Getting ready to book your trip to Austria? Don’t start booking before you go through the information here. You can save time and money, get the most out of your trip, and easily become an Austria expert.
On our website, “Austria for Travelers,” you’ll find the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on all parts of Austria. With a quick browse of the site, you’ll see that we’ve put a lot of effort into providing the most in-depth information combined with tips from us – Israelis who live in Austria.
We know it’s easy to get lost in the sea of information on the site, so we’ve prepared this article, which centralizes our best articles to help you get the best information for planning your trip to Austria.
A Trip to Austria: The Right Choice for a Family or Couple’s Trip!
Austria is perhaps one of the most beautiful and convenient countries for a trip in Europe. It’s only a 3.5 to 4-hour flight from Israel, so it’s definitely suitable for a family trip.
The excellent infrastructure, endless attractions, and breathtaking scenery of the Alps make it a very attractive destination. Whether you’re traveling with children or not, you can find many things to see and do throughout the country. Furthermore, Austria isn’t particularly expensive, and thanks to discount cards for tourists, it’s possible to save a lot of money on attractions and activities.
So if you feel like enjoying crystal-clear mountain air, soaking in some peace and quiet, and coming back from your trip with postcard-perfect photos, a trip to Austria is definitely the right choice.
Advance Preparation: Get to Know the Travel Regions Before Booking a Flight
Even if you’ve already decided that Austria is your next travel destination, before you book a flight, we recommend you take a look at the following articles that will give you a comprehensive overview of the options in Austria.
Booking Your Trip to Austria: Make the Right Choices to Save
After reading the initial articles that helped you get to know the country better, you probably already have a direction for your trip. Now you need to start booking your flight, hotels, car, and more. Let’s go step-by-step:
1. Booking Your Flight:
Many factors influence flight choice, but the main ones are cost, availability, and distance from your travel area. While cost and availability change frequently, the location of airports is fixed, so it’s possible and advisable to filter your options in advance and focus on the airports that are relevant to you. Within Austria and in its neighboring countries, there are several very convenient airports, so you can enjoy a variety of flights at especially competitive prices. You can start your flight search right here.
If it’s still not entirely clear which airport will be ideal for your trip, read our comprehensive article on airports, where you can see the travel time from each airport to the main tourist areas, the attractions along the way, and the airlines operating at each airport. Comprehensive information on choosing a flight to Austria.
2. Hotel, Apartment, or Farm:
Throughout Austria, you can find many luxurious accommodation options. You can choose between hotels, B&Bs, vacation apartments, fully equipped B&Bs, and even authentic rural farms.
In every region, there are great accommodations with wonderful views, a spa, play areas for children, and, most importantly, peace and quiet.
To make it easier for you to find a great place to stay for your trip to Austria, we have compiled the best of the popular areas in Austria.
3. Driving and Car for the Trip:
Driving in Austria is undoubtedly an experience. It’s usually a pleasant and calm experience, but if you don’t arrive with a little advance information, you can encounter surprises. In Austria, you drive on the same side as in Israel, so there’s no problem renting a car and driving during your trip. It’s important to know a little about the rules and guidelines for driving in Austria to make your trip enjoyable and safe.
When renting a car for your trip, it’s also a good idea to compare prices, choose the most suitable location for pickup and return, and make sure the car size is right for you (don’t forget to account for luggage and equipment so you have a spacious car). Of course, you should also consider that for an urban trip, you don’t need a car at all. If you want to go out to the nature areas, it is recommended to get around by car.
Remember! It is very important to have an international driver’s license (if you only have an Israeli license). Some companies will not give you the car without seeing an international license.
4. Trip Insurance:
Another important element of preparing for a trip is purchasing travel insurance. Of course, Austria is a very orderly and safe country, but you can’t predict what will happen on a trip.
It’s important to have comprehensive and good traveler’s insurance that will cover you completely if something happens, God forbid. Additionally, if you are planning extreme sports, it is important to make sure your policy includes it.
Read more about health insurance for a trip to Austria.
Another service worth knowing about when traveling abroad is the AirDoctor service which offers convenient access to doctors from all over the world. You can read more information about this service in the article we prepared on the AirDoctor app.
5. Data and Call Plan in Austria:
A trip across Austria will require you to travel between small villages, at the foot of huge mountains, through valleys, hills, and side roads. To navigate efficiently and easily, it is important to have an internet connection on your mobile phone. This way you can use WAZE or Google Maps and travel easily (if you don’t have a good GPS in your rental car).
Some will recommend an international SIM card, but we are of the opinion that a local SIM card will be the cheapest and best solution for you. A data and call package for €10 will be more than enough for your trip.
We recommend the HOT company from the Hofer supermarket chain. You can buy the SIM card at any supermarket, register, and top up money using a simple and convenient app. If you need customer service, they also provide it in English. The basic package includes 43GB of data and 1,000 minutes of calls and SMS. Its cost is €9.90.
6. Planning Your Trip Itinerary:
You are almost ready! Now all that remains is to choose the best attractions for you and embed them in your travel plan. With the enormous number of attractions in Austria, it is difficult to know what is next to what and which attractions should be combined on each day of the trip. The best way to understand exactly where each attraction is located and the distance to it is by using a comprehensive map. For this purpose, we have prepared a most comprehensive interactive map for you with all the attractions you need to know about in Austria. The map also includes links to detailed information on the various attractions. Interactive Map of Austria.
In addition, there are attractions for which it is a good idea to book tickets in advance (Schönbrunn Palace, for example). You can visit the Tiqets ticket sales portal and see the variety of options for purchasing tickets online easily and receiving them directly on your mobile phone.
If you are coming to Vienna, you will be happy to know that there are guided tours in Hebrew on a variety of especially interesting topics!
7. Don’t Forget! Right Before the Flight:
If you have completed all the steps so far, then you are almost 100% ready for your trip. There are a few things that are important to remember:
- Valid passports! At least 6 months of validity
- International license (otherwise they won’t give you the car)
- Cash in case of need (it’s worth using the flymoney service)
- If you think the cost of the car for your trip is not very attractive, it is worth activating the Papam Papam service which helps reduce the cost of the car for the trip for free.
- In the days of Corona: follow the updated guidelines, but you will probably need a negative test / vaccine.
- If you want a community atmosphere on Shabbat: it is worth booking a Shabbat meal at the Chabad House in Vienna which is considered one of the best in Europe.
- A working phone / camera because everyone will want to see the pictures from Austria!
We hope the information here will help you prepare properly for your trip to Austria!
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