Venice, Italy to Halstatt, Austria

Don't look at Rail Europe, they suck. Use the people who run the trains, in your case www.oebb.at, they run the trains in Austria and a lot of the ones serving Venice from Austria.
But first, I would just look up the possibilities at www.bahn.com. That's the German Railway Co, and they have almost all the train schedules throughout Europe. I see 2 possibilities, one morning and one night train. Forget the night train because you have to change trains in the middle of the night twice and have an hour and a half wait in the station.
That leaves the morning route that starts with a bus from Tronchetto (the Venice parking garage island) to Villach, Austria. Its run by oebb, there two more train changes at Schwarzach-St Veit and Stainach-Irdning.
Its a 10 hour trip. Buy the ticket at www.oebb.at.

I'll check those other train websites. That's very helpful, thank you. I had no idea it would be such a long trip!

Rail Europe's search engine has a difficult time showing complex train trips that have more than one connection. Even though there are trains between Venice and Hallstatt Rail Europe may say nothing is available because it has 2+ connections. You will just want to break the trip up into its segments and search whichever portions require a reservation in Rail Europe to purchase. Use the Bahn site (www.bahn.com) to see the schedules, how many connections are on any given trip, and where those changes take place. It also explains which parts of the trip require a compulsory reservation. You can only search dates 90 days out at a time on both the Bahn and Rail Europe. I notice the Bahn shows the trip takes 9-11 hours with 3-4 changes. Unfortunately this route is just not as well connected, but taking the train is probably your most efficient way to connect. Read more about how to use Bahn at http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules and buying tickets at http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/buying-tickets.

You'll be taking the train from Venice thru the Brenner Pass into Austria.

The train may go into Innsbruck direct, or you may have to change trains in Verona--just west of Venice.

From Innsbruck, you'll have to go through Salzburg to get to Hallstatt.
www.oebb.com is the Austrian railway, and it indicates you'll have to go by bus from Salzburg and then by train to get into Hallstatt. You may also have to take a ferry across the lake.
Sorry that it's a place that's a little hard to get into.

This is kind of what we are going to do in May but instead of Salzburg, we are going first to Vienna for some commitment. Check the OEBB link below and enter your info. Bus from Tronchetto goes to Villach, transfer to a train bound for Salzburg. Trip from Venice to Salzburg is roughly 8.5 hrs. ( for bus that leaves Tronchetto at 920 am, like ours). Others are longer, maybe 10+ hrs, more transfers, etc.

http://fahrplan.oebb.at/bin/query.exe/en

Here's how u want to do it:

1. From the Venice hotel, take a private taxi (expensive) to Tronchetto bus station
   or a vaporetto that will take u to Piazzale Roma which u can connect to Tronchetto bus station.

2. Check the bus and train schedule link as shown above. Make sure to schedule BOTH bus and train. (For 2 people, we are paying Euro 160 something to Vienna)

3. From Tronchetto, the bus will take you to Villach.

4. From Villach, transfer to a train bound for Salzburg

5. In Salzburg, take the Hallstatt/Sound of music tour offered by Bob Special tours, which I believe is recommended by Rick Steve's. Here's their info that I copied from my email.
   Bob's Special Tours
   Rudolfskai 38, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
   tel: 0043-662-849511; fax: 0043-662-849512
   email: [email protected]; www.bobstours.com

We researched trains/buses going to Hallstatt and added up the costs and what we decided was to take Bob's Hallstatt tour above. Very convenient for us. Cost is Euro 96 per person.

Hope this helps you!

Very much so! Thank you for taking the time to
share your research and such a detailed guidance!

You are welcome! If you prefer to stay longer in the area, I can send you the info I have, about buses and trains and transfers to take. I just assumed you are visiting for a day like us. Info is long:) so just send me a message if u want it.

Denise,

If you'd rather not endure a long rail trip, you could consider staying at an intermediate point for one night, and then continue to Hallstatt the following day. I've used that method many times in the past, and it has worked well. Some possibilities you could look at on the route from Venice to Hallstatt are Bolzano, Innsbruck, Munich or Salzburg.

I'd suggest staying at least one night in Hallstatt (if possible).