My husband and I want to take the night train from Salzburg to Venice. This train ride will occur three days into our trip. So - if I wait to reserve the train in Europe I will be able to book it 3 days in advance. Is that enough time ahead or should I pay the rediculous fees and reserve from the US before I leave? I have never taken a night train, so I'm not sure what is considered enough of an "advance" reservation.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Popular night trains often sell out weeks in advance so it's best to not wait until you get to Europe to book. Austrian Rail offers SparSchiene (discount) fares for your route. See here: http://tinyurl.com/6qzlgp. Book by phoning the Austrian Rail call center. Dial 011 (US international access code) + 43 (country code for Austria) + (0)5-1717. Omit the initial zero in parentheses. It's only used for calls originating in Austria.
Posted by
Nederland, CO
1429 posts
Amy, Just wanted to make sure you looked at the schedules on the DB website because the only options I saw from Salzburg to Venice at night were on that leaves Venice at 9:04 pm changes in Villach around midnight and gets into Venice around 3am or one that leaves Salzburg at 1:38 am and gets into Venice at 8:05 with a change in Udine at 6:30 am. Neither of those seem very appealing to me. There are some good day / evening options that take as little as 5hours and 45 mins.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
CLICK HERE to see a day and night schedule from Salzburg to Venice. Note that the day runs aren't much faster. The reason for this is a 2.0hr. layover in Villach waiting for the connecting train.
If you are looking for sleep, you won't get much. The best run for that leaves at 1:38am in the morning. The trip takes 7hrs.7min on this night train. Still, I'm betting that it may not be worth the money for a sleeper couchette or compartment.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
Try www.oebb.at, the website of Austrian Rail. You can get it to switch to English. You might have to call the number on the website for night train reservations.
Trains to Italy from the north are very popular. For summertime, they can sell out a month in advance. You should reserve long before you go.
There is also a night train from Munich that can be booked online from www.citynightline.ch.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
14 posts
Have you checked Railpass.com? They offer the following: Train EN 237 Departs Salzburg Hbf at 01:38 and arrives Venezia S. Lucia at 08:45.