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Austria & Switzerland: City Transport

Both Austria and Switzerland have some of the world's most highly integrated and efficient public transport systems. Passes for all forms of public transport are available from stations and tourist offices in Switzerland and tourist offices in Austria.

Austria

U-Bahn & S-Bahn in Vienna

Getting around central Vienna on foot is no problem though for covering larger distances the Wiener Linien city transport system consisting of U-Bahn, S-Bahn, buses and trams is extremely efficient. The 24-hour or 72-hour Netskarte allows unlimited travel on the system within the Kernzone (Zone 100) which covers the whole of the Vienna municipal area.

The Wien Card available from Vienna's tourist offices allows for unlimited 72-hour public transport and reduced admission to many of the city's sights (including the Tram Museum below). There are also weekly and 8-day passes - the latter can be used by two people for four days each and does not have to be used on consecutive days. The weekly card or Wochenkarte is available from ticket offices at U-Bahn stations and is valid from Monday 9am to the following Monday.

A single-journey ticket (Fahrschein), which is standard for all means of city transport, presently costs 1.50 euros and is available from ticket machines, ticket booths (Vorverkauf) and from tobacconists (Tabak). You can use this ticket for any journey involving changes on the U-Bahn, buses or trams to your destination.

Vienna's U-Bahn (subway) has five color-coded lines and runs both above and below ground (U1-U4 & U6). Some of the stations are original designs by Otto Wagner, the famous Austrian Art Nouveau architect who built Vienna's Stadtbahn in the 1890s.

The suburban rail network - S-Bahn (Schnellbahn)- runs to Wien-Schwechat Airport airport, 20km to the southeast of the center of town, and other outlying districts.
Salzburg's S-Bahn crosses the border to its suburbs in Germany.

City Bus Travel in Austria

There are extensive municipal bus services in the major cities, mostly integrated with the tram (street car) network.

Some cities such as Vienna run all-night services. Buses in Vienna are red and white as are the trams.

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.

Travel cards are usually valid for buses, trams, U-Bahn and S-Bahn.

Purchase 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 blue validating machine.

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

Bus Travel to Austria

For full details of international bus and coach services from the UK and other countries to Austria see our extensive Buses to Austria section.

Trams

As well as buses, trams (streetcars) run in many cities in Austria.

Vienna and Innsbruck have integrated bus and tram networks.

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.

Ticketing procedure for trams is the same for buses: purchase tickets from ticket machines at tram stops or pay single fares to the driver as you get on and enter your ticket or travel pass in the validating machine.

For street-car enthusiasts the Strassenbahnmuseum (Tram museum) on Landstrasse at 3 Ludwig-Koeßler-Platz U3, tram 18, 72 has around 80 examples of rolling stock from the 19th century onwards (Tel: 7909-41800). It is also possible to ride the historic 1920s Oldtimer Tram from May - October on weekends and public holidays.
Sat 11:30am, 1:30pm, Sundays, public hols. 9:30am, 11:30am, 1:30pm. from Karlsplatz. Reservations: (Tel: 7909-100)

Rail Travel to Austria and Switzerland

For full details of international train services from the UK and other countries to Austria & Switzerland see our extensive Trains to Austria section and Trains to Switzerland section.

Taxi

Taxis are plentiful in Austria with flag fall (Grundtarif) 2 Euros and around 1 Euro per kilometer. Taxis can NOT be hailed on the street, but picked up at designated taxi ranks or booked by telephone (31300, 40100, 60160). The 'Taxi' sign on the car roof is illuminated if the cab is free.

Switzerland

Metro & S-Bahn in Switzerland

Lausanne is the only city in Switzerland with a genuine subway system. Zurich voted against adopting a metro.

The Lausanne metro has two lines the M1 and M2. The M1 Line runs from Flon west to Lausanne University. The M2 Line (when extensions are fully complete in 2008) will link Flon with Ouchy (to the south) and Riponne and Bessieres (to the north) via the main railway station.

Suburban commuter trains (S-Bahn/RER) run in Zurich, radiating out from the main train station to Schaffhausen, Stein-am-Rhein and Winterthur to the north and Einsiedeln and Zug to the south and also in Bern and Basel with routes into Germany and France from the latter.

City Bus Travel in Switzerland

Swiss cities of any size have integrated bus and tram networks, either gasoline-driven or electric trolley buses.

Travel cards are usually valid for buses, trams, and even some boats. Types of travel cards usually include 24 and 72 hour cards. The Swiss Pass and Swiss Flexi-Pass also include free travel within most cities in Switzerland. (Cities are listed on the card). Tourist offices usually sell 24 and 72 hour travel cards.

There is a night bus system in some cities operating at weekends. Basel, Bern, Solothurn, Zurich all have a night-bus system. See mct.sbb.ch (German & French only) for more details.

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.

Bus Travel to Switzerland

For full details of international bus and coach services from the UK and other countries to Switzerland see our extensive Buses to Switzerland section.

Trams

As well as buses, trams (streetcars) run in many cities in Switzerland with a few funiculars in hilly locations.

Many Swiss towns have extensive tram (streetcar) networks. Expect only a short wait for the next tram to arrive. There are trams running in: Zurich, Basel, Bern and Geneva as well as in many other Swiss towns.

Check the tram stop (Haltestelle/ Arrêt) for tram numbers, maps, destinations and timetables.
There are fewer streetcar services on weekends and national holidays.

Taxi

Taxis are expensive in Switzerland with flag fall around 6 Fr and around 3 Fr per kilometer and can be hailed on the street.

The 'Taxi' sign on the car roof is illuminated if the cab is free. All taxis are metered.

Zurich
Taxi 444 (Tel: 0 444 444 444); Alpha Taxi (Tel: 044 777 77 77)
Geneva
Taxi-Phone (Tel: 022 33 141 33)
Basel
33er (Tel: 061 333 33 33)
Bern
Baren (Tel: 031 371 11 11); Nova (Tel: 031 331 33 13)
St Gallen
Herold (Tel: 071 222 27 77)
Interlaken
Bahnhof Taxi (Tel: 033 822 50 50)

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