Time
Austria time zone: GMT+1 (-2 hours to Moscow).
Telephone
While in Austria, in case of emergency, you should call the following phone numbers:
- 144 – ambulance;
- 133 – police;
- 122 – fire service.
You may also need the following phone numbers:
- 1611 – information service of Austria;
- (222) 17-17 – railway information service of the city of Vienna;
- 714-71-69 – Russian embassy;
- 712-32-33 – consulate.
Tips
In Austrian restaurants, 5-10% of the total bill is usually left as a tip. In small bars and cafes, you can leave moments of small dignity as a reward to the waiter. It is customary for taxi drivers to tip 10% of the amount shown on the meter.
Currency
The national currency of Austria is the euro. Banknotes are in circulation in denominations of 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 euros, as well as coins in denominations of 2 and 1 euros, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents.
Austria provides unlimited opportunities to import and export currency from the country. For its exchange, you can use the exchange offices located in banks. The usual working hours of Austrian banks are from 8 to 15 hours, with a break from 12 to 13-30 hours. On Thursdays, banks are open until 17:30.
For the purpose of currency exchange, you can also use special exchange offices located at railway stations, as well as at airports, where a small commission is charged for banking operations, but these points are open daily from 8 to 20 hours.
The shops
Most Austrian shops are open on weekdays from 8 am to 12 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm, with a Saturday afternoon reduced to 1 pm. But there are also outlets open daily without lunch breaks until 19:00.
It must be remembered that on the first Saturday of each month, shops are mostly open until 17:00.
Grocery stores under the signs “Hofer”, “Spar”, “Billa” offer their customers products at lower prices than others.
When buying goods for an amount exceeding 75 euros, tourists residing outside the European Union are entitled to receive back value added tax, in the amount of approximately 13% of the purchase amount.
To get this tax back, you need to take a check along with an envelope at outlets with the “Tax Free-Shopping” or “Tax Free” sign. At the Austrian customs, the original invoice, check and purchased products are presented, and the customs service puts its seal on the check. Without obtaining this seal, VAT is non-refundable. The tax amount is refunded at airports, as well as railway stations in Austria, or already in Russia at bank branches. See liuxers for Austria customs and traditions.
Transport
Austria has an excellently developed intercity and suburban rail service. Trains include first and second class carriages. When purchasing train tickets in Austria, you can get a discount on them. In addition, it is possible to purchase a Bundes-Netzkarte ticket (it costs 220 euros) to travel throughout the country. Local travel tickets are bought for a period of 4 to 10 days, their cost is 45 euros.
In Austria, it is cheaper to move from city to city not by train, but by special intercity buses. “Voting” on the highways in order to reach the destination by passing car is not welcome in Austria. It is also strongly undesirable to try to “catch” a taxi on city streets. For taxis in Austria, there are special stands, in addition, ordering a taxi is easier and cheaper by phone.
Opening hours of public transport (buses, trams, metro) from 5 to 23 hours. Tickets for travel in it can be purchased both at kiosks selling tobacco products “Tabak-Trafik”, and at automatic subway ticket offices, as well as from the driver (at the same time, the ticket price increases). There are different types of tickets: for 1 hour, for 1 day, for 3 days, for 7 days, for 30 days. The most profitable is the purchase of Vienna Cards in Vienna, which are valid for all types of urban transport for 1, 2 or 3 days and provide a discount on visits to many of the city’s cultural attractions. Similar cards can also be purchased in the cities of Salzburg and Innsbruck.
Electricity
The voltage in the electrical networks of Austria is 220 volts, 50 hertz.
