22 June 2010.
Train times valid from 13 June to 11 December 2010.
To Austria by train...
The city & castle of Salzburg, Austria.
It's easy to travel from the UK
to Austria by train. Just take an afternoon Eurostar to
Paris then the overnight City Night Line sleeper train to
Munich for onwards connections next morning to Innsbruck,
Salzburg, Graz, Klagenfurt & Vienna. Or take a lunchtime Eurostar to
Brussels, a high-speed 'Thalys' train to Cologne, then the
equally excellent EuroNight sleeper train to Linz or Vienna,
arriving for in time for breakfast. Or take the scenic
route, using daytime
trains all the way with an overnight hotel stop in Switzerland. It's safe, civilised, comfortable
and affordable, far better for the environment
than an unnecessary flight.
On this page...
You'll find train
times, fares & how to buy tickets for:
The most usual route from London to Austria involves either
the Cologne-Vienna or Paris-Munich sleeper trains, shown in
red on this map. You can also travel by daytime
high-speed train with an overnight stop in Switzerland, or by
ferry to Holland and onward trains from there (shown in dark
blue).
It's easy to
travel from London to Vienna by train, and there are
several good options as you can see from the
route map. Each of these is explained
below.
Option
1overnightvia Brussels & the Cologne-Vienna sleeper. This is
probably the cheapest & easiest option.
Take a lunchtime Eurostar from London to Brussels
in 1 hour 55 minutes and a connecting high-speed Thalys train to Cologne in
just 1 hour 57 minutes more, then sleep your way from Cologne to
Vienna overnight aboard the excellent Austrian EuroNight train.
The EuroNight train has a sleeping-car (including some
sleepers with
private shower & toilet), couchettes & ordinary seats. The Rhine Valley looks
wonderful in the moonlight!
Option 2 overnightvia the Paris-Munich
sleeper & RailJet: Another good option. Take a
mid-afternoon Eurostar to Paris,
the excellent City Night Line sleeper train from Paris to
Munich overnight, then a RailJet train on to Vienna next morning.
Runs daily from late March to early November, only on
Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays in the off-season.
Option 3London to Vienna in a day, by high-speed
train across Europe: If you can get into London for
an early morning departure, it's possible to get from London
to Vienna in just a day, arriving late at
night. Available daily eastbound, daily
except Saturdays westbound. Not necessarily the cheapest option, though.
Option 4by daytime trains with an overnight
hotel stop in
Switzerland: Take a lunchtime Eurostar to Paris
& evening high-speed TGV to Zurich, stay
overnight, then travel on next day through the scenic
Arlberg Pass to Vienna arriving early evening. This
is the most relaxing and scenic option!
Coming from other UK town & cities, simply take a train up
to London to connect with Eurostar,
see this advice. If
you live in the north of England or& Scotland,
see
this option.
Option 1, London-Vienna via Brussels &
the Cologne-Vienna sleeper...
Train times London ► Vienna
Travel
from London to Brussels by
Eurostar,
leaving London St Pancras at 12:57 (11:57 on
Sundays), arriving in
Brussels Midi at 16:03
(15:03 on Sundays).
Travel from Brussels to Cologne by high-speed
Thalys
train, leaving Brussels
Midi at 16:28 and arriving in
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 18:15. You've time for
a meal in Cologne.
Travel from Cologne to Vienna by daily EuroNight sleeper train, leaving
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 20:05 and arriving in Linz at
06:46, St Pölten 08:17, and Vienna Westbahnhof at 09:04.
This modern Austrian sleeper train has an
air-conditioned sleeping-car
(1 & 2 berth compartments, plus two deluxe
compartments with 1, 2 or 3 beds & private shower & toilet), couchette
cars (4 & 6 berth compartments) &
seats. The sleeper & couchette fares include a
light breakfast with tea or coffee in the morning. The train travels along the
famous Rhine Valley between Koblenz and Frankfurt, so
if you are in a sleeper and your compartment happens
to be on the left-hand side of the train, switch off
the lights and watch the Rhine pass by, mountains,
vineyards and
castles lit by moonlight, while sipping a glass of
Riesling. Wonderful!
Click for
more pictures & information about this EuroNight train.
Travel from
Vienna to Cologne by daily EuroNight sleeper train, leaving Vienna
Westbahnhof at 19:54, St Pölten 20:41 or Linz at 21:57 and arriving at Cologne at 08:42 next morning.
This modern Austrian sleeper train has a sleeping-car (1,
2 & 3 berth
deluxe sleepers with private shower & toilet, 1 & 2
berth standard sleepers with washbasin), couchettes
(4-berth or 6-berth) & seats. The sleeper &
couchette fares include a light breakfast with tea or
coffee in the morning, served as the train runs along
the Rhine valley in the morning sun, past the
legendary Lorelei Rock and many castles and vineyards.
Click for
more pictures & information about this EuroNight train.
Travel from Cologne to Brussels by high speed
Thalys
train, leaving Cologne at 10:45 and arriving
Brussels Midi
12:32.
Travel
from Brussels to London by
Eurostar.
On Mondays-Fridays,
leave Brussels
Midi at 14:29 and arrive London St Pancras at
15:26. On Saturdays & Sundays, leave Brussels
Midi at 13:59 and arrive London St Pancras at
15:03.
On board
Thalys from Brussels to Cologne...
1st class ('Confort 1') seats on Thalys....
