If you are planning a trip to Vienna, Austria, whether that trip is for a few days, a few weeks or longer, there are several things you should bring with you.
Especially if you want to save money.
That is because most of these things will be much cheaper back home. Especially if you live in the U.S., Canada or the rest of North America.
That is why, when a friend planning a trip to Austria asks me for advice about things to bring, I always make sure I mention these.
Vitamins, Ibuprofen, Aspirin and other NSAIDS
One of the first things you should always pack for a trip to Vienna, Austria are any vitamins you may take, as well as over-the-counter NSAIDS like ibuprofen and aspirin.
Vitamins are expensive in Vienna compared to many other cities in Europe, and especially expensive compared to what you pay in North America.
That is because, while you can buy vitamins at drug stores like DM and BIPA, and they may seem cheap at first glance, when you look at how many vitamin tablets/capsules you are getting for that cheap price, they are consistently far more expensive per tablet or capsule than they would be in many other places in the world.
Often three to eight times more expensive per tablet, depending on the vitamin, than those purchased in your home country.
The same goes for ibuprofen and aspirin. Both of which need to be purchased over-the-counter from a pharmacy in Austria and not a drug store.
And both of which are up to six to 10 times more expensive per pill than what I would pay in the U.S., or in every Asian country I have lived in or traveled to.
Of course, you cannot bring in five years supply of vitamins or NSAIDS, but you are legally allowed to bring into Austria the small amount of pills you will need to take during your stay.
Clothing
While this might seem like an obvious thing, I mention bringing clothing to Vienna as, when I travel to Spain, to Asia, or even back home to the United States, I usually leave plenty of room in my suitcase for items of clothing I will buy on my trip.
After all, it is nice to find something a little unusual that you can wear when you get back home.
In most cases, though, I recommend not traveling to Vienna and expecting to find affordable clothing to take back home as, in many cases, you will discover clothing is quite a bit more expensive than in your home country.
Austrians too aren’t the most stylish of people, (sorry, they’re just not, and most don’t seem to care about it either), so you will likely find clothing in Austria is often not particularly fashionable.
Especially compared to what you would buy and wear at home.
There are many quite cheap things and beautiful things you can buy on a trip to Vienna. In most cases, clothing is not one of them. Oh, and in most cases, the quality of clothing bought in the U.S. for the price you pay is higher than in Austria too.
Unless, of course, you want to pay an arm and a leg for a label brand.
Shoes – especially running shoes
The same goes for footwear — shoes, boots, sandals, running shoes, etc. are expensive in Austria compared to similar stores in the United States or Asia.
I have also found the running shoes I buy in the U.S. are better made (especially if you avoid the cheap Chinese brands), and tend to last longer than ones I have purchased in Austria.
However, I will say, if you have wide feet, you may find there is a much better choice of footwear for people with wide feet in Austria than in the U.S.
My father swears it’s because Europeans walk everywhere, and Americans… don’t.
Universal outlet power adapter
Not only are travel power adapters more expensive in Vienna than in the United States, they are also more difficult to find.
When I needed one, I ended up hitting four different stores before I found one at Media Markt and, even then, it cost double what I would have paid in the U.S., or in Thailand where I used to live.
The last international power adapter I bought was at Walmart while I was in the United States for the paltry price of $9.99, and it featured 3 USB C and 2 USB A ports, plus a socket for a regular plug.
At Media Markt, I couldn’t even find one with as many ports (the best was with 1 USB C and 2 USB A ports) and the one I did end up with was the equivalent of $19.50, so double the price.
For an adapter that was inferior to the one I picked up in America.
Just about anything electronic is more expensive in Europe, as higher taxes and tariffs are added onto electronic items before they hit the shelves (why do you think President Trump is going all in on European tariffs on the U.S.?), which is why you shouldn’t expect to buy a cheaper electronic item in Austria than you will find back home.
(I will add a caveat to that as, surprisingly, I was able to find a Samsung phone on sale at Spar in Vienna recently that was the equivalent of $27 cheaper than I had just paid to buy the same model of phone back in the U.S. for my dad. It doesn’t happen often though).
Electronics
And now we come to electronics.
Do not travel to Austria on vacation, and expect to find a computer, tablet, phone (most of the time), camera, external hard drive for storing your photos, memory cards, or just about any other portable electronic or electronic-related item cheaper than in America.
Electronics are more expensive in Austria, just like in other European countries, as the taxes added onto them due to EU mandates are higher than those in North America.
Finally — DON’T have things shipped to you in Austria
If you will be visiting Austria for a few months, and think you can just get anything you need shipped to you while you are here, thus saving on the added cost of purchasing in Austria, think again.
In Austria, anything that arrives in the country from a country outside the EU, has customs duties added onto it when it is valued at more than €150. Yep, €150.
On top of that, even if the item has a lower value, there are still other taxes and duties you may have to pay. (No, the Austrian government doesn’t believe in making life affordable for Austrians. At least if it means buying products from somewhere other than the EU (again… see Trump!).
Compare that to America where taxes and import duties for items ordered from outside the U.S. don’t kick in until they have a value of at least $1,600 in most cases and, yep, again… see Trump.
(Note: Certain items imported from the EU to America now have a tariff of 100% added onto them due to Trump’s “Tariff War” with Europe. And no, I don’t blame him as American companies are at a huge disadvantage in Europe compared to European companies who sell in America).
Yes, you can buy items from Amazon Germany and have them shipped to you in Austria and, yes, you will be able to find just about anything you could possibly need. Both here in Austria and via Amazon.
When you do, however, you face the same problem — many of the products you will need are more expensive than in America.
