need help getting from Lyon to Vienna

Posted by rickobinger on 05/18/14 09:54 PM

I seem to be stuck on this part of trip.

My plan at this point is to go from Lyon to Cologne and take the overnight train to Vienna. But I just feel like I will be using a whole day for nothing but travel. An flights don't seem to be getting me there any quicker either. Is that just the way it goes sometimes? This is my first trip to Europe and feel like I have a pretty solid travel plan thus far, but I wish I could find a quicker way to get from Lyon to Vienna in the afternoon and possibly pick up half a day.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Posted by Tim

Minneapolis, MN, USA

05/19/14 12:49 AM

8700 posts

For all your flight choices for both budget airlines and national carriers see skyscanner.com. I found a better price on Brussels Airlines, departing at 07:30, connecting in Brussels, and arriving in Vienna at 12:00.

Posted by Emily

Vienna, Austria

05/19/14 10:56 AM

5458 posts

You do realize that the distance from Lyon to Vienna is about 725 miles? Lyon to Cologne is 470 miles? Cologne to Vienna is about 560 miles?

These distances can not be done in half a day. I think you need to re-think this.

Would you mind sharing your itinerary?

Posted by Fred

San Francisco

05/19/14 07:47 PM

14768 posts

Hi,

You can do this entire route Lyon to Vienna all in one day, provided you take the early morning train. No need for Cologne. Take the TGV train Lyon to Munich direct, then the Railjet train Munich to Vienna direct. You'll arrive at ca 2300 in Vienna. This means practically a whole day's traveling but very doable since in Munich you have some decent layover time.

If you want to include a night train as an option, take the Lyon to Frankfurt. No need for Cologne. The Frankfurt-Vienna EN night train leaves late. I've done this EN route, you arrive shortly after 0900.

Another option: if you want to break up the rides. You can stay a night in Munich after arriving from Lyon, which is not a bad idea. Or, stay a night in Paris after going Lyon to Paris. Then take the Paris-Munich CNL night train, arriving a bit after 0700, then take RJ to Vienna. I've done this route, satisfactory.

Posted by Laura

Rick Steves' Europe

05/19/14 07:48 PM

16895 posts

By daytime train, the Lyon-Wien trip can be done in 13-14 hours with 1-2 connections and the route via Zurich is quite scenic. If you're using a Eurail pass, as you mentioned in an earlier post, then you'll get a lot of value out of it on this long travel day. On a flexipass, the Lyon-Koeln-night train plan would count as 2 travel days, plus a sleeper reservation. If you fly this leg, then you'll have to recalculate how many days and countries you still want on a railpass for the continent, if any.