1,80 € for a trip through Vienna

Public Transport in Vienna - a short instruction manual

Definitely you will have experienced that in many cities the ways to use public transport are different.
Vienna compared to London for example has some major difference, though you also will achieve the main goal: to get from A to B

So what's the difference?

Let me start with listing the types of "vehicles": In Vienna we have

• the U-Bahn - which is equivalent to the tube in London
• buses - they even look similar in colour and, if we forget about the doubledeckers, are quite the same anyway
• the train - whilst in London more than one operator, in Vienna only the so called S-Bahn (S for "schnell", meaning "quick")
• the Strassenbahn, the tram - what a surprise, no similarity in London

Ok, Vienna has only 5 U-Bahn-Lines, while London Underground has 11, but never forget: we have 1,7 Million people moving around in the city, whilst in London 8 Million hustle through the streets. A wee bit of a difference .... and while here in Vienna 2 Mio passengers use the tunnel system daily in London 3,4 Mio squeeze through the access gates.
Interesting ratios.

But let's forget about numbers. I am here to write about how to get on with the public thingy.
Ok then, let's set the scene:

You want to leave from bluedanube apartments and want to visit the Heurigen in Grinzing. On the way there you want to make use of your time and circumnavigate the Ring with it's impressive historic buildings.
Easy peasy! You just buy a ticket for 1,80 Euro at the station Praterstern, only 1 minute away from the apartment and validate it at the blue box which is situated just before you move down with the escalator to U1. No worries, you don't get the ticket back as in London, but you have to keep it anyway.

After 3 stops you'll climb up to earth at Karlsplatz, and will be happy to find yourself on one of the nicest spots in Vienna, only 5min apart from the apartment.

Now just hop on the tram Nr 1 and enjoy the easy travel alongside the Ring. You'll pass by the museums, the Hofburg, the Rathaus, the cafe Landtmann, the Burgtheater and finally get off at Schottentor. Here again change to another tram, Nr 38, which will take you directly to Grinzing!

And this is it: you'll never have to buy a ticket again nor have to validate it again, just enjoy your trip! 1,80 Euro is the price from bluedanube apartment to the Heurigen in Grinzing - if you're keen on a touristy but nice place for wine and authentic food.
NOTE: you pay from A to B 1,80 with no limitation of changes, it's just necessary that you always move in one direction!

You also can opt for the Vienna Card, 18,50 euro for 72hrs tram, bus, u-bahn, plus additional benefits and discounts.

Finally for your planning, here is a tram map and a u-bahn map!
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/metro/m/largemap-tram.html
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/metro/m/largemap-s-wien.html