On Sunday, Sept 21, 2025 we'll be taking a train from Budapest to Vienna.
On Thursday, Sept 25, 2025 we'll be taking a train from Vienna to Prague.
When should we buy the tickets? Should we reserve specific seats? What class tickets? Anything else that we should know?
Thanks!
When to buy? When you are firmly sure of your travel dates.
If you aren't familiar with European trains, visit the Man in Seat 61 website to learn more. https://www.seat61.com/
To book tickets, go to the Austrian rail website. https://www.oebb.at/en/
In my opinion there is no need to buy 1st class tickets. Make sure to buy seat reservations, select your seats from the cars' floor plans (e.g. with or without a table, quiet zone, etc.).
HI there,
You've been given some good advice here. I'll add one little thing we noticed last year on the Budapest-Vienna run: you'll want to buy a ticket AND a seat reservation to be certain of having a seat. We saw many people who bought a ticket but no reserved place -- they ended up sitting on the floor. Mind you, that was August. Perhaps September won't be as busy.
Wishing you a wonderful visit to some great cities.
Agree with the advice above - 2nd class is fine, and definitely get reserved seats. For the Budapest to Vienna leg, you can also buy tix at the Hungarian train website https://www.mavcsoport.hu/en Sometimes the prices are different than the oebb website. Both sites sell tickets for the same trains. To select your own seats, watch carefully in the process; you have to specifically click to make a selection to view the seat layout; and then it will show you all cars and let you click on each to see available seats. You can practice now to get the hang of it, and also try a date next week to see the likely price difference if you were to wait until a week before..
p.s. likely you can also buy the Prague tix from either oebb or Czech website.
dartmouthgirl: We saw many people who bought a ticket but no reserved place -- they
ended up sitting on the floor.
wmt1: In my opinion there is no need to buy 1st class tickets.
I have been on the Budapest to Vienna train and the Vienna to Budapest train a number of times over the last year (to reach a lot of Europe from Budapest you have to go through Vienna). Each and every time the aisles were full of individuals that did not purchase seats. Generally, these are the type that are young and loud and swing their back packs in circles. Even getting to the toilet or the snack car was near impossible. So, what class? Next time I am going to the first-class.
Also don’t make any plans too close to arrival time in Vienna. The OBB trains between Vienna and Budapest are notorious for being late.
CJean: To book tickets, go to the Austrian rail website
The trans are OBB rolling stock, but that doesn’t mean you have to buy tickets from OBB. MAV the Hungarian rail service sells the tickets too. With OBB Second-Class on the 21st of September (any train between 8:40 and noon) will cost you 52.30 euro and first-class will cost you 85.40 euro. BUT, if you were to buy the same ticket for the same train on MAV, the ticket could cost you 17-euro second-class and 27-euro first-class (that’s the 9:40 train but most of the others are 25 euro or less). https://jegy.mav.hu/ So if you go with MAV you can travel first-class for half the cost of a second-class seat purchased from OBB. I would buy them soon, because those discount tickets will sell out.
For the Vienna to Prague, check with the Czech rail company. Pretty good chance they will be less expensive than OBB too.
Whoever you buy from, download their app.
Yes you should reserve seats. That will cost you 2-euro more on the MAV site.
Budapest to Vienna read this - https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Budapest.htm#Budapest-Austria
Vienna to Prague read this - https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/prague-to-vienna-by-train.htm
Buy the tickets now for the best fares. The longer you wait, the more expensive the tickets become.
Yes, always reserve seats unless you like standing for hours.
Second class is perfectly fine. First class is unnecessary.
On this route, 1st Class isnt a waste of money. And it can be cheap if you buy in advance. The reason is that the odds of the asiles being full of people standing and swinging around backpacks is pretty good. Not a certainity, but pretty good odds. Every route has its unique features, I am certain its not a problem on most routes, but what i have been running into. First class gets you away from that for about 14 euro.
YES, get a seat assignment. 2 euro on the MAV site.
After looking at the Man in Seat 61 Website, I am not real impressed. My amateur opinion:
Seat 61 Says: Fares start at €19.90 in 2nd class, €29.90 in 1st class or €44.90 in business class (premium 1st class, only on railjets).
