driving in austria

q1 . highly unlikely - we had somebody recently who was sure it would and found out otherwise. The only way to know for certain is to pick up the phone and ask your insurance company. They will almost certainly say no.

q2 . An Austrian rental will have the vignette already. You will need a Swiss one if you go into Switzerland (but you should know that the Arlberg tunnel is under construction for some time which will take you longer.

q3 . yes, the alphabet is the same, and as long as you know your destination you should be able to follow. Lots of signs are pictographs and symbols rather than words.

Melk, Salzburg and Hallstatt are the same in both English and German. Vienna is Wien.

Most U.S. insurance companies do not cover you in Europe. Your credit card may have insurance that covers you however. Go online and read the list of terms and conditions on your credit card.

Austria does have a vignette window sticker that needs to be purchased if you drive on their autobahn or 4 lane roads. The rental company can provide that for you and they can be purchased at drive in markets and gas stations.

It's not at all difficult to drive in Austria. The roads are well marked and well paved. They do get a little crooked in some places in the mountains. If at all possible, drop a couple of hours south of Salzburg into The Alps for the most incredible scenery you'll ever see. The Grossglockner High Alpine Highway south of Zell-am-See is the most beautiful drive I've ever seen--in the entire world.

Don't forget, you MUST have an IDP to drive in Austria.

Get an IDP from AAA.
Vignette (toll sticker) is well worth the cost IF not provided. A 10 day sticker costs about $10. Can be bought at any gas station.

Signs are easy to follow. Most signs list the names of the towns the road is heading towards. Very simple.

Must you drive? None of your concerns exist if you go by train.

You have good answers. For the advisability of driving, there ARE places that are simply not easy to get to by train or bus, like Admont Abbey. I have not driven in Vienna but you could also look at train to Salzburg and renting from there.

Thanks for all the replies. For those who have rented cars in Austria, is insurance there expensive?

Also, after looking at the map, it makes more sense for us to go from Cesky Krumlov directly to Salzburg/Hallstatt instead of en route of Vienna. What are the options to go from Cesky Krumlov to the Salzburg area?

In terms of lake towns, it seems Hallstatt is a must go. What are other towns worth going? I heard Gosau, Schafberg, Bad Isch

thanks

You only need a Vignett if you drive on the Autobahns in Österreich and Česko. I usually avoid them. My navigation device has an option to avoid tolls. There are some exceptions to the compulsory Vignette usage where you pay more or do not require one. See the map on the Austrian website. Digital and easy to buy online nowadays.

https://www.asfinag.at/en/toll/vignette/

https://edalnice.cz/en/index.html#/validation

If you're going from Cesky Krumlov to Salzburg take a bus. Renting a car in the Czech Republic and dropping it in another country will be expensive. Rent the car in Salzburg if you must have one. This should also eliminate the issue of the vignette.

Get an IDP.

Call your insurance company and get coverage. Some offer it, some don't.

Forget Google, use Waze. It's much more current and smarter. It can show you routes if you don't have the vignette. It also shows construction and traffic cameras, which there are a lot of.

If you don't understand how to drive on the Autobahn, don't. In fact, you have to understand the speed limits everywhere, because most of them are not posted, but are enforced. In cities, once you pass the yellow sign, it's 50 km unless posted different. Back roads are "normally" 100 km. The organization I work for says it takes an average of 45 days for Americans to adapt to local driving in Europe.

Be advised that driving to Hallstatt means parking a couple miles out of town and walking in. (Personally I think this is one of the "sights", like Neuschwanstein, that's vastly over touristed. You'd be a lot better off going to St Gilgen, and taking the ferry to St Wolfgang or Strobl.)

driving to Hallstatt means parking a couple miles out of town and walking in.

Parking in Lahn is .75 miles away from the town's center, i.e., a walk of 15 minutes.

If you don't understand how to drive on the Autobahn, don't.

It is not rocket science. Stay in the flow of other cars and you are fine.

In cities, once you pass the yellow sign, it's 50 km unless posted different.

In Austria the signs denoting the start of an urban area are white with a blue edge.

It can show you routes if you don't have the vignette.

Saving €11,50 for not having a vignette does not compensate the the longer travel times on ordinary roads, unless you want to see more of the countryside. Driving on Autobahn in Austria can be boring because noise-dampening walls on either side block the view. (In Austria, every inhabitant living closer than an eighth of a mile to an Autobahn can apply for noise reduction.)

1. It depends on exactly what your US coverage offers. Only they can tell you. For peace of mind, zero deductible insurance is often worth it.
2. Get the vignette. It’s cheap.
3. Driving is easy. Ausfart = exit. That’s about the only German word you need to know. If you’re driving to a small town, it’s good to know a BIG city farther along in that direction so you know which direction to go.

Drivers in Austria are generally much better about using turn signals and behaving predictably than drivers in the US. Stay out of the fast lane and you’ll have no problem.

If you miss your exit on the autobahn, it can be a very long time before the next exit. Consider it an adventure.

• Parking in Lahn is .75 miles away from the town's center, i.e., a walk of 15 minutes.

The last time I drove around the lake, admittedly a couple years back, parking in Lahn was completely full, the sides of the road were parked more than a mile out from town, and it took over an hour to get through the mess. Which is why I have not been back. No view is worth that.

And yes, the city limit signs in Austria are white and blue. The point being the speed limits start there and they are not posted.

Last, I only mentioned the ability to avoid the vignette as it had been mentioned previously.

One big difference between Austria and the US -- in Austria, the merging traffic has the right of way over through traffic.

... in Austria, the merging traffic has the right of way over through traffic.

This is not correct. In most cases the right of way is defined by yield or stop signs. In absence of such signs it is right before left at intersections, unless you are on a priority road marked by a yellow/white diamond sign.

the yellow diamond is your friend.

and always remember the zipper if stopped.

It’s really not “rocket science” to drive in Austria. I find it easier and more civil than in the NY NJ metro area.

You should follow speed limits as there are many speed cameras. Some streches one or more in every town on secondary roads. I've gotten a ticket from a radar gun going 4kph over the speed limit. I have seen controls where motorcycle volume is checked too.

Will IDP be enough?

Yes, it is OK for driving. But you should check in advance with the renting car company. Recently I learned from a friend having troubles with a driving license from Abu Dhabi when trying to rent a car.