Vienna

<map lat='48.2' lng='16.3744' zoom='10' view='3' float='right' /> Vienna (Wien in German, Bécs in Hungarian) is the capital of Austria. It is in the east of the country on the river Danube. More than 1,6 mln people live there. It is the largest city of Austria and is surrounded by the state of Lower Austria. It is also an administrative district (Bundesland) of its own.

Hitching Out

West towards Munich, Salzburg

Take the U4 to Hütteldorf, get off and go towards Hadikgasse (left), walk left again, then you are right on the main road leading out of Vienna towards Linz, Salzburg, Munich. There is a bus stop which is a well known hitching spot. Change cars (if necessary) at the rest areas St. Pölten or Ansfelden.

Alternatively, you can go over the motorway via the bridge. Turn right after it and walk for one km until you see Autohof Wien.

North towards Prague

Take a train from Handelskai to Kornneuburg. Get out of the station and turn left. Follow the main street, and after ca. 1 km turn left into a small street. Cross the railway and walk further until you see an on-ramp.

North towards Brno

MrTweek hitching to Vienna

From central Wien take a tram nr.31 to the last station, Stammersdorf. Continue on your right down the main street, Brünner Str (road nr. 7); pass the "Merkur" supermarket till you come to another shopping center, about 300m further. Hitchhike right after the entrance to the parking lot. All the traffic to Brno passes here, although bear in mind that many cars leave this road before the border and turn eastwards onto some country roads to get to the Slovak motorway. In case your driver continues pass Brno, ask him/her to drop you off at the "Olimpia" shopping center which is situated on the motorway, - from there you will find a free bus to central Brno.

East towards Bratislava, Budapest

Cultural note: Watch out for Romanian drivers who may attempt to charge you for the ride and/or drop you off in a remote area if you don't pay. Make clear before you sit in a Romanian car that you ain't gonna pay: "Is the lift free? / I can't pay." - "E gratis? / N-am bani sa va dau."

There is a petrol station on the motorway to Budapest where you can easily find a ride to Bratislava or further into Slovakia. To get to this petrol station by public transport you should get to Enkplatz (by Metro U3) and from there you can take a bus number 76A to Haidequerstraße. Then you just walk the Haidequerstraße to the north for a couple of minutes and you are at the petrol station which is on the autobahn A4 towards the east, Győr and Budapest. Be careful because there are two stops with the same name, get off at the first one.

When heading to Hungary, it is recommended to stand on petrol stations holding a sign while being visible both to the drivers on the road and at petrol stations.

A note from hitchhiker Nucleaphyllis: "We followed the above directions, and aren't sure if we missed something because they left us still at least a kilometer away from the petrol station. The "Haidequerstraße" is confusing because the bus runs on "Haidestrasse". Get off where it crosses "..quer.." Then you just walk the Haidequerstraße to the north for a couple of minutes, until you come to the motorway. Pass a biomass plant on your right as you're walking. The road ends at the A4 there's a railroad bridge crossing a river. Take the pedestrian bridge, then turn right and walk along the river on the access/pedestrian/bike road for about 1200m. You'll be able to see the OMV from the road you're walking on. Wait for a break in the cars, then cross the traffic to get to the petrol station."

• what pippi found out: there are several Haidequerstraßen in this area. The OMV is in the 7.Haidequerstraße 2. To go there, you go by bus to the stop called 7.haidequerstraße, this is one stop after "Simmeringer Haide". To find out more about the connections, see www.wienerlinien.at

South towards Graz, Slovenia

Take the free IKEA bus from the Opera (Oper) to the SCS (Shopping City Süd) or the Badener Bahn (costs 3,40 Euro, as of Feb.2009) to Maria-Enzersdorf (Südstadt). Advantages of the latter one: it goes more often and earlier in the morning than the bus. If you take the train, you can go to one station after Shopping City Sued which is called Maria-Enzersdorf (Suedstadt). This one is closer to the actual interchange: just get off the train, head the direction you came from, turn right by the end of the platform, cross the tracks, pass 100 m of wild grass and there is a curved street - you'll see the signs.

Alternativly you can take public transport to Matzleinsdorfer Platz where the Triester Straße begins (Direction South-West). This road is extremely long but it got on-ramps for heading South (Graz). Try hitching somewhere along this road, or ask at petrol stations.

Blackriding

It's quite easy to ride the subway, bus, and tram system with no ticket. One Vienna's local (who actually did use a year pass) told she'd been checked once in a period of over a year despite riding public transport every day.

i got checked the very first time I blackride in Vienna. At the time I didnt bring any money with me and didnt have my passport with me. The police told me to step out of the car and told me that they needed to take me to police station (since I couldnt pay the fine and couldnt show them my passport). And then they talked to eachother for a few minutes and told me to go upstairs and buy a ticket. i return with my ticket and gave it to them and i continue my trip. since then, no more black riding for me in Vienna

Links

• IKEA bus - information about the IKEA bus (in German)
• Travel schedules (only in German)