for example), and not in souvenir shops. There is no difference in quality and assortment, but the price is different.
• For shopping, you can go to outlets and large shopping centers - Parndorf Fashion Outlet and Shopping City Süd. For transfers outside the city, there are special free buses.
• Cheap simple clothes, shoes and accessories can be bought at Primark, New Yorker, KiK, NKD, Deichman stores. Furniture and household goods - at Ikea.
• Together with purchases in the amount of 75 euros or more, take the Tax Free documents from the store in order to get back 10–20% of local VAT.

Connection

• Buy a prepaid HoT SIM card in the Hofer supermarket chain for 12 euros (SIM card and top-up), activate the HoT Fix tariff - and for 30 days you will receive 6 GB of Internet and 1,000 minutes / SMS. There is no more roaming between EU countries, so you can safely use this SIM card outside of Austria.
• Vienna has free city Wi-Fi points, as well as all McDonald's and Hofer supermarkets.

All about transport

Arrival and Departure

• If you are not in a hurry, there is no point in buying tickets from Vienna Airport for the City-Airport Train (11 euros one way) or the Vienna Airport Lines bus (8 euros one way). You will also get to the center (station U4 Landstraße) by ordinary train S7 for only 4, 20 euros one way, but not 20, but 40 minutes.
• It can be cheaper to fly to the nearby Bratislava airport than to Vienna's Schwechat Airport. And from there you can get to Vienna by bus for 1–1, 5 hours and 5–7 euros one way (FlixBus, Blaguss, Slovak Lines).
• When you leave back to the airport, if you still have a valid Vienna travel card, you just need to buy an additional ticket for 1.80 euros, since the airport is already in the suburban area.
• By bus from other countries to Vienna, the cheapest way is to get to FlixBus.

In the city

• The easiest way to save on public transport is to walk. Vienna is a flat city, but everything is fine with sidewalks and crossings. The center is compact, you can get around it on foot comfortably and without straining.
• Install the WienMobil app on your smartphone to plan routes for public transport, buy tickets for it and even search for bike rental points.

Buy tickets at self-service machines or online, as it will be more expensive at the box office or inside the transport

• One trip around Vienna by any means of transport costs 2.40 euros, and it is almost always more profitable to buy a ticket for a day for 5.80 euros. Plan your logistics: it may be more economical to buy a ticket for 24, 48 or 72 hours, or even a travel pass for a week.
• When traveling by taxi at night, you will not have to spend money. On Fridays and Saturdays, all lines of the Vienna metro operate around the clock, and on weekdays, night buses run around the city.
• You can also ride a shared bike for 1 euro per hour. The city has bike paths, and local motorists respect cyclists. There are also scooters for rent.
• If there are four of you and you do not plan to travel a lot, but only, for example, from the hotel to the city and back, then a taxi (Uber or Taxify) may not cost much more than four single tickets, or even cheaper if you find discount promotional codes that are available. in the Internet.

Between cities

The ÖBB app will help you plan your intercity route and buy tickets. Please note that if the application displays a route with buses and foreign trains, then the trip on them is not included in the indicated price (these sections will be marked in gray)

To save money on intercity trains, the standard rule works: look for promotions (Sonderangebot), take tickets in advance and choose not the most convenient departure time. Usually tickets are sold without a seat, and in most cases there is no point in paying extra for it

• If you plan to travel a lot in Austria, you can buy a Vorteilscard discount card for 66 euros, which gives a 50% discount on all railway tickets for regular trains within the country for a whole year.
• Another option is to purchase a group ticket Einfach-Raus-Ticket for 2-5 people, which is valid only on regional railway lines.
• You can take the countrywide Interrail Austria Pass or buy the Kombiticket, which also includes discounts on city attractions.
• For the Vienna - Linz - Salzburg route, train tickets from the WESTbahn carrier are likely to be cheaper.

