Green and Accessible

Let us explore Vienna's green spaces between vineyards and parks. Find out how to get there easily.

Green city

Sprawling parks and monumental buildings around the central ring road come to mind when you think of green Vienna. It is true that parks and the like are nice places to hang out, but they do get crowded, especially on warm summer evenings. So you might want to venture into the woods or through the meadows along the Danube, and it is in these precious moments that Vienna's green heart shines. And this is meant both literally and figuratively, as one of the main retreats for the Viennese is the Prater, a 6 square kilometre park in the centre of the city. In the middle of the park a 4.4-kilometre-long, car-free avenue leaves plenty of space for jogging, horse-riding, cycling and other forms of exercise under the chestnut trees. And again, don't take it from us Viennese, but from Eliud Kipchoge, who decided to run the 42.2 kilometres of a marathon in under two hours in the Prater.

There are more than 1000 other parks scattered around the city for everyone to discover and enjoy. There are special parks where dogs can run free, and others for your favourite leisure activities.

According to Resonance Consultancy, Vienna is the greenest city in the world.

Vienna has a wide selection of more than 170 vegetable farmers within the city limits and around 170 wine producers. This gives you the opportunity to buy food locally at your nearest market or supermarket and keep transport times to a minimum. If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, you can explore the outskirts in the hills to the west, the foothills of the Alps. Here you'll find forests and vineyards that give the wine its special blend. In this area you can also find the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the "Heuriger", small taverns that are open seasonally to present the wine and all its by-products, such as the "Sturm" of the current year, with something to eat (and, as always, laws dating back to monarchical times to regulate them).

Vineyards and noteworthy winemaking in the city are something uniquely Viennese, as it is the only city in the world where this is possible, and even the city itself produces its own wine and sparkling wine in a city-owned vineyard.

Now it is time for a confession, because in the spirit of transparency it should be clear that, coming from a country with a strong wine culture, we do something that could be considered frivolous. We add sparkling water to our white wine.

We are not going to apologise for that! The only reason we can do it and get away with it is the quality of the water. In fact, it is protected by the Viennese constitution. Almost all the water from the tap comes directly from the mountains of Styria and Lower Austria at a cool temperature of around seven degrees.

Accessibility of Vienna

Green living in a city inevitably involves mobility. And as parents, relatives, employees and people, we need to be in different places. So it is also about having options to choose from to get from A to B. Well, starting with public transport within the city limits, this is quite easy, because for 1 €/day for the annual pass you can use an extensive network of buses, trams, metro and trains without any limits. This annual pass gives you access to 5 metro lines, 28 tram lines and 131 bus lines, covering a total of 1,150 kilometres of public transport. They serve one billion passengers a year. 

You can also travel by bike or scooter, or simply walk. There are more than 1654 kilometres of cycling infrastructure to get around the city. Vienna actively engages with its population to promote active mobility, reduce car use and increase the share of public transport, and the simple fact that there are more season ticket holders than cars in Vienna. This is why there are more than 3,000 bicycles available for sharing. Of course, residents may need cars for certain purposes, but the need for cars is gradually diminishing.

But sometimes we need to get out of the city for work and leisure, and a modern public transport system should provide competitive alternatives to individual motorised transport. Travelling within Austria is all the more convenient with public transport.

If you want to travel around the country, an annual ticket for all Austrian public transport costs just €3 per day.

If you want to travel across the border by train, Vienna's main railway station is a major public transport hub for reaching Member States around Austria and beyond.

Vienna International Airport is a 15-20 minute train ride from the city centre where AMLA will be located. Trains run almost around the clock.

The proposed location of the Agency will be on the same line and the same statistics for airport availability apply.