Slovenia to Austria in October

To get to Innsbruck from Ljubljana you will connect first through Villach, Austria and then through Salzburg, finally arriving in Innsbruck. The whole train trip takes about six hours.

Then it’s from Innsbruck back to Salzburg (1:45) and finally to Vienna.(2:30).

You want to search for train schedules and tickets on the website of the Austrian Railways, OBB. Their website is here - https://www.oebb.at/en/. You should use OBB for all of your train travel mentioned. Do not use a third party reseller like RailEurope, Rail Ninja, etc.

Hi Kenko and Emily. Thank you for your quick replies!
Is it not possible to travel from Ljubljana to Innsbruck without going through Salzburg? I was hoping not to have to travel to and fro unnecessarily because that will take up extra precious time. :D

There are a couple of options which don't require going all the way to Salzburg, but these options take longer. Essentially, there are huge mountains between Ljubljana and Innsbruck and only so many ways to get around them. Personally, I would skip Innsbruck and spend more time in the other locations anyway.

there is a problem to be aware of. The EC trains from Croatia have become so unreliable that the austrains stopped accepting through cars to Germany, which is why you have to change at Villach. But the timetables were not changed, it just saved having to wait for a late train. So the itinery is a 9 minute connection off trains which are officially classed as unreliable! The good news is that the 11:35 departure from Ljubljana (train 316) starts there so should be OK.

It is possible to not go via Salzburg. Set a route via Zell am See. This will have you go from Villach to Schwarzach St Veit and take a local train via more mountainous route (very scenic). The mad part is that off the 11:35 intinery you then change again at Worgl - and get on the train you would have been on from Salzburg, so the overall joruney takes exactly the same time!

Oh dear, it sounds rather complicated!!
I notice on OBB that there's another train going to Innsbruck via Schwarzach im Pongau (212). Is that the alternative route you mentioned, Steve?
Other than trains, are there other means of transport I can consider?
Or perhaps as Emily suggested, I should just skip Innsbruck?

The only other option I can think of is a bus (Flixbus) which takes 10 hours and goes through Munich.

That sounds like a very long & painful journey!
I've been looking up on scenic train rides in Austria and the route from Salzburg to Innsbruck (on REX via Bischofshofen) is supposed to be very scenic. Is it worthwhile for me to go from Ljubljana to Salzburg (via Villach) for the first leg of my trip and spend 3 nights there, then take the train to Innsbruck for 1 night, return to Salzburg for 1 night (to break the journey), before going to Vienna for the last leg of my trip? It sounds like a very roundabout route!!
Would appreciate comments & advice please. Thanks!

The route without going through Salzburg is actually the shortest, having two changes though. Travel time 6:10 hours.

Ljubljana to Villach: D212 (dep. 9:30am)
Villach to Schwarzach-St. Veit: EC112
Schwarzach-St. Veit to Innsbruck: EC164 (arr. 3:40pm)

There is actually one direct train from Ljubljana to Innsbruck. This is the EN to Zurich, but that does drop you in Innsbruck very early in the morning.

@wmt1
Are these the EC trains that Steve was warning about regarding their reliability?

Are these the EC trains that Steve was warning about regarding their reliability?

No, his remark referred to trains originating in Croatia. Ljubljana is in Slovenia.
Both EC trains I mentioned start in Austria.

Ahh...OK. Thank you for the clarification! The train system is rather confusing, with D, EC, IC, RJX, EN trains. I am not sure what is the difference. Are they just different train companies, or different types of trains? Is one type better or more reliable than the other?
When the transfer time is only like 8-9 minutes, is that enough time to move from 1 platform to the next, taking into consideration we have big luggage bags to lug over from 1 train to the next?

First thing, Schwarzach in Pongau is the full village name, if you are seeing that in answers you are not using an offical railway source because the station name is Schwarzach-St Veit (because it is shared by two villages).

I missed that you are from Singapore, so that will mean even less experience of real trains than the Americans who normally post here. The intials in Austria are the type of train EC/IC are very similiar except EC are international. RJ are better. R/REX are regional trains but still as good as some airlines. D basically means it's never been given a marketing class. The exception is WB/Westbahn which is a private company with different fares.

