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Venice to Salzburg - night train? train+bus by day?

Posted by (Galveston, TX, US) on

Hello all,

We need to get from Venice to Salzburg next week (June 7 or 8), and were planning to take the night train because it seems uncomplicated (no transfers) and comfortable, and also to save daylight for seeing the sights. But on the train schedule websites I also see that there are day time trips, which we thought might be very scenic. However, the day trips all seem to involve going by bus to Villach, then train to Salzburg. Has anyone done this before? Was it scenic? Worth the trip?

We are a bit unsure about doing a bus with all our luggage etc. Is that likely to be a problem? And are the buses as comfortable as the train? (we'd do 1st class train) Normally we'd be more willing to put up with temporary discomfort and a little bit of hassle, but we have very little time this vacation so would prefer less hassle.

Thanks in advance for any advice. We're very excited about our upcoming trip!

Posted by
263 posts

Five years ago I took a day train from Venice to Salzburg and it was magnificent. From reading the boards lately, it seems that the partnership between the Italian and Austrian railways has broken down a bit, which is why there's a bus segment during the day. I cannot speak to the bus route, except to say that for my upcoming trip, I am inclined to take the night train for this segment because I don't want to pay for a Rail pass and then ride a bus. That's just me.

Posted by
2 posts

Thanks for the info! We're still deciding, based on your input that it's a beautiful ride vs the romance of sleeping on a train...

I checked a few other websites, or perhaps just checked my original websites more thoroughly, and it looks like there is an itinerary that has only trains (no bus) and is during the day, so we may do that.

Or, my brother traveled a more western route, from Rome to Munich, and he said it was breathtaking. That has all-train itineraries too. We can pop over to Verona and catch that route, if we want.

Thanks again for your help!

Patricia

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