Vienna Warning or Danger Tips by travelthrough

Vienna, they say, is quite a safe city. Still tourists should be aware of:

- middle-aged people's ignorance of any language other than German
- cigarette-butts and dog boops spread on the sidewalks like flowers in meadows
- alcoholics, penhandlers and pickpockets in subways
- drug abuse in areas like Stadtpark, Karlsplatz and U6-stop Burggasse
- partly racist attitude to black people
- intrusive glances by locals if you wear something bright and colorful or speak
a foreign language

I've been to Vienna for 3 years, I should know. As long as you're a tourist though, all will be
fine.

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In many southern cities and practically everywhere in the world crossing the
street may be very chaotic, even on X-crossings.
In Vienna you can feel safe:
People keep standing for about 4 minutes before crossing the street, staring at the
green traffic light for at least several minutes
before they finally walk off.
So what's the danger here?
Austrian police charge a certain amount of money if they detect people crossing the
street when the lights are red.
Ridiculous but true.

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Austria may be one of "the richest countries in the world", yet it has not been able to afford something other countries have long been able to achieve:
an electric entrance control to the subway.
It has the advantage that foreigners can
travel unnoticed without any tickets (since you can get on and out freely), however, keep in mind that in case a controller snatches you,
you'd pay about 60 Euros, and 2 Euros in
addition for the ticket.

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Be careful with your money and how much you want to pay the waiters. Viennese waiters, especially in the cafes and restaurants around Museumsquartier (MQ) and Stephansplatz
in the touristic Viennese 1st District, like to cheat both locals and tourists. They often ask
for about 50 cents more than the price actually is, hoping that the customer will not notice
because the bill number is uneven (for instance, they charged me 6,30 Euros even though
the real price should have been 5,70). This happened to me several times already, I was
not clever enough to check the prices on the menu. Always calculate the sum and then only add a small tip - a tip YOU decide, not the waiter by overcharging you without informing you! If you notice that the waiter cheated you, please always inform the chef of the cafe/restaurant - it's neither fair nor should it become "daily routine".

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