Hello,
These third party train ticket sellers have gotten good at making themselves look like they are the official train companies websites for selling tickets in Europe. I only want to buy direct.
What are the official websites for the trains that go between Vienna and Budapest?
Thank you,
Mark
Austrian rail operator is OBB
For Hungary, the website is https://www.mavcsoport.hu/en
Twice a day there is also a RegioJet train: https://regiojet.com/stations/3741302011
RegionJet is sort of the low cost carrier of trains. I havent heard anything bad about the service but I am on a wait and see mood with them. I have heard a few good things about customer service wiht MAV so I tend to be loyal.
RegionJet goes to Budapest-Kelenföld which is in Buda. Budapest-Kelenföld has a canopy over a few platforms I believe, but most of it is open to the sky (watch the weather).
From Budapest-Kelenföld to Pest you will either need a taxi for about 8.000 ft or you can ride the M4 which serves the station, then connect to the M3 to reach the center of Pest; or you can ride the 49 Tram or there is a bus that goes to Deak Ferenc ter in Pest (pretty sure). If it were me, I would take the 49 tram as it goes through some very interesting neighborhoods and great architecture along the way. I dont think Budapest-Kelenföld has a BKK office, but there are vending machines (must be ?) where you can buy metro tickets or you can use the BudapestGo App.
If not using RegionJet and you are departing Vienna use OBB. If departing Budapest use MAV. MAV will start and end at Keleti Pályaudvarin the heart of Pest .... well, okay, a tad off center of the heart but its a beautiful station and is well connnected with a short ride to any accommodation in Pest. BKK has an office down the front stairs at Keleti.
A good rule of thumb is: Buy train tickets from the national railway of the country where the trip starts. So I would buy Budapest - VIenna from MAV, and Vienna - Budapest from OBB.
That way if you need help, you can always go to the ticket office...
Thank you for all the valuable information.
I don't know if I should start a new post or not, so here goes.
I will need to get a 6:40 am train in Vienna. Is public transport up and running so I can get to the station no later than 6 am on a Tuesday?
I haven't decided where I am staying, but an Airbnb somewhere near the center of town.
Thanks,
Mark
Yes. https://www.wien.info/en/travel-info/transport/operating-hours-354656
If you are doing an AirBnb in Budaoest and you arrive too early to get in, look up The Lions Locker on Vasvari Pal utca.
The OBB trip planner allows you to plan door-to-door. So enter the street address of your accomodation as origin, and your destination and let the system work it out for you.
So you can plan the whole trip from your AirBnB to Budapest like that.
Regular public transport in Vienna starts usually around 5:30am, so you will certainly get to the train station in time. By the way, there is no need to be at the train station at 6:00am for a 6:40am train.
I do not fully agree with WengenK's rule of thumb. For border crossing trains I always check the fares on either country's railway website. Sometimes there is a significant price difference, for whatever reason.
The main reason for suggesting you book with the railway where your trip starts is that when there is an issue you can just go the station and talk to someone at the ticket office. If you buy a Vienna - Budapest ticket from MAV, and you have a problem, and go to the ticket office in Vienna they will say: this is not a ticket we issued, we cannot help you.
It also prevents falling in the trap where you buy a route that cannot be issued as an e-ticket, and having to collect your ticket at a station in another country than the one you are in...
To wmt's point I looked up Vienna to Budapest on OBB and MAV for a day in April. The same train, the same class of service was 27 euro at OBB and 15 euro on MAV including the seat reservation.
Still, I am with WengenK on this one. Buy locally. Think of it as cheap insurance if there is a problem.
For grins I checked RegionJet which is usually cheaper and it was 27 euro as well. But It goes to Budapest, Kelenföld which is the only train station in Budapest that is really not a train station.
For example: In another forum there was recently a question from someone who had bought a ticket Utrecht - Paris with SNCF. And afterwards discovered that he had to collect his ticket from a SNCF ticket machine, of which there are zero in the Netherlands. The Dutch railways could not help him, as he had booked with SNCF...