EC212 from Ljubljana is one of the unreliable services from Zagreb, which is a pity because the connection from Schwarzach to Innsbruck (EC164) (without change at Worgl) is the finest train of the day on that line with a large window panorama car in 1st class! www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/CH/SBB_Apm-pano.php

The 2nd class interior of an EC/IC looks something like this https://www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/A/OeBB_Bmpz-2991.php

connections timed in minutes are normal, asssuming people get off one train and go to the other without hanging around wondering should I go in a different direction (which is what my father and many others would have done.....). If the incoming train is slightly late they will hold that conenction, but the trains from Zagreb can arrive over 30 minutes late! At Schwarzach the trains are side by side and have more than enough time.

@Another Steve
You are confusing a train newbie with too much information which actually does not matter much.

Any train in any country can be delayed, similar to airline flights. That is an inherent risk of travelling.

The D212 (aka EC212) from Ljubljana is not particularly prone to be late.
See the punctuality statistics here: https://www.zugfinder.net/en/train-EC_212

If you really miss the connection in Villach, be prepared and work out a plan B. If you look up connections from Villach to Innsbruck there are several options. If you insist going the original route via Schwarzach-St. Veit, then you have to wait 4 hours, which you could spend having a big lunch and visiting the city. If you don't want that, you have the option of a train/bus connection via Lienz, or a connection via Salzburg.

you say I'm being confusing but then add that if the connection is missed you can go on a different route to Lienz and get a bus (that only runs every 3 hours)!

Look at you own link, and scroll down the last 4 weeks. From June 15th it missed the connection on 6 consecutive days, managed the next day then missed on the next. It also missed it on the day that the original question was posted here. Yesterday it was on time, today has been a rush to make the connection. 212 was supposed to be through cars to Stuttgart but the Austrians gave up because the Tauern railway capacity is too tight for these sort of delays.

Thank you @Another Steve and @wmt1 for all your explanation and advice regarding the train system in Austria. This is certainly new to me and very useful information to take note of when planning for my trip. I will relook at my route and see what's my best option. Big thanks to everyone here in this forum!!

All of you are really amazing in taking the time to reply to all the posts and questions from new visitors like me. Finding information by googling different websites can be very confusing to someone who's unfamiliar with the country's system, especially transport! Nothing beats hearing from the locals and those who have experienced the upside as well as the downside of the different options.

If you don't trust the D212 because of a possible miss of your connection in Villach, there is a simple solution. Take one train earlier from Ljubljana to Villach, i.e., the D214 departing at 7:25am. This will give you time for an early lunch in Villach and you can watch whether you have made it in the D212 or not. (Please report your experience to this forum.)

I guess I could do that if I have lots of time to sit and watch the trains go by. Haha. :)

Anyway, as the journey from Ljubljana to Innsbruck is very long, regardless of which train connection I take, I think I will go to Salzburg first from Ljubljana and stay for 3 nights.
After that, I will take RJX 560/160 (not sure what it means when it says RJX 560 runs together with RJX 160) from Salzburg to Innsbruck and stay for 2 nights.
Then I'll make the long journey from Innsbruck to Vienna and spend the rest of my trip there before my flight home. Am planning to take RJX 161/184. Again it says RJX 161 runs together with RJX 184. What does that mean?

Any comments on my planned route and train choices please? Thanks!

(not sure what it means when it says RJX 560 runs together with RJX 160) ...
Again it says RJX 161 runs together with RJX 184. What does that mean?

When you see two train numbers together then it means that two trains starting at the same point will be unlinked at a certain train station and then continue to different destinations, or that two trains originating at different cities are linked together at a certain point and are then continuing together.

In your case:
RJX 560 Salzburg to Innsbruck
RJX 160 Salzburg to Innsbruck to Zurich
RJX 184 Salzburg to Vienna
RJX 161 Salzburg to Vienna to VIE Airport

So for your planned trip it does not matter which train you are on.

Ahh...I see. Makes sense. Thanks very much for the explanation!