🇦🇹 Same-country drive · Austria
Driving from Linz to Vienna
Drive from Linz to Vienna on the A1 motorway. Get practical tips on Austria's autobahn, tolls, and the best stops for this 2-hour journey.
- Drive time
- 2h 9m
- Distance
- 185 km
- Same day?
- Yes, half day
- under 4 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €25
- petrol · diesel ≈ €21
- Tolls
- ≈ €10
- vignette
- EV charging
- Unknown
- not yet surveyed
On this page
Route map
Route options
Other paths OSRM found between the two cities — handy when traffic, tolls, or scenery matter more than raw speed.
Avoids motorways
+1h 18m- Distance:
- 191 km (+6 km)
- Duration:
- 3h 28m
Via: B3 · B1 · L118 · L120
How else can you make this trip?
Driving is the focus of this guide; here's how cycling, coach, and (soon) train and plane stack up for the same pair.
What the drive is like
Drafted from the route's computed data on April 24, 2026 and reviewed against the route summary card. Read our methodology.
Picking up the A1 motorway eastbound from Linz immediately sets you on course for Vienna. This is a straightforward, primarily motorway drive across Upper and Lower Austria, taking you through rolling agricultural landscapes and passing near several smaller towns. The A1 is known for its well-maintained surfaces and clear signage, making it a comfortable stretch of driving.
As this is a domestic Austrian journey, you won't encounter border controls, but you will need to purchase an Austrian vignette before you join the motorway or very shortly after. These vignettes are mandatory for using Austrian autobahns and expressways and can be bought online in advance, at petrol stations near the border, or at Austrian automobile clubs. Once you have your vignette affixed or registered digitally, you're good to go for the duration of your stay.
While the direct route is quick, keep an eye out for the occasional service areas (Raststationen) along the A1. These offer opportunities to refuel, grab a coffee, or use restroom facilities. For a slight detour, consider a brief stop in Sankt Pölten, the capital of Lower Austria, which is easily accessible from the motorway and offers a charming historic centre if you have an extra hour to spare. Otherwise, the A1 is designed for efficient transit, bringing you directly into the outskirts of Vienna without significant traffic congestion, especially outside peak commuting hours.
Route highlights
- A1 Motorway (Westautobahn)
- Austrian Vignette requirement
- Raststationen (Service Areas)
- Easy access to Sankt Pölten
- Efficient, well-maintained autobahn
Trip plan
How to think about the drive: one day, split, or overnight.
Easy one-day drive
Comfortable as a single day for one driver. Leave after breakfast, arrive with time to settle in.
- Distance:
- 185 km
- Duration:
- 2h 9m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Amstetten 🇦🇹 at
≈62 km≈ 3 km detour from the main route
-
Sankt Pölten 🇦🇹 at
≈123 km≈ 3.5 km detour from the main route
Key moves
Things to know before you set off — borders, sides of the road, tolls.
Vignette required in AT
Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Romania require a sticker or e-vignette for motorway use. Buy at the border — missing one is a heavy on-the-spot fine.
Must-know before you go
The things a driver from another country wouldn't think to ask about — fines, stickers, payment cards, opening hours.
City access & emission zones
Whole-city paid parking — no free street spaces inside the Gürtel
Must knowVienna
Vienna extended its short-term parking zone (Kurzparkzone) to all 23 districts in 2022. Foreign plates pay via Handyparken app or paper "Parkschein" tickets at trafiks (newsagents). Daytime parking is €2.50/hour, max 2 hours per ticket — meaning practically you need a private parking garage for any stay over 2 hours. Garages average €4–6/hour or €25/day.
Tolls, vignettes & road payment
Digital vignette before crossing the border
Must knowAustrian motorways need a vignette — €10.10 for 10 days, €30.40 for 2 months, or €103.80 annual. The digital version (linked to your plate) is bought online at asfinag.at and activates from a chosen date — if you buy on the Austrian side of the border, it's only valid 18 days later under consumer-protection rules. Buy ahead.
Brenner, Tauern and Karawanken tunnels are extra
UsefulEight Austrian routes charge separate tolls on top of the vignette: Brenner (A13, ~€11.50), Pyhrn (A9, ~€6.50), Tauern (A10, ~€14), Karawanken (A11, ~€8.50) and others. Pay at the booth — no vignette discount. If you're heading south to Italy via the A13, budget for it.
Driving rules & habits
Bicycles on the right — turn right with extreme care
TipVienna
Vienna built out a Copenhagen-style bike network from 2020–2024. Most major streets now have a separated bike lane on the right. Right-turning cars must yield to a bike going straight in the bike lane — the rule that catches most foreigners. Look over your right shoulder before turning.
Fuel stations
Contactless cards work at virtually every motorway pump
TipMajor brand stations (Shell, Total, BP, Repsol, Cepsa, OMV, Eni, Esso) take Visa and Mastercard contactless without an issue. American Express and Diners are spotty south of the Alps. A €100 pre-authorisation hold is normal — it releases within 5 days. Carry €50 cash for the rare independent station.
Money & connectivity
EU roaming covers calls, texts and data at no extra cost
TipYour home EU SIM works at home rates across every EU member, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The "fair use" cap on data only applies if you're abroad more than four months. For a 2-week road trip, just use your phone normally — but switch off "data roaming" if you're leaving the EU into UK / CH for any segment.
Emergency & breakdown
112 works everywhere in the EU and continental neighbours
TipSingle number for police, ambulance, fire — works from any phone, any network, any country. On motorways, the orange SOS pillars every 2km connect direct to the regional traffic control centre and pinpoint your location. Use them over your phone if you can — it speeds the response.
