Vienna, Austria Report of what it's like to live there - 08/14/26
Personal Experiences from Vienna, Austria
Background:
1. Was this post your first expatriate experience? If not, what other cities have you lived in as an expat?
I lived in Japan from 2000-2006 as a military brat. This was my first overseas post as a spouse.
2. What is your home city/country? How long is the trip to post from there, with what connections? How easy/difficult is it to travel to this city/country?
We caught a direct nine hour flight from Dulles. I love Austrian Airlines, amazing food and took such good care of our dogs who had to fly as excess baggage.
3. What years did you live here?
2023-2025.
4. How long have you lived here?
We lived in Vienna for exactly two years; it went by so fast.
5. What brought you to this city (e.g. diplomatic mission, business, NGO, military, teaching, retirement, etc.)?
Diplomatic mission, eligible family member (EFM).
Housing, Groceries & Food:
1. What is your housing like? What are typical housing sizes, locations, and commute times for expatriates?
Lower compound in the 19th district was not where we expected to end up since we don't have kids. Apparently you are not allowed to live in the first district if you have more than one dog. The compound is comprised of mostly Americans with a few local neighbors maintaining the lower units and small yards.
Our apartment was on the second of four floors (with elevator) very spacious with huge closets and built in armoires. It was a two bedroom, two and a half bathroom apartment with over 1800 square ft (not including the large balcony and large secure storage closet in the garage). We had an assigned parking spot for our car. The apartment had heated floors throughout, heated towel racks in the bathrooms with amazing water pressure in the showers, remote control outdoor shutters on all the windows, a double oven, full size fridge, a whole laundry room with small washer and separate dryer. Our apartment was furnished with Ethan Allen furniture, however one bedroom had all the old Drexel furniture. Even with all of this we brought two sofas, a recliner chair, a king size bed, and a full size ping pong table and everything fit very nicely and didn't feel crowded.
There is a tram at the bottom of the hill from the apartment complex that takes you straight to the US embassy in about 25 minutes. If you're going to the UN you will have to walk about 15 minutes to the U-Bahn station and take it and switch to a different line. The whole process took about 45 minutes.
2. How would you describe the availability and cost of groceries and household supplies relative to your home country?
Grocery shopping was a stressful experience I do not miss. The stores are small, have limited hours, and the ones near our apartment never had anyone who could speak English. The clerks were very rude and the selection was not great at Billa. If it was a Sunday or the grocery had already closed for the day (around 6 or 8pm) we could at least get groceries at the nearby Billa. This was a smaller location within walking distance, but had more selection than a typical American gas station.
3. What household or grocery items do you wish you had shipped to post?
The hardest items to find were Mexican. There's only one shop all the way across the city called Casa Mexico. So if you like that cuisine, best to stock up on beans, chilis, guacamole packets, taco shells, etc. (whatever will be shelf stable). I also would bring your favorite over the counter medications and cleaning products. Everything sold here is very mild and almost natural.
4. What typical restaurants, food delivery services, and/or takeout options are popular among expatriates?
Liferando (orange) and Foodora (pink) were very popular delivery food services with apps in the 19th district. Wolt (blue) was more popular in the 18th district. All the best food options are definitely in the first district which you can get to via foot or public transportation. I honestly was so pleasantly surprised with how delicious the Asian food was there.
5. Are there any unusual problems with insects or other infestations in housing?
I miss how few bugs there were in Vienna, something I noticed right away and never took for granted. I only remember bees being common when eating outdoors, but the docile honeybees so not really a problem at all unless you are aggressive to them first.
Daily Life:
1. How do you send and receive your letters and package mail? Are local postal facilities adequate?
We would only use the embassy post office. Never tried to mail or receive anything locally.
2. Do you feel that it is safe to walk, run or hike outside? Are there areas where bike riding is possible? What is the availability and safety of outdoor space for exercising? Are these easily accessible?
This was an extremely safe city, as a young female I never felt unsafe. I would walk dogs in the 19th, 18th, 9th and 1st districts and never felt uncomfortable. I also enjoyed the night life and that also never felt unsafe anywhere in the city. There are a couple of U-Bahn stops on the brown line I wouldn't get off to hang out there, but honestly most of the riders are just hardworking people with families too.
Bike lanes are everywhere in the city and widely used. I loved riding my scooter all over the city. Watch out for trams and buses, they rule the road, then probably bikes and scooters. Much more care and space is given to pedestrians here by the car drivers than in America. In fact most of the car drivers were just taxis/Ibers which goes to show people would rather commute via bike/scooter/walking or public transportation. There are lots of huge parks and lots of off-leash dog parks. Everything is easily accessible in Vienna via public transportation. We didn't miss driving a car at all.
3. Are credit cards widely accepted and safe to use locally? Are ATMs common and do you recommend using them? Are they safe to use?
