Accessibility and mobility

There is practically no way around Vorarlberg: the state in western Austria is easily accessible by all means of transport. You don’t need your own car on site. Trains and buses are perfectly coordinated and take visitors comfortably from place to place. With the regional Inclusive Cards, summer guests can travel on public transport for free in most cases. In winter, travel on the ski buses is included in many ski passes.

Arrival

Rail travelers coming from all directions can choose from several direct connections and destinations in Vorarlberg. Railjets, ICEs and other express trains stop in Bregenz, Dornbirn, Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bludenz and Langen am Arlberg or in St. Anton am Arlberg on the Tyrol side. On some connections there are further stops in smaller towns between those mentioned. Buses take guests from the train stations in Vorarlberg to the valleys and villages. In the cities of Bregenz, Dornbirn, Hohenems, Feldkirch and Bludenz, city buses supplement the service.

For guests from Austria, ÖBB offers 14 long-distance train connections a day, and the WESTbahn runs twice a day from Vienna to Vorarlberg. There are also two ÖBB night trains from Vienna, one of which is a car train.

From Germany, several express trains run daily to/from Frankfurt (via Darmstadt, Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Ulm) and to/from Munich. An ICE connects Dortmund (via Cologne, Mainz, Mannheim, Ulm) with Vorarlberg every day. A Nightjet runs daily from Hamburg-Altona to Innsbruck. EC trains or Railjets take you from there to Vorarlberg. For holidays in Kleinwalsertal, Oberstdorf (D) is the destination station.

In winter, a “holiday express” runs on some Fridays at night from Hamburg-Altona to St. Anton am Arlberg. The return journey is in the night from Saturday to Sunday. On Saturdays, DB offers a daytime connection on this route. Lech Zürs am Arlberg can be reached by bus from St. Anton. The destination for travelers taking their car on the train is Munich. In summer, Lörrach is another car train station for connections with the BTW car train to/from Hamburg-Altona.

From Switzerland, visitors can travel several times a day by EC or Railjet from Zurich via St. Gallen to Bregenz or from Zurich via Sargans to Feldkirch.

From Paris and Strasbourg in France, there are (TGV) direct connections to Basel and Zurich around twice a day. From there, you can continue either directly or with one change by EC or Railjet to Bregenz or Feldkirch.

If you are traveling from the Netherlands (Utrecht and Amsterdam), the Nightjet connection to Innsbruck is the best choice. Continue by EC or Railjet to Vorarlberg.

Long-distance buses such as FlixBus stop in several places between Bregenz and Bludenz. Depending on the starting point in Europe, there are direct connections or routes with transfers.

Car travelers can reach Vorarlberg from Lindau (D), from one of the Swiss border crossings or from the east via the Arlberg Pass or through the Arlberg Tunnel. All routes are connected to the highway network. The only thing to bear in mind is that toll stickers are compulsory on Austria’s freeways and expressways, including the Rheintalautobahn and the Arlberg expressway in Vorarlberg.

For e-cars there are 658 charging stations in Vorarlberg (as of March 2025). This map provides an overview of the locations.

The nearest international airports are Munich (D), Zurich (CH) and Innsbruck (A). From there, there are direct train connections to Vorarlberg. Regional airports are located in Memmingen (D), Friedrichshafen (D) and Altenrhein (CH), which are also connected to Vorarlberg by train, bus or shuttle.

• To the modes of transport

Getting around in Vorarlberg

By train to dinner in the next town. By bus from the mountain village to the Bregenz Festival, to a museum or shopping spree. Environmentally friendly activities are easy in Vorarlberg and usually free of charge. If you travel by public transport, you also save yourself the trouble of searching for a parking space and parking fees and can devote yourself entirely to enjoying the scenery.

Public transport in Vorarlberg is just as well developed as in large cities. Only the intervals can be a little longer. Nevertheless, there is a connection to almost every town in the region at least once an hour.

Summer guests benefit from regional Inclusive Cards, which include services such as mountain railway rides and public transport in the respective region. The guest cards for most towns in the Bodensee-Vorarlberg region and all towns in the Alpenregion Bludenz are even valid for rail and bus travel throughout Vorarlberg. There is also the V-Card, which is available at an advantageous all-inclusive price. It is valid from 1 May to 31 October for mountain railway rides and for one-off visits to around 90 museums and excursion destinations.

For excursions on Lake Constance, boats are in operation from mid-April to mid-October. From Bregenz harbour, they head for numerous places on the German shore of Lake Constance. Places on the Swiss shore of Lake Constance can also be reached by changing ships. Alternatively, the towns around Lake Constance can be explored using the Lake Constance S-Bahn.

If you want to explore the region by bike, you can hire a classic bike, mountain bike or e-bike from one of the many providers. Cyclists can take their bike with them on local trains and the Lake Constance S-Bahn, subject to the availability of the train´s bike spaces. The Lake Constance ships offer plenty of space for bicycles. Whether by train or boat, a ticket must be purchased for the bike.

In winter, holders of ski passes in most ski regions can travel free of charge on the ski or public buses within the resort or region. This applies, for example, to the 3Täler-Skipass (Bregenzerwald and neighboring regions), the Lech Zürs am Arlberg ski pass as well as the WildPass and the Sonnenabo-WildPass (Montafon, Brandnertal).

All year round, numerous event and museum tickets include free travel to and from the event venue within Vorarlberg. These include, for example, the Alpinale, the :alpenarte, the Poolbar Festival, the Vorarlberg Lines for event boat trips as well as the Reiseziel Museum, the Vorarlberg Museum and the Kunsthaus Bregenz

• Information on all means of transport and travel options within Vorarlberg as well as links to the transport providers can be found here.