Vienna Health And Safety

Reputation and popular thought holds that Vienna is an extremely safe city to visit and that visitors observing general common sense behaviour are unlikely to be faced with crime or similarly unfortunate predicaments. The streets in most areas of the city are free from threatening atmospheres and both men and women should feel safe to go about their business without feeling intimidated.

Safety

The only real dangers that visitors face here are from pickpockets, and while nobody wants their cash or valuable stolen, these are invariably non-confrontational crimes and decidedly absent of a violent element. Pickpockets are essentially opportunists and you can reduce their opportunities by keeping cash in places where light fingers will struggle to reach undetected. Wallets and purses should be kept in front pockets, not in back pockets or bags that can be easily accessed. While bag snatching is not especially prevalent in Vienna, it still makes sense not to drop your guard and to wear the straps of bags in such a way as to make snatching more difficult. Some areas of the city, such as Karlsplatz, Praterstern and Schwedenplatz, harbour drug addicts and homeless people, and while not especially dangerous, these areas are best avoided late at night if you are alone.

Police:  112

Health

Vienna is a highly developed European city and poses very little in the way of threats to health. Water is entirely safe to drink and standards of hygiene in restaurants, pubs and cafés are as high as you would expect in any EU capital. However, if you fall sick during your stay in Vienna, you will find a large number of hospitals and medical facilities on hand, many of which employ English-speaking staff. If you are an EU resident then you’ll probably qualify for free treatment (provided you have the necessary documentation), while residents of other countries are advised to take out holiday insurance with medical cover.

General Hospital: +43 1 404 00 1501