2nd class ('Confort 2') seats on Thalys
A 186 mph Thalys
about to leave Brussels.
Introducing the Austrian Railways EuroNight train from Cologne to
Vienna...
This was originally a German Railways' City Night Line train, but
on 13 December 2009 it became an
Austrian Railways (ÖBB) 'EuroNight' sleeper train,
with sleeping-car, couchettes & seats. The
sleeping-car has compact 1 & 2 bed
compartments with washbasin, plus two deluxe
compartments with 1, 2 or 3 beds
plus private shower & toilet. The
sleeper berths come fully made up with sheets and
duvets, and all sleeper passengers get mineral
water in the evening and a light breakfast served
in their compartment next morning. Towels & toiletries are
provided, including shampoo and shower gel in the
deluxe sleepers. In the more economical
couchettes, you can book a couchette in a cheaper
6-berth compartment or a less-crowded 4-berth
compartment. Each couchette is provided with
sheet, blanket and pillow, and couchette passengers get
a small bottle of mineral water and a light
breakfast in the morning with tea or coffee. When waiting for
the northbound sleeper train at Vienna
Westbahnhof, if you have a sleeper ticket (as
opposed to couchette or seat ticket), you can use
the first class ÖBB Club Lounge, with
complimentary drinks.
More pictures & information about this EuroNight train.
1 or 2 bed sleeper:
The most comfortable option. Standard
sleepers have a washbasin, deluxe sleepers a private shower & toilet.
4 & 6-berth couchettes:
The economy option, ideal for families. Couchettes are basic padded
bunks with rug & pillow. This is a 6-berth
couchette.
Above: The
Austrian sleeping-car or 'schlafwagen'.
Sleeper & couchette
passengers receive a complimentary light breakfast
with tea or coffee in the morning.
This can be a cheaper route
than travelling via Paris. Book in advance
to get the special 'savings' fares at the
Austrian Railways website,
www.oebb.at.
1. London to
Cologne
by
Eurostar + Thalys:
Fares start at £97 return (£69 London-Brussels +
£28 Brussels-Cologne)
or £53 one-way (£39 London-Brussels + £14
Brussels-Cologne)
Fares vary like
air fares, so book in advance to get the cheapest
prices.
The easiest way to book train tickets from London to Vienna
is at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
because all three trains can be booked as a single
transaction on one UK-based website. If you don't live
in the UK, or want to book 4-berth couchettes (which
for some reason raileurope.co.uk can't do) book using
www.eurostar.com &
www.oebb.at
instead, see the next section.
Bookings open 90 days before departure, you can't book
before reservations open. Before starting to book, I
recommend noting down each specific train you want to book
using the train times recommended above, and the date of
departure. Obviously, remember that your date of
travel from Cologne back to Brussels will be the day
after your departure from Vienna!
Step 1, go to
www.raileurope.co.uk,
but resist the temptation to enter 'London' & 'Vienna' as this won't find you the cheapest fares.
Instead, enter 'Cologne' & 'Vienna' and your dates of
travel, look for the direct overnight train from Cologne to
Vienna, book the type of seat, couchette or sleeper you
want, do the same for the return journey, add these tickets
to your basket and click 'continue shopping'. Thanks
to the vagaries of the French reservation system,
www.raileurope.co.uk
won't book 4-berth couchettes only 6-berth ones, so if you
want 4-berth couchettes simply
book using
www.oebb.at instead, see the next section.
Step 2, still at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
now book the train from Brussels to Cologne & back, using
the train times above as your guide. Add this ticket
to your basket and click 'continue shopping'.
Step 3, still at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
now book the Eurostar from London to Brussels & back, using
the train times above as a guide. By all means take an
earlier Eurostar outwards, or a later one back, if it has
cheaper seats available or if you'd like to stop off in
Brussels. Add this to your basket and proceed to the
payment stage.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address (£1.95 fee) and
normally arrive within a couple of days.
There's a 2% credit card fee, so use a debit card if you
can. Only UK credit cards are accepted.
Booking tip: It's worth comparing prices for the Cologne-Vienna
EuroNight train at both
www.raileurope.co.uk
&
www.oebb.at (see the section below)
as they can differ. It's also worth checking prices
from London to Cologne & back at
www.eurostar.com, as sometimes this is cheaper than
www.raileurope.co.uk.
Cologne is shown as 'Koln' on the Eurostar site.
Booking tip: You can also try the German
Railways website
www.bahn.de for booking your London-Cologne tickets, as they
offer 'London Spezial' fares from London to Cologne from
just 49 euros each way. However, you'll only
find these fares on journeys which involve the two or three
German ICE trains between Brussels & Cologne, not on
those involving Thalys. In the outward direction that
means leaving London much earlier (around 08:27/08:57) and
spending some time in Cologne, in the return direction it
means spending the morning in Cologne and leaving Cologne at
14:43 arriving London at 19:03.
This method involves two websites, so do a dry run on both
sites to check prices and availability before booking for
real. Anyone from any country can use
www.eurostar.com &
www.oebb.at,
not just UK residents.
Bookings open 90 days before departure, you can't book
before reservations open. Before starting to book, I
recommend noting down each specific train you want to book
using the train times recommended above, and the date of
departure. Obviously, remember that your date of
travel from Cologne back to Brussels will be the day
after your departure from Vienna to Cologne!
