Skip to content
MyVisaPort

🇦🇹 Austria

Austria is no. 11 in our list of the 50 most visited destinations, with 31.9 million international arrivals in 2024. Below: visa rules for every passport, cash limits at customs and the tourist traps official travel advice warns about.

Rank 11 of 50 by international arrivals (31.9 million, 2024) · Source: UN Tourism

Check your visa route for Austria

Pick your passport and where you live — Austria is already filled in.

Visas or permits I hold (optional)

Visa rules for your passport ↓

Explore Austria: things to do, shopping, food and getting around

Vienna and Salzburg. Every item links to its source: the Vienna Tourist Board, Austria's national tourist office and the venues themselves.

Things to do

Places to visit

Shopping

Cheap ways to get around

Nightlife

Food

General tips

Summarised in our own words from the linked pages, official tourism boards and transport authorities first; items marked "Not official" come from other guides. Prices and opening times change, so check the source before you go. Last checked 23 Oct 2026.

Common tourist traps and how to avoid them

Scams and risky spots named in official travel advice for Austria, plus a few reported in public visitor reviews (labelled), in our own words.

  1. Distraction pickpocketing

    How it works: Pickpockets use distraction in big city centres, main stations and city parks after dark.

    How to avoid it: Stay alert in those places and keep bags closed and close.

  2. Luggage theft on trains and coaches

    How it works: Bags are stolen on international trains and while you collect luggage from trains or coaches.

    How to avoid it: Keep an eye on your luggage, especially at stops.

  3. Drink spiking

    How it works: People have been robbed or assaulted after drinks were spiked.

    How to avoid it: Do not take drinks from strangers or leave yours unattended.

  4. Costumed "Mozart" concert-ticket sellers

    How it works: Sellers dressed as Mozart sell concert tickets in the old town; visitors report expensive tickets for tourist concerts that weren't what they expected, and resold tickets outside the State Opera.

    How to avoid it: Buy from the venue, an official ticket office or the State Opera's own shop. Vienna's tourist board warns against buying from street sellers. Since 1 July 2026, ticket selling is banned on Stephansplatz, Kärntner Straße, Graben and Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz.

    From visitor reviews, not official Vienna old town. Sources: reddit.com · reddit.com · wien.orf.at · wien.info. Researched 23 Oct 2026; there is no official page to re-check, so this date is not updated automatically.

Official advice: FCDO: no areas advised against.

Emergency numbers in Austria

Other traps paraphrased from official travel advice: FCDO travel advice – Safety and security · FCDO travel advice – Warnings and insurance · FCDO travel advice – Getting help (emergency numbers) · FCDO page updated 11 Aug 2026 · Last checked 2 Nov 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Cash you can bring in and take out

Customs rules for banknotes and other cash when you enter or leave Austria.

EU external border (Reg. 2018/1672)

Bringing cash in
Declare cash of EUR 10,000 or more (or equivalent) when arriving from outside the EU.
Taking cash out
Declare cash of EUR 10,000 or more (or equivalent) when leaving to a country outside the EU.
Local currency (EUR) in
No limit (declaration only).
Local currency (EUR) out
No limit (declaration only).
Foreign currency
No limit (declaration only).
  • EU rule (Regulation (EU) 2018/1672): anyone entering or leaving the EU with EUR 10,000 or more in cash (banknotes, coins, bearer-negotiable instruments such as traveller's cheques, and gold coins/bullion of high purity) must declare it to customs at the point of entry/exit, using the EU cash declaration form. The threshold is per person, also for families/groups.
  • Customs can act on lower amounts if there are signs of criminal activity; undeclared cash can be detained and fined.

Official source: taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu · eur-lex.europa.eu · europa.eu · Last checked 4 Oct 2026

Austria visa rules by passport

The general rule for each passport, from official sources. Open a passport to see conditions and options that depend on where you live.

Free movement (EU/EEA/Swiss)30 passports
Visa-free63 passports
Embassy visa105 passports

Verified rules for Austria: 197 of 198 passports; awaiting verification: 1; not yet covered: 0. A rule that is awaiting verification or not yet covered is not a negative visa decision: it only means we haven't confirmed it on an official source yet.

⚠ Unofficial sources: 1 rule for Austria is not from an official Austria government source (based on other governments' travel advice or secondary research). They are labelled on each page, are not counted as verified above, and should be confirmed with the embassy before travel.

Requirements for all visitors to Austria

These apply on top of the visa rules above, whatever your passport, unless an item says otherwise.

  • Proof of fundsProof of means of subsistence: No reference amount – case-by-case (Aliens Act Art. 41(2))

    Applies to: non-EU/EEA/Swiss visitors at the external Schengen border, on request.

    Official source: home-affairs.ec.europa.eu · Last checked 2 Nov 2026

Nearby destinations

Official travel advice

Suggest something for our Austria guide

A place, a tip or a correction. We check every suggestion against a reliable source before anything is published.

Don't include personal details. We store the suggestion, the optional name and the page, not your email or IP address. No cookies are set. Privacy

Optional travel offers

Some links are affiliate links. Booking through them costs you nothing extra, and a small commission helps pay MyVisaPort’s ongoing hosting and maintenance costs and keeps the site free of banner ads. We only list services we think are useful, and they never affect the visa information we publish. These offers are not part of the visa guidance above and are never used to rank routes. How partner links work

Plan your trip to Austria

Verify with the embassy before you book. Visa rules change without notice. We link every rule to its official source and last checked it on 2 Nov 2026, but the embassy, official e-visa portal and your airline have the final say. MyVisaPort is not a visa agent and is not affiliated with any government.