Vienna eSIM
In Vienna you connect to A1 or Magenta, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The typical speed across the country is 86 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- A1 and Magenta
- Typical speed in Austria
- 86 Mbps typical, 26 Mbps at busy times
- 5G
- yes, non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Vienna
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $5.89 | $5.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $2.63 | $7.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $1.98 | $9.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $1.49 | $14.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $1.19 | $23.89 | |
| 50 GB | Never expires | $1.20 | $59.89 |
How Austria compares across Europe
- Regional typical speed
- 71 Mbps
- Upstream networks
- 2, A1, Magenta
- 5G
- Yes, non standalone
- Next fastest nearby
- Liechtenstein, 88 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- Lithuania, 86 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 3: Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck
Landing at Vienna International Airport (VIE)
- Airport
- VIE / LOWW
- Distance
- 18 km from the centre of Vienna
Getting into Vienna
- City Airport Train (CAT), running as a replacement bus to Wien Mitte until 31 October 2027 (VIE), about 21 minutes
- OeBB S7 S-Bahn (VIE), about 20 minutes
Underground and on the metro
Vienna U-Bahn runs 5 lines. It opened in 1978. The operator does not publish whether the tunnels carry a mobile signal, so we do not claim either way.
Worth knowing about Vienna
- Vienna Airport currently lists a rail replacement service for the City Airport Train because of track closures, so the rail link is not running normally.
- OeBB S7 trains run between Wien St. Marx and Vienna Airport while the line through the city centre is closed, so check current schedules before relying on the S-Bahn.
- The U-Bahn does not reach the airport. It opened in 1978, has five lines, and connects with the airport trains at mainline stations in the city.
- From 7 September 2026 until the end of October 2027 the inner-city S-Bahn trunk line between Wien Praterstern and Wien Hauptbahnhof is closed for modernisation, so trains do not stop at Rennweg or at Wien Mitte/Landstrasse, the usual arrival point for airport rail.
- While the trunk line is shut, from 24 August 2026 to 31 October 2027, the City Airport Train runs as premium buses between the airport and Wien Mitte/Landstrasse. The ride takes 21 minutes, with up to five buses an hour in each direction.
- In the city the CAT replacement bus stops at Marxergasse 1b, by the Wien Mitte The Mall hub, where the U3 and U4 meet. The CAT City Check-In at Wien Mitte cannot be used while the buses run.
- The CAT buses leave every 15 minutes in the early morning, from 5:30 at Wien Mitte and from 6:10 at the airport, every 12 minutes between 7:00 and 19:00, and every 15 minutes again from 19:00 until midnight.
- During the closure the S7 airport line turns back at St. Marx, outside the centre. From there tram 18 goes to Hauptbahnhof, tram 71 heads for Karlsplatz, bus 74A reaches Landstrasse, and the nearest U3 station is about a ten minute walk.
- Rail to Hauptbahnhof is unaffected by the closure. The REX 7 regional express takes around 20 minutes, and OeBB Railjet and Intercity trains run nonstop twice an hour in about 15 minutes, or to Wien Meidling, on the U6, in just under half an hour.
- The Vienna Airport Bus, run by Postbus, has five lines: VAB1 to Westbahnhof via Hauptbahnhof in 40 minutes, VAB2 to Morzinplatz/Schwedenplatz in 20, VAB3 to Donauzentrum via the Vienna International Centre in 40, VAB4 to Karlsplatz in 25 and VAB5 to Praterstern in 30.
- The airport bus to Morzinplatz/Schwedenplatz runs around the clock every day, which makes it the dependable choice for a flight landing after midnight. Half-hourly buses also link the airport with Westbahnhof and Hauptbahnhof.
- Ordinary Wiener Linien tickets cover only the Vienna core zone, so a trip to or from the airport needs an extra one-way ticket into that zone. The City Airport Train and the Vienna Airport Bus sell their own tickets.
- A single ticket is valid for 80 minutes from validation, with as many changes as you like, provided the journey is unbroken. Timed tickets are stamped in the blue machines at U-Bahn and S-Bahn entrances, or inside the vehicle on trams and buses.
- Wiener Linien's WienMobil app is free, available in German and English, and plans routes that combine public transport, walking, cycling, taxis and car sharing. It also sells public transport tickets straight to the phone.
- The U-Bahn normally runs from about 5:00 to about midnight. On Friday and Saturday nights and before public holidays it runs all night every 15 minutes, and Nightline buses run every night from 0:30 to 5:00 every 30 minutes, on ordinary Wiener Linien tickets.
- The U-Bahn tunnels are wired for mobile signal. A shared antenna cable more than 200 km long runs along the tunnel walls; the network gained GSM in the mid-1990s and UMTS in 2002, and Wiener Linien set out to have it all LTE-ready by the end of 2017.
- Coupling boxes in the underground stations feed every Austrian operator's frequencies into that tunnel cable, so signal below ground does not depend on which Austrian network a phone is using. The newer U1 stations had LTE equipment from the day they opened.
- The City of Vienna runs a free public WiFi network, StadtWien-PublicWLAN. Once connected, a city start page opens with local weather, water temperatures and the nearest drinking fountains, toilets and first-aid posts, and internet access starts when you accept the terms of use.
- Acceptance of the city WiFi terms lapses after twelve hours and has to be renewed. Content filters block some sites, and each hotspot reaches roughly 50 metres, less where walls or trees are in the way.
- The Vienna Tourist Board counts around 400 free hotspots, 40 of them in the 1st district, including Rathausplatz, Stephansplatz, the MuseumsQuartier, the Naschmarkt, the Prater, Danube Island, train stations and many U-Bahn stations.
- The driverless U5 will not carry passengers before 2030. Its first section, from Karlsplatz to Frankhplatz, is due to be structurally complete in 2026, but the city has pushed its opening back to save operating costs.
- Hotels in Vienna charge the Ortstaxe, a city accommodation tax. Since 1 July 2026 it is 5 percent of the room charge excluding VAT and breakfast, up from 3.2 percent, and it rises to 8 percent on 1 July 2027.