Seat 61 Says: Buy tickets at www.thetrainline.com (easy to use, in €, £ or $, international credit cards no problem, small booking fee
Seat 61 Says: Booking opens up to 6 months ahead, although it may not be possible to add an optional seat reservation when booking more than 60 days ahead as this has to be sourced from the Hungarian system.
Seat 61 Says: For business class on a railjet, select 1st class then the €15 Business class upgrade. You print your own ticket.
Seat 61 Says: You can also buy tickets at the Austrian Railways website www.oebb.at (only in €, same fares).
Seat 61 Says: You can also book at the Hungarian Railways website www.mavcsoport.hu (in forints, more fiddly, see my advice for using it) Booking with MAV only opens 60 days ahead and It can't book business class, but it may have cheaper fares than oebb.at or Trainline for a given date & train. You print your own ticket or can show it in the MAV app on your phone.
First class I$ indeed, a waste of money.
Sometimes answers are route specific so overly generalizing, relying on google searches and experiences from the past dont provide the best answers.
On this route, recently, from experience, the nature of 2nd class isn’t as good as say, that on Vienna to Salzburg …. for some reason. Don’t know why. And I am not the only one with this experience. There have been two others on here with similar experiences on the same route.
So for half of the cost of a TheTrainline or OBB 2nd class ticket one can travel first class on a MAV ticket. If one flew to Europe on Premium Economy or better then 1st class might be your ticket.
Another option is RegioJet, but that’s another discussion.
21 September 08:40 train (but consistent with all the train costs on the OP’s travel date).
TheTrainline(.)com and OBB sites
52.30€ 2nd class,
76.80€ 1st class
MAV Site
17€ 2nd class,
27€ 1st class
I'm an outlier. I recently traveled Prague to Vienna.
I bought first class tickets. The seats are bigger, the car is quieter, no one sits on the floor.
A much more pleasant journey. If cost isn't an issue, consider first class. If you are trying to save as much money as possible, second class will get you there.
I guess for me it is just a principle thing rather than a cost thing. Regular class is nicer than any airplane seat. First class in my mind is for business travelers or for snobs (no offense to the posters above, I don't think you are snobs).
I always travel 1st class when I have luggage. There is just more room for me and my suitcase.
I know other responders here have traveled 1st class, they just don’t like to admit it for some odd reason. :-)
There is no shame in wanting to be comfortable.
Carrie, one of the negative comments comes from someone who buys tickets from TheTrainLine(.)com and there is no way I would go first class if I believed like they do what the cost of a first-class ticket is on the route in question. But first-class can be pretty darn cheap if you buy smart (buy a little early and from the cheapest national company).
Its a personal thing and its not exceedingly polite to tell people they are wasting their money when they buy what they prefer, or that they should not enjoy what it is that they enjoy when traveling.
I believe that in an article or video RS recommended second-class so you could sit with and meet the masses. Sounds good, except that I have nothing in common with a bunh of young tourist backpackers sitting on the floor in the aisle. But the one and only time, so far, that I did ride first-class (I actually got bumped up) I found individuals of my age, experience and education, who were Hungarian, that were fascinating to talk to.
I think the OP has probably long ago left the room and/or made their decision. But to add to what seems like it has now become an insider RS discussion :), I can't resist adding a comment since I have a recent data point. I rode this train a few weeks ago on the Friday 11:40 train in 2nd class. It was very quiet and comfortable, plenty of room for our luggage on the rack above, and definitely nobody standing in the aisle or any sense of overcrowding. Just one data point; I'm not questioning that overcrowding probably occasionally occurs. To each their own, and happy travels to all!
p.s. - Mr E. - your posts were very helpful on our trip to Budapest, thanks so much!! But I'm curious - I used the website https://www.mavcsoport.hu/en to buy our train tickets, but you say this website is 'not correct'. It seemed to work fine for us. What is wrong with it....?
Bob, no, I understand. I doubt that even 25% of the time the aisles get full of kids. Then it also depends on which car you are in. I am certain that I hit bad luck ... a bunch of times in a row. The last trip broke the camel's back. I had to go to the head and I had to literally climb over kids ... to get to it to find kids playing games in it. Never happened on any other train route any time in my life ... not that i ride a bunch of trains. I also had a RS type that I met at the station to help out ... same issue and I think one posted with something similar. So, because I tend to feel responsible that people enjoy coming here ... I don’t want to risk it and I say spend the 10 euro for first class.