Step 1,
go to either
www.eurostar.com or
www.raileurope.co.uk
and book a ticket from London to Cologne
(shown as Koln on the Eurostar website) using the
train times on this page as a guide. It's
a good idea to try both websites, as one can be cheaper than the other. Tickets
can be posted to any UK address or collected at St Pancras
on departure.
Booking tip: If you don't see any sensibly-priced
London-Cologne through fares, try using
www.raileurope.co.uk
to book in two stages, first London-Brussels & back, then
Brussels-Cologne & back, as this can be cheaper.
Booking tip: You can also try the German
Railways website
www.bahn.de for booking your London-Cologne tickets, as they
offer 'London Spezial' fares from London to Cologne from
just 49 euros each way. However, you'll only
find these fares on journeys which involve the two or three
German ICE trains between Brussels & Cologne, not on
those involving Thalys. In the outward direction that
means leaving London much earlier (around 08:27/08:57) and
spending some time in Cologne, in the return direction it
means spending the morning in Cologne and leaving Cologne at
14:43 arriving London at 19:03.
Step 2,
go to the German Railways website,
www.bahn.de, and use the journey planner to book the direct
EuroNight (EN) train from Cologne to Vienna and back.
You print out your own ticket.
Alternatively, you can also book this train using the Austrian railways website
www.oebb.at.
Click 'Englisch' at top right. Now click
'Online-Ticket' top left. Now look for the bottom left
'EURO-Night' square and click it. On the enquiry form,
enter departure station as 'Cologne' and arrival station as
'Vienna', your age and dates of travel. Click 'search
for offers'.
On the results page, you'll see a long list of possible
fares. Ignore the 'flexible' open tickets at the top.
Instead, look down the list of fares shown as 'valid on a
specific train' until you see one for 'Ticket to Wien
Westbahnhof TRAIN EN 421 from 20:05 to 09:04, for the type
of seat, couchette or sleeper that you want. Select
it, don't bother reading about their 'thrift tip'. You pay by credit card and print out your own
tickets. Easy! The prices shown on
www.oebb.at
are in euros, and are the total cost for all passengers
selected, not per person.
If you prefer to buy tickets by phone, call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge), or call www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 09:00-17:00
Monday-Friday, £35 booking fee but may have more time to
help).
Click
here for more information on how to buy European train tickets.
Option 2, London-Vienna via Paris, the Paris-Munich
sleeper & Railjet...
This is also a good option, bookable online. In the
'how to buy tickets' section I'll even explain how to
spend a few hours stopover in Salzburg on the way, at no
extra cost..
Train times London ► Vienna
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 16:02 (15:32 at weekends), arriving Paris Gare du Nord at
19:17 (18:47 at weekends).
It's then a
10 minute walk
from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de l'Est. By
all means take an earlier Eurostar if you'd like to spend
some time in Paris, or if it has cheaper seats available.
Travel from Paris to Munich
overnight by the City Night Line sleeper train
'Cassiopeia', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 20:20 and arriving in Munich at
07:16 next morning. This
excellent train runs daily for most of the year, but only
4 times a week in winter. It runs on Mondays,
Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays until 18 March 2010, then daily for the summer until
8 November 2010, then on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays &
Sundays again until March 2011.
It has sleeping-cars (1, 2 & 3 bed compartments,
standard with washbasin or deluxe with shower),
4 & 6-berth couchettes & ordinary seats, see the photos & information
below.
More
pictures & information about this City Night Line train.
Travel
from Munich to Vienna by
air-conditioned Austrian 'RailJet' train
with bar-bistro car, leaving Munich Hbf at 09:27 and
arriving in
Vienna Westbahnhof at 13:40.
More pictures &
information about this RailJet train.
Train times Vienna ► London
Travel from
Vienna to
Munich by air-conditioned Austrian 'RailJet' train, leaving Vienna
Westbahnhof at
16:20 and arriving in Munich at 20:34. The train has
a bar-bistro car.
More pictures &
information about this RailJet train.
Travel from Munich to Paris by
the City Night Line sleeper train 'Cassiopeia', leaving
Munich at 22:43 and arriving at Paris Gare de l'Est
09:23 next morning. This
excellent train runs daily for most of the year, but only
4 times a week in winter. It runs on Thursdays,
Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays until 17 March 2010, then
daily until 7 November 2010, then on Thursdays, Fridays,
Saturdays & Sundays again until March 2011. The trains has ordinary seats, couchettes
(4 & 6-bunk) and
sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-bed rooms, deluxe with shower or standard
with washbasin).
More pictures
& information about this
City Night Line sleeper train.
Walk from the Gare de l'Est to the Gare du Nord.
Travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord at
11:13 and arriving London St Pancras at 12:29.
Introducing the
City Night
Line sleeper train from Paris to Munich...
The
Paris-Munich overnight train is one of the German
Railway's excellent 'City Night Line' sleeper trains.
Called the 'Cassiopeia', it has modern 'Comfortline' sleeping-cars (1, 2
& 3-berth deluxe
rooms with private shower and toilet, 1, 2 & 3-berth
standard rooms with washbasin, there's a shower at the
end of the corridor for passengers in standard rooms),
modernised air-conditioned couchettes (choose between a
berth in a 4 or 6-berth compartment) and ordinary seats
(not recommended).
Inclusive fares are charged covering travel plus
sleeping accommodation. The sleeper fare includes
a light breakfast. There's a bistro car available
in the evening serving light meals, drinks and snacks.
