Vienna to Padua Question

Posted by RB (Coraopolis, Pa, USA) on 02/01/15 08:30 PM

This July we will be making our/my annual pilgrimage to Italy by way of Vienna. At first we thought to fly from Vienna to Venice and then a bus to Padua, but the discount airlines fly at ugly times and the major carriers are hugely expensive. So, we next thought about a night train in a sleeper car. I thought it would be a neat experience, but my wife has motion sickness problems. The next idea came to either a day train to Mestre Venice or a car. So, we've narrowed it down to the day train or a car. The reason I want to go to Mestre is because we could transit easier to Padua in either a bus or limo than from Venice Santa Lucia. With a car we could go straight to Padua, which would make the entire journey easier. Money wise, the dollars are not too far apart. Your thoughts, comments?

Buon viaggio,

Posted by Roberto da Firenze ⚜

San Francisco Bay Area (USA)

02/01/15 09:05 PM

15210 posts

Motion sickness rarely applies to train travel as trains tend to have less motion than road vehicles (curves have long radii and trains don't move up and down much). Your wife is more likely to suffer from it in the car than on a train.

If you go by train to Mestre, why can't you proceed by train to Padua for another 15 minutes? The railroad doesn't stop in Mestre, it goes all the way to Sicily or anywhere else in Italy if you want, and Padua is the very next stop after Mestre. If your particular train happens to stop at Venezia Santa Lucia just get off at Venezia Mestre and take one that goes to Padua, there is a train from Mestre to Padua every 2 to 10 min until the last one at 10:49pm.

Regarding the car, not sure what your plan is. If you rent in Austria and drop it off in Italy there are huge international one way rental drop off fees to pay which generally run into the $500 and up.

Posted by Zoe

Toledo, Ohio, US

02/01/15 10:22 PM

11613 posts

I went from Vienna to Trieste (train continued to Venice) two summers ago, and it involved a train, a bus, and another train, daytime. I think it took about nine hours. You can look at rome2rio.com to compare transportation modes, including driving.

Posted by RB OP

Coraopolis, Pa, USA

02/02/15 02:25 AM

1018 posts

Roberto and the other poster,

I had a senior moment and a moment of dumbness at the same time. Dah...it never occurred to me to look at time tables straight to Padua. Geez, we've only been traveling in Italy for 34 years.

We are not pressed for time, so the train my be our best option.

Thanks.

Buon viaggio,

Posted by Laura

Rick Steves' Europe

02/02/15 08:28 PM

16893 posts

From Vienna to Padova, it is not usual to have 2 connections, travel time 8.25 hours including a bus from Villach to Venice. The 7:56 a.m. departure from Vienna only requires one train connection in Innsbruck, but takes 1.5 hours longer. Advance discount tickets sold on the Austrian web site for the longer legs, but not for a connection within Italy.