Before our trip to Vienna, almost everything we read offered the same advice about getting from the airport into the city:
Don’t take the City Airport Train.
The City Airport Train, better known as the CAT, is the heavily promoted nonstop train connecting Vienna International Airport with Wien Mitte. It’s fast, comfortable and easy to find, but it’s also considerably more expensive than taking one of the regular ÖBB trains serving the airport.
It’s essentially Vienna’s version of the Heathrow Express.
Like the Heathrow Express, the CAT gets you from the airport to one particular city station very quickly. Whether that makes it the best choice depends on where you’re staying and what connections you’ll need after getting there.
In our case, everyone who told us to skip it was right. However, finding and taking the cheaper train wasn’t as obvious as the articles made it sound.
Why We Skipped The CAT
The City Airport Train runs nonstop between Vienna Airport and Wien Mitte. The trip takes about 21 minutes, with a one-way ticket currently costing €14.90 and a round-trip ticket costing €24.90.
That sounds convenient, especially after a long flight. However, Wien Mitte is the CAT’s only destination. Unless your hotel is within walking distance, you’ll still need to transfer to Vienna’s subway, tram or bus system.
Vienna Airport is also served by regular ÖBB trains, including the S7, regional services and Railjets. Depending on your destination, these trains can take you to Wien Mitte, Vienna Central Station or other stations around the city. Fares into Vienna currently start at €4.10 and can include onward travel within the Vienna public transportation network.
The CAT saves some time between the airport and Wien Mitte, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will get you to your hotel much sooner.
It’s the same issue we consider when deciding whether to take the Heathrow Express. That train gets from Heathrow to Paddington in about 15 minutes, but Paddington isn’t necessarily where you need to be. The Elizabeth Line takes longer to reach Paddington but continues through central London, potentially eliminating another transfer.
An airport express is only more convenient if its destination is convenient for you.
The Ticket-Machine Line Was Enormous
After following the airport signs toward the trains, we found a huge line for the ticket machines.
We could have stood there and waited, but we decided there had to be a better option. Instead, we downloaded the WienMobil app while standing near the machines.
The app let us enter our actual destination, see available public transportation options, and buy tickets directly on our phones. Even with the time it took to download the app and complete the purchase, we avoided waiting in that long ticket-machine line.
In retrospect, it would have been easier to download WienMobil before arriving in Vienna. At least we had phone service and could figure it out while standing in the station.
Finding The Right Train Wasn’t Obvious
Buying the tickets was easier than finding our train.
The regular train used the same platform area as one of the more prominently marked airport services, but it stopped much farther down the platform. We didn’t realize at first how far we needed to walk to reach it.
By the time we figured out where we were supposed to be, we had missed the train.
Fortunately, this wasn’t a major setback. Another train arrived before long, and we were soon aboard an ÖBB Cityjet regional train headed toward Wien Floridsdorf.
The train was clean and comfortable, and for this relatively short trip, it certainly didn’t feel as if we were sacrificing anything by skipping the premium airport train.
Where We Changed Trains
We were staying at the Hotel Indigo Vienna – Naschmarkt, next to the Pilgramgasse station on the U4.
WienMobil directed us to take the ÖBB regional train from the airport to Wien Mitte/Landstraße. From there, we changed to the U4 for the short ride to Pilgramgasse and our hotel.
This is where the comparison between the CAT and the regular train became especially clear.
The CAT would have taken us to exactly the same station: Wien Mitte. We still would have needed to transfer to the U4 and ride to Pilgramgasse. Paying extra for the CAT wouldn’t have eliminated a connection or dropped us any closer to our hotel. It only would have shortened the first part of the trip by a few minutes.
That wasn’t worth the additional cost to us.
Wien Mitte can be slightly confusing when describing the trip because the name translates to “Vienna Center,” and it is a major downtown transportation hub. However, it is not the station officially called Vienna Central Station. That’s Wien Hauptbahnhof, located elsewhere in the city.
Don’t Automatically Assume You Should Take The S7
Many guides say that travelers should skip the CAT and take the S7 instead. That’s generally useful advice, but it oversimplifies Vienna’s airport transportation options.
We didn’t specifically decide that we had to take the S7. We entered our hotel into WienMobil and took the regular ÖBB service the app recommended based on our destination and the trains operating when we arrived.
Depending on where you’re staying, the best option could be the S7 or a regional train to Wien Mitte. If you need Vienna Central Station, a Railjet may be more convenient. The important thing is to search for your actual destination instead of automatically choosing whichever airport train has the most advertising.
The CAT may make sense if you value the nonstop ride, have plenty of luggage, or simply want the most obvious option after a long flight. Just don’t assume it’s the only practical way into Vienna—or that its heavily advertised 21-minute travel time represents the total time needed to reach your hotel.
Was Skipping The CAT Worth It?
Absolutely.
The huge ticket-machine line and the somewhat confusing platform setup gave us a few moments of doubt. We even missed our intended train while figuring out where it stopped.
However, the wait for the next train wasn’t long; the ride was comfortable, and the same ticket covered the local transportation we needed to reach our hotel. Most importantly, the CAT would have left us at the same transfer station anyway.
The advice we found before the trip was correct: we didn’t need to pay extra for Vienna’s dedicated airport train.
I’d only add two details that most of those guides left out:
Download the WienMobil app before you arrive, and make sure you walk to the correct part of the platform.
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