What To See In AustriaOne of the world’s greatest cities, Vienna at times seems like a corridor connecting present to past. The sprawling imperial Hofburg palace –with its multiple museums, library, treasury, theater, and riding academy — is a monument to pre-World War I Europe; while the MuseumsQuartier, just a short walk away, houses strikingly modern restaurants, galleries, shops and cafes. Vienna’s musical culture is second to none, and numerous summer classical concert festivals commemorate such long term residents as Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. Much of the city was destroyed during World War II, a sad fact that the Viennese have turned to their advantage by transforming the rubble into parkland. The mighty blue Danube flows through it all.

The Austrian countryside is home to literally dozens of picturesque castles, palaces and monasteries, many of which are open to tourists. The Austrian Alps are a hikers’ paradise in the summer, and one of Europe’s premiere ski resorts in the colder months.

Cell Phones In Austria

Your cell phone in Austria is called a “handy” – short for a handheld. For such a small country, Austria certainly has a lot of cell phone providers. A1, owned by the government before it was privatized, is the largest provider and still offers the best overall coverage. The second larges provider is called Orange, while the runners up are T-Mobile, 3 and the discount providers Yess and Tele-ring. While all of these providers offer cheap in network service, some of them can be quite costly when it comes to calling outside the network, so if you want a cell phone in Austria, be sure to read the contract’s fine print before you sign.

Cell Phone For Austria

You may be able to use your pre-existing phone in Austria if your phone utilizes the GSM standard and 900 and 1800 MHz GSM bands. You will still need to make your phone compatible with Austria’s phone service by unlocking your phone and purchasing a local Austria prepaid SIM card. This is not as easy as it sounds, however, because you are supposed to have Austrian residency in order to buy the Austrian SIM card which gives your phone a local Austrian number.

An easier, although not necessarily cheaper, solution for a cell phone for Austria is to buy or rent a GSM cell phone. Cellular Abroad offers standard or deluxe cell phone rental packages that come with a prepaid Austrian SIM card. Group rentals come with a significant discount. The Telestial travel service offers a similar deal with free incoming calls and the local rate for outgoing calls.

Another solution may be to purchase a Mobal World Phone; for as little as $29, you can buy a cell phone that functions in Austria although the rates per minute for both incoming and outgoing calls is quite high. Still, you didn’t come to Austria to talk on the phone, did you? You want a cell phone just in case of emergencies, and Mobal World Phones function quite well in that capacity.