Vienna flights and travel guide

Vienna, the capital city of Austria, was for more than 600 years the centre of the Hapsburg Empire. Travellers taking cheap flights to Vienna will discover that this city is indeed fit for emperors. It's a city of stunning architecture, art, music and culture. 

The Hapsburgs, among other things, had a winter palace (Hofburg) and a summer residence (the Schönbrunn) as well as a passion for collecting art. The Kunsthistorisches Museum almost groans under the weight of art treasures (works by Rubens, Titian and Vermeer among others) and the family's gilded fairytale carriages, housed in the Wagenburg building. 

Once you've traced Mozart's footsteps around the city and oohed and aahed at Gustav Klimt's ceiling paintings in the University of Vienna's Great Hall, take yourself off to the Museumsquartier. 

Known as Muqua to locals, this massive space houses several museums (including Leopold Museum and MUMOK, the modern art museum), restaurants and shops. It's also where the Viennese go to kick back and relax. Vienna is a regular tie (with Vancouver, incidentally) in the most livable city index, making every tourist feel like royalty. 

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Vienna climate

Vienna has a straightforward climate - summers are warm and winters are cold. Travellers taking cheap flights to Vienna during the summer months will enjoy temperatures of between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius. Winter temperatures hover around freezing point.

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When to fly to Vienna

There's no "best" time to take cheap flights to Vienna. The city has enough attractions to suit summer or winter breaks. 

Peak Season: 
July and August are the peak months. 

Off Season: 
The weeks following New Years to March is low season in some ways. Vienna is just an hour away from in-demand ski resorts so the winter months are popular with skiers and snowboarders. 

Shoulder Season: 
Spring and Fall are shoulder seasons.

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Getting downtown Vienna

Once travellers have disembarked from their cheap flights to Vienna, there are several ways to get downtown. The City Airport Train departs every 30 minutes. The journey takes just 16 minutes and costs about €16. Airport Express Buses of the Vienna Airport Lines travel to and from the city centre. A return trip costs €11 and takes 20 minutes. Taxis can be picked up in front of the arrivals hall. There are several rental car companies at the airport, including Avis, Budget and Dollar Thrifty.

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Getting around Vienna

Walking is the best way to see this beautiful city. The Inner City - containing the historic must-see buildings - is pedestrianised. There's also the U-Bahn, which is clean, fast and reliable. It runs from very early morning to about midnight. The tram is a delightful way of getting around Vienna. A single ticket costs about €2. Buses are also clean and reliable.

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Vienna insider information

• Travellers who have snapped up cheap flights to Vienna can save more money when they arrive by getting a Vienna Card. It costs about €20 and offers unlimited free travel by U-Bahn, bus and tram for 72 hours. The card also offers more than 200 discounts at museums, theatres, concerts, shops, restaurants and cafes. 
• Only tourists order "coffee" in Vienna. To fit in, order like the Viennese. A Doppelmokka or Mokka gespritzt perhaps? That's a Mocha with brandy. A Kleiner Brauner is a double shot of coffee served with cream. And a Fiaker is coffee with a shot of cherry brandy with lots of cream and a cherry on top. 
• A charming and relatively close-by side trip is taking a boat to Bratislava. The Twin City Liner is a catamaran that does the Vienna-Bratislava run four times a day. It costs about €30 each way. 
• The Naschmarkt (between Linke and Rechte Wienzeile) is Vienna’s best-known food market. Nearly 200 stalls, a nearby flea market and a number of restaurants keep visitors enthralled. The name Naschmarkt is derived from naschen, a word that means something like, in the words of novelist Iliya Troyanov, “to nibble away delectably with abandon at a small, predominantly (but not exclusively) sweet and extremely tasty bit of food”. 
• The Life Ball is Europe's largest AIDS fundraiser. It is held at Vienna's city hall in May and starts with fashion shows by top designers such as John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood and Thierry Mugler. 
• The “Donauturm”, a radio signal transmission tower, is Vienna's highest building. At 252 metres high it offers awesome views of the city. There's an observation deck and two revolving restaurants (at heights of 160 and 170 metres).

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Vienna airports

Vienna International Airport (VIE) (website: www.viennaairport.com) The airport is situated 18km southeast of Vienna.

Alternatively, some travellers do not take cheap flights to Vienna. They fly to Bratislava first and take a bus to Vienna from there. The journey takes 75 minutes and costs about €20 return.

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