By Air

Flying time from New York to Vienna is 8 hours; it's 9 hours from Washington, D.C., and 2 hours from London.

Fodors.com Connection

Before your trip, be sure to check out what other travelers are saying in Travel Ratings and Talk on www.fodors.com.

Airlines & Airports

Airline and Airport Links.com. www.airlineandairportlinks.com.

Airline Security Issues

Transportation Security Administration. www.tsa.gov.

Airports

Austria's major air gateway is Vienna's Schwechat Airport, about 12 mi southeast of the city. Salzburg Airport is Austria's second-largest airport, about 2½ mi west of the center. Just south of Graz, in Thalerhof, is the Graz Airport. Two other airports you might consider, depending on where in Austria you intend to travel, are Bratislava's M. R. Stefanik international airport in neighboring Slovakia, and Munich's airport, not far from Salzburg. Bratislava is about 60 kms (36 mi) east of Vienna and is the hub for RyanAir and Sky Europe, two budget carriers with low-cost connections to several European cities. Frequent buses can take you from Bratislava airport to central Vienna in about an hour. Consider Munich if your primary destination is western Austria, Salzburg, or Innsbruck.

Airport Information

Graz Airport (GRZ) (0316/2902 Ext. 172.)

M. R. Stefanik Airport (Bratislava, BTS) (421/233-0333-53 from outside of Slovakia.)

Munich Airport International (MUC) (49/899-7500 from outside Germany.)

Salzburg Airport (SZG) (0662/85800.)

Schwechat Airport (Vienna, VIE) (01/70070. www.viennaairport.com.)

Ground Transportation & Transfers

The City Airport Train (CAT) provides service from Schwechat to downtown Vienna for EUR 8 (single ticket); the trip takes about 16 minutes. Travel into the city on the local S-Bahn takes about 25 minutes and costs EUR 4.50. City bus No. 2 runs every 10 minutes between Salzburg's main railway station and the airport; transfers cost EUR 2. A local bus runs from Graz Jakominiplatz to the airport every hour and costs EUR 1.80 for the 10-minute ride. The Vienna Airport Web site has information for all ground transfers

Ground Transportation Contacts

CAT (www.cityairporttrain.com.)

S-bahn (www.schnellbahn-wien.at.)

Schwechat Airport (www.viennaairport.com.)

Vienna Bus (www.wienerlinien.at.)

Flights

Austria is easy to reach from the United States. Austrian Airlines, Austria's national carrier, flies nonstop to Vienna from the U.S., departing from New York's JFK airport and Washington Dulles. From Canada, Austrian flies direct from Toronto. Austrian Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance, and is partnered with United in the United States, meaning usually good connections from cities serviced by United. Once in Vienna, Austrian Airlines has an excellent network of internal flights linking the capital with major regional cities like Salzburg and Graz. It's also possible to travel from North America with major U.S. carriers—such as American, Northwest, and United—but you'll be routed to a major European hub, such as London, Amsterdam, or Frankfurt, to change planes for Vienna. Be sure to leave plenty of time between connections (two hours is ideal), as these hubs tend to be enormous and getting from your arrival gate to your new departure point will inevitably take some time. Travelers from North America should note, too, that many international carriers offer service to Vienna after stopovers at major European airports.

In addition to the major international carriers, a new breed of European budget airlines, including RyanAir and Sky Europe, has expanded greatly in recent years, offering low-cost flights from major cities around the Continent. Although these airlines are not normally ideal for connecting with transatlantic flights because of the hassle of changing airports, they provide an extremely low-cost way of getting around for travel within Europe. In 2004, former Formula I champion Niki Lauda teamed up with budget carrier Air Berlin for FlyNiki, a low-cost airline with travel between Vienna, Graz, Linz, Innsbruck, and major hubs in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, the U.S., and Canada (www.flyniki.com).

Within Austria, Austrian Airlines and its subsidiary Austrian Arrows offer service from Vienna to Linz and Innsbruck; they also provide routes to and from points outside Austria.

Airline Contacts

American Airlines (800/433-7300. www.aa.com.)

Austrian Airlines (800/843-0002; 05/1717 within Austria. www.austrian.com.)

British Airways (800/247-9297; 0844/493-0787 within Great Britain; 01/795-67-567 within Austria. www.britishairways.com.)

Lufthansa (800/645-3880; 0810/102-58-080 within Austria. www.lufthansa.com.)

Delta Airlines (800/221-1212. www.delta.com.)

United Airlines (800/864-8331 for U.S. reservations; 800/538-2929 for international reservations. www.united.com.)

Smaller Airlines

Fly Niki (0820/737-800 within Austria for €0.12/minute. www.flyniki.com.)

Air Berlin (0820/737-800 within Austria for €0.12/minute; 1-866/266-5588 toll-free from the U.S. www.airberlin.com.)

Ryanair. 0900/210-240 in Austria 61c per minute (German speaking). www.ryanair.com.