Multi-Day Tours from Vienna with Flights Included

The Balkans are where Vienna quietly outdoes almost every other European origin. VIE sits closer to Split, Dubrovnik, Tirana and Podgorica than London or Paris does, flight times run a tidy 1h 20m to 2h 30m, and both Austrian and Wizz Air fly direct often enough to keep fares honest year-round.

Croatia is the most-booked Balkans destination from Vienna, with bundled totals from around €1,100 for a 7-10 day small-group tour and a return to Split, Dubrovnik, Zagreb or Zadar. Austrian runs VIE-SPU and VIE-DBV daily in season, and Wizz covers ZAG and ZAD at €60-€120 return in shoulder months. Greece sits at from around €1,400 for 7-10 days with a return to Athens, Thessaloniki or a seasonal island airport — Austrian flies VIE-ATH year-round, Wizz adds Corfu and Heraklion in summer. Albania is the value standout at from around €1,000 for a 7-10 day tour with a Wizz or Austrian flight into Tirana, where fares hold at €80-€180 return for most of the year. Montenegro trips run from around €1,200 with a flight into Podgorica or Tivat. Turkey is from around €1,300 for 7-10 days with a Turkish Airlines or Austrian return to Istanbul, Antalya and Izmir both strong in summer.

The shoulder months — May, June, late September and October — bring the cleanest pairing of tour land prices and VIE short-haul fares.

The long-haul map from VIE is better than most travellers realise, because Austrian is a proper Star Alliance hub carrier and Turkish Airlines treats Vienna as a priority European feeder.

Egypt is the best long-haul value going from Vienna. A 10-day Egypt tour lands at from around €1,900, including a Turkish Airlines connection via Istanbul or an Austrian codeshare through Frankfurt or Munich — there's no direct VIE-CAI, but one-stops run €280-€450 return in shoulder months. Vietnam sits at from around €2,200 for 12-14 days on a one-stop through Istanbul on Turkish, Doha on Qatar, or Dubai on Emirates, with Turkish typically €150-€300 cheaper than the Gulf carriers out of VIE. Peru runs from around €2,900 for 10-12 days, usually routed via Madrid on Iberia or Amsterdam on KLM. Japan is from around €3,300 for a 12-14 day tour, and this is where Vienna really shines — Austrian flies direct VIE-Tokyo Haneda on a 777 four or five times a week, with fares of €650-€1,100 return. South Africa safari trips run from around €3,400 for 10-12 days with Turkish via Istanbul or Lufthansa Group via Frankfurt and Munich.

For Africa and Asia out of Vienna, Turkish Airlines via IST is almost always the cheapest alternative.

For the Italy-Portugal-Spain trio, Vienna is middle of the pack on flight cost and strong on frequency. Austrian covers the big Italian, Iberian and French hubs daily, while the budget carriers — Wizz, Ryanair (more from Bratislava BTS than VIE) and easyJet — fill the gaps.

Italy is the most-booked of the three from VIE, with bundled totals from around €1,500 for a 7-10 day small-group tour and a return to Rome, Milan, Naples or Venice. Austrian flies VIE-FCO, VIE-MXP and VIE-VCE several times a day, with shoulder-season fares at €120-€240 return. Worth knowing: ÖBB's Nightjet from Wien Hauptbahnhof to Venice takes about 9 hours, costs €90-€160 in a couchette, and is a genuine alternative for a Venice-start Italy tour — you wake up there. Portugal trips run from around €1,400 with a return to Lisbon or Porto; Austrian flies VIE-LIS daily and TAP connects through Lisbon to the Azores. Spain comes in from around €1,400 with a return to Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga or Palma — Austrian and Iberia handle the hubs, Vueling and Wizz the leisure routes.

For all three, the twice-yearly Lufthansa Group sales (late January and September) knock €80-€150 off return fares if you can commit early.

Vienna International (VIE) out at Schwechat is a single-terminal airport spread across four check-in piers and three concourses — far simpler to navigate than most European hubs.

It's Austrian Airlines' home and a proper Star Alliance hub, so connections run tight and reliable. Since Austria is in Schengen, flights head to the non-Schengen C gates only when the destination is outside it (the UK, the Balkans beyond Croatia, Turkey). Most intra-Schengen flights leave from the D or F piers with no passport control at either end. Long-haul non-Schengen departures use the F and G concourses, which is also where the better food and lounges sit — Austrian's Senator Lounge in G is the pick of the transit options.

Getting to and from VIE is easy. The City Airport Train (CAT) runs non-stop to Wien Mitte in 16 minutes for €14 one-way or €24 return, with online booking shaving off a couple of euros. The S7 S-Bahn covers the same route, with stops, in about 25 minutes for €4.30 — the smart choice if you're not in a hurry. ÖBB Railjet intercity trains also call at the airport en route to Bratislava, Budapest and Graz.

Parking: short stays cost €36 per 24 hours in the terminal garages, long-term Parking C runs €27 a day, and off-site park-and-ride with a 5-10 minute shuttle goes for €9-€14 a day booked online. An airport hotel (NH, Moxy or the Courtyard) at €110-€160 is worth it for a pre-6am long-haul departure.

Flights and tour land prices out of Vienna follow a recognisable central-European shoulder-season rhythm. Book into these windows and you'll land near the bottom of every range above.

The shoulder months for VIE are April to mid-May and October to mid-November. Operators across the Balkans, Mediterranean and Middle East trim land prices 20-35% then, and short-haul fares out of Vienna sink to their annual lows. Give a wide berth to Christmas week (20 December to 2 January), Easter, and July-August, when school holidays push Austrian short-haul fares up 50-90% and long-haul up 30-50% on shoulder.

Flight sales out of Vienna come twice a year on the Lufthansa Group schedule — late January through mid-February and the second week of September. Austrian, Lufthansa, Swiss and Brussels all move together, and long-haul returns to Tokyo, Bangkok, New York and Johannesburg drop €150-€400 below their usual level. Turkish Airlines runs sporadic Istanbul-based sales roughly quarterly, best caught through its own newsletter.

On lead time: the Balkans and short-haul Europe hit their sweet spot 4-8 weeks out. Long-haul Asia, Africa and South America want 3-5 months, edging to 5-6 for a peak-season departure (July-August or Christmas). Egypt in February-March and Vietnam in March-April, both booked four months ahead, are the two highest-value pairings in the whole Vienna calendar.