Credit cards are accepted most places but not at the markets or festivals typically. They bring the scanner to your table instead of taking your credit card out of sight like they do in America. I think it is safer this way. Also tipping culture is very light here. You could just round up a dollar or two in most cases. If you truly want to give for good experience 10% is widely accepted. They make a good living there and aren't relying on tips to make ends meet so they also won't rush you out of the restaurant to turn a table around, unless there is an incoming reservation.
4. How much of the local language do you need for daily living? Are local language classes/tutors available and affordable?
English is common throughout the city. However less so with older Austrians and the further you live out of the city like in the 19th district. It helps to learn the basics, thanks, please, yes, no. We didn't take formal classes but learned to pick up german on some food items, especially on menus. Also a german app on your phone will be not so great since they technically speak Austrian, so there are some big variations in certain words. If you really want to learn I'd probably suggest in person with local friends or a class
5. Would someone with physical disabilities have difficulties living in this city?
They are in the process of removing the old trolley looking trams from the first district since they are not accessible for everyone. There is a lot of walking and it is a hilly area in the 19th district. The posted incoming tram signs will tell you if the first tram coming is not accessible and luckily an accomodating option will be following closely behind by a few minutes.
Transportation:
1. Are local buses, trams, trains or taxis safe and affordable?
The transportation was so affordable, for an annual pass it was around 1 euro per day. They run on the honor system, so you don't have to swipe it at every location but you better have one on your person or on the app or you'll be charged several hundred euros in cash and if you don't have that on you, they take you to the police station. For guests who came to visit we'd get them a 1 week pass for less than 40 euros of unlimited access on the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and buses throughout Vienna.
2. What kind of vehicle(s) including electric ones do you recommend bringing to post, given the terrain, infrastructure, availability of parts, burglary/carjacking risks, etc.? What kind of car or vehicles do you advise not to bring?
We had a compact luxury SUV we only used about once a month. We never parked it anywhere besides our secured compound garage or at the embassy on rare occasion. Looking back we would've been fine renting a car to take on our monthly road trips with the dogs. There were a serious of break-ins/minor destructive behavior againsts Porsches.
Phone & Internet:
1. Is high-speed home Internet access available? How long does it typically take to install it after arrival?
Yes, not bad at all, worked fine with our VPN, and streaming services.
2. Do you have any recommendations regarding mobile phones? Did you keep your home-country plan or use a local provider?
We had Google Fi and T-Mobile. No issues, but mostly just used WhatsApp and Facebook messenger for calls and messages.
Pets:
1. Are qualified veterinarians and/or good kennel services available? Do animals need to be quarantined upon entry to the country? Are there other considerations regarding pets that are particular to this country?
We loved our vet which was walking distance from the lower compound. No quarentine was necessary. They got their EU passports, vaccines, dental work, preventative medications and care better than they've ever got in the US.
Employment & Volunteer Opportunities:
1. What types of jobs do most expatriate spouses/partners have? Locally based or telecommuting? Full-time or part-time? Can you comment on local salary scales?
I was able to continue my home business with the US embassy community. I did not work on the local market because I didn't want to be double taxed and lose my diplomatic immunity. I took care of pets.
2. What is the typical dress code at work and in public places? Is formal dress ever required?
European chic was the typical daily attire throughout the city. Women do tend to wear more dresses and skirts. Everyone always wears comfortable walking shoes though, no heels. I was conscientious not to wear clothes with words on them or athleisure wear and sports caps just as a sign of respect, not that Americans were treated poorly here. If anything they may just expect bigger tips from you at a restaurant if you only speak English. During ball season they are very strict on their dress code, no women's shoes showing under the dress, men must be wearing a bow tie and formal matching tux.
Health & Safety:
1. Are there personal security concerns to be aware of at this post? Please describe.
No. They often send you notifications of when a protest is planned so you can avoid the area and the traffic patterns being halted. The protests happen frequently but are very orderly and there is always a lot of local law enforcement present. There was once a man apparently yielding a small knife around outside of our local grocery store and before we knew it there were literally 10 police surround him in an instant. The police don't seem to have a lot to do since the city is so safe so whenever there is even a small incident too many officers show up!
2. What is the air quality like at post (good/moderate/bad)? Are there seasonal air quality issues? Does the air quality have an impact on health?
I suffer from very bad allergies. Even for Vienna being such a large city, the air quality was amazing!
3. What do people who suffer from environmental or food allergies need to know?
Learn your allergy in German so you can always ask and make sure it's not in your food. Google translate will help!
4. Are there any particular mental health issues that tend to crop up at post, such as Seasonal Affective Disorder (winter blues)?
Winter blues didn't affect me here because that's when it's ball season. We would go to several each winter; they were magical! Also this is such a peaceful time of year when all the tourists have left after Christmas and New Years and it's a wonderful time to visit the many museums and art galleries with no crowds!