More
pictures & information about City Night Line trains.
Travel tip: For a good meal in a classic
Parisian brasserie before boarding the sleeper train in
Paris, catch the earlier 14:04 Eurostar & dine at the
Brasserie Terminus Nord directly across the road
from the Gare du Nord. For a cooked breakfast in
Munich or evening meal before boarding the Paris-bound
sleeper on your return, try the typically Bavarian
Mongdratzerl restaurant, located in the hauptbahnhof
itself.
1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper:
The most comfortable & civilised option, standard
with washbasin or deluxe with shower & toilet.
4-berth couchettes:
Ideal for families, much more space per person than
6-berth couchettes.
6-berth couchettes:
A very economical option, far better than a seat for
just a few euros more...
"Night train to Munich": The
'Comfortline' sleeping-car of the Paris to Munich
sleeper train boarding at Paris Gare de l'Est...
RailJet is
Austria's brand-new high-speed train, linking Munich,
Salzburg, Linz & Vienna and now also
Zurich, Innsbruck & Vienna. Designed to run at up to
230km/h (143 mph) on sections of upgraded track, it
currently reaches 200km/h on part of the route, but in
other parts snakes around beautiful Bavarian & Austrian
scenery at a more sedate pace. Look out for great
views of Salzburg citadel & castle on the right as you
cross the river Salzach approaching Salzburg. RailJet
has three classes, Economy (2nd class), First (1st class),
and Premium (25 euros supplement over normal first class).
It has a bistro car providing drinks, snacks and hot
dishes, which are served at your seat on proper china in
first & premium classes. TV screens in each car tell
you the train's speed, show maps of the train's location,
and display a list of next station stops and times.
There's even a small children's TV area for the kids.
A great way to travel - simply order one of the regional
beers from the bistro, sit back and enjoy the scenery...
More pictures & information about
RailJet trains.
"The RailJet has landed..."
Train RJ 63, the morning RailJet from Munich has arrived
at Vienna Westbahnhof spot on time.
Premium class costs
25 euros more than normal 1st class...
Economy class on
RailJet, comfortable open saloons with large picture
windows. Some seats are arranged around tables,
some are unidirectional.
How much does it cost?
Each train is ticketed separately, so just add up the
price for each leg of the journey...
This is
the easiest way to book. Booking this way
involves two websites, so do a 'dry run'
first on both sites to check prices and availability before
booking for real.
Step 1,
go to
www.raileurope.co.uk
, and book the sleeper from Paris
to Munich.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address or can be collected at
the station. Only UK credit cards are accepted.
It's best to book the Paris-Munich sleeper
train first and double-check arrival an departure times before
booking the Eurostar connection, in case times vary from the
ones shown above. For some reason, it can't currently
book 4-berth couchettes. If you've a child aged 4- 5
or 12-14 please read this
note.
Step 2, after booking
the Paris-Munich sleeper train, add it to your basket & click 'continue shopping'.
Now book
the Eurostar from London to Paris and back. Use the recommended Eurostar times above as a guide,
but by
all means book an earlier Eurostar outward or a later
Eurostar on the way back if these have cheaper seats
available or if you'd like to stop off in Paris.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address (£1.95 fee) or
collected at the station in London & Paris (free of charge).
There's no fee for debit cards, but a 2% fee is applied to
credit cards so use a debit card if you can.
Step 3, now go to the German
Railways website
www.bahn.de, use the journey planner to bring up the
connecting Munich-Vienna train shown in the train times
above, and buy the ticket. It will show if any cheap
special fares are available. You simply print out your
own Online Ticket. I recommend registering when it
asks you before completing the purchase, so you can easily
retrieve any bookings. Note that you
can also buy
tickets for this train using
www.raileurope.co.uk,
but only full fares are shown, no special cheap deals,
that's why
www.bahn.de is better.
Top tip:
If you fancied stopping off for a few hours in the wonderful
city of Salzburg, when booking the Munich to Vienna RailJet
train at bahn.de simply look for the 'Via (1)' box and enter
'Salzburg', then enter (say) '04:00' in the 'hh:m stopover'
box. It'll then book you a 4 hour stopover in
Salzburg, but still let you buy a cheap 39 euros fare from
Munich to Vienna (if it's available, obviously).
Sometimes
www.raileurope.co.uk
has the cheapest fares for the
Paris-Munich sleeper, sometimes
www.bahn.de
is cheaper, so check both sites. Bahn.de can book all types of accommodation, including 4-berth
couchettes, though for some reason won't offer solo
travellers a berth in a 3-bed sleeper (but raileurope.co.uk
will!). If you book using the bahn.de site,
children under 6 go free, children under 14 can get the
child rate, which are the correct child age limits for this
train. However, if you book the Paris-Munich sleeper using
www.bahn.de you'll need to book the
Eurostar separately at
www.eurostar.com, so do a 'dry run'
first on both sites to check prices and availability before
booking for real.
Step 1,
go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website and book from
Paris to Munich and back on the direct overnight sleeper
train. The search results will show cheap 'savings' fares
(if available) and
fully-flexible fares for each type of seat, couchette &
sleeper. You pay by credit card and print out your own
tickets. Easy! The prices shown on
www.bahn.de are in euros, and are the total cost for all
passengers selected, not per person. I recommend
registering when it asks you before completing the purchase,
so you can easily make the next booking an retrieve any bookings
later. Always book the
sleeper train first and check its exact arrival & departure
times before
booking the Eurostar connection, as times can vary.
