Austria/Budapest train question

94 euro Budapest to Vienna? Really? Should be about 19 euro a ticket. Try the Hungarian rail site. And its 3.5 hours direct. You got something wrong.

Just checked. They dont have Dec 27 up yet, but they will in a few weeks, but the fare is 13 and 19 euro

Karen, as Sir James mentioned, €94 for 2 people and "Barley?" And 5 hours? We took this train in September from Budapest to Vienna for around €20 each. We bought our tickets in advance. The train ride was about 3 hours direct. Yes, agree, check the local website suggested by James.

How fun to go to the Vienna boys choir for Christmas Mass!

Looks like the Hungarian train hasn’t released tickets for dates after Dec 14.

Any cheaper ideas between Salzburg and Budapest?

You need to wait until the new schedule comes out. The fare you see for Salzburg to Budapest is way too high.

December 20th- SAlzburg to Budapest -€207 (2 people 1 dog) (10:00ish departure) OBB

I just looked it up on the OeBB website; the price you give is too low. Because of the busy Xmas travel time no reduced tickets are offered. The regular fare is about €95 for each of you (10% discount for the dog). The travel time is 5:11 hours (9:08am dep., 2:19pm arr.).

This refers to a direct train from Salzburg to Budapest (OeBB RailJet). You can make it cheaper by using Westbahn from Salzburg to Vienna, and continue from Vienna to Budapest using OeBB. But this would require a change not only between trains, but also between train stations in Vienna.

Not sure I ever noticed MAV eliminating the discount fares on holidays. Best to wait about 10 days and find out.

I bought Vienna>Budapest tickets for early January 2020 in September on Trainline for €19 each (2-1/2 hours)

And, I will point out that you are doing a lot of traveling for 2 days in Budapest. You might want to stay in Austria and save money, and time.

Looks like the Friday before Christmas doesn’t have reduced fares on OBB. Checked day before and a few days after, and there are cheaper fares. I had 5-6 iterations of our itinary, with various departure/return dates

In the app I enter 2 people and dog and total is $207..10. With just two people it’s 189.20. For the overnight trains Barley’s fare is €29 one way. Is 207 full price? Or will price go up later?

We’ll arrive in Budapest on 20th by 2pm and have the balance of afternoon and evening, then 2 full days, then we’ll catch mid afternoon train to Vienna, so another 1/2 day. We may not see everything, but enough. We can always return some day.

On the Westbahn Tran from Vienna to Salzburg! Shutdown that be booked in advance, or wait till day of? €69 now.

Budapest to Vienna: If you are going to pay full fare, then wait. I could be wrong, but there is a possibility that only full fares show because MAV hasn't published the fares for your date yet. If the discount fares do become available you can purchase them as late as the night before. I dont want to say the trains never sell out, but it isn't common. And buy the ticket at the MAV site, after all it's their trsin.

Because of the busy Xmas travel time no reduced tickets are offered.

Well, you could always book a "Europe Special" ticket from Freilassing, the last station in Bavaria just outside Salzburg, and simply skip the short ride into Salzburg. The only thing you need is a ticket valid for a long distance train from Germany into Austria (very few of them stop in Freilassing, more in Rosenheim but that might push up the fare).

At the DB web site (www.bahn.com) the actual fare for the noon connection of dec 20 is €39.90 pp:
Freilassing dep. 11:51 (EC 217, direction Graz), transfer to RJX 184 in Salzburg dep. 12:08 and finally to EC 145 in Vienna.

Great tip on the Salzburg to Budapest. Looks like I can increase the connection time in Vienna and still get the same price. Looks like I can't buy the dog ticket on line with our tickets. But I sounds like I can book a separate unaccompanied child ticket for 50% off, and have ticket mailed to us. Since we would be originating in Salzburg, not Germany, might be problematic to buy dog ticket in Salzburg or on the train.

Any further advice or info on DB ticket for Barley?

Thanks sla019!

I was able to book the Special fare for 88 euros including seat reservations. And was able to book child fare with no seat for Barley, and will be mailed to us in Italy. Saved us 100 Euros!

Way easier than Trenitaila dog tickets. We have to buy dog tickets in person at train station at the same time as buying our people tickets.

Saved us 100 Euros!

Great! What a solid base for dear dogs Christmas Dinner! ;)

And the MAV, the Hungarian rail, would have charged up 13 to 19 euro a ticket including seat reservation fee. For three seats that would be $43 to $65. Just had to wait for them to update their system with the late Dec prices.

James,
Still need train tickets for the Budapest to Vienna leg. But the discounted MAV €13 tickets are either too early or too late. So we can just wait to buy tickets until we are in Budapest, correct?

There are also discounted 19 euro tickets that should be just right. You can get the internet discount as late as 24 hours prior to the train time. At least the few times I checked that was true. Otherwise I think same day is in the 29 to 39 euro range.

I imagine some trains do sell out, but I have never been on one that did.

My taste is to wait till I see if I am enjoying so I can leave a day early or a day later depending on how things are working out. Sort of how I discovered Budapest 17 years ago .... escaped Vienna.

If Budapest is everything you dreamed of, Vienna might be less .... and of course vise versa

Thanks James, based on weather and other factors, we can decide after arrival what time we want to head to Venice. Might depend n whether we have a pace to store our bags for a few hours.

Just reviewing the RS Budapest book, so I’m sure there will be more questions!

Leave your bags at the Lions Locker. Excellent breakfast too; and wonderful family owners.

https://www.lockerbudapest.com

It is in the part of town where you should be staying .... or close.

And the cruise, not the best video, but gives you an idea
https://youtu.be/87Nzil36se4