The Red Bull Ring is in the state of Styria, near Spielberg – a small town of about 5000 people in the south-east of Austria. The nearest large city is Graz, some 75km away. Vienna is about 200km away. Most of the largely European based spectators arrive overland, cars piled high with camping gear and enough beer to survive a nuclear holocaust. If you’re coming from further afield, flying in and finding more comfortable accommodation in the region may be preferable.
Arrival in Austria for the Austrian Grand Prix
Most visitors who fly in for the event choose either to fly to Vienna, or the convenience of Austria’s second city of Graz. Vienna (VIE) handles more air traffic, so you’re more likely to find a direct flight and there are more low cost carriers operating out of here. Its worth considering also the airport in Graz (GRZ) which at 75km is closer to Spielberg and has more convenient onward transport to the circuit.
Kiwi.com lets you search for the lowest cost flights and shows you route combinations that often don’t show up on other search engines. If you miss a connecting flight due to delay the Kiwi guarantee means you can take the next available flight at no extra cost.
Getting to the Red Bull Ring by car
Whether you drive from your front door to the track or hire a car in Vienna or Graz, driving is the best way to get to the circuit, especially if you intend to camp.
There’s no shortage of car hire companies at the airport but you’ll get better deals reserving one in advance using a search aggregator like RentalCars.com that searches multiple car hire companies at once for the best prices.
Driving Directions
- Approach on the S36 towards Klagenfurt/Knittelfeld/Judenburg
- Take exit 24 for Zeltweg Ost/Spielberg.
- Turn left onto local road L545
- Shortly afterwards turn left again onto Spielbergerstraße.
- After about 1.3km turn right onto Red Bull Str. where you can follow directions for parking.
- When you near the circuit, keep an eye out for local signage and be prepared to ignore your GPS or maps app of choice, as diversions may be in place during the Grand Prix weekend.
Parking
There is ample parking at the Austrian Grand Prix and it’s provided free of charge, about 15 minutes walking distance from the circuit – near the S36 highway. Look out for parking signs as you approach the circuit and follow directions – the colour of your F1 ticket determines the parking area that you should use.
Park and Bike
Let’s face it you’ll get plenty of time for walking once you get to the circuit so why not save your feet the walk? If you bring bicycles with you, there are well organised cycle paths from car parks to specially designated bike parks near the concert area at the circuit. Park and bike recommended parking is at the parking zones of G‘Schlössl Murtal and Weißkirchen, 7 and 10 kilometres away from the circuit respectively.
Getting to the Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg by Public Transport
Getting to the Red Bull Ring by train and bus is relatively straightforward. As well as coaches from further afield that drop off at the circuit gates, there are buses that shuttle F1 fans to and from the circuit and nearby train and bus stations over the Grand Prix weekend.
Train
The closest train station to the Grand Prix circuit is the station in Zeltweg at about 5km away. Unless you’re staying in Zeltweg for the weekend though its more convenient to get out one station earlier, at Knittlefeld Hbf. From here there are frequent buses to the circuit gates, about 7km away.
Trains from Graz Hbf run about once an hour and including the one and only stop, reach Knittlefeld in about 90 minutes.
From Vienna Central Station (Wien Hauptbahnhof) trains are just as frequent, but including stops usually takes nearly 3 hours. There are also some direct trains and they cover the journey in about 140 minutes.
You can search train schedules across multiple operators simultaneously to and from just about any station in Europe using Omio (formerly GoEuro) and purchase tickets for the same cost as buying direct from the train lines.
Bus
Shuttle bus from Knittlefeld train station and Judenburg bus station
There are two free shuttle bus services that take fans to and from the circuit from both the train station in Knittlefeld and Judenburg bus station.
Going to the track, these are most frequent from 8am to midday and back to the station there will be buses until about 8pm. On Saturday only there is an extended service running until midnight, though slightly less frequent after 8pm.
- The Knittlefeld service runs about every 20 minutes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, dropping to once every 30 minutes for the Saturday night service.
- From Judenburg, buses are scheduled for every 30 minutes during normal hours and once an hour on Saturday night.
Long Distance Coaches from elsewhere in Austria to the Red Bull Ring
From further away its possible to get buses directly to the Grand Prix. Coaches organized by EVENTBUS pick up from a number of destinations across the country including Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol and Vienna.
Tickets starting at about €40 return can be bought on the EVENTBUS website (in German only) .
Regional bus services in Styria
As well as the extra services listed above that are put on for the Grand Prix there are of course regular bus services connecting towns in the Styria region which can be helpful for getting around especially if you’re staying in one of the smaller towns in the area. You can search for local bus timetables here.
I’m Danny, an incurable Formula 1 fan for over 25 years and founder of The F1 Spectator. My aim is to inform and inspire, arming you with helpful tips and advice for your next F1 trip.
