1. Mailing address at the IAEA:
2. Transportation:
3. Airport:
4. Money:
5. The Vienna International Center:
6. Shopping:
7. Food:
8. Rent:
9. Laundry:
10. Telephones:

Do you have many things to bring? If you would like to send your luggage by mail, please send it to this address.

International Atomic Energy Agency (for packages)
Intern’s Name
IAEA/Private Mail/Office Number
P.O. Box 200
Wagramerstrasse 5
A-1400 Vienna
Austria

In the central part of Vienna, the streets are laid out, more or less, in concentric semi-circles (called ‘rings’) with radiating cross-streets. For reference, the Viennese use a system of districts (“bezirk”) beginning with the first district in the center and the IAEA is in the 22nd district. Vienna has an extensive public transportation system, which is very easy to use. The system includes the U-bahn (subway), Strassenbahn (tram), Autobus (bus), and Schnellbahn and Lokalbahn (trains). The U-Bahn is easy to navigate, relatively fast and efficient, and provides good access to most of the city. The other lines extend and fill in the gaps not covered by the U-Bahn. Most of the public transportation shuts down around midnight; some bus and tramlines do not run on Sunday. There are special buses and trams (the Night Owl system) that run all night and follow special routes. You can buy a weekly or monthly pass (wochen- or monatskarte) at the newsstand in the Vienna International Center (the building that houses the IAEA), at all major U-bahn stations, or at any Tabak-Trafik. Monatskarten cost of 40,70 Euro – a little more than $1.00 per day at current exchange rates. Monatskarten don’t need to be validated; you must validate the single-ride tickets by stamping them in one of the Fahrkarten machines (at the entrance to the U-bahn stations or on buses and trams). You can use one ticket on any combination of U-bahns, trams, and buses for a trip in one direction. There are no turnstiles or ticket-takers, but they make random checks for valid tickets. There’s a stiff fine – at least the same as a month pass – if you don’t have a ticket. When a random guy (they don’t necessarily look official) comes up to you on the U-bahn and says “Fahrscheincontroller bitte!” show him your ticket or monatskarte.
More information on the Vienna public transportation system can be found at:

http://mailbox.univie.ac.at/~prillih3/metro/
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/index.htm
http://www.vor.at

For travel by train outside of Vienna, you can make reservations and buy tickets at any of the major train stations (Wien Mitte, Westbanhof, Südbanhof, Wien Nord). Especially during peak travel times, be sure to make reservations for the train.See
http://www.oebb.at/en/index.html or http://www.raileurope.com for train schedules, reservations and prices.

The Vienna International Airport is located about 20 minutes southwest of Vienna. You can get from the airport to central Vienna by taxi, airport bus or train. Taxi Ask about C&K Airport Service Taxi, which has a special rate of around 22 EUR, at the transportation information counter in the airport (to the right as you come out of the luggage area). Regular taxis cost 30-35EUR. Airport Bus The airport bus goes to the City Air Terminal, behind the Hilton Hotel, across the street from the Landstrasse/Wien Mitte station. Bus pictogram signs direct you from the airport waiting area to the bus stop (straight ahead and a little left as you come out of the luggage area). A ticket costs about 6 EUR; you can either pay the driver, or buy a ticket at the Fahrkarten machine. These buses run every twenty minutes from 5:30 am until after midnight. Train There are Schnellbahns to the Landstrasse/Wien Mitte station. Follow the pictogram signs from the airport waiting room (to the right as you come out of the luggage area, downstairs, along a corridor, and down some more stairs). As you enter the platform there is a Fahrkarten machine: it will instruct you to select an “adult, 2-zones” ticket by pushing buttons, then putting in either bills or coins (a ticket costs about 3 EUR). You validate the ticket at the machine. A conductor will check it on the way into town.

ATMs are numerous, and are the easiest way to get cash (in Euro (EUR)). If you have a PIN number longer than 4 digits, your card may not function in Vienna. Debit cards are more universally accepted than cash cards. You can cash American Express traveler’s checks at the American Express office on Kärntner Straße without being charged a commission. You can also cash traveler’s checks at a bank, but you will be charged a commission for every transaction. Banks in Austria charge fees to open and close an account, to get and use an ATM card, and a monthly fee.

The Vienna International Center (VIC) houses the IAEA and UN organizations. It is across the Danube from central Vienna, in an area called Kaisermühlen (also the name of the U-bahn stop). Within the VIC there is a cafeteria, a restaurant, coffee bars, a bank, a medical clinic and pharmacy, a post office, a newsstand, a dry-cleaning service, a gymnasium, a travel agency and a photo developing service. The VIC cafeteria serves breakfast and lunch, and is inexpensive. There is an American Express travel agency in the VIC, where you can make air, hotel and some train reservations.

Most stores in Vienna are open from ~ 9:00 am until ~7:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Most stores close around 4:00 on Saturday, and few are open on Sunday (important exceptions are the Billa at Praterstern and the grocery store at Westbahnhof). The Naschmarkt (at the U4 Kettenbrückengaße stop) has produce stands that are open daily; on Saturdays there is a flea market and farmer’s market. The Donauzentrum at Kagran (two stops from the VIC on the U1) is a basic mall with a grocery store, a movie complex and several restaurants. There are several English-language bookstores: the British Bookshop (Weihburgasse 24-26 near the Stephansdom off of Kärntner Straße), Shakespeare and Company Books (Sterngasse 2), and the American Bookstore (with branches on Nuebaugasse, at the Kagran shopping center, at the airport and near the Naschmarkt). Other bookstores have English language sections (for example, Gerold & Co. on the Graben, and downstairs in the Virgin music store on Mariahilferstrasse).

Groceries are reasonably priced, and grocery stores are numerous. In a restaurant, a meal costs roughly between 7EUR and 14EUR (although, it’s possible to spend less or more). Vienna restaurants work mainly on cash, but some restaurants will take credit cards. It is customary to add a minimum 10 percent tip when you pay your waitress/waiter. (You usually have to ask for the bill (“zahlen”) when you are ready to go. The waiter/waitress will usually add it up at the table – you calculate and add the tip in your head, then tell them what the total will be.)

The rent in Vienna usually cost roughly between 400EUR to 700 EUR for one bedroom apartment. VIC has a housing office (in F building) where you could go and get help. Also, there is a very good housing website where you could search for apartments but it is in German. http://wohnen.career.at/ Moreover, there are student dormitories in each district. These dormitories are inexpensive but the living conditions are quite good. These are the links to the student dormitories in Vienna.
http://www.akademikerhilfe.at/wienpfeilg3a.html
http://www.oejab.at/ENGL/Anmeldung/anmeldung_stud.htm
http://www.oejab.at/index/index_rechts/index_rechts.htm
http://schulen.eduhi.at/pa-ed-wien/heim.html

Laundromats are almost nonexistent in Vienna. So, when you rent a place, make sure to check whether the apartment has a laundry machine or Laundromat in the building. Dry-cleaning service is available in the VIC.

All calls (local and long-distance) are charged per minute. You can buy an international phone card at the VIC newsstand, which is better value than the ones available in the post office. Cell phones may be less expensive than regular phones.