Train from Salzburg to Venice

The train actually arrives in Salzburg at 11:56 pm the night before, so you could board at midnight, find your berth and tuck yourself in to your couchette (I assume). Or, are there any discotheques in Salzburg?

I'm not seeing that train. The nonstop overnight train I'm seeing leaves at 1:30am...there are a few that leave slightly before that but have connections, etc. If there is something I'm not seeing please advise. I've never been to Europe so I'm navigating all this train stuff for the very first time.

OH I just reread and you are saying we can board the train at midnight even though it doesn't leave until 1:30. That is helpful. Thank you.

We did this in 2010. I had no clue that we could have boarded the train a lot earlier then we did. I think we went to the train at 1:15 am. Before that, we hung out nearby at a shopping mall type thing - basically sitting around (I guess we could have taken in a movie and there was a bar there, but not fun with luggage in tow), then went to a Burger King or McD's near the train station for 90 min or so.

The stn was under renos at the time, so we didn't want to sit around there - had we been able to, we probably would have noticed the train there and got on. My husband and I had a private berth. Sleeping was still iffy, but not bad. The only thing I would do now (now that I know) would have been to buy a cheap pillow before boarding and leave it when getting off. The pillows were so tiny, that's what made it hard to sleep for me...no neck support.

Thanks Nicole! That's very helpful!

We did the pillow thing when we took VIA Rail up to Montreal - we picked up some cheap pillows for the trip home since we were just trying to sleep in our seats (but we kept them since we came right back to our hometown). And let me say - there is nothing like arriving to Venice in the morning and coming out of the train stn (it was our 2nd time there in 2010 - and went back in 2012) and seeing it right in front of you (more fun then arriving at the airport). Venice for me is what Disney is for kids - magical, breathtaking and amazing!

Rachel, you don't indicate when you will be traveling. You can easily go to the Austrian train website (www.oebb.com) to see the train and train/bus runs from Salzburg to Venice. The trip will take about 7.0hrs. There is a night train that takes longer. There is also a train/bus run that has an advance fare of 28Euro. You take the train to Villach and change to a bus for the remainder of the journey into Venice. The bus arrives very near the boat docks. For a low expense hotel near the boat docks, take a look at the Hotel Santa Lucia. It's near the train station and within walking distance of the people movers at the Piazzale Roma. Here's a link to what I see on the Austrian train system website. http://gyazo.com/24d86c32fac7e17a47a8d937de354b70