5. What is the overall climate: is it extremely hot or cold, wet or dry, at any time of year, for example?
The overall climate was pretty mild. The summers are not humid which makes them very tolerable for me, but AC is not widely used, so outdoor seating is a must! June still felt like spring and so does the last week or two of August. The winters could get quite cold and windy. One winter we got tons of snow, but the city clears it out quickly and transportation didn't seem to be affected at all. Fall and spring are lovely and properly length seasons, not just a few weeks like it seems in the US. The rainy season seems to be mostly in late winter/early spring.
Expat Life:
1. What is the relative size of the expatriate community? How would you describe overall morale among expatriates?
Vienna is a huge post, and in my opinion, it's not the best for building community. It's so centrally located in Europe that a lot of people tend to take lots of time traveling to other places when they do have free time. The housing is kind of spread all over the city, but if community is very important to you, I suggest living in the lower or upper compounds since most of your neighbors will be Americans, otherwise you may be the only American in your apartment building.
2. What are some typical ways to socialize, either with local people or with other expatriates? Are there groups or clubs that you can recommend?
I made the most amazing local friends through Bumble BFF, an app.
3. Is this a good city for single people? For couples? For families? Why or why not?
This is a great city for anyone who loves beautiful architecture, history, art, food, music, festivals, peace and quiet, nature, dogs, traditions, and safety.
4. Is it easy to make friends with locals here? Are there any prejudices or any ethnic groups who might feel uncomfortable here?
It was easy for me to make local friends even not knowing the language through the Bumble BFF, a friend app. However, Austrians generally don't like small talk, talking to strangers or smiling. They are reserved and respectful and care very much about being on time and following the rules so it may be difficult to make friends in a natural setting especially if you are boisterous or judgmental of how they do things. I had Black friends come to visit for several weeks and they never felt any prejudice or discrimination in Vienna. I do feel there does seem to be some animosity towards the immigrants from Turkey and Serbia
5. Is this a good city for LGBT expatriates? Why or why not?
I believe so. They have a very large Pride parade every year and people generally seem to be pretty liberal here.
6. What have been the highlights of your time in this country? Best trips or experiences?
Too many to count but I'd say some must-dos include attending a Vienna ball (Jan-Feb), long night of the museums in October, the Summer film fest, annual pass at Schonbrunn zoo, and the Bundesmuseen card (annual museum pass for 25 locations). I also really enjoyed seeing the Spanish Riding horses and the Fiaker stable tour. Prater amusement park was also a lot of fun (open year round and free to enter, pay per ride).
7. What are some interesting/fun things to do in the area? Can you recommend any “hidden gems"?
If you are bored in Vienna, I don't think you'll be happy anywhere. There are so many hidden gems. It took my two whole years to find them all. Nothing left undone but still I'd go back in a heartbeat.
8. Is this a "shopping post"? Are there interesting handicrafts, artwork, antiques, or other items that people typically buy there?
Shopping is adequate, but it's not high on my priority list. There were a few malls that were nice to visit as well as Mariahilfer Strasse. Just remember everything is closed on Sundays. There were many antique shops in the 1st district, if you're into that. There are also several markets that are much better than Naschmarkt. The souvenir stores had very good selections and the easter and Christmas markets were also fun to visit!
9. What are the particular advantages of living in this city?
Safety meets culture and nature. The location is so centrally located in Europe making travel a breeze. Despite us having a higher cost of living here, there are so many free entertainment options, affordable annual passes for transportation and museums and the chill tipping culture doesn't push you out of your budget.
Words of Wisdom:
1. What do you wish you had known about this particular city/country before moving there?
Every place is what YOU make of it. I went in with a pretty open and positive outlook and feel like I really made the most of our two years there. I still wish it was longer. After living in Vienna for just three months and traveling to Paris for a week (my first time and lifelong dream) I was already homesick...for Vienna! Never really home sick for the US except for a couple of restaurants, grocery shopping and my huge washer and dryer.
2. Knowing what you know now, would you still move to this city?
Absolutely. I'm so glad I was able to convince so many friends and family to come experience this city for themselves. It really is so underrated as far as European cities go from an American's perspective. I can't wait to go back to visit my local friends.
3. If you move here, you can leave behind your:
Your loud kids, just kidding, but seriously Austrians seem to prefer quiet well-behaved dogs (which they all are), more than children.
4. But don't forget your:
Thick skin. Austrians are generally not friendly or welcoming. You cannot take it personally!
5. Do you recommend any books or movies about this city/country for those who are interested in learning more?
Anything on travel channel about Vienna such as House Hunters international. Sissi movie on Amazon prime. Many action movies even take place in Vienna such as Avengers Infinity war at the UN and Mission Impossible Rogue Nation has a scene at the Vienna opera house.
6. Do you have any other comments?
Vienna is now my favorite city in the world, which makes me a bit nervous for all other upcoming posts, but I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity.
