Complete guide to visit Vienna, Austria on a Budget

Vienna is a very famous all-year-round travel destination, but it has a reputation to be very expensive.
Can you visit Vienna on a budget? You can read my tips, which helped me save some money in this beautiful city.

How to get there?

If you are coming from other European countries, you won’t have a problem to find direct cheap flights to Vienna. If you are coming from another continent, you should fly to a more famous airport like Barcelona, Madrid or London and then fly to Vienna with a budget airline.
From Hungary, Italy, Slovakia there are beautiful train rides to consider for reasonable prices.

Once you arrive, you will have to get down to the train station at the airport and take an ÖBB ride to the city. There are different routes. You can ride until Wien Hauptbahnhof or until Wien Mitte (subway stop: Landstrasse), where 3 subway lines connect. You can buy the tickets with a debit/credit card, so you don’t need to withdraw euros at the airport. Obviously, there are more expensive options like this such as taxi, CAT bus, uber and so on.

When to visit?

The high season is June-August and the whole month of December (because of the famous Christmas Market). If you want a budget trip, you should avoid these times, because Vienna can get very expensive. Vienna is an all-year-round destination, but not everyone likes the cold winters. The summer is magical, not a surprise that Vienna is the most livable city in the world. The parks are green and full of young people sitting, playing the guitar or just talking, the city gets full of bike riders. The whole capital has a charm, which makes you want to move there right away.

Language, Currency:

Austrians speak German, but if you speak German, you will realize that they talk very different from Germans. They have a strong dialect, so good luck to practice your language skills. If you have no clue about German, it is nice to pick up some words like Danke schön (thank you), Guten Morgen (good morning), noch ein Bier, bitte (one more beer, please) … Just some examples of the most useful words.

The local currency is the Euro. Austria is a developed country, most of the places accept debit and credit cards as payment, so you don’t need to carry more than 20€ cash in your pocket. Even if you don’t have cash, the closest ATM will be in 1minute. Be careful with the ATM machines, even if you have a European card, your bank can charge you up to 4€ commissions after withdrawing money. I recommend using travel cards to save money.

Transportation:

Vienna’s subway line is well developed. Inside the city, you won’t need to use any other means of transport. A 24-hour ticket costs 8€, they also offer tickets for 48 and 72 hours. It is valid for everything, except for the ride to the airport. In good weather conditions, you can also hire a bike or an electric scooter. Bikes are free for the first hour, but you will have to register in advance on their webpage: Citybike Wien.

Where to stay:

This really depends on your needs. It is not hard to find a good hotel to stay in, but it is harder to find something cheap. We stayed at Ibis Budget Wien Sankt Marx. The hotel had a subway stop nearby, so it was very easy to move around. We were very satisfied with it; it was very clean and Ibis has good quality in all of Europe. You can check out Airbnb and Tripadvisor for the best hotels.
The center is the St Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom) so the most expensive accommodations are found there. Keep in mind, that the distances are not so big, so even if you are outside the city center, you won’t end up commuting an hour to get to the center. Just make sure you have a subway stop nearby your hotel.

What to eat:

Famous dishes: Apfelstrudel, Sachertorte, Kaiserschmarrn, Wiener Schnitzel, Goulash (with Hungarian origin) Glühwein (mulled wine), Mozartkugel.
Very important: If you want to eat dinner in a restaurant (especially the ones in the center), make a reservation at least 1 day before.

Let’s talk about how to save money on food. If you end up in coffee houses 2times a day, it adds a lot to your budget. Especially if you are staying longer than 1day, you should not eat out in restaurants for every meal. Supermarkets like Billa and Spar are very good options to have breakfast. They do sandwiches (just like Subway, they cut the bread and fill in with the things you want) and it costs 1€/sandwich. You can add an iced coffee to it and maybe an orange and you have breakfast from 5€ top.  For some cheap lunch or dinner, you can find street food around the city. A hotdog with the famous Bratwurst a sandwich with Wiener Schnitzel, a slice of pizza, kebab or a frankfurter Hotdog cost 4€. It is also fun to try the wiener Melange (coffee), but coffee is very expensive in Vienna. Try to avoid cute little cafes calling you, just grab a 1€ coffee from Spar.

What to see:

Vienna has plenty to see, watch the next slider for the most famous places:

Budget for a couple: 125-170 euros/day

Accommodation costs between; 50-80 euros/night in low-season.
Breakfast from a supermarket: 10 euros (sandwiches, fruits, and ice coffee)
Lunch (streetfood with 1 drink each): 12euros
Transportation: 16euros ( subway ticket for 24hours, 2 people)
Afternoon coffee (1 cake to share, 2 coffees): 10euros
Dinner in a restaurant (nothing fancy): 25-40euros.

Thank you so much for reading my blog.

Anita