The website. Yes, that link you posted, the one Seat 61 shows, will work. Then you choose "Tickets" and it forwards you to the website I posted (https://jegy.mav.hu/). So Seat 61 wasn’t "wrong!!" but .....
Thanks all for the helpful information and suggestions. We just booked both trains and are looking froward to the trip!
Thanks again!
And you could do no wrong despite what the responses may have suggested. After all the subject is 1% of your trip in time and in money. We just like to argue. Okay, I do.
Wishing you the best imaginable holiday.
As you are headed to Vienna, Prague, and Budapest, I am adding the links to a couple of trip reports from earlier this year. They might give you a few ideas for your trip.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-6-nights-in-budapest-may-2025
Have a great trip, whether you’re traveling in 1st or 2nd class. :-)
We are riding the BUDAPEST to VIENNA EC144 train as I type, for the first and possibly last time. Here is the situation in our 2nd class car (#415); note that this is nothing more than a snapshot in time, so take care in generalizing this info.
We departed BUDAPEST on time at 12:40pm on this Saturday (August 16). Seat occupation in our 2nd class car has varied between 66 and 75% as we have traveled, with no one standing.
Our scheduled arrival time in VIENNA is 3:20pm, and are approaching the train station now -- arriving about 5 minutes late.
Excellent! Enjoy.
This thread had some questions about an 11 September train to Vienna. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/train-to-vienna Here is part of what I uncovered.
For the train in question MAV will sell you 2nd class seats in
carriages 22, 23 and 24 which have available 3, 58 and 21 seats. [the
carriages have between 70 and 75 seats each]
And, in recognition of the fact that a lot of people wait till the last minute to buy train tickets:
I looked at tomorrow’s 9:40am train to Vienna. There is one seat
available on the OBB site. NO, this is not a sell out because OBB will
keep selling tickets to those who want to stand in the aisles
Now this isn’t ever train, just the most convenient train if you don’t want to wake too early or arrive too late.
The 0940, also has 2.5 first class cars, cars 25, 26 and 27- car 27 also having business class, as well as 1st. Car 25 is also the Restaurant Car.
Car 21 has 72 seats and 5 bike spaces, Cars 22 to 24 have 80 seats each, Car 25 has 10 1st class,and 14 in the Restaurant car, Car 26 has 55 1st class, Car 27 has 16 1st class and 11 business class (premium 1st).
A standard railjet express formation. At Vienna that train couples with a second identical set for its onward journey to Salzburg.
Eurocity trains have no business class, and typically just a single first class car.
Premium 1st can only be booked on OeBB. With 1st and premium 1st you get at seat meal service (extra cost) and use of station lounges at Keleti and Vienna.
The through trains route via Gyor, but there is also a slower route via Sopron- domestic Inter City train to Sopron every 2 hours, then regional OeBB train to Vienna every hour. Fixed fares on both trains, and the Hungarian IC should be free to the over 65's.
isn31c, you are correct.
The other seats
I only looked at the 2nd class as the advice here is generally to ride 2nd class and that’s not a bad recommendation but if you are on a peak hour train the lack of seats available leads one to suspect the odds of having aisles full of standing tourists leaning over your seat or swinging back packs in your face is fairly high.
I’ve experienced the standing room only trains to Vienna a few times and didn’t enjoy it, so on this route, I think it’s best for me to pay the extra 10 or 15 euro for a 1st class seat. That was the only point. Well, that and if you wait too long to book your seat, you might be one of the ones standing for 3 hours.
Because so many wait until the last day or so to buy, you wont know if you are facing a standing room only train until it’s too late or until after all the cheap seats are sold. If like me, you like to get the planning and buying done early, then just bite the bullet and buy 1st class and then you don’t have to be concerned with it.
Your comment on over 65 tickets. (and yes, this is getting way too deep into the weeds)
I have purchased a few tickets to Vienna since turning 65, and so far, none have discounted me for being over 65 and I have been on both IC and RX. To get the discount I believe you must buy two separate tickets. But let’s say Győr instead of Sopron because I can’t buy Sopron to Vienna tickets on MAV.
