Bled to Vienna at end of Eastern Europe tour

We were in Slovenia last September and took the train from Bled to Vienna. It was easy and quite scenic. I bought the tickets well in advance from the Austrian train site, OeBB. They were 44€ each in First Class.

thanks! were you on the Eastern Europe tour with rick steves OR on your own (i.e. I wonder how close we are to the train station, etc).
did you have to take a bus to the train station?

thanks for such a quick answer. A car is prohibitively expensive (esp as we don't really want one in Vienna, anyway).

We were not on a Rick Steve's tour; we were hiking with REI Adventures. Our tour ended in Ljubljana so we actually boarded the train there, not in Bled. But before joining the tour we spent several days at Bled, arriving there by train from Munich. The Bled rail station (Lesce-Bled) is several kilometers distant from the lake. There was a shuttle waiting to take people into town, dropping at various hotels. I think we paid €5 each. You might be able to find out where this shuttle picks people up for the ride to the station.

After three days at Bled, we had to return to the rail station from the town to get to Ljubljana for our tour. Buses were on strike that day, so we planned to take a taxi, which would have been around €12. But the woman at the bus station kindly found us a ride with a shuttle driver who was heading to the station to pick up arriving passengers. He would not let us pay him.

Boarding the train at Bled rather than Ljubljana shortens the journey to Vienna by 45 -50 minutes. But depending how much time the tour gives you in Ljubljana, you might want to return there to finish exploring before heading to Vienna. We absolutely loved Ljubljana. In normal circumstances (I.e., no strike) you can take the bus right from Bled (by the lake) to Ljubljana.

These people will take you from Bled to the Lesce-Bled station in a shared can for €4 each ( minimum €20 so you will hope to share).

http://www.bledtaxis.com/

This must be the service we used.

Here is another taxi service, without prices.

http://www.lakebled-taxi.com/

During my 2015 visit there was often a taxi hanging out around the Bled bus station around the time buses were due in, looking for groups of people wanting a quicker way back to Ljubljana. I partnered with other folks to get taxi rides to Vintgar Gorge and Lake Bohinj at verymodest cost. If you don't want to pre-book for a specific time, you will probably find service available sort of spur-of-the-moment, though you'll need to be conservative about the timing if you have a train to catch.

I will be on the Rick Steves Eastern Europe tour except we miss each other by 2 days. I am on the tour that starts Sept 30, 2018. I will be going to Vienna at the end of the tour and what I have found is the 10:03 am train (on Oct 13) from the Lesche-Bled station takes about 5.5 hours with one change in Villach (about 55 minutes away from the departure station).

I believe the train station is close by. If you purchase your tickets in advance online it is substantially less expensive. Not sure how far in advance a ticket should be purchased. The ticket was only 24 euros and for another 3 euros you can reserve a seat on the 2nd leg of the trip.
Maybe others on my tour will be going to Vienna as well and will have other ideas on how to get there????

Link to the train schedule is below

http://www.oebb.at/de/)

Mara

There probably will be others from your tour heading the same direction. But regardless, your tour guide will make sure you have your plan worked out for getting to the train station.

Thank you to all who have responded! I have gone ahead and purchased tickets on the train to Vienna from Bled.
we are only 1 or 2 stops away from the hotel on the U1 also so hopefully all will work out easily.
I may even buy a packet of Vienna metro tickets in advance.

okay, then, next question: public transport from central Vienna to the airport on a sunday morning.

thanks so much!

We had an early morning 6:30am Vienna flight, and had to get from the main plaza to the airport [this past April.] There are several inexpensive public transport options for the airport, but because our flight was so early, we had to access a pre-booked taxi for two people, [about 45 Euros.] Note also that Schedules are also probably different for Sundays in such a Catholic country.

What time is your flight? The City Airport Train ( CAT) runs directly from Wien Mitte station to the airport every 30 minutes beginning at 5:37. Sunday schedules are no different. The trip takes 16 minutes and is very easy and comfortable.

Schedule here:

https://www.cityairporttrain.com/en/timetable

There are options to buy tix in advance, check luggage, etc., but we just allowed a few minutes extra and bought our tix on the dY of travel, on our way to the boarding area.