We will spend five nights in Vienna next March. I would like to visit the Mauthausen Work Camp Memorial. There are four of us so I assume that renting a car would be an option.
The camp area is relatively flat and easy to walk. If you go by rental car, there is a parking lot almost immediately outside the main entrance.
Going by public transport is difficult if you have problems walking. You can take the train from Vienna to Linz and then the bus 360 from Linz to Mauthausen, with the stop 'Linzer Str. Wasserwerk' being the closest. There are several trains per hour and the bus runs hourly Monday through Friday, but only bihourly Saturday and Sunday. The closest bus stop is however in the town of Mauthausen and the camp is located about 1.5km uphill from there.
You also have the option to go by train to Mauthausen, but there are no direct connections from Vienna. You must change trains at least once, usually in St. Valentin. The train station in Mauthausen is about 4km from the camp. You can of course take a taxi from the train station or from the bus stop to the camp.
If you are four people and have problems walking, I would have no doubt getting a rental car for the trip. It might even be cheaper than going by public transport. Depending on the exact connection, the return fare from Vienna to Mauthausen is between €50 and €80 per person.
For getting there, Tor-Einar Jambjo already has a good answer.
Just as an addition, parking for the frst 4h is free.
About the stay duration: It's hard to tell as people vary much in such things.
But as a reference value, a guided tour (without one of the information "workshops" appended) takes about 2 hours. 4 with workshop.
And a note about behaviour (also for everyone else reading this; some people just need to be told): Appropriate clothing, little noise (including phone calls), food and smoking only in designated areas. Animals are banned. And the rare visitor who has fun in shouting "Heil" might get a chance to view another prison from the inside soon. Please just don't, even if you really think of it as a mere joke (rather than meaning it)
Post-Trip Update
Now that we are back from our trip, I thought I would mention what we did in case anybody was interested in this day trip. I rented a car from Hertz at Vienna's Haupbahnhof or main train station. I brought my GPS from home because it had European maps and I am used to it. I chose Hertz because my credit card offered a discount and it was cheap. I had an International Driving Permit which made the rental process a little easier, I think.
I rented a Ford Focus wagon for € 59.39 when the Hertz office opened, drove to the hotel, and picked up the rest of our party.
Driving to Mauthausen was easy. The autobahn was safe and quick.
Mauthausen was truly incredible. The emotional impact of seeing where the suffering happened was unforgettable. I loaded the Mauthausen visitor app on my phone which provided a lot of information. After visiting the camp, we drove down the hill and turned up a small road to the bottom of the quarry. It was a short walk from the small parking area to the foot of the stairway of death.
We took more than four hours to see the memorial which is more than the average person would take. We read every display and took our time.
Walking was easy. We parked about 100 meters from the entrance.
After returning to Vienna, I dropped off my passengers at the hotel and drove back to the Haupbahnhof. I put € 26.80 worth of diesel in the tank before parking it. I took a lot of pictures just to be sure and dropped the keys in the box.
So for less than the price of one guided bus ticket, the three of us made the trip. The roads from the Haupbahnhof to the outside of town are easy to drive. Our hotel in the inner part of Vienna was not. I would recommend that everybody goes to pick up the car for that reason.
I hope somebody finds this information useful.
