I am travelling on budget throughout Europe and I wonder if Vienna is an expensive city to stay in?
Vienna is not at all a very expensive city, but it all depends on what cities you compare it with. When it comes to accomodation it feels fairly expensive, at least if you compare it with Budapest, Prague, Bratislava and similar beautiful cities located in the former Eastern Europe. Still, if you are willing to go for a hostel, you can still end up living at places for less than 20 Euro per night. Then you need to be willing to live a bit outside the city center, but if you use the metro and public transportation in Vienna, that is no problem.
For those on cheap holidays it is also good to know that the transportation prices in Vienna are quite average. A day pass to the public transportation only costs around 6 Euro, making it no worse than anywhere else… just about average. In fact public transportation prices are very similar in Vienna to earlier mentioned cities such as Prague and Budapest.
When you go out to eat you can find very exclusive places in Vienna, but if you want to dine on budget, you can eat a kebab somewhere on the street costing about 4 Euro. A meal in McDonalds cost around 6 Euro, so you should probably calculate 5-6 Euro per budget meal at least. Some restaurants in centers have lunch offers with several courses, and these normally cost somewhere around 10 Euro. If you have more money a nicer meal in a good Vienna restaurant will normally cost 20-25 Euro, including drinks and 2-3 courses.
If you want to go shopping in H&M, Zara or other fashion stores, the prices are just like everywhere else. So, it is not at all cheaper, and not more expensive. This means that shopping in these stores will cost you just as much if you do it in Budapest, Vienna, Munich, Oslo or Barcelona. The exclusive shops also have general prices, making them just as expensive in Vienna as elsewhere in the world.
Ask your Vienna question!