Allow at least 90 minutes on the outward journey and 1 hour
on the return to make the connection in Paris.
Step 2, still on
www.bahn.de,
now use the journey planner to bring
up the connecting Munich-Vienna train shown in the train
times above, and buy the ticket. It will show if any
cheap special fares are available. You simply print
out your own Online Ticket.
Step
3, go to
www.eurostar.com to book your connecting Eurostar
tickets between London and Paris. Use the Eurostar
times above as a guide, but by all means book an earlier
Eurostar outwards, or a later Eurostar on the way back, if
this has cheaper seats available of if you'd like to stop
off in Paris for a while. Eurostar tickets can be sent to any UK
address, self-printed, or collected at the station.
How to buy tickets by phone...
If
you'd prefer to book by phone, just call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge), or a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee).
You can
just about travel from central London to central Vienna in a day,
arriving late the same night. However, although
there are cheap fares available for each segment (for
example Frankfurt to Vienna for 39 euros or about £33, a bargain), it
doesn't work out the cheapest option overall.
Train times London ► Vienna
Travel from
London to Brussels by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 08:27 Mondays-Fridays or 08:57 on
Saturdays & Sundays, arriving Brussels 11:33 on
Mondays-Fridays or 12:03 on Saturdays & Sundays.
Travel from
Brussels to Frankfurt by
high-speed ICE train, leaving
Brussels at 12:25 and arriving Frankfurt at 15:40.
Bistro car available.
Travel
from Frankfurt to Vienna by
high-speed ICE train, leaving at
16:21 and
arriving in
Vienna at 23:22. Restaurant car available, treat
yourself to dinner!
Train times Vienna ► London
Travel from Vienna to Frankfurt by
high-speed ICE train, leaving
Vienna Westbahnhof at 06:40 and arriving Frankfurt at
13:40. Restaurant car available for breakfast &
lunch.
Travel from Frankfurt to Cologne by InterCity train,
leaving Frankfurt at 13:44 and arriving Cologne at 17:05.
It's a tight (but officially recognised) connection, but
this train leaves from an adjacent platform to the one
used by the train from Vienna, so an easy interchange.
This Intercity train takes the scenic route along the
Rhine Valley past the famous Lorelei Rock.
Travel from Cologne to Brussels by
Thalys high-speed train leaving
Cologne at 17:45 and arriving in Brussels at 19:32.
Café-bar available.
Travel from Brussels to London by
Eurostar, leaving
Brussels at 20:17 on Mondays-Thursdays or 20:29 on Fridays
& Sundays, arriving London St Pancras at 21:33. No
connection on Saturdays.
Fares & how to buy tickets online...
First, note down each train you want to book so you know
what you're looking for.
Step 1, book
from London to Cologne & back using
www.raileurope.co.uk
or
www.eurostar.com. Prices for this start at £87
return. Bookings open 90 days before departure.
Tickets can be posted to UK addresses or collected at St
Pancras.
Step 2, book trains from Cologne to Vienna & back using
www.bahn.de. Prices start at 39 euros (£34)
each way. You print out your own ticket.
How to buy tickets by phone...
If
you'd prefer to book by phone, just call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge), or a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee).
Option 4:
London to Vienna by daytime trains with
hotel stop in Zurich. The scenic
option!
You can just about reach Salzburg or Vienna in one day from
London (and if you're interested, see
here
for Salzburg and
here for Vienna), but this means an early start and/or a
late arrival, and it's a long day. A more leisurely
and scenic approach is to break the journey in two, taking
an afternoon Eurostar & evening high-speed TGV from London to
Switzerland, stopping overnight in Zurich, then
taking a
relaxing low-speed ride snaking through the fabulously scenic Arlberg Pass
into Austria. The great scenery through the Alps makes it
a worthwhile experience! By all means go one way by
sleeper, the other by day.
Travel from
Paris to Switzerland by high-speed Lyria TGV, leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 18:24 arriving in Zurich at 23:00. A cafe-bar is available on
board.
Next morning, travel from Zurich
to Vienna via the fabulous Arlberg
Pass through the Alps and into the Austrian Tirol, using any train you like. For
example an air-conditioned Railjet train
leaves Zurich at 08:40, runs via Innsbruck & Salzburg, arriving Vienna 16:40. It's an amazingly scenic
route, the train hugs the mountainside and snakes through
a huge valley, past Swiss & Austrian scenery taken
straight from the 'Sound of Music'. A bistro car
is available for breakfast & lunch (or food orders
taken & served at your seat in first & premium classes), so treat yourself as
the scenery passes by.
Daytime train times, Vienna ► London
Travel from
Vienna, Salzburg or Innsbruck to Zurich through
the Alps via the Arlberg Pass. There are several
trains to choose from, for example a
Railjet train leaves Vienna
at 09:20, going via Salzburg & Innsbruck, arriving Zurich at 17:20. A
bistro car is available for lunch (or food orders taken &
served at your seat in first & premium classes), so treat
yourself!
Travel from Zurich to London
using any of the services suggested on the
London to Switzerland
page. For example, leave Zurich at 07:02,
arriving Paris at 11:34, change trains in Paris (with a 10 minute
walk between the Gare de l'Est & Gare du Nord), the
13:04 Eurostar from Paris Nord will get you
back at London St Pancras at 14:31.
