Vienna  Hotels

Vienna has a comprehensive and unified public transport network that is one of the most efficient in Europe. Flat-fare tickets are valid for trains, trams, buses, the underground (U-Bahn) and the S-Bahn regional trains. Services are frequent, and you rarely have to wait more than five or 10 minutes.A popular mode of transport in Vienna is cycling. Over 700km of cycle tracks criss-cross the city, which means you're often more concerned about running into pedestrians than being run over by cars and buses.When it comes to thoughts of driving, you're better off using public transport. The streets are a complex system of one-way streets, the Viennese are particularly impatient drivers and parking is difficult and/or expensive in the centre.

Flughafen Wien Schwechat is Vienna's international airport and is served by over 80 airlines. Austrian Airlines is the national carrier. Bratislava's MR Štefánika Airport in Slovakia is only 60km east of Vienna, making it close enough to be an alternative to Schwechat. There is a number of options for shuttling from the airport as well as major car rental desks.Vienna has no central bus station so if you are arriving by bus, your arrival destination will depend on which company you're travelling with. Eurolines handles most of Vienna's international bus connections and covers a plethora of destinations between England and Turkey.

Vienna's Flughafen Wien Schwechat, 19km (12mi) east of the city centre, handles over 12 million passengers a year. The state-owned Austrian Airlines and Lauda Air, another home-grown airline, are the country's main carriers, with flights to the USA, Asia, Australia and within Europe. The departure tax is factored into the price of the air ticket. The cheapest way to and from the airport is by S-bahn on line S7 (it takes about 35min) while the fastest way is with the City Airport Train (CAT; 16 min); both arrive and depart from Wien-Mitte. You can also take an airport bus from Westbahnhof (35min) Südbahnhof (25min), Schwedenplatz (20min) and the UNO City (20min). You can take a taxi, but only if you have cash to splash.

Vienna is Central Europe's main rail hub, so connections to other major European destinations are good. Eurostar's London-Vienna service via Paris takes between 20 and 25 hours. Vienna has several train stations: check whether you're arriving at Westbahnhof, Südbahnhof or Franz Josefs Bahnhof.

Bus connections across Western and Eastern Europe are plentiful, but they're generally slower, cheaper and less comfortable than trains. Within Austria, buses can often be the best way of getting to more out-of-the-way places.

There are numerous road entry points from Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland. All major border crossings are open 24 hours and there are no controls coming from Germany, Italy - and very few from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia - thanks to the EU Schengen Agreement.

Getting around on foot is really easy, as most 'must sees' are in the inner city (Innere Stadt), and some main streets are pedestrianised.

Vienna's enviably comprehensive public transport system is one of Europe's finest. You'll rarely have to toe-tap for longer than five or 10 minutes, and services run between and midnight. Some S-Bahn and U-Bahn services may continue until 1am, and there are night buses. You can buy single-trip tickets from bus and tram drivers or ticket machines, and there's a range of passes available.

If money means nothing you can hire a horse-drawn carriage (fiacre) from Stephansplatz, Albertinaplatz and Heldenplatz at the Hofburg.

Taxis cheap by Western standards, and safe, easily available and metered.

Driving in Vienna is pretty hairy, especially if you haven't experienced a city with trams before, and parking is prohibitively expensive.

Cyclists can circle the city on the Ringstrasse bike path, or follow 700km (434mi) of bicycle tracks, including those along the banks of the Danube.

For something different, you can travel to Vienna from Amsterdam by riverboat, or from Budapest or Bratislava by hydrofoil.