If the capital of Austria and the glorious Rhine Gorge are on your European travel itinerary you'll be pleased to know that not only are these two wonderful locations connected by direct train, the rail journey between then is also glorious!
Final Destination: Dortmund
All trains also call at: St Polten, Linz and Mainz
These trains are usually scheduled to depart from Wien Hbf at 11:15 and 15:15.
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 on these trains if you want to join this train at Wien-Meidling.
2 x direct trains per day
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date - usually
These trains are usually scheduled to depart from Wien Hbf at 11:15 and 15:15, so target those times when looking up this journey.
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.
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 Koblenz, 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.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
DB | from €39.90 | |
Trainline | from €39.90 | |
OBB | from €39.90 | |
Happyrail | from €39.90 |
There is an nightly overnight train from Wien/Vienna, but travelling by day is recommended, because that Nightjet train is usually due to arrive in Koblenz before 05:30.
This is a fascinating and often beautiful rail journey of multiple phases, which can be best appreciated if you take the first departure of the day between May and September, so can experience the entire journey by daylight.
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.
The train will reverse direction on departure from Frankfurt (Main) hbf and then after Mainz comes the fabulous climax to the day's travels, the stunning views of The Rhine Gorge between Bingen and Koblenz.
These Rhine Valley views will usually be on the right*, but due to the reversal in Frankfurt, if possible sit on the left when boarding the train.
*The train can be diverted to travel on the opposite bank of the river.
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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.