On board the Lyria TGV from Paris to Zurich...
Sleek, fast,
and up to 10 times better for the environment
than a flight. This is an afternoon TGV to
Zurich about to leave Paris Est...
There's a
cafe-bar car serving drinks & hot & cold snacks. It
also sells Paris metro tickets, which can save
you time on your return journey...
Designer interiors...
The TGV
trains from Paris to Basel & Zurich feature chic new
interiors by designer Christian Lacroix. Above
left, 1st class, above right, 2nd class. All seats have power
sockets for laptops & mobiles. The bar car sells
Paris metro tickets, which can save you time on your
return journey.
On board the Railjettrainfrom
Zurich to Innsbruck, Salzburg, Linz & Vienna...
Zurich to
Vienna costs 146
Swiss francs
(£77)
each way 2nd class
How to buy tickets...
Step 1, buy tickets from London to Zurich:
Book your tickets from London to Basel or Zurich online at
www.raileurope.co.uk
(no booking fee) or by calling Rail Europe on 0844 848 5 848
(lines open 09:00-21:00 Mon-Fri, 09:00-18:00 Sat,
10:00-17:00 Sun, £6 fee for phone bookings).
See the London to
Switzerland page for full details & booking tips.
Step 2, buy tickets from Zurich to Vienna online at
the Swiss Federal railways website,
www.sbb.ch.
For English, click 'EN' at the top. First, do a train
timetable enquiry for the journey you want (for example,
Basel to Innsbruck), then identify the 'Transalpin' in the
search results and click 'Fare/Buy'. You pay online
and can choose either a print-your-own ticket or ticket
collection at any staffed SBB station in Switzerland.
Print-your-own tickets are non-refundable, non-changeable,
collected tickets are changeable/refundable.
Mozart's birthplace... This is the house
where Mozart was born, in Salzburg's old town, see
www.mozarteum.at.
Salzburg is in many ways a much nicer place to visit
than Vienna, though others may disagree!
It's no problem at all to reach Innsbruck or Salzburg by
train. Choose between these two main options:
Option 1, take a late afternoon
Eurostar to Paris, snuggle down in bed aboard the
Paris-Munich City Night Line sleeper then take a connecting
train to Innsbruck or Salzburg next morning. This is
the simplest & most time-effective way to go.
Option 2, take a morning Eurostar to Paris, a 200mph
TGV train to Munich, and a late night train onwards to
Salzburg. London to Austria in a day!
Option 3, travel by lunchtime Eurostar to Paris and
evening high-speed TGV to Basel or Zurich in Switzerland,
stay overnight, then travel on to Innsbruck or Salzburg next
day through the beautifully scenic Arlberg Pass. This
is a relaxing & scenic way to go.
See the
section above.
Option 1: London to Innsbruck or Salzburg via the
Paris-Munich sleeper...
This is the simplest, cheapest & most time-effective option. It runs daily from late March to early
November, and on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays
& Sundays off-season November until March. On days when it doesn't run,
see the alternative.
Train times London ► Innsbruck & Salzburg
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 16:02 (15:32 at weekends), arriving Paris Gare du Nord at
19:17 (18:47 at weekends).
It's then a
10 minute walk
from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de l'Est. By
all means take an earlier Eurostar if you'd like to spend
some time in Paris, or if it has cheaper seats available.
Travel from Paris to Munich
overnight by the City Night Line sleeper train
'Cassiopeia', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 20:20 and arriving in Munich at
07:16 next morning. This excellent train runs daily in summer, but only
4 times a week in winter. It runs on Mondays,
Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays until 18 March 2010, then daily until
8 November 2010, then on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays &
Sundays again until March 2011.
It has sleeping-cars (1, 2 & 3 bed standard compartments
with washbasin or deluxe with shower),
couchettes (4- & 6-berth) & ordinary seats, see the photos & information
below.
More pictures
& information about this train.
For Salzburg, travel
from Munich to Salzburg by air-conditioned EuroCity
train leaving
Munich at 08:27 and
arriving in
Salzburg at 10:09.
For Innsbruck, travel from
Munich to Innsbruck on an air-conditioned EuroCity train
'Michaelangelo'
with restaurant car, leaving Munich at 09:31 and
arriving in Innsbruck at 11:23.
For Kitzbühel
or St Johann,
take the 09:31 from Munich and change at Wörgl (arrive 10:44,
depart 11:37) and arrive Kitzbühel 12:17, St Johann in
Tirol at 12:26. Direct Paris-Innsbruck sleeper
on winter Fridays: On Friday nights from late
December to early April the Paris-Munich City Night Line
sleeper is extended to Innsbruck, arriving at 10:36,
with no need to change at Munich.
Train times Salzburg & Innsbruck ► London
From Innsbruck, travel from Innsbruck to
Munich by EuroCity train, leaving Innsbruck at 18:36 and arriving in Munich at
20:25. Direct Innsbruck-Paris sleeper on
winter Saturdays: On Saturday nights from late
December to early April the Munich-Paris City Night Line
sleeper is extended to start in Innsbruck, departing at
19:54, with no need to change at Munich.
From Salzburg, travel from Salzburg to
Munich, leaving Salzburg at 19:02 by air-conditioned
Austrian 'RailJet' train, arriving Munich 20:34.