Rules, fees, and thresholds change. Always verify against the official source the day before you drive — this page is a checklist, not a legal reference.
Main roads
The highways this route spends the most kilometres on.
-
A1 West Autobahn159 km
-
A7 Mühlkreis Autobahn4 km
-
B1 Wientalstraße2 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 90%
- Secondary
- 3%
- Other / rural
- 7%
Drive difficulty
At-a-glance feel: how demanding is this drive for one driver?
Overall
Easy
Straightforward drive. One driver, one day, little to worry about beyond fuel and a toilet stop.
- No major complicating factors — motorway-heavy, single country, comfortable length.
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €25
13.9 L × €1.81 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €21
11.1 L × €1.91 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €20
32 kWh × €0.61 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km
Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.
Motorway tolls & vignettes
≈ €10
- AT — Vignette (motorway sticker / e-vignette) — €10.10 for 10 days Annual vignette is €103.80 if you drive often
Prices last refreshed 2026-05-25.
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇦🇹 Linz
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5°
-2°
|
8°
1°
|
13°
3°
|
16°
6°
|
20°
10°
|
26°
15°
|
27°
17°
|
27°
16°
|
23°
13°
|
16°
8°
|
8°
2°
|
5°
-0°
|
| 46mm | 43mm | 62mm | 77mm | 92mm | 58mm | 83mm | 80mm | 105mm | 52mm | 75mm | 67mm |
hot mild cold
🇦🇹 Vienna
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5°
-1°
|
8°
1°
|
13°
4°
|
16°
7°
|
20°
10°
|
26°
16°
|
28°
18°
|
28°
17°
|
23°
13°
|
17°
9°
|
9°
3°
|
5°
1°
|
| 37mm | 28mm | 49mm | 76mm | 74mm | 62mm | 62mm | 47mm | 130mm | 53mm | 50mm | 46mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Vienna
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Sun 7
☀️
27° / 17°
1.2mm
-
Mon 8
⛅
29° / 15°
1.3mm
-
Tue 9
🌧️
29° / 20°
25.7mm
-
Wed 10
⛅
18° / 16°
1.5mm
-
Thu 11
🌧️
18° / 12°
4.1mm
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 13 manoeuvres
- Hauptplatz 0.2 km
- Einhausung Niedernhart (A7) 0.5 km
- Mühlkreis Autobahn (A7) 4 km
- Mühlkreis Autobahn (A7) 1.0 km
- West Autobahn (A1) 137 km
- West Autobahn (A1) 22 km
- Wientalstraße (B1) 2 km
- Bergmillergasse
- Linzer Straße 1 km
- Hütteldorfer Straße 5 km
- Carl-Szokoll-Platz
- Marc-Aurel-Straße
- Jasomirgottstraße
Cycling from Linz to Vienna
Touring-pace bicycle route generated by BRouter, with elevation gain and matched against the EuroVelo cycle network.
- Distance
- 198 km
- vs 185 km driving
- Riding time
- 9h 36m
- Touring pace; experienced riders cut this 20–30%.
- Total climb
- ↑ 452 m
Routed on the BRouter trekking profile — balanced for paved leisure tourers; gravel and fast-bike profiles produce different lines.
On the EuroVelo network
Sections of this route follow signed EuroVelo cycle routes — well-maintained, signposted, and bike-friendly:
- EV6 Atlantic – Black Sea · 80 km
- EV7 Sun Route · 11 km
- EV9 Baltic – Adriatic · 1 km
Total: 81,0 km on EuroVelo (41% of the route).
Show route on map
By coach from Linz to Vienna
Indicative duration of the fastest direct long-distance coach found in the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus EU schedules.
- Travel time
- 2h 10m
- Direct
- Operator
- FlixBus-eu
- Departures / day
- ~1
- Approximate based on the published schedule.
Show coach corridor on map
Schedules sourced from the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus GTFS feeds via transport.data.gouv.fr. Times are indicative; verify on the operator's site before booking.
Booking link coming soon.
By train from Linz to Vienna
Fastest cross-border rail itinerary from the public Transitous planner. Times reflect a typical Monday-morning departure on the next available service-day.
- Fastest journey
- 1h 38m
- 2 changes
- Lead operator
- OEBB Personenverkehr AG Kundenservice
- + 1 more
- Alternatives
- 5
- Itineraries returned by the planner.
Trains on the fastest itinerary
- RJX 765
All operators across alternatives
- OEBB Personenverkehr AG Kundenservice
- WESTbahn Management GmbH
Includes a high-speed rail leg (TGV, ICE, AVE, Frecciarossa-class).
Show route on map
Routing via the public Transitous OTP planner (community-run MOTIS instance). Cached 24 hours; verify on the operator's site before booking.
Frequently asked
Do I need a vignette for the A1 motorway in Austria?
Yes, a vignette is mandatory for using Austrian autobahns and expressways, including the A1. You can purchase it online in advance or at petrol stations and border crossings.
Are there tolls on the A1 between Linz and Vienna?
The A1 is a tolled motorway in Austria, and you must have a valid vignette to use it. There are no separate toll booths for this section, but enforcement is in place.
Are there many service areas along the A1?
Yes, the A1 is well-equipped with Raststationen (service areas) offering fuel, food, and restrooms at regular intervals.
Can I drive this route without a vignette?
Driving on the A1 without a valid vignette will result in a significant fine. It's essential to purchase one before or shortly after joining the motorway.
How this page is built
Compiled by COD Solutions Oy from open European data — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for the route geometry, BRouter for the bicycle route, EuroVelo GPX (ODbL) by the European Cyclists' Federation for the cycle-network overlay, Open-Meteo for monthly climate normals, and Google Gemini drafts the narrative and FAQ from the computed route data. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.