Local Information: Welcome to Vienna

SPAA 2018
TU Wien
Gusshausstrasse 25
1040 Vienna (Wien), Austria

The Venue: Auditorium and Reception

In 2018, SPAA will be held at TU Wien (or Vienna University of Technology), the technical university of Vienna. TU Wien is Austria's largest, technical university, and one of the largest in Europe as well, with a large, diverse computer science faculty. TU Wien has a more than 200 year long history, and is still almost entirely located in the center of Vienna, in the area around the Karlsplatz, some of the main buildings being the "Hauptgebäude", the "Freihaus", and the "Campus Gusshaus" where the conference will take place.

The conference lecture hall. The SPAA 2018 conference itself, talks and coffee breaks, will take place at Campus Gusshaus, in the so-called "old" electrical engineering building. The lecture hall is EI2, Pichelmayer, on the 2nd floor of the engineering building in Gusshausstrasse 25, next to the more modern building shown on the SPAA 2018 main page.

Here is a map showing the location of the TU Wien buildings and institutes, including the Campus Gusshaus buildings ("C" on the map).

Buffet lunch and coffee breaks (included in the registration fee) will be provided close to the lecture hall.

The Campus Gusshaus is close to Karlsplatz (5 minutes by foot) which can be reached with subways (U-bahn) U1, U2, and U4, and trams 1, 62, and the socalled Badener Bahn (also a kind of tram). Coming by U1, the closest stop is in fact Taubstummengasse. Coming by tram also stops Paulanergasse and Resselgasse are close.

Welcome reception. Starting at 18:00 on Sunday, July 15 there will be a welcome reception (snacks and drinks) at the so-called "Kontaktraum" which is at the 6th floor of Gusshausstrasse 27, the modern building of the Campus Gusshaus. The Kontaktraum has a quite spectacular view over the inner city from its large terrace and should be a nice place to start out the conference.

The welcome reception is included in the registration fee; extra tickets for accompanying persons will have to be bought with the registration of the main participant.

Conference dinner. On Tuesday, July 17, the conference dinner will take place at the Vienna City Hall ("Rathaus"), starting at 19:45. The dinner will be in the "Wappensaal" hall, a nice surrounding for the evening. Doors will open at 19:30, better be in time.

For those interested, we plan to organize a 1.5 hour guided tour starting from the Campus Gusshaus to the Rathaus through the inner city. The tour will begin after the last talk on Tuesday, and end in time at the Rathaus in time for the dinner.

The conference dinner is included in the registration fee; extra tickets for accompanying persons will have to be bought with the registration of the main participant.

Please note that registration has to be done in advance via the official registration page. Registration desk with the conference material will be open before and during the reception on Sunday, July 15th, and in the mornings of the conference days.

Subsistence

Lunches and coffee for the three conference days are included with the registration fee. There is a welcome reception on Sunday, July 15, with catering, and the conference dinner on Tuesday, July 17, will provide plenty.

In the area around Karlsplatz (4th city district , "Wieden") there are plenty of restaurants, (coffee) bars, and places to go. Reservation may be needed in some restaurants, but for smaller parties of a few persons there should usually be room. Btw., tipping is usual in Austria, rounding up, not more than 10 percent (but one does not have to).

Accommodation, hotels

A number of rooms in the following hotels, all close to the Campus Gusshaus and the Karlsplatz, have been reserved for SPAA 2018 attendees for the dates July 14th to July 18th. The rooms are on hold until beginning of June 2018, and can be booked using the booking codes mentioned below. Be aware that booking has to be done by yourself, directly with the hotels, and cannot be done as part of the SPAA 2018 registration. There are plenty of other hotels close by, and all over Vienna. Vienna hotel prices are moderate, it should be possible to find good rooms in the range 60€ to 150€. It is a good idea to book early; Vienna can be quite full of tourists.

Travel

Vienna is well-connected within Europe and overseas (US, Asia, Russia, Middle-east), and it should be easy to get here.

By plane. Vienna's International Airport is Schwechat. Getting from the airport to Vienna (about 10 kilometers) is easy, by taxi, shuttle, bus, or train. Taxi's and shuttles are usually fixed price (there is a counter at the airport offering various shuttle services, for instance), and should be less than 40€ for the taxi ride (shuttle is cheaper). The ride is about 20-30 minutes depending on traffic and destination. Btw., again, tipping is usual in Austria, rounding up, not more than 10 percent (but one does not have to, also not in restaurants).

