The surprise of daily life in Austria is rarely the big things. It is the small rhythm: shops closed on Sunday, a recycling system with colours and hours, a Grüß Gott from a stranger on a staircase, and an official calendar full of holidays that you did not know existed. This guide collects the practical habits that every newcomer meets in the first weeks, with the official rules where they exist and plain honesty where they do not.
What language will you hear in daily life in Austria?
German is the official language. Croatian, Slovenian and Hungarian are also official in certain regions, where recognised minorities live, notably in Carinthia and Burgenland. English is the first foreign language taught at school and helps in the big cities, but forms, letters and most appointments are in German.
Austrian German has its own vocabulary, and official documents use it: Jänner for January, Sackerl for a bag. If you learned German in Germany, expect a few surprises. In everyday use, people greet each other with Grüß Gott or, among friends, Servus. You address strangers and colleagues with the formal Sie until someone offers du. These are customs, not written rules.
Punctuality is expected at appointments, and a tip is usual in restaurants, with no fixed amount. The state and the law are secular and freedom of religion is guaranteed, though the calendar keeps many traces of the Catholic tradition.
What are the shop opening hours in Austria?
Under the federal law of 2003, shops may open Monday to Friday between 6 am and 9 pm and on Saturday between 6 am and 6 pm, for at most 72 hours a week. They are closed on Saturday after 6 pm, on Sundays, on public holidays and on Monday before 6 am. The head of the provincial government can authorise exceptions in tourist zones, stations and neighbourhood festivals, so real hours vary by Land and place.
Two special days: on 24 December, shops can be open from 6 am to 2 pm if it falls on a working day. On 8 December (Immaculate Conception), shops may open if it falls on a working day, and employees can refuse to work that day without giving a reason. The practical rule: do your main shopping on Saturday before 6 pm.
Which public holidays should you know?
There are 13 national public holidays: 1 January, 6 January, Easter Monday, 1 May, Ascension, Whit Monday, Corpus Christi, 15 August, 26 October (National Day), 1 November, 8 December, and 25 and 26 December. Good Friday is not on the list. Each province also celebrates its patron saint: not a legal holiday (shops stay open, work is normal) but a day off school. 2 November, All Souls, is also school-free. Ask locally for the hours of provincial offices on those days.
Local rules about waste, noise or neighbours differ from commune to commune and are rarely written in English. Moovy can help you find the right official page for your municipality and explain what it says. It cannot call the municipality for you, and some details are only available there.
How does recycling work in daily life in Austria?
The municipality organises collection (in Vienna, the MA 48). Rules and collection days depend on the commune. The principles:
- Plastics, other light packaging and metals go together, since 2025, in the Gelbe Tonne or Gelber Sack (yellow bin or bag).
- Glass is sorted into white and coloured, and thrown away between 7 am and 8 pm.
- Organic waste goes in the Biotonne, without plastic bags; what is accepted varies by commune (in Vienna, no animal waste).
- Deposit. Since 1 January 2025, plastic bottles and cans carrying the deposit logo (Einwegpfand) are charged €0.25 per container, from 0.1 to 3 litres. Bring them back to a shop to get the deposit. Milk and dairy products and cartons are not included, and glass is not in this system.
What are the emergency numbers?
- 112: the European emergency number, free, even on a locked phone.
- 144: ambulance. 133: police. 122: fire brigade. 140: mountain rescue. 141: on-call doctor. 128: gas leak.
- 1450: national health advice line, to know where to be treated.
- Poison centre: 01 406 43 43.
- 142: a listening service (Telefonseelsorge). 147: help for children and teenagers.
- For deaf or hard-of-hearing people, the DEC112 app allows contact with emergency services in writing.
What about work habits and time off?
The legal working time is 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week; many collective agreements provide less, for example 38.5 hours. Leave is 25 working days in a five-day week. For the rest of the rules, see working in Austria.
Which civic rights and duties do you have?
An EU citizen can vote in municipal elections (in Vienna, district elections) and European elections. Swiss and British citizens do not have that right, which is reserved for EU citizens. Each commune has its own rules on dogs, waste and snow clearing: ask your commune. You must also keep in mind your obligation to register your address in three days; see Meldezettel. And the broadcasting contribution (ORF-Beitrag) is due for each address with an adult main resident, with or without television; see cost of living in Austria.
What trips up newcomers most?
- Shopping on Sunday. Most shops are closed, except in stations and tourist zones.
- Forgetting religious holidays. Ascension, Whit Monday, Corpus Christi and 8 December close offices and schools.
- Sorting waste badly. Rules and days depend on your commune.
- Expecting everything in English. Procedures and forms are in German.
If you are still choosing where to live, our article on the best places to live in Austria compares five cities, and the guide to moving to Austria sets out the first weeks in order.
What is a normal week like?
Weekdays run on regular hours, and people plan errands around the opening times of shops and offices. Shops are open through the day, and Saturday morning is when many households do the week's shopping. Sunday is quiet: restaurants, cafés, museums, parks and mountains are open, but most shops are not. In winter, daylight is short in the mountains, and in summer lakes and rivers are the natural meeting places.
If you work, your week follows the collective agreement of your sector. If you have children, it follows the Kindergarten and school calendar, and the school-free days of your province. If you drive, the vignette and the technical inspection (Pickerl) are the two calendar items to watch; see driving in Austria.
How do you make friends and settle in?
There is no official programme for this, and we do not pretend to have a formula. The usual routes are the workplace, the neighbours, the school gate, clubs and associations, and language classes. Learning German, even slowly, opens doors faster than any other step: forms, neighbours, shop assistants and the landlord all appreciate the effort. Give yourself a few months before you judge a place. The first winter tends to teach you more than the first summer.
Keep your paperwork in order in the meantime: your address registration within three days (see Meldezettel) and your registration certificate within four months (see Anmeldebescheinigung) make everything else easier.
Which small rules of etiquette help?
Greet people when you enter a small shop, a waiting room or a lift: the Grüß Gott is part of the ritual. Use Sie until you are offered du, particularly with older people and at work. Arrive on time, and tell people if you will be late. In a restaurant, a tip is usual and there is no fixed amount. In an apartment building, people care about quiet and about waste sorting, so read the house rules (Hausordnung) and ask a neighbour when you are unsure. None of this is written into a law, which is exactly why newcomers get it wrong and why a friendly question usually solves it.
Remember also that shops close on Saturday evening, so keep a few basics at home for Sunday. If you need medical advice at a weekend, call 1450 rather than guessing where to go, and in an emergency 112. For the cost side of daily life, see cost of living in Austria.