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Venice, Salzburg and Vienna

Thanks everyone for helping me plan my trip. Venice-Salzburg-Vienna it is! I will be flying from Delhi to Venice and back from Venice to Delhi in June (the tickets can't be changed to fly out of another city)and I have about 7 full days(8 nights) excluding the days of flying in and out.

I have three questions:

  1. Shall I plan Venice-Salzburg-Vienna-Venice or Venice-Vienna-Salzburg-Venice?

  2. I did some research and it tells me that for this trip, I should buy point-to-point tickets from Venice, Italy to Tarvisio, Italy and use the Austrian 3 Day 2nd Class Adult FlexiPass to cover the Austrian travel legs. The total cost for this will be $206 per person ($48 for point-to-point tickets and $158 for the pass). Is this the cheapest option?

  3. Where can I get the train timings for planning my trip? I will be traveling with my wife and though both of us would enjoy the train ride but would not want the entire days sitting in the train. Therefore, we can also travel by night trains for the longest trips. Please suggest the possibilities of night trains on these travel legs.

Thanks everyone!

Posted by
8700 posts
  1. I recommend Venice-Vienna (night train), then Vienna-Salzburg, and finally Salzburg-Venice. The reason for this is that you can get discount fares by booking on the Austrian Rail site, but the Venice-Vienna night train is the only one for which you do not have to have the ticket stamped by an Austrian agent.

  2. A railpass isn't always your best choice. Booking well in advance (up to 90 days allowed) on the Austrian Rail site can get you a SparSchiene discount fare for Venice-Vienna and Salzburg-Venice. See this page on the Austrian Rail site.

  3. Get timetables and fares on the Austrian Rail site. Get detailed timetables on the German Rail site.

Posted by
23 posts

Thanks so much, Tim.

The SparSchiene Italy is really cheap. I could find fares of 51 Euros from Venice to Vienna (6-bed compartment) and 29 Euros from Salzburg to Venice (2nd class).

Compared to this, the Vienna-Salzburg connection seems pretty expensive at 47.5 Euros for 2nd class. Is there a cheaper way to do this travel leg?

Thanks once again!!

Posted by
8700 posts

You're welcome, RG.

First of all, I was mistaken about how far in advance you can book SparSchiene tickets. It's a lot more than 90 days.

If you are willing to limit yourselves to slower regional trains, you can travel Vienna-Salzburg on an Einfach-Raus-Ticket for a total of €28 for you and your wife together. However, the trip will take around six hours. For more information, go here. For timetables that show this, use the German Rail site. On the home page click to put a check mark by "Local transport."

All couchettes are the same size. The only difference is in how many bunks are pulled out. Paying a little more for bunks in a four-person couchette is well worth it. There will be more room for your luggage and fewer people taking up the same amount of space.

Posted by
23 posts

Thanks Tim.

Though Einfach-Raus-Ticket sounds interesting and cheap, I am not sure if the extra time is worth the saved money. I will be traveling on a Monday, which means that I can't avail this ticket before 9 AM. I have a tight itinerary (see below) and hoping to get to Salzburg early morning so that we can spend the entire day.

How is the train ride from Vienna to Salzburg? Is it worth the extra time in the train?

June 8th - Arrive in Venice from Delhi in the evening

June 9th - Venice

June 10th - Venice

June 11th - Venice (take the night train to Vienna)

June 12th - Vienna

June 13th - Vienna

June 14th - Take the early morning train to Salzburg /Spend the day in Salzburg

June 15th - Salzburg / Take the late afternoon train to Venice

June 16th - Early morning, depart for Delhi from Venice

Thanks!

Posted by
8700 posts

I haven't taken the train from Vienna to Salzburg so I can't tell how what the view is like out the window.

Since time can be as valuable as money, it may be well worth it to you to take a fast train so you can maximize your time in Salzburg.