From Kitzbühel & St Johann, leave St Johann in
Tirol at 18:20 or Kitzbühel at 18:28 by InterCity train, change at
Wörgl (arrive 18:58, depart 19:14) and arrive Munich at
20:25.
Travel from Munich to Paris by
the City Night Line sleeper train 'Cassiopeia', leaving
Munich at 22:43 and arriving at Paris Gare de l'Est
09:23 next morning. This
excellent train runs daily for most of the year, but only
4 times a week in winter. It runs on Thursdays,
Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays until 17 March 2010, then
daily until 7 November 2010, then on Thursdays, Fridays,
Saturdays & Sundays again until March 2011. The trains has ordinary seats, couchettes (6-bunk
& 4-bunk) and
sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-bed rooms, deluxe with shower or standard
with washbasin).
More pictures
& information about this train.
Walk from the Gare de l'Est to the Gare du Nord.
Travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord at
11:13 and arriving London St Pancras at 12:29.
Introducing the City Night
Line sleeper train from Paris to Munich...
The
Paris-Munich overnight train is one of the German
Railway's excellent 'City Night Line' sleeper trains.
Called the 'Cassiopeia', it has modern 'Comfortline' sleeping-cars (1, 2
& 3-berth deluxe
rooms with private shower and toilet, 1, 2 & 3-berth
standard rooms with washbasin, there's a shower at the
end of the corridor for passengers in standard rooms),
and modern air-conditioned couchettes (choose between a
berth in a 4- or 6-berth compartment).
Inclusive fares are charged covering travel plus
sleeping accommodation. The sleeper fare includes
a light breakfast. There's a bistro car available
in the evening serving light meals, drinks and snacks.
More
pictures & information about this train.
Travel tip: For a good meal in a classic
Parisian brasserie before boarding the sleeper train in
Paris, catch the earlier 14:04 Eurostar & dine at the
Brasserie Terminus Nord directly across the road
from the Gare du Nord. For a cooked breakfast in
Munich (or evening meal before boarding the Paris-bound
sleeper on your return) try the
Mongdratzerl restaurant, located in the hauptbahnhof
itself.
1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper:
The most comfortable & civilised option, standard with
washbasin or deluxe with shower & toilet.
4-berth couchettes:
Ideal for families, much more space per person than
6-berth couchettes.
6-berth couchettes:
A very economical option, far better than a seat for
just a few euros more...
Above: The
'Comfortline' sleeping-car of the Paris to Munich
sleeper train boarding at Paris Gare de l'Est...
The 08:27
Munich-Salzburg train is a
smart modern Austrian train, with comfortable
air-conditioned Austrian InterCity coaches, shown in
the photos below. The journey winds through
pretty Bavarian scenery. The 09:31 'Michaelangelo' from
Munich to Innsbruck is Italian, with air-conditioned
Italian InterCity carriages, with seats in 6-seat
compartments. The journey to Innsbruck is also a
very scenic ride...
Above: This is
the train to Salzburg & Klagenfurt about to leave
Munich...
1st class seats are
in spacious 4 or 6-seat compartments...
2nd class seats are
in comfortable open saloons with plenty of space and
large picture windows...
This is
probably the easiest way to book. Booking this way
involves two websites, so do a 'dry run'
first on both sites to check prices and availability before
booking for real.
Step 1,
go to
www.raileurope.co.uk and book the sleeper from Paris
to Munich.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address or can be collected at
the station. Only UK credit cards are accepted.
It's best to book the Paris-Munich sleeper
train first and double-check arrival an departure times before
booking the Eurostar connection, in case times vary from the
ones shown above.
For some reason, it can't
currently book 4-berth couchettes. And if you've a child
aged 4- 5 or 12-14,
please
read this note.
Step 2, after booking
the Paris-Munich sleeper train, add it to your basket & click 'continue shopping'.
Now book
the Eurostar from London to Paris and back. Use the recommended Eurostar times above as a guide,
but by
all means book an earlier Eurostar outward or a later
Eurostar on the way back if these have cheaper seats
available or if you'd like to stop off in Paris.
Step 3,
after adding the London-Paris ticket to your basket, click
'continue shopping' again and book from Munich to Salzburg
or Innsbruck, using the train times above as your guide.
Tickets can be sent
to any UK address (£1.95 fee) or collected at the station in
London & Paris (free of charge). There's no fee for
debit cards, but a 2% fee is applied to credit cards so use
a debit card if you can.
Alternative step 3:
If you have any problems booking the last leg at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
go to the German
Railways website
www.bahn.de instead. This site
often has special offers for these routes, so is
worth checking as it may be cheaper. Use the journey planner to bring
up the connecting Munich-Salzburg or Munich-Innsbruck trains shown in the train
times above, and buy the ticket. It will show if any
cheap special fares are available. Tickets can be sent to any address,
or in many cases you can print out your own Online Ticket.
Sometimes
www.raileurope.co.uk
has the cheapest fares for the
Paris-Munich sleeper, sometimes
www.bahn.de
is cheaper, so it's worth checking both sites.
Bahn.de can book all types of accommodation, including 4-berth
couchettes. If you book using the bahn.de site,
children under 6 go free, children under 14 can get the
child rate. However, if you book the Paris-Munich sleeper using
www.bahn.de you'll need to book the
Eurostar separately at
www.eurostar.com, so do a 'dry run'
first on both sites to check prices and availability before
booking for real.