For motorists

• The cheapest way is to leave your car at one of the Park & Ride parking lots (3.40 euros per day or 17.10 euros per week) and continue using public transport.
• You can leave your car for free, for example, in the parking lots of large supermarkets, but parking there is usually limited to 1–2 hours.
• Parking in Vienna on Saturday is paid only until lunchtime, and on Sunday it is free all day. In smaller towns, parking is often free, but limited in time.
• You can find cheap or even free parking using the Parkopedia app, and the Handy Parken app allows you to get 15 minutes of free parking.
• If you need more or less affordable parking in the center of Vienna, then this is the Tiefgarage Am Museumsquartier for 2 euros per hour or 14 euros per day.
• The cheapest gasoline / diesel is in Vienna and other large cities. Check out these inexpensive gas stations: Jet, Turmöl, Avio, Avanti. Try to avoid BP, Shell, OMV, Eni. The cheapest way to refuel is at fully automatic self-service filling stations.
• Expressways (autobahns) are toll roads, but there are always alternative parallel roads. Check the "Exclude toll roads" checkbox in your navigator and you can drive for free.
• Toilets at gas stations along the Autobahn are paid, but you can always stop at the Rastplatz ASFiNAG parking lots, where there is a free toilet, drinking water, shower, lunch tables and vending machines with food and drinks.

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sights

Museums, galleries and opera

• If you want to visit a large palace complex like Schönbrunn or Belvedere, then the entrance to the area around the palaces themselves is free. You only need to pay for visiting the museums inside.
• Entry to Vienna's main cathedral - St. Stephen's Cathedral - and many of the city's other churches are free.
• Admission to some museums under 19 is free. There are also not very popular completely free museums.
• On October 26, the National Day of Austria, some museums also do not charge an entrance fee. And on the first Saturday of October, the Night of Museums is held, when you can visit an unlimited number of them with a single ticket for 15 euros. On the last Sunday in September, Monument Day, admission to some museums and historic buildings is free. Three times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) you can go on a free tour of the Vienna City Hall. Some museums can be visited free of charge on the first Sunday of each month.
• On certain days, museums offer discounts on tickets. For example, on Thursdays, from 6 to 10 pm, entrance to the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) costs 5 euros instead of 12, and to the Museum of Modern Art (Mumok) - 8 euros instead of 12.
• A group ticket for several people, a combined ticket to several places at once, or even a season pass can help you save money. There are discounts for students with an ISIC card.
• You can visit the Vienna Opera much cheaper than buying a regular ticket (as a rule, it costs several hundred euros) if you queue up at a special box office on the day of the performance, where 1–2 hours before it starts selling standing tickets to the balcony and to the ground only for 3-5 euros. However, be prepared to stand for many hours in a row: first in line, and then at the show itself.

Single tourist ticket and sightseeing tours

• The Vienna City Card offers discounts on attractions and travel passes for all types of transport. The card for one day costs 17 euros, it is profitable to buy it if you are planning an active cultural holiday. An option can be purchased that additionally includes a tour bus ride.
• Vienna PASS will cost 59 euros for one day. This amount includes free admission to attractions and the Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Bus Pass.
• Vienna Ring Tram - a trip in an old tram (analogous to a sightseeing bus) for 9 euros, but without the ability to go out and sit back. You can arrange for yourself such a trip on your own using the pass, using the usual tram routes No. 1 and No. 2.
• There are free walking tours and bar walks.
• To save on entrance tickets or even visit free of charge attractions in the vicinity of Vienna (it is surrounded by the land of Lower Austria) and in other lands, buying a regional card (Niederösterreich Card, SalzburgerLand Card) will help. Relevant if you plan to visit many different locations within the same land.

Miscellaneous

• It is unprofitable to change currency in Austria, as there is a commission of 1-3% for this operation. It is better to pay with a card, where possible, and withdraw cash through an ATM - only the amount that you definitely cannot do without.
• You can use free public toilets or toilets in establishments, even if you have not ordered anything there. Look for WC or Toilette signs at metro stations, parks and busy places. Only urinals are free, you will have to pay 0, 5–1 euros to use the stall. You can find a free toilet in Hofer supermarkets. Toilets in popular McDonald’s are paid, but after payment you get a coupon, which you can immediately spend on food.

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