Welcome to Austria

Getting to and around Austria is incredibly easy by road, air and rail, and the Austrian Federal Railways offer discount tickets and travel assistance to those who need it. Mobility aids for wheelchair users are available at almost 100 train stations across Austria.

There is a wide range of accessible accommodation and the hotel guide for disabled travellers “Barrierefreiübernachten in Österreich” (Accessible Accommodation in Austria) features a list of hotels and is published by the Austrian Ministry for Economy and Labour.

EuregioBarrierefrei is an information platform for accessible holidays in Austria and offers holiday-related information for wheelchair travellers and all other guests with disabilities.

Another information platform for travellers with disabilities is Accessible Holidays (available in German only). From accessible museum exhibits to sensory cultural hiking trails, there is a wide array of barrier-free culture to enjoy in Austria.

Visitors to the Residenzgalerie in Salzburg can immerse themselves in art with all the senses. As well as being fully accessible to those in a wheelchair, the gallery holds guided sign language tours and has created the special “Invisible Gallery” with blind people in mind, to allow people to appreciate works of art by touch, smell, audio or taste.

The “Aschach – Markt am Strom” cultural hiking trail in Upper Austria transports visitors on a multi-sensory journey of discovery back through time. Eleven black-and-white columns along the Danube mark the historical development of the market town. The route was designed for everyone, including persons with disabilities. Hikers watch videos in sign language, listen to the sounds and voices and touch tactile objects at various stations along the way.

The city of Salzburg is a delight for all visitors and won the European Commission’s 2011 Access City Award. Many of its attractions, including the churches, event venues, restaurants and accommodation provide wheelchair access and barrier-free entrances. Salzburg City’s Tourist Information Board have a range of different resources available, from town maps showing facilities and wheelchair-friendly routes to an extensive list of accommodation providers.

Austria’s capital, Vienna, is set up for people with disabilities to explore. The sophisticated transport system is well-equipped for people with restricted abilities, with “low-floor” trams and buses in operation, and all its subway stations and trains are almost entirely wheelchair-accessible. Many of Vienna’s museums are not only accessible but also have found a number of ways to make their exhibitions more accessible to deaf and visually impaired visitors. Vienna’s Tourist Board website has a number of resources to help you plan your trip to the city, including videos in sign language, list of hotels, sights, restaurants, cultural venues, medical aids and public toilets.

Explore the capital of Tirol, Innsbruck, on a wheelchair-accessible adventure tour. Take in a host of fabulous historical landmarks, including the Imperial Palace and iconic Golden Roof, parks, gardens, restaurants and cafes. There is a special town walk for people who are blind and wheelchair users that runs along Sill River, which has six tactile information posts containing information about the natural habitat and river. Tourist information literature is available to people with vision disabilities.

As Austria’s largest mobility provider it is ÖBB’s aim to allow all passengers to comfortably travel by rail. More than one million people in our country are temporarily or permanently limited in their mobility. This includes people with disabilities as well as elderly or frail people. In order to offer this customer group suitable travel facilities, ÖBB continuously invests in barrier free access.