Austria Rail Pass - Would it be worth it? (Vienna, Salzburg & Hallstatt)

The map with train prices you can find on this website is pretty useless to be honest as there is so much the price depends on. If you want to know how train travel in Europe works, your best friend is The Man in Seat 61, www.seat61.com

If you really want to know what a single ticket from e.g. Salzburg to Vienna costs, look up the prices at www.oebb.at and compare it to the price of a pass. Train tickets tend to cost more the closer you are to departure date, but for mid January you might be able to find some tickets from Salzburg to Vienna for €19.90.

No, a Railpass is a huge ripoff. The map shows full fares that no one buys..

Salzburg to Vienna is 19.90 Euro
Salzburg to Hallstatt is 9.90 Euro
Buchs to Salzburg will be a similar price.

You can do the math. Buy your tickets only from OEBB’s or Westbahn’s website.

Thank you -

Do we need to purchase the tickets online from OEBB’s or Westbahn’s website before we arrive or can we do on the same day?

Salzburg and Vienna have their own city/region pass, right? The rail pass would not be for traveling within, correct?

The price will go up, if you know when you will travel, buy now. If you are unsure, you can wait but pay a higher price.

Do we need to purchase the tickets online from OEBB’s or Westbahn’s website before we arrive or can we do on the same day?

For OeBB trains the tickets have always to be purchased in advance, at least at the ticket counter just before departure.

Westbahn tickets can be bought from the conductor in the train.

Getting your tickets online in advance will give you a better price.

Salzburg and Vienna have their own city/region pass, right? The rail pass would not be for traveling within, correct?

Yes, this is correct.

Regarding Vienna, there is a variety of public transport passes. It depends on how your stay falls within a calendar week or across a weekend to decide for the best selection. In most cases the calendar week pass (about €17) is the best choice, valid from Monday (12am) to the next Monday (9am). (In the US Sunday is considered the first day of the week, whereas in Europe it is Monday.)

All of the train routes that you mention are fully covered by the Eurail Austria pass. In-city transport is not, except that you could use it on the S-Bahn (not U-Bahn, tram, or bus) on your train arrival day into Vienna. The pass currently has a small discount, making it $152 per person.

If you decide to buy separate tickets instead, the key one to buy ahead is the longest and most expensive, from Buchs to Salzburg. A full-fare ticket on that route now costs more than shown on our map. You’re probably won’t mind locking in the departure time on that one to get an advance discount, while you could keep your options open on shorter rides.

thank you for all of the information

But no one (!) pays full fare. Normal travelers buy their tickets ahead of time online. Keep in mind that this website sells and profits from Railpasses.

@laura
I noticed already several times that you are peddling Eurail passes, which are, IMHO, a rip-off. They are targeted at gullible tourists who had been talked into thinking that buying train tickets in Europe is kind of rocket science.

The European rail passes made sense about 25 years ago when a specialist was needed for purchasing tickets for border-crossing trains. But nowadays just a few clicks are necessary.

I just looked up, incidentally, the price for a ticket from Buchs SG to Salzburg for an arbitrary date in January 2022, and the cheapest was €24.90 (Sparschiene bargain).