Related Content
Content
Venezia / Venice / Venedig to Wien / Vienna by train
How to take the rail journey from Venice/Venezia to Vienna/Wien
This journey by train from to Venice/Venezia to Vienna/Wien is near the top of Europe's must do journeys by train lists.
The two beautiful cities are connected by top tier day and night trains and the route between them is stunning!
Share
Routes
Option 1: travel during the day
Journey Summary
7hr 40min
Daily
Travel Information
These trains are usually scheduled to depart from Venezia S. Lucia station daily at around 09:55 and 15:55.
Final Destination: Wien Hbf
These trains also call at: Villach (connect trains to Salzburg and buses to Ljubljana), Klagenfurt, Leoben, Bruck an der Mur (connect for Graz), Wiener Neustadt and Wien Meidling.
Check the location of your final destination in Wien/Vienna.
If you're heading to the south west corner of the city, or the area on the ring road around the Opera House - then it's likely that you'll have a faster and more convenient journey if you leave the train at Wien-Meidling station.
Wien Meidling is connected to line U6 of the Vienna Metro, which serves the western side of the city centre.
These trains also call at Venezia Mestre after they depart from Venezia St Lucia, which is the station in the historic heart of Venice/Venezia.
If you will be heading from historic Venice/Venezia take care when booking online, or using an agent, that your ticket is valid FROM Venezia St Lucia.
Booking agents can enter Venezia to Wien into their systems and see that journeys from Venezia Mestre are faster AND assume that you want to join the train there.
2 x trains per day
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date*
*3 months ahead on Trenitalia
When looking more than 5 months ahead on OBB, if you only see 1st class tickets available for sale , check back a few days later to see if the 'Sparscheine' 2nd class tickets have been added to the booking service.
Reservations:
These Railjet trains are operated by Austria's national rail operator OBB, but unlike the other Raijet services, seat reservations ARE now mandatory on these trains when travelling from (and to) Italy.
If you book tickets online, the seat reservation should be automatically included.
Using rail passes on the Venice to Vienna trains:
The rules are different to the norm when using a rail pass to travel to Austria by these trains.
Rail pass users must pay a supplement of €15 in 1st class and €10 in 2nd class, buy this fee includes both a charge for the seat reservation AND a charge for taking an express train in Italy.
If you book online by using the Eurail reservation service or the InterRail reservation service you will be charged a €2 booking fee per reservation, per person.
However, SMTJ's understanding is that you will also receive a seat reservation, but reservations are otherwise separate to the supplement.
If you pay the 'supplement' at a Trenitalia ticket desk, you won't pay the booking fee, but a reservation won't be included - and will cost an additional €3.50; as per the info on this page.
OR if you book a seat reservation on the OBB (Austrian Railways ) website - the instructions are here, it won't include the supplement fees, so if you book the seat reservation on the OBB website, you can then either purchase the supplement from the train conductor - or prior to boarding, pay the fee at a Trenitalia travel desk.
But there is an option for avoiding all rail pass fees when taking this route.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| OBB | from €29 | |
| Italiarail | from €29 | |
| Trenitalia | from €29 | |
| Happyrail | from €29 | |
| Omio | from €29 |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Take the first departure of the day in order to see the stunning scenery as the train travels over the Semmering Pass.
(all of the videos were taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction)
Great news, the addition of a morning departure from Venezia/Venice means that this fabulous journey can be enjoyed in full by daylight when heading north to Austria!
If you take the afternoon departure or the alternative overnight train, you will miss out on a fabulous travel experience.
The journey begins with a wow moment, as the train heads out across the Venetian lagoon when it departs from Santa Lucia station - the best of the views here are on the right.
For the next 90 mins the there is nothing of note to see, but try to stay awake.
The next highlight of the trip comes as the train leaves Udine behind and threads through the jagged peaks of the Dolomites on its way to Tarviso - though much of this part of the route is in tunnels.
Between Villach and Klagenfurt, from the right, there are some beautiful views over the lake named the Worthersee.
Then between Klagenfurt and Leoben comes arguably the most pleasing part of the journey with frequent
sweeping vistas over valleys to be enjoyed from both sides of the train.
After Bruck an der Mur the train heads towards the star attraction of the journey - the passage over the The Semmering Railway
The best of the views between Bruck and Wiener Neustadt are on back the right, but keep your eyes peeled for when the train crosses the viaducts - between the frequent tunnels.
And in summer the foliage obscures many of the most spectacular views on this part of the train ride.
This journey, in the opposite direction, is featured on the The Daily Telegraph's list of Best Rail Journeys to take in 2018.
Option 2: travel overnight
Journey Summary
10hr 50min (approx)
Nightly
Travel Information
The train is usually scheduled to depart Venezia S. Lucia at 21:05 and and arrive in Wien Hbf shortly before 08:00.
Final Destination: Wien Hbf
The train also calls at: Linz*, St-Polten, and Wien-Meidling
*It takes a different route to the daytime trains, which don't travel via Linz.
1 x train per night
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
The train conveys:
- Compartment Seats (Sitzwagen)
- Couchettes (Liegewagen); 4 berths AND 6 berths
- Standard sleeping cars (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
- Deluxe sleeping cars with showers (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.
Click the train details for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
Rail pass users must reserve before boarding these trains.
You can now book rail pass reservations without paying booking fees on the OBB website (OBB operates these trains).Though the process for doing so isn't particularly obvious, hence this step-by-step guide.
OR reservations can be arranged and paid for at Venezia S.Lucia station, or at the reservation desks at major Italian stations (ideally do this when you first arrive in Italy on your itinerary).
Making the rail pass reservation in advance is particularly recommended if you will be traveling between June and September.
If you wait until arriving in Venezia/Venice to reserve, your first choice of accommodation may have sold out.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| OBB | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
On departure from Venice, the train heading for Wien will be attached to another train heading to Munchen.
There is no need to be overly concerned about this as your reservations will be in a coach/car heading to Wien/Vienna.
Though any info on the departure screens for the NJ train to Munchen will also apply to this train.
If you're a landscape lover, then if you can make the timings suit, this is a route on which we recommend taking the first train of the day from Venice to Vienna - it's a journey packed with wow moments.
Newsletter
Sign up to receive the latest travel news stories and to hear about what we've been working on for you.
See if there’s a unique journey guide for your trip, featuring info on the trains, tickets & stations.
This is one of more than 1000 journey guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
