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What kind of train tickets to buy and how far in advance

Posted by (Hawaii) on

Hello again,
Thanks to so many of you who have already helped me figure things out. I'm moving on to the next step in planning, which involves ground transportation.
I should mention that in the first part of our trip, there will be five of us.

First question: what would be the easiest and most expedient way of getting from the airport to our hotel in the city center? My husband hasn't traveled internationally in a while so I know he cares far more about ease of travel than he does about price. I'm thinking perhaps a taxi but am not sure if it could/would carry 5 people and luggage. I read on another post that Uber operates here.

My husband and youngest daughter will leave after a week at which time I will go with my two older kids (both young adults) to and from Budapest. We will have to return to Vienna at the end of the trip because we fly out of there. In reading Rick's book, he says to purchase train tickets or rail passes in advance but I'm not sure which to purchase or from what site to purchase them from. We will definitely need train tickets from Vienna to Budapest and back and I imagine we will be taking the subway while in Vienna and Budapest so I'm not exactly sure what to buy and where to look. Back when I was in college, I purchased a Eurail pass but that was for traveling all over Europe, not traveling from one country to the next and back.

Finally, while in Vienna, all 5 of us may take a day trip from Vienna to Bratislava and back.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.!

Posted by
2484 posts

From the airport to the center of Vienna: take the train, it's fast, reliable and cheap. All information about urban transport, including the (cheap) multi-day tickets at Wienerlinien.at.

Tickets to Budapest: Book them in advance on the Austrian Railways website OEBB.at or the Hungarian MÁV.

Posted by
2564 posts

Regarding the trip to Bratislava: ÖBB sells a "Bratislava" ticket, which includes a round trip Vienna - Bratislava (on both routes) and a day use of all public transit in Bratislava. There is no need to buy this in advance. Just buy it when you are in Vienna. Cost is 18,- euro.

Public transit in central Europe is priced such that as soon as you make more than a couple of trips per day it is best to just get a pass.

Posted by
203 posts

Thank you all for your responses. Very helpful. I guess the only follow-up question is how far in advance we should purchase the Vienna to Budapest round trip tickets. The only reason I ask is because we may need some last-minute flexibility. That said, I don't want to wait too long and have to travel at a bad time (ie: late at night or very early in the morning).

Posted by
2280 posts

... how far in advance we should purchase the Vienna to Budapest round trip tickets.

Long-distance train tickets are sold now like airline tickets. The price depends on a number of factors, .i.e. date of the purchase, date and time of the train, tickets already sold, workday/weekday/holiday, etc. Usually you can choose between different prices for a ticket. The cheapest special bargain tickets, called Sparschiene, are bound to a specific train, are non-cancellable and non-refundable. The higher the price the more flexibility you will have.

If you really need last-minute flexibilty, you may buy the tickets last-minute, as trains (without a mandatory seat reservation) do not sell out. You can even get a last-minute seat reservation for RailJet trains now, but I do not know how close to the departure time this is possible. (I plan my trips long in advance, so I have no experience with that.)

I recommend to buy seat reservations always (€4 per seat). You can get the seat rervations long in advance without having a ticket. If you later decide to take another train, only the money for the seat reservations is lost.

Posted by
203 posts

That is very helpful. Thanks so much for the additional information.

Posted by
8253 posts

There are a large number of incredibly helpful posts on here, from Mister E and Texas Travel Mom which tell you all you could possibly need to know about using the Budapest Metro.

Use the search box to find them, or maybe one of them will see this thread.

Both are very helpful about Budapest in general, and both I am sure can tell you about the Budapest to Vienna trains. For my view those cross border trains are frequent. They are everyday transport for people- most of whom do not book their travel significantly in advance of time if at all.

I don't agree with Rick about needing to book those particular rail tickets in advance. There will always be walk up capacity on that route- you will not be stuck with travelling at an unsuitable time.

If you buy a ticket today for travel today you will pay 45Euro each way. If you buy one today for travel in a month's time you may pay as little as 13 Euro. I would suggest that is not a huge difference in the wider scale of the cost of your vacation.

Vienna to Bratislava is an hourly train service. There is a 40 Euro cent difference between single tickets purchased for travel today and tickets purchased for one months time. Those are fully flexible tickets to travel on any train. They are regional express trains so no need for a seat reservation.

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