Europe Travel - Day 7 Vienna, Austria

Woke up in the morning and packed my stuffs off to Vienna, Austria in the afternoon! My friend and I took the Student Agency Bus from Brno, Czech Republic to Vienna, Austria. The journey takes about 2 hours from Brno to Vienna. Click here to read about the review on Student Agency Bus!

FYI, if you are entering another country student agency may not provide wifi service for that country except Czech Republic. While I was on the bus when we entered the Austria border, our wifi on the bus was disconnected.

We decided to get off the last stop which is Vienna International Airport. It was easy for us to get most of the tourist information at the airport.

For the next 4 nights we stayed at the Renaissance Wien Hotel. It is located near the Schonbrunn Palace. I really wanted to see the palace so, I decided to stay near that place. FYI, not a good idea. If I ever go back I'd probably stay near the city centre & I will never go back to this hotel. Review coming soon! 

Once arrived at the airport we went to the tourist information and ask how to get to our hotel. The customer service staff was very helpful and showed us we have different transportation passes we could use during our time there. For tourists you can get the "Vienna Now or Never" aka "The Vienna Card". There are 2 types: 48 Hours Pass or 72 Hours Pass. You are able to use this card and get on any transportation within the time period once you punch in your card. 

To get to the city you will have to either take the "CAT" aka City Airport Train, which is a bit more expensive and faster to get to the city centre or the normal train which takes a longer time but in a cheaper price. You can purchase the CAT tickets at the counter at the Airport or online. As for the normal train tickets you can purchase it at the tourist information desk with The Vienna Card. 

I purchased the 72 Hours The Vienna Card since I was staying there longer. Once you have purchased the card you can place your name and the date on the card. Remember to bring your card every day, just incase there will be any sudden inspection in the U-Bahn, Tram or Bus. 

It just seems like a better bargain for the transportation, since I was living far from the city centre so, I had to purchase the ticket. If you are inside Stephansplatz and you are not going to travel on transportation that much except going to the Summer Palace for a day, then there isn't a need to purchase it. 

Top: 72H The Vienna Card Bottom: Train to city center

Before leaving the Tourist Information don't forget to get your maps and most of all "The Now or Never" booklets! There are a few for you to select. Get all of them and most important one get the "The Now or Never Coupon" book! With the card you just purchased you can use it with the coupon book to get discount offers on selected restaurants, museums, cafes, stores etc. I promise you those can be handy during your stay!

Vienna is a very convenient city, with the U-Bahn you can get to all the tourist attraction places! There are stops where you have to transit to get to places where you are but it is fine. The directions are very easy. There is 1 advantage living away from the city centre that is you really know how to use the U-Bahn well during your stay there.

Credit: http://lexikon.freenet.de/U-Bahn_Wien

I was staying in "U4 - Meidling Hauptstraße" the Green Line and the Airport was on the Orange Line. I had to transit on "U3 - Landstraße" the orange line and interchange on to the Green Line in order to get to my hotel. The ride was about 1 hour, since we took the slower train and not CAT.

Most of the tourist attraction place will be in "U1 - Stephansplatz" the Red Line. As you can see it is in the centre of the U-Bahn map. That is where everything you will want to visit during the stay. During my stay I had to travel the U-Bahn to get there. It only takes 20 minutes, so it wasn't that bad at all. Experiencing a little part of Vienna life and culture instead of just being where all the tourists were.

Next Blog... Review on the Renaissance Wien Hotel!