Day trips from Vienna and transportation options

Are you locked in to 8 days in Vienna? You might consider three days in Vienna, then rent a car for the remaining 5 days and tour Wachau valley, Salzburg, Hallstat. Car would give you a lot of flexibility to tour / see the countryside at your own pace. Enjoy your trip!

Hi Bob, yes, we already have the hotel nights in Vienna locked in, and are looking to keep transportation options simple. Is it very advisable to rent a car? Or can we get by well with public transportation? Don't really want to deal with car rental fees, overnight parking, etc, if we can avoid it.

You wouldn't want or need a car in Vienna. I was just thinking in case you weren't locked in to all nights in Vienna, that you could see some places like Salzburg that are not practical with only day trips from Vienna.

Trains going out of Westbahnhof have cheaper ticket prices. I believe it is an independent company not OBB. Its nice because you can buy the tickets right on the train. It takes about four hours to get to Salzburg from Vienna via train. I think it takes at least two full days to see Salzburg. I know you would prefer to save Prague and Budapest for another trip, but you could consider Bratislava which is about an 1 hour by train.

If you visit the Wachau, there is a regional day bus pass that was ten euros last time I went, and gives unlimited bus travel along both sides of the river.

Thanks. Do you know if an Eurail pass includes the regional Wachau valley bus? Or are there trains that can be used to visit the Wachau valley?

Consider Eisenstadt in Burgenland, about an hour by train from Vienna. Eisenstadt is home to the Esterhazy Palace, where Haydn was the Court Composer. Being near Hungary, it has a different feel from the Salzkammergut or the Wachau.

The one-country Eurail Pass 2nd class for 8 days in Austria is €277, and it covers OeBB, WESTbahn, and GySEV trains, not busses. Seat reservations are not included, but not necessary for your purposes.

For me it is a rip-off. It is very unlikely that you can spend this amount buying individual tickets for your few day trips.

You should consider a thorough planning. Not only that trains across the country are different to HOHO busses in a city, but buying tickets ahead can you save a lot of money.

Thanks wmt1.

We're thinking of buying a 4-day single country Eurail pass for 2 people, which is $400 USD. Purchasing individual tickets ahead of time is cheaper, but it seems that's only true if we pick specific trains and times (zero flexibility). The cheapest fares seem to be at very early or late hours. And fully flexible fares are extremely expensive. For example, I see Vienna to Salzburg roundtrip on a flexible ticket for 2 people is €206

Am I thinking about this right? If we want to have flexibility and not be running to catch a specific train, is Eurail a better deal? Or is there another option?

Railjet (RJ) has tickets for 24€ bookable in July on the ÖBB website, a Sparschein ticket. There are also special weekend tickets good for 2 people for 34€ for one weekend day of travel. I'd look at options like these for day trips from Vienna.

Thanks. I see some of these Sparschiene tickets, but they still require booking a specific schedule (train and time), correct? For example, on July 4th for 2 people on RailJet it's 48€ to leave Vienna at 8:30, and 38€ to return at 18:12. So that's 86€ for not having any flexibility. Or are there Sparschiene tickets that allow you to take any train at any time?

I would prefer to have flexibility in choosing trains when I'm there, and I'm willing to pay a slight premium for this. What's the best option for this?

It is correct that OeBB's "Sparschiene" bargain tickets are bound to a specific train.

The route between Vienna and Salzburg is a special case because a second carrier (WESTbahn) is competing with OeBB's RailJets, trying to gain market shares by aggressive pricing and greater flexibility. The one-way, regular fare from Vienna to Salzburg is €27, and the tickets can be purchased from the conductor in the train. (Booking online gives you even cheaper options, with less flexibility, though.)

The towns at each end of the Wachau valley, Krems and Melk, both have rail services from Vienna, but the actual area is mostly served by bus or more expensive river-boats. There is a railway line partway along the valley at the Krems end (https://www.wachaubahn.at/fahrplan-whb), but I don't think it's any more worthwhile than buses.