[Check city-airport-city travel timetables and official sites for temporary changes/closures relating to the Coronavirus epidemic]
Vienna International Airport (airport code: VIE) is outside the city limits, about 20km (12.5 miles) from the city center.
- See also: Vienna airport to city transfers
As you can imagine, the airport’s easy to reach by car, taxi, train or bus. Below are travel tips and details for each, but before we start, three helpful pointers:
- Most transport routes use the standard “plane” symbol for an airport on signs and information, but it might help to know that the German for airport is Flughafen
- The airport is outside the Vienna travel zone. That means single-journey tickets, network passes etc. for Vienna will only get you to the city limits and not the airport
- I’ve marked all important stations and stops on a custom map at the bottom of the page
Option 1: By taxi / car
The Welcome people’s airport pickup service* also offers a service for those going to the airport.
You can pre-book a car transfer from, for example, your accommodation with a local, English-speaking driver. Their prices are around the same as a taxi from the line.
Basic taxi transfers to the airport typically cost around €36. You can find a list of local airport taxi services here. Don’t forget to tip the driver.
Another alternative is the car sharing service, DriveNow (scroll down to see details of the Drive’n Fly option). DriveNow has its own parking bay at the airport. And there’s always Uber, of course, if you’re a user.
The airport and car hire returns are easy to reach by road. Journey times depend on where you leave from and when, of course. In good traffic, you can reach the airport from the centre of Vienna in around 20-25 minutes. In bad traffic, well…longer.
The address for your Sat-Nav is Abflugstrasse in the town of Schwechat, but it should be a POI anyway.
Simply leave Vienna southeast on the B227 road which runs parallel to the Danube canal and morphs into the A4 Ost-Autobahn (motorway). The airport is just off the motorway and has its own, clearly-signed exit (Junction 13, “Flughafen”).
Option 2: By train
There are various train services to the airport, but these are your two main choices: the express CAT (City Airport Train) or the slower S7 Schnellbahn (city train).
The CAT
This is the dedicated train link between Vienna and the airport. It leaves from Wien Mitte and delivers you to the airport (and vice versa) in 16 minutes, with no stops en route.
Wien Mitte is a fairly central and large station sitting on various public transport lines:
- Subway (U3 and U4)
- Tram (line O)
- Train (S1, S2, S3, S4, S7 and more)
- Bus (74A)
The CAT is fast, modern and comfortable, with plenty of space. If you’re on the right flight, you can even check-in your luggage at the station. Around 1.6 million customers a year use its services.
All good so far.
However, it’s more expensive than the S7 (at the time of writing, €11 one-way) and it only leaves from (and arrives at) Wien Mitte.
The trains begin early morning and depart every 30 mins until late evening: 5.37am to 11.07pm at the time of writing. For current timetables, prices, online tickets etc., check the website.
S7 and other trains
This is the city train that stops at various points in Vienna and goes out to the airport and beyond and back again.
As noted earlier, Vienna to the airport is outside the city zone, so you’ll need to buy/validate an extra ticket if you already have a travel card or similar for Vienna itself. See here for details on public transport tickets.
It’s a little slower than the CAT with stops en route, so takes around 23 minutes from Wien Mitte, for example. It also runs every 30 minutes or so.
In my experience, the S7 trains are somewhat less user-friendly than the CAT, with no extra space for luggage and sometimes with steps to climb to get in. But the service is cheap (currently €4.20 for a single ticket; €1.80 if you already have a travel pass for the city), and you can leave from any of these Vienna city stations:
Floridsdorf, Handelskai, Traisengasse, Praterstern, Wien Mitte, Rennweg, St. Marx, Geiselbergstraße, Zentralfriedhof and Kaiserebersdorf
There are some fast regional and intercity trains that go from Wien Mitte and Vienna’s main train station (Wien Hauptbahnhof) to the airport. You’ll find timetables and online tickets (also for the S7) here.
Option 3: By bus
As with trains, various bus services go to the airport. Your main choices are:
Vienna Airport Lines
These operate three services with pickup points throughout the city:
- VAL1: Westbahnhof railway station to VIE via Hauptbahnhof railway station
- VAL2: Morzinplatz/Schwedenplatz to VIE direct
- VAL3: Donauzentrum to VIE via:
- Kagraner Brücke
- Hotel NH Danube City
- VIC/Kaisermühlen
- Krieau
- Donaumarina
Buses leave every 30-60 minutes, depending on the route. Journey times vary but can be as little as 20 minutes, and adult single tickets are €8. Again, check for up-to-date prices, timetables etc. at the VAL website.
Air-Liner buses
These buses go direct to the airport from the Vienna International Busterminal (VIB at Erdbergstraße 200 A, 1030 Wien, next to the Erdberg station on the U3 subway line), take about 15 minutes, and leave every 1-2 hours from 5.03am to 10.03pm at the time of writing.
Some of the buses start from Hauptbahnhof station, too, before reaching the VIB.
It costs €5 for an adult single ticket, but check for up-to-date prices here, where you can also view the current timetable and buy tickets online.
Option 4: By plane
No. Only kidding.