Buses to + in Austria

Bus Travel to + in Austria

From the UK, Eurolines - the overseas wing of National Express - offer return fares to Vienna, Salzburg and Linz. There are more or less daily buses leaving Victoria coach station in London in the morning and from Dover to Vienna (approx. 22 hours) via Salzburg and Linz. There are also services to Graz, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt.

Eurolines

Busabout provides tickets in increments of 2, 3 or four weeks for most European cities on its hop-on hop-off network. Busabout also offers Flexipasses allowing various days' travel within a set period and its main routes into Austria are to Vienna and Salzburg from many European cities. There are reductions for passengers under 26.

Busabout

Berlin Linien Bus has good coach services between various German cities, especially Berlin and the rest of Europe including Vienna.

Berlin Linien Bus (in German & English)

Gulliver's, also centered on Berlin, has good international bus services between various major German cities (Berlin, Hannover, Hamburg, Dresden) and the many destinations in Europe including Vienna.

Gulliver's (in German, English, Polish, French)

Long Distance Inter City Bus Travel in Austria

Austria's bus network complements the rail network rather than provides a real practical alternative. There are inter-city buses between major cities but the network is more useful for reaching out-of-the-way places not covered by train.

There is now one main carrier ÖBB-Postbus following the merger in 2005 of the previous 2 main carriers:
Bahnbus which was run by the rail network ÖBB
Postbus which was run by the post office

As a general rule services depart from outside train stations and often main post offices but services often call at both. Services are geared to the school schedule and train arrival times at stations.
There are fewer services at weekend or late evening.

Information:
Postbus Tel: +43 1 711 01 (from overseas), 0810 222 333 (in Austria), daily 7.00 am to 8.00 pm; www.postbus.at

City Bus Travel in Austria

Vienna city bus. There is a frequent airport bus service in Vienna from Wien-Schwechat airport to Schwedenplatz from 6.20am-midnight. Travel time is around 20 minutes. There are also buses from the airport to Sudbahnhof and Westbahnhof.

Vienna has night bus services running from approximately 12.30am-5.00am when daytime services start up.

Bus and tram stops are marked by a green "H" (for Haltestelle) and display the name of the stop, bus numbers and destinations, a map of the city transport network and timetables. There are fewer services on weekends and national holidays.

In Vienna the numbers #1A, #2a and #3A buses pass through the Innere Stadt: #1A Schottentor-Stubentor, #2A Schwedenplatz-via Hofburg to Burgring, #3A Schottenring-Schwarzenbergplatz.

Travel cards are usually valid for buses, trams, U-Bahn and S-Bahn. Types of travel cards (Netzkarte) in Vienna include 24 and 72 hour cards, the 72 hour Wien-Karte which includes museum discounts, an 8-day ticket (8-Tage-Karte) or a weekly card (Wochenkarte). Cards can be purchased from stations and tobacconist shops and kiosks (tabak).

Purchase bus tickets from ticket machines at bus stops or pay single fares to the driver as you get on and enter your ticket or travel pass in the validating machine.

There are on-the-spot fines for non-compliance and traveling without a valid ticket issued by (usually plainclothes) ticket inspectors.

Trams in Austria

Vienna city tram - new.

Vienna has one of the largest tram (streetcar) networks in the world with over 30 tram routes running in the city.

Vienna's trams are caled Strassenbahn or colloquially "Bim" for the tram's distinctive bell sound. Both old-style and more modern trams run on Vienna's streets. Expect to wait only 5 or ten minutes for the next tram to arrive. There are trams running in other Austrian cities including: Innsbruck, Linz and Graz.

Check the tram stop (Haltestelle) for tram numbers, maps, destinations and timetables.

There are fewer streetcar services on weekends and national holidays.