Guidebook Updates for Austria

• If your passport is due to expire within six months of your ticketed date of return from Europe, you need to renew it. Allow plenty of time to renew or get a passport, especially while a backlog of applications is causing significant slowdowns — see the US Department of State's travel site for current estimated processing times.
• Bring proof of vaccination, and be sure to check the latest Covid entry requirements for Austria right up to your date of travel.

For books printed before May 2019, the following may also apply:

• Eurail Select Passes are no longer being sold (but similarly priced Global Passes still are) — see our 2019 rail-travel update.

For books printed before April 2017, the following may also apply:

• Lately, many restaurants — especially those in well-touristed areas — have added a "Tip is not included" line, in English, to the bottom of the bill. This is misleading, as the prices on any menu in Austria do include service. We don't advise tipping any more at all at a restaurant that includes this note on the bill. (Many Austrians, incensed at this trend, are rebelling by tipping far less generously at eateries using this approach.)

For books printed before May 2019, the following may apply:

• The most central bus stop in Melk for the #WL1 line between Melk and Krems is now on Prinzlstrasse, not Hauptplatz.
• The visitors center at the Mauthausen Memorial now stores luggage for visitors.
• The Wachauerhof hotel in Melk has a new email address: [email protected].
• The tourist choo-choo train that connected Krems' riverboat dock with the old town and train station is no longer running.

For books printed before May 2019, the following may apply:

• The Bone Chapel is now open off-season (but with shorter hours than in high season).
• The tourist information office no longer stores bags for travelers.
• The Zauner butcher and grocery store has closed.
• Pension Grüner Anger no longer offers dinner.
• Pension Sarstein now closes in the winter (Nov–mid-April).

For books printed before April 2017, the following may also apply:

• Helga Lenz, who has long rented rooms in her home at the top of town, has retired as a guesthouse host.
• The Nah und Frisch grocery store near the Lahn bus stop now closes at midday (Mon–Fri 7:30–12:30 & 13:30–18:00, Sat 7:30–12:00, shorter hours off-season and closed Sun year-round).

For books printed before January 2023, the following may apply:

• At Ehrenberg Castle a new, second incline elevator from the suspension bridge station up to the Schlosskopf ruins should be running by the middle of 2023.
• The local bus that runs between the train station and Ehrenberg Castle is now #120.
• Hotel Wolke 7 has closed.
• Ausserfern Bauernladen is at Untermarkt 9, not Obermarkt 3.

For books printed before February 2021, the following may also apply:

• You can now skip the steep climb to the Ehrenberg Castle ruins by taking the "Ehrenberg Liner" elevator from the visitor center up to the suspension bridge, where you can continue on the footpath to the ruins.
• The Füssen–Reutte bus is now #100 (not #74).

For books printed before January 2023, the following may apply:

• The Makartsteg bridge has been renamed "Marko-Feingold-Steg."
• The best phone number for the daily walking tour that meets at Salzburg's tourist information office is +43 664 340 1757.
• A'Velo bike rental has moved to the Old Town side of the Staatsbrücke (Salzburg's main bridge) and now closes Nov–March.
• The tourist information office across from the train station in Berchtesgaden has closed.
• The Obersalzberg Documentation Center (above Berchtesgaden) is closed for renovation until fall 2023. All sections of the bunker system are also currently off-limits to visitors.
• At the Hohensalzburg Fortress, the audioguides are gone, but free 30-minute tours are given at 9:30 and 19:00, starting at the fortress's info point. A new "Panorama Ticket" budget option allows entry only into the Panorama exhibit on the fortress itself, and tower view (€11 by funicular, €8.50 by foot; only available May–Sept 8:30–10:00 and 18:00–20:00).
• Admission to the cathedral is now €5. Cathedral tours are offered in English daily at 14:00 for €5 and organ concerts are daily at noon for €6; these tickets include admission to the church — so if you're going to visit the church anyway, they are basically free.
• Haus Ballwein, on Moosstrasse, has closed (Pension Ballwein, however is still in operation).