The Bratislava Airport is also relatively close to Vienna, and may be an option for some. Getting from Bratislava to Vienna is about one hour by train, bus or shuttle. There are also ships and boats, for those who have the time (some are actually speed-boats and do not take that much longer).

There are regular busses at around 8€ (single, round-trip is somewhat cheaper) to Schwedenplatz/Morzinplatz (close to subways U1 and U4), Westbahnhof (close to subway U3), Hauptbahnhof (also close to subway U1), and other destinations. The bus to Schwedenplatz/Morzinplatz is the fastest, takes about 20 minutes, depending on the time-of-day traffic. Most of the busses run around the clock at regular, half-hour intervals.

There is also a train station at the airport with some regular trains (rare) to the Hauptbahnhof. Much better is the S-Bahn, line S7 goes for instance to Wien Mitte/Landstrasse (connection to U3 and U4), and to Praterstern (connection to U1 and U2), and costs 4,40€. S7 is every half-hour, and the ride to Wien-Mitte takes 25 minutes.

Here is a convenient map of the U-Bahn (subway) and S-Bahn (rapid transportation) network within Vienna, see also here.

The so-called CAT (City Airtport Train) is slightly faster, goes directly to Wien-Mitte non-stop every half hour, is only slightly faster than the S-Bahn (about 17 minutes), but costs 11€.

By train. Trains from other European destinations go to the new "Hauptbahnhof", the main station of Vienna; some trains go to Westbahnhof. From both stations there are immediate connections to the U-Bahn (U1 and U3, respectively), from the Hauptbahnhof also the S-Bahn.

Reaching the venue at Campus Gusshaus. The Campus Gusshaus is close to Karlsplatz (5 minutes by foot) which can be reached with subways U1, U2, and U4, and trams 1, 62, and the socalled Badener Bahn (also a kind of tram). Coming by U1, the closest stop is in fact Taubstummengasse which is just around the corner. Coming by tram stops Paulanergasse and Resselgasse are also close.

Getting around. Public transportation, U-Bahn and S-Bahn (subway and rapid transportation), trams, and busses, is excellent in Vienna, and relatively cheap. A one-journey ticket inside the city limits, valid for one hour, costs 2.40€. A day pass, with unlimited travel on U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams and busses within city limits costs 7.60 €. There are also 2- and 3-day passes at 13.30 € and 16.50 €. Tickets are better bought in advance, there are machines everywhere. In trams and busses, single tickets can be bought from the driver or from a machine, but not in the U-Bahn or S-Bahn. Tickets are sometimes checked, so better have one, the "fee" for not having one is currently 100.30 € (plus the ticket) and no excuses are accepted. Ticket's need to be "invalidated" (time-stamped) before use, there are machines for that at all entrances.

Vienna

Vienna (Wien) is Austria's capital, an expansive and expanding city of about 1.8 million inhabitants. Despite its size, the inner city is easy to get hold of and navigate, the innermost circle ("1. Bezirk") inside the "Ring" can be done mostly by foot. There is plenty to see and do in Vienna, depending on your interests; some museums are Naturhistorisches Museum, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Albertina, Belvedere, Kunstakademie, Technisches Museum; popular remnants from days of the monarchy include the spectacular Schloss Schönbrunn (reachable with the U4 from Karlsplatz) and many other things. There is also in summer lots of music in Vienna (classical slant), two of the large concert halls are the "Musikverein" and the "Konzerthaus"; jazz and other things in "Porgy and Bess" and elsewhere. Many composers live(d) in Vienna, there are museums for quite a number, Beethoven, Schubert, Schoenberg, etc..

City guides with day to day programmes can be found here and here.

Climate

In July, the weather in Vienna is usually warm to hot, and dry. The average temperature is in the range of 25–35 °C, but better check the weather forecast.

Visas

If you need a visa to attend the conference, ACM can issue a visa support letter for you. Click for more information.

Contact Information

For queries regarding local arrangements, please contact Jesper Larsson Träff (spaa2018local@par.tuwien.ac.at).