Big train Trip

Grant,
if you book on ÖBB now, you can get the tickets on the night train (or others), including couchettes, Innsbruck - Venice for €19 pP. Sparschiene Special.

Good luck

Grant,

If you can commit in advance (up to 92 days allowed) to a specific departure date and time, you can get a Europa-Spezial Oesterreich fare of 19 EUR for Munich-Innsbruck by booking on the German Rail site, www.bahn.de. The standard 2nd class fare is 36.50 EUR.

Buying P2P tickets as you go for your rides in Italy should be cheaper than a pass, particularly if you take slower trains when available rather than high-speed EuroStar Italia trains.

Thanks for all the help but I am having some problems. I can't figure out how to call the OBB Call-Center +43 05-1717. I have entered the US exit code 011 and tried everything I can to get the number to work from the US with no luck. I did find a web site acprail.com that will sell it to me but I can't tell if the price is high low or correct. they wanted almost $700 for the ticket. the OBB web site will show me the 1st and 2nd class tickets but not the 2 person sleeper car. This night train reservation is the only thing driving me crazy about our whole trip.. If I can nail this down everything else will fall into place.. I think.. after this it's just food, rooms and fun.. that's easy.

Grant,

The reason you are having trouble phoning the call center is that you need to omit the "0" in "05". That "0" is only for calls that originate in Austria. Dial 011 43 5 1717.

In Europe, the '0' before a number is like dialing '1' in this country before another area code. In Europe, if you are dialing in from another country, they automatically know you're not from that area code, so the '0' is unnecessary.

I don't know what the fare is from Innsbruck to Venice using the Austrian Rail website, but the fare from Rosenheim to Venice is €198 for 2 p in an econo double. It might be worth your trouble to arrange your travel to end up in Rosenheim and take the train from there. That's a Europa-Spezial Italien fare available online using English from the German Rail website.

Thank you to all.... I was able to get through on the phone.. dialing the "0" was my problem.. It was a funny phone call with the language problem or issue but in the end it all worked out. It is nice to be able to go to the experts when needed because it's hard to learn it all at once. Now I have a little something to pass on to someone else.. This should be a great trip with stops in Germany and all over Italy. We have even planned a night in Siena for the big Il Palio horse race, that should be fun..

Thanks again for helping out

Grant