Train from Vienna to Florence

My tip is to fly. 10+ hours on a train with multiple changes is not for me. The flight is like an hour.

Well there is the convenience of the NightJet. The romance of the rails as you are being slowly rocked to sleep in your own private compartment with private water closet and shower; for only 325 euro (cheaper than a nice hotel in Vienna). In a mere 12 hours you will find yourself in Florence. Of course, it’s a night train so you wont see any of the landscape.

And there is a train departing at 06:24 with only one change. The change is about 30 minutes, which I appreciate. Being a day train you can enjoy the view and the clickity-clackety romance of the rails for 10:25 hours for 85 euro.

Austrian Air makes the trip non-stop in 90 minutes but not every day of the week. The flight departs at 1pm so thats either good cause you can sleep or bad because you lose much of the day. The cost is about 200 euro. Austrian Air is just barely above a discount air carrier these days so not many frills either (no private shower or private water closet, no view, no romance of the rails). If you add about 3 hours to the flight time for extra taxi time to the airport and pre-flight time then the flight, door to door, will be about 6 hours faster than the train.

All comes down to what you enjoy.

I would do the night train. Save a few hundred Euro on a room in Vienna and wake up in Florence and not loosing any time in Florence. Departs at a decent hour, arrives a bit early but hotels will hold luggage. I say this not being a great fan of night trains (just took two in the last few weeks) but this one is pretty nice and seems to work for what you want to do.

Contrary to the opinion above, Austrian is hardly a budget airline. C'mon.

But as stated above, it all comes down to personal choice. I would much rather sleep in an actual bed and actually sleep than spend a sleepless night rocking around on a train. I did that many times when I was 21 - would never do it as an actual adult.

C'mon I said above a discount airline. Vienna opened up to the discount airlines and Austrain has to compete. But for the job described, get from point A to point B; I will fly them. No problem at all. It's worth it for the free cookie and 250ml of water you get on board.

If the OP has never done a night train, this might be the perfect first experinece. I am a cheapskate and if I can save $300 or $400 on a hotel room and gain a half day at my destination .... hard to say no.

But the flight is good too. The Vienna airport is easy to navigate, not too large or too crowded and not too terribly far from the city. If gives you a perfect opportunity to pick up a coffee mug that says there are no kangaroos in Austria. And it will save you 100 euro vs that luxury cabin on the night train; but you will be buying another night in a hotel.

My last Austrian air flight boarding was handed a bit like a cattle call so if you have a carryon you might want to loiter near the gate. To be fair, a lot of airlines are worse at boarding than what I experienced. Also check the type of aircraft as they use Embraer 195's on some of the shorter flights and they dont have a lot of space for carryons. Somehow I doubt they would use such a small plane for this flight, but dont know. Worth looking if you are a carryon only person.

The direct night train is a good option, you leave Vienna in the evening and wake up next morning in Italy. Although if you have the time I'd recommend the day train, it will give you some great views of the Alps.

Badger, so the views are good? Excellent. I was sort of disapointed when I went to Hallstatt last year. There were a few places with views, but for the most part the train had sound dampening brush on both sides blocking the majority of the views. Well except when passing the villages, then it was walls on both sides for sound control. But for what you describe, getting up at 4:30 for a 6:30 train then riding 10 hours might be worth the effort. So:

Plane: Fast, but most expensive and less time in Florence because of schedule (300 euro hotel, 200 euro ticket, ?? euro airport taxi)
Night Train: Cheapest option and possibly most time in Florence (325 euro or less ticket, no hotel cost)
Day Train: Also cheap, and views of the alps but less time in Florence and very early start time (300 euro hotel, 50 euro ticket)

Badger, so the views are good? Excellent. I was sort of disapointed
when I went to Hallstatt last year.

In my opinion they are. I don't know what route you took to Hallstatt but if you came from Vienna it was probably via the Westbahn which is very much a modern high speed line surrounded by sound barriers. But if heading towards Italy you will follow the Südbahn initially which includes the very impressive Semmeringbahn. Older lines with less sound barriers and lines that go through the Alps.

There are a couple of tunnels under construction that will make the route less scenic, but on the other hand they will reduce the travel time a lot.

... but for the most part the train had sound dampening brush on both sides blocking the majority of the views.

This is mainly along the high-speed tracks between Vienna and Salzburg. If you want to see the landscape you have to ride in a Westbahn train taking a seat on the upper deck. As far as I know OeBB has already ordered new cars with two decks for RailJet trains.

My two cents: Vienna is distant. The trip, done by air, is easy. I have done the trip by car several times, but always breaking it somewhere. It may look that doing by night train you have more time in Florence, but consider how much is worth an extra day in Florence if you are burned out by a sleepless night.

It depends on your travel style.

Long night train rides are totally fine with me, absolutely no problems at all. While I've not done Vienna to Florence , as regards to distance, I have taken Vienna to Hamburg or Kiel.

If you want scenery , do this by day. I would take the Night Jet myself.

Badger, thanks for the advice.

Fred, I did a sleeper in 1982. I am so senile now I don't remember it. I took two sleepers last week. Thanks to some great room mates the 12 and 21 hour trips were a blast. Not a heck of a lot of sleep on either but an experience I will never forget and always remember fondly.... even in my senile state.

@ Mr E. .... It would be inaccurate and also untruthful if I were to say I never took a sleeper. I did in 1971 in Sweden, the first and only time. It was a satisfactory experience, really don't need it. I slept all right, did that with the Eurail Youth Pass.

Ever since it's just the general seating area or a compartment seat, the cheapest option available.

Thank you to all who took the time to reply and share their thoughts. Much appreciated!