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Since 1 January 2002 the official currency used in Austria is the euro, which replaced the old Austrian currency, the schilling. Euro banknotes have the following denominations: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500. Euro coins come in eight denominations: 1 euro, 2 euros, and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents. Visitors from outside the euro zone should check the exchange rates at the time of travel. Notes and coins can be used regardless of origin throughout the euro zone.

Not as widely used as in other places. Check signs on the door before running up a high bill (see p135).

Cash dispensers can be found all over Vienna, usually next to banks. You can easily spot them by the sign mounted above or near the cash dispenser that resembles a letter “B” in blue and green. It is also possible to pay with debit cards in many shops and some restaurants.

You can change money at banks, at the usual bureaux de change all around the city, or at one of the automated changing machines in the city centre.

Yellow-fronted post offices are usually open 8am–noon and 2–6pm Monday to Friday. District post offices remain open during lunch hours and are open 8–10am on Saturdays. Post offices in railway stations and the main post office (Fleischmarkt 19) are open 24 hours daily.

Public coin-box (booth) telephones are found on nearly every street corner and in some public buildings. Phone cards for card telephones can be purchased at tobacconists, newsagents and post offices and are available for €3.60 and €6.90. The international dialling code for Austria is 0043 and 01 for Vienna.

Vienna offers a wide range of Internet cafés and you can find some terminals in many coffeehouses and pubs. These include BigNet branches at Kärntner Strasse 61 in the 1st district (open 10am–2am daily) and at Mariahilfer Strasse 27 in the 6th district (open 8am–2am daily) with more than 200 workstations.

Austria has a widely developed mobile phone network and even phones from abroad will work all over the city and on the underground – as long as the roaming function has been cleared. It is possible to buy chip cards which can be charged with a set value for the duration of your holiday – providing you have a phone to go with them.

Most publications in Austria are state subsidized and as a result usually follow the same agenda even though they have different party affiliations. The largest is the tabloid Die Kronen Zeitung and its up-market sister the Kurier . Die Presse is the most respected and Der Standard is the best business paper. Larger newsstands will sell international papers such the Times ,The Economist ,The Guardian , the New York Times and the Herald Tribune usually one day after publication. Falter is the main listings magazine (see p134).

Austrian TV has only two state channels (ORF 1 and ORF 2) but recent liberalization has permitted a private channel, ATV. Most hotels have satellite channels. The radio station FM4 is broadcast on 103.8 with news in English, German and French.