When travelling, we always try to take the local public transit. It’s a great way to see the city and sometimes we get great stories to tell. You may have read about our public transit experiences in Nepal in April. We also have some good stories from other trips such as bus riding in New Orleans - ask us sometime.
Prior to arriving in Vienna, our friend, Ute, had recommended purchasing a transit pass for the week. It was just 17.10 Euro per person and got us unlimited access to the buses, trams, and trains in the city! We purchased the passes online and kept copies on our phones. It didn’t take long to learn that there was no scanner to check our tickets - anywhere! It’s a trust system, and random spot checks result in a 105 EUR fine. We didn’t show our passes once.
The Vienna transportation network was challenging at first. It took the two of us about 25 minutes of working with a paper map, asking for help and Googling to figure out how to get out of the airport (the cheapest way, of course).
After leaving the airport, our first order of business was obviously to do laundry and it was then that we learned how to use Google Maps’ transit feature - it is amazing. We simply had to search for a laundry mat and Google told us which tram to take, where to board and disembark! Here’s a sample.
This made the rest of our Vienna touring so easy! Our AirBnB was very close to many transit options, so each search of our trips resulted in multiple ways to reach our destination.
Vienna’s transit system is by far the best we have experienced on this adventure. Other cities, even the very well organized Auckland and Christchurch systems could do a lot to make things easier for visitors. (Like not requiring in-person presentation of our passports to buy a transit card!)