Between Linz and Passau on the left #1

Wien / Vienna to Frankfurt by train

How to take a train journey from Wien/Vienna to Frankfurt (Main)

Despite the trains from Wien/Vienna to Frankfurt spending less than 5% of the journey travelling on a high speed line, swish ICE trains are used on this route.

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Routes

From Wien Hbf/Hauptbahnhof to Frankfurt Main Hbf

Travel Information

Final Destination: Frankfurt (Main) or Dormund

All trains also call at: Passau, Regensburg, Nurnberg, Wurzburg

Departing from Wien/Vienna:

Most of these ICE trains between Wien/Vienna and Frankfurt (Main) commence their journeys at Wien Flufghagen/Vienna Airport station.

If your journey in Vienna is commencing in 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 join 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.

Though we particularly recommend opting to make reservations for this journey if you want to join these trains at Wien-Meidling as they become busy on departure from Wien Hbf.

5 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date, usually

It can be worth comparing prices on the different ticket agents, the cheapest 'Europa Spezial' tickets can still be available on DB, the German railways website, when the most heavily discounted 'Sparschiene' tickets are sold out on OBB, the Austrian railways website.
And the reverse can be true, cheaper Sparschiene tickets can still be available on OBB, meaning that DB can be more expensive.

There is a 4 hour gap between departures of these direct trains between around 11:15 and 15:15. 
That is because the train that departs Wien at 13:15 will be heading to Hamburg; and this train has an 8 min connection at Wurzburg into a train on to Frankfurt (Main) Hbf.

Book this journey and miss the connection, due to the train from Wien running late, and tickets/reservations can be swapped at the DB Reisezentrum desk in Wurzburg station to a later train on from Wurzburg.
There should be another ICE train departing from Wurzburg to Frankfurt (Main) around 30mins later.

Seat reservations:

Book 1st class ticket journey tickets on DB and your seat reservation is included, but they're optional when booking 2nd class tickets, or if you will be travelling with a 1st or 2nd class rail pass.

If you will be travelling 2nd class we highly recommend opting to add a reservation when booking, the ICE trains to Germany from Austria are always comparatively busy.
So if you don't reserve, being able to remain in the same seat all the way from Vienna to Frankfurt, is something you definitely can't take for granted.

Note that if you opt to book 1st class tickets on OBB, your seat reservation won't be automatically be included, so you will need to be proactive and add it to your booking.

Rail pass users:

As explained on our guide to using rail passes on German trains, a tick in the box for travelling by ICE trains, is that you won't HAVE to make a seat reservation.

However, irrespective of whether you will be travelling with a 1st class or 2nd class pass, we recommend opting to make the reservation on this train, if you want to enjoy a stress-free journey.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
DB from €39.90

DB Guide

DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.

It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.

Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

OBB from €39

OBB Guide

OBB is the national rail operator and its booking service offers journeys by express trains within Austria, as well as international journeys which don't involve making a connection outside of Austria.

It pays off to book online, as the discounted 'Sparscheine' tickets are only ever made available on the website, and when making international journeys to and from Austria, these Sparscheine tickets tend to be cheaper.
OBB can offer particularly good value for money when travelling with children on international rail journeys, but something to watch out for when travelling between Austria and Germany on daytime trains, is that reservations are an optional extra; but if you book 1st class tickets with the Germany railways website DB, the reservations are complimentary.

OBB often takes a unique approach to its booking path, but a key thing to keep in mind is that the first price you will see for any journey is that of a Second Class seat.
The costs of upgrading to first class, a reservation, or a sleeping cabin etc, is then added to this price.

Trainline from €39

Trainline Guide

SaveATrain from €39.90

SaveATrain Guide

Happyrail from €39.90

Happyrail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - YesNot High Speed

Good to Know

Between Linz and Passau on the left #1 Between Linz and Passau on the left #1
Between Linz and Passau on the left #2 Between Linz and Passau on the left #2
Between Passau and Regensburg on the right #1 Between Passau and Regensburg on the right #1
Between Passau and Regensburg on the right #2 Between Passau and Regensburg on the right #2
Between Regensburg and Nurnberg Between Regensburg and Nurnberg

From Wien/Vienna until Wels the train will travel at up to 230 km/h (close to the high speed threshold) on the main Western Railway which crosses Austria.
On departure from Wells the train will head towards the border with Germany and to the south of Passau, the railway takes a charming route on the east bank of The River Inn, which can be seen on left.
Then between Passau and Regensburg the River Danube is on the right.

Between Regensburg and Nurnberg the train rushes across a delightful rolling landscape and then until Wurzburg the train remains on the conventional railway.
On departure from Wurzburg comes a part of the journey with a wow factor, the train will be on the high speed line for less than 15 minutes, but there are some nice views as the train crosses some long viaducts; in particular look out for when the train will burst out of a tunnel and then immediately cross the River Main.
Between this river bridge and Aschaffenburg comes another scenic part of the trip when the railway winds through some valleys.

As the train will spend less than 3% of its journey on the high speed line, it didn't see right to put this journey in the high speed (partial) category.

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