For books printed before February 2021, the following may also apply:

• Carpe Diem restaurant in the Old Town has closed.
• Cityhotel Trumer Stube now offers a discount to Rick Steves readers, and bigger discounts for those who pay in cash (and for families), but breakfast is no longer included in their rates. The hotel no longer offers in-room smartphones, but Marianne and her colleagues can help out with booking tours and concerts.

For books printed before September 2019, the following may also apply:

• Mirabell Palace is free to visit, and open daily 8:00–18:00.

For books printed before June 2023, the following may apply:

• The Academy of Fine Arts Painting Gallery has moved back to its permanent location across from Schillerpark at Schillerplatz 3. It no longer displays a permanent collection, but instead now rotates temporary exhibits — comprising its works by the masters and modern art — to highlight contemporary themes.
• The Wien Museum Karlsplatz is slated to reopen in its slick new quarters in 2024.
• Several collections associated with the Kunsthistorisches Museum have changed names: The Imperial Furniture Collection is now the Vienna Furniture Museum, the Arms and Armor Collection is now the Imperial Armory, and the Ancient Musical Instruments Collection is now the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments.
• St. Stephen's Cathedral has a new phone number: +43 1 515 523 054.
• Guided tours of the Vienna State Opera can now be booked online, which we recommend — spots can indeed sell out. If you haven't booked ahead, it's wise to show up at the tour entrance 30 minutes in advance. And the opera house has a new phone number: +43 1 514 444 2250.
• Two spots we'd recommended for kids, Bogi Park and the Dianabad water park, have closed.
• A new Vienna–Paris night train now runs three times a week (14 hours; keep in mind that flying may be cheaper).
• Westbahn private trains don't currently serve the Hauptbahnhof — just Wien Westbahnhof and Wien Hütteldorf.

For books printed before February 2020, the following may also apply:

• Soho Kantine is now Bistro ReFresh. It is open Mon–Fri 9:00–16:00, closed Sat–Sun, +43 664 885 23260.

For books printed before May 2019, the following may also apply:

• The New Palace Museums complex is now known as the World Museum Vienna, and now houses a fourth collection, the Ethnography Museum. The whole complex is now open on Mondays and Tuesdays, but closed on Wednesdays.
• At Schönbrunn Palace, the "Gold Pass" ticket is no longer an option.
• The Wien Museum Karlsplatz is closed for a multiyear renovation, with temporary exhibits on the city's cultural history still on view at the Wien Museum MUSA location (near City Hall).
• Reserved seats for the Vienna Boys' Choir are now only available by email.
• Vienna State Opera tickets can only be booked online or in person (not by phone).
• The Austrian Postal Savings Bank is no longer a functioning bank, and is being converted into lofts. But its foyer, atrium, and small architectural museum will remain open and free to visit for the foreseeable future.
• The Mozarthaus concert venue's website is now at www.mozarthaus.at.
• The direct Vienna–Prague night train has been discontinued.
• The Mahart line boat between Vienna and Budapest is no longer running.
• The Biobar von Antun vegetarian restaurant has closed.
• The Bamkraxler Heuriger (in the Heiligenstadt neighborhood) has closed.
• Hotel zur Wiener Staatsoper has a new email address: [email protected] (and a new manager, Ursula).
• Pension Aviano is now "Aviano Boutique Hotel" and has a new email address: [email protected].
• NH Atterseehaus Suites is now "NH Collection Wien Zentrum" and has a new email address: [email protected].
• Pension Hargita has a new email address: [email protected].

For books printed before March 2018, the following may also apply:

• Tickets to the Kunsthistorisches Museum no longer cover the New Palace museums (a.k.a. World Museum Vienna).

For books printed before April 2017, the following may also apply:

• The restaurant called Beisl zum Scherer has closed.
• Hotel Schweizerhof has closed.
• The Kunst Haus Wien (Hundertwasser museum) now closes daily at 18:00.