Austria country information

Republic of Austria
Area: 83,872 sq km
Population: 8,316,487
Population density: 99 per sq km
Capital: Vienna

Passport & Visa


Visa required ?

British	No/4
Australian	No/3
Canadian	No/3
USA	No/3
Other EU	No

Passports
Passport valid for at least three months beyond length of stay required by all nationals referred to in the chart above except:
(a) 1. British nationals whose passport should be valid for intended length of stay.
(b) 2. EU nationals holding a valid national ID card.

Note: EU nationals are only required to produce evidence of their EU nationality and identity in order to be admitted to any EU member state. This evidence can take the form of a valid national passport or national identity card. Either is acceptable. Possession of a return ticket, any length of validity on their document, sufficient funds for the length of their proposed visit should not be imposed.

Passport Note: Austria is a signatory to the 1995 Schengen Agreement

Visas
Not required by all nationals referred to in the chart above for the following lengths of visit:
(a) nationals of EU countries for an unlimited period, provided passport is valid;
(b) 3. nationals of Australia, Canada and USA for the purposes of business or tourism for stays of up to three months. For stays longer than three months an entry permit must be applied for which is valid for up to six months.
(c) 4. holders of the following British passports do need a visa: British subject (without right of abode in the UK); British Dependent Territories; British Overseas Citizens; British Protected Persons.

Getting there

By Air

Austria has two national airlines, both part of the Austrian Airlines Group: Austrian Airlines (OS) and Austrian Arrows (VO).

Approximate Flight Times to Vienna:
Istanbul: 1 hour and 35 minutes
London: 1 hour and 30 minutes
New York: 8 hours and 30 minutes
Dubai: 5 hours and 15 minutes
Singapore: 12 hours
Buenos Aires: 14 hours and 40 minutes

Main (international) airports

Vienna - Wien-Schwechat International Airport (VIE)
Innsbruck - Kranebitten (INN)
Salzburg - WA Mozart (SZG)
Klagenfurt - Kärnten Airport (KLU)
Linz - Blue Danube Airport (LNZ)
Graz - (GRZ)

By Water

The following companies offer passenger services on the Danube, to and from Germany, Hungary and Slovakia.

International rail tickets are valid on Danube river boats. More information on the above services, and connections to Serbia (Belgrade), Turkey (Istanbul) and Ukraine (Yalta), can be obtained from the Austrian National Tourist Office.

By Rail

Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) (Austrian Federal Railways) operates a wide network of trains throughout and beyond Austria. International connections from Vienna include trains to Germany (Berlin), to the Russian Federation (Moscow, via Warsaw/Kiev and Minsk), to Romania (Bucharest, via Budapest), to Greece (Athens) or Turkey (Istanbul, via Belgrade) and to Italy (Venice, Milan or Rome). The most common routes are from Brussels or Paris (Eurostar connection from London) to Vienna (see below for further details).

Eurostar
Eurostar or Rail Europe operates direct high-speed trains from London (St Pancras International) to Paris (Gare du Nord) and to Brussels (Midi/Zuid). It takes 2 hours 15 minutes from London to Paris (via Lille) and 1 hour 51 minutes to Brussels. From Brussels, there is a morning and a night train to Vienna (journey time - 13 hours); from Paris (Gare de l'Est), there are two trains to Vienna (journey time - 14 hours 45 minutes).

Rail Passes

InterRail: offers unlimited first- or second-class travel in up to 30 European countries for European residents of over six months with two pass options. The Global Pass allows travel for 22 days, one month, five days in 10 days or 10 days in 22 days across all countries. The One-Country Pass offers travel for three, four, six or eight days in one month in any of the countries except Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro. Travel is not allowed in the passenger's country of residence. Travellers under 26 years receive a reduction. Children's tickets are reduced by about 50%. Supplements are required for some high-speed services, seat reservations and couchettes. Discounts are offered on Eurostar and some ferry routes. Available from Rail Europe (tel: 0844 848 4064, in the UK; website: www.raileurope.co.uk/inter-rail ).

Eurailpass: offers unlimited first-class train travel in 17 European countries. Tickets are valid for 15 days, 21 days, one month, two months or three months. The Eurailpass Saver ticket offers discounts for two or more people travelling together. The Eurailpass Youth ticket is available to those aged under 26 and offers unlimited second-class train travel. The Eurailpass Flexi allows either 10 or 15 travel days within a two-month period. The Eurail Selectpass is valid in three, four or five bordering countries and allows five, six, eight or 10 travel days (or 15 for five countries) in a two-month period. The Eurail Regional Pass allows four to 10 travel days in a two-month period in one of nine regions (usually two or more countries). Children receive a 50% reduction. The passes cannot be sold to residents of Europe, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia or the Russian Federation. Available from The Eurail Group (website: www.eurail.com ).

By Road

Bus: Eurolines runs regular coach services in Europe to 500+ destinations.
Passes: Travellers can buy a 15- or 30-day pass.

Cycling & Maps

Cost of living

Austria: all prices in European Euros (€)

drinks and snacks			food: local markets; restaurants; and stores
water (mineral) juice soft drink (can) soft drink (bottle)	1 litre 1 litre 300ml 1 litre	0.60 1.15 tba 1.15	bread loaf-white bread loaf-whole grain	600g 750g	2.00 2.90
			local market food vegetarian restaurant cheap vege restauarant pizza - frozen	one serving 2 course salad + meal med	tba 10.00-14.00 7.50-10.00 tba
beer - local wine	330ml 750ml	0.70 1.95
tea coffee (cafe/bar) Nescafe instant coffee - ground	25 bags per cup 125g 500g	2.40 3.00 2.25 3.35	rice (white) pasta eggs tinned tomatoes	kg 500g per dozen 250g	0.75 0.39 2.50 0.70
milk yoghurt / curd cheese Magnum icecream	1 litre 500g kg each	0.80 1.70 6.80 tba	potatoes onions tomatoes green beans	kg kg kg kg	1.60 0.80 1.45 2.90
chips salted peanuts dried apricots	200g pack kg kg	tba tba tba	apples oranges bananas	kg kg kg	1.80 2.00 2.25
cornflakes chocolate biscuit-plain biscuits-chocolate	375g pack 100g block 200g pack 200g pack	2.75 1.15 1.25 tba	pineapple (can) oil (corn)	500g can 500ml	0.90 1.75
			peanut paste jam	500g jar 400g jar	tba 2.35

accommodation			personal
budget city hostel budget city hotel	10.00+ per dorm bed 49.00+ (double) with bathroom		deodorant - roll-on soap shampoo toothbrush toothpaste disposable razor toilet paper	50ml 150g bar 200ml each 100ml 5 pack each	3.00 0.65 2.70 tba 1.75 4.20 tba
eurocamping (1 star)	15.50+ per pitch
internet	3.00 per hour

* tba = price to be announced
* January 2009: at time of writing 1.00 USD = 0.79 EUR
all prices have been taken from internet resources such as wikitravel, hostel world, leading supermarket chains, travel blogs, forums and of course our own travel experiences and purchases of everyday products in food markets, bazaars and local shopping facilities. They are only an indication and designed to give you a general impression of the cost of living in Austria. Items are geared towards the budget conscious traveller with an occasional craving for a bit of luxury.

Source:www.exchange-rates.org