So, a 15 September trip from Budapest to Győr on EC144 would cost nothing for the ticket, but 1.5€ for the seat. Then the trip from Győr to Vienna on EC144 would be 11.00€ with the seat assignment. So, 12.55€ total. No change in travel time compared to buying one ticket and I presume you could buy the same seat assignment for both tickets and never have to stand up.
The straight thru ticket on EC144 for an over 65 (no discount) would cost 15€ so buying two separate tickets could save 2.45€.
Business Class
For a mere 100€ you can ride the same train as the people that paid 17€
Your comment on over 65 tickets. (and yes, this is getting way too deep into the weeds)
Yes, that is correct, and it is much more complicated than you wrote.
If you go on a through train crossing the border you are not eligible to get the senior's free ride in Hungary. The correct way - following the rules in fine print - is to leave/enter the train at the border station, i.e., traveling from Budapest for free to the border, leaving the train there, continuing your journey using the next train to Austria, and vice versa.
There is no train stop at a border station, so that logic fails right from the start. There is no border station for that matter. Yes there is a town near the border, but no border station.
I can ride fot free as to Gyor about halfway between Budapest and Vienna (so closer to Vienna) on any number of trains ...trains that then continue across the border, further up the tracks.
The one i priced as an example was EC144. Yes, I logged into my MAV account, which knows my age, and went through the booking to the payment page, and the cost was the seat cost for EC144 to Gyor.
Then I did the same for the same EC144 train from Gyor to Vienna. Even picked the same seat as I was sitting in for the first half of the trip.
So, not so complicated. I'm lazy and will probably never do this. But one could.
Another oddity is there often is no conductor checking tickets until after Gyor.
Instead of Gyor I coukf go closer to the border, Hegyeshalom, but it doesn't save any money.
Send us a link to the fine print please.
The border station for ticketing purposes on the direct route to Vienna is Hegyeshalom (not Gyor), and on the indirect route is Sopron.
On the route to Graz it is Szentgotthard.
In the days of paper ticketing that is what was written as the routeing, even what you wrote in your inter rail record book before it all went electronic.
There is no train stop at a border station, ..
The border station is Hegyeshalom where every train stops because there is the exchange between the Austrian and Hungarian train staff.
wmt1: Without you sharing the “fine print” you refer to this it is difficult to argue with you. Even what you have written above is written in a way that is open to two interpretations in two instances. So, there is no sense in discussing what we both cannot look at.
Based on what I can find written on the MAV site https://www.mavcsoport.hu/en/mav-szemelyszallitas/domestic-travels/faq-domestic-travel and based on what the MAV site will “sell” as an over 65 ticket, I am pretty confident that if one travels free to ANY stop in Hungary on a train that continues to Vienna, then purchases a ticket for the portion of the ride that crosses the border, be it from the last station at the border or 2, 3 or 4 stops prior to the border; one is not going to have any problems. Now when I see the "Fine Print" I may change my mind.
I mention buying a ticket. People over 65 don’t have to buy a ticket only a seat reservation if desired or required. Just get on the train and show an ID when asked. I still feel more confident with a ticket, so I book it on the MAV site and get a ticket. I’ve done within Hungary trips twice this year.
isn31c, yes, Hegyeshalom is the station at (near) the border, and I suspect that Hungarian immigration has an office at the Hegyeshalom train station but a Border Station by pre-Schengen definitions, probably not. I looked at my last paper ticket to Vienna (earlier this year). Nothing about stations at the border or Border Stations. Maybe it’s not so much the change to online ticketing as it is Schengen. But none of this is to the point of the discussion of what the fine print in the possession of wmt1 says.
My guess is without playing the age game, the MAV site would have saved you 25 euro a ticket. Play the age game by taking a free train to Budpaest then a paid train from Budpaest and I suspec you could have saved 35 euro a ticket.
A lot of the discussions are about what can be done, not what you have to do. This is a holiday, you do what makes for the most enjoyment.
Send us a link to the fine print please.
"Fine print" was used as a metaphor. I have a friend in Vienna who happened to be the manager of OeBB's ticket sales at Westbahnhof. He explained it to me that way.
