[German: Wie kommt man vom Flughafen Wien in die Stadt]
Getting from Vienna airport to the city is quick and easy, largely because all car, bus, and train services are within a minute or two of arrivals.
This is good news when you come off a plane, tired, worrying if the bottle of perfume (or brandy) survived the journey, and wondering where you put your passport.
Bus, train or car?
(The CAT non-stop train takes you into Vienna in 16 minutes; press photo © 2022 City Airport Train)
If you’d prefer to get a good night’s rest before continuing into Vienna, then consider a hotel near the airport (with two just a short walk from arrivals).
Otherwise, here’s where to go for transfer services, taxis, express & local trains, transfer buses, and car hire…at least when I last flew back home to Vienna in early 2023.
Option 1: Transfer service
The Welcome people offer a pickup & transfer service* for not far from the same price as a taxi from the line. You pre-book a car transfer into the city with a local, English-speaking driver using an easy online English interface.
You can also upgrade to additional welcome services.
Option 2: Taxis etc.
The taxis use the same nearby outside location as the buses (see below).
The limousine and taxi companies have booths in the arrivals hall just opposite and to the left of where you emerge after passing through customs. The cost usually starts from something like €40 for smaller vehicles into Vienna (at least when *prebooked*).
Another option is, of course, a car sharing service or simply get yourself an Uber, for example.
Option 3: Trains
When you come out of customs into airport arrivals, simply look right to find a ramp that leads you down directly to the train station under the terminal.
To the right of the top of the ramp are two important booths:
- The CAT ticket office and ticket machines (the CAT is the dedicated express airport train* that travels direct to the central Wien Mitte station, which connects with the U3 and U4 subway lines)
- The ÖBB ticket office and machines (national rail services and slower city trains to the centre)
A display board gives departure times for all trains leaving the airport for Vienna and elsewhere.
The machines have English displays for buying whatever tickets you need to reach your destination. A single ticket to the city on the slower municipal train service (S-Bahn) was €4.40 at the time of writing.
Down the ramp, you quickly reach platforms for the CAT service and the S7 S-Bahn into Vienna; these are your two main options.
The CAT is faster and more comfortable and spacious than the S7, but costs more. For more details on the differences, stops in Vienna etc., see the article on getting to the airport.
Option 4: Buses
Just ahead of you as you leave customs and enter airport arrivals, slightly to the left and right, are corridor exits to outside the terminal. The bus stops are immediately outside.
The Vienna Airport Lines, for example, run various services to different destinations in Vienna, including routes to the city centre (Schwedenplatz), to Westbahnhof and Hauptbahnhof rail stations, and to the area around the United Nations: see their website for details.
Option 5: Car hire
Car hire services at Vienna airport obviously include all the major brands.
If you haven’t already booked car hire from the airport, you can compare prices and book a car here*.
Some of the car hire desks are immediately to your left when you come out of baggage reclaim and customs into the public arrivals hall. If yours isn’t, then continue left, down the ramp and then go right at the bottom.
It’s a little convoluted, but simply follow the car hire symbol (a car with a key), and also look for signs to the “car rental centre”, which you reach on Deck 0 of the P4 multi-storey car park. You pass through a train station area on your way.