Step 1,
go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website, and book from
Paris to Munich and back on the direct overnight sleeper
train. The search results will show cheap 'savings' fares
(if available) and
fully-flexible fares for each type of seat, couchette &
sleeper. You pay by credit card and print out your own
ticket. Easy! The prices shown on
www.bahn.de are in euros, and are the total cost for all
passengers selected, not per person. I recommend
registering when it asks you before completing the purchase,
so you can easily make the next booking and retrieve all bookings
later. Always book the
sleeper train first and check its exact arrival & departure
times before
booking the Eurostar connection, as times can vary.
Allow at least 90 minutes on the outward journey and 1 hour
on the return to make the connection in Paris.
Step 2, still on
www.bahn.de,
use the journey planner to bring
up the connecting Munich-Salzburg or Munich-Innsbruck trains
shown in the train times above, and buy the ticket, looking
for any available cheap fares. You simply print out
your own ticket.
Step
3, go to
www.eurostar.com to book your connecting Eurostar
tickets between London and Paris. Used the Eurostar
times above as a guide, but by all means book an earlier
Eurostar outwards, or a later Eurostar on the way back, if
this has cheaper seats available of if you'd like to stop
off in Paris for a while. Eurostar tickets can be sent to any UK
address, self-printed, or collected at the station.
If
you'd prefer to book by phone, just call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge), or a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee).
Salzburg Castle is well worth visiting. The
views over the old town and to the nearby mountains are
wonderful. The castle is reached via a funicular
railway, included in the admission price. See
www.hohensalzburgcastle.com.
You can travel from London to Salzburg in one day, using
Eurostar, a Paris-Munich TGV and an onwards train to
Salzburg. This also works from Innsbruck back to
London, but not from London to Innsbruck as there's no
connection late enough from Munich.
Travel from Paris to Munich
by 200mph TGV, leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 15:24 and arriving in Munich at
21:38. The TGV has a cafe-bar available.
Have dinner in Munich, then travel
from Munich to Salzburg by
regional train leaving
Munich at 22:46 and
arriving in
Salzburg at 00:42.
Train times Salzburg & Innsbruck ► London
From Salzburg, travel from Salzburg to
Stuttgart, leaving Salzburg on Mondays-Saturdays at 07:51 by air-conditioned
EuroCity train, arriving Stuttgart 12:01. No
connection from Salzburg on Sundays.
From Innsbruck, travel from Innsbruck to
Munich by ICE, leaving Innsbruck daily at 07:36 and arriving in Munich at
09:15. Change onto the EuroCity train for
Stuttgart, leaving Munich at 09:40 and arriving
Stuttgart at 12:01.
Travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord at
18:13 (19:13 on Saturdays) and arriving London St Pancras at 19:34
(20:34 on Saturdays).
On Sundays there's also a 17:43 Eurostar arriving
London at 18:59.
How much does it cost?
London-Paris starts at £39 one-way or £69 return.
Paris-Munich or Stuttgart-Paris starts at £34 one-way, £68
return.
Munich-Salzburg costs 29 euros (£25) each way full fare, or
special fares often available from 19 euros (£17) each way.
How to buy tickets online...
Go
to
www.raileurope.co.uk
(UK residents only) and book both the Eurostar to Paris and
the TGV to Munich. You can try doing this all in one
go (London to Munich) but it's better to book Paris-Munich
and Stuttgart-Paris first, add these to your basket, then
book the Eurostar from London to Paris and back.
You can also book the Munich-Salzburg and Salzburg-Stuttgart
trains at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
but you may find cheaper deals available if you book these
trains at
www.bahn.de.
How to
buy tickets by phone...
If you
prefer to book the journey via Paris by phone, or if you have problems booking
online, call Rail
Europe on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open
09:00-21:00 Mondays-Fridays, 09:00-18:00 Saturdays,
no longer open Sundays).
Option 3: London to Innsbruck
&
Salzburg by daytime trains with
hotel stop in Zurich. The scenic
option!
You can just about reach Salzburg or Vienna in one day from
London (and if you're interested, see
here
for Salzburg and
here for Vienna), but this means an early start and/or a
late arrival, and it's a long day. A more leisurely
and scenic approach is to break the journey in two, taking
an afternoon Eurostar & evening high-speed TGV from London to
Switzerland, stopping overnight in Zurich, then
taking a
relaxing low-speed ride snaking through the fabulously scenic Arlberg Pass
into Austria. The great scenery through the Alps makes it
a worthwhile experience! By all means go one way by
sleeper, the other by day.
Daytime train times, London ► St Anton, Innsbruck,
Salzburg, Vienna
Travel from
Paris to Switzerland by high-speed Lyria TGV, leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 18:24 arriving in Zurich at 23:00. A cafe-bar is available on
board.
Next morning, travel from Zurich
to Innsbruck or Salzburg via the fabulous Arlberg
Pass through the Alps and into the Austrian Tirol, using any train you like. For
example an air-conditioned Railjet train
leaves Zurich at 08:40, arriving
Feldkirch 10:09, St Anton 10:59, Innsbruck 12:06, Salzburg
13:59, Linz 15:07 & Vienna 16:40. It's an amazingly scenic
route, the train hugs the mountainside and snakes through
a huge valley, past Swiss & Austrian scenery taken
straight from the 'Sound of Music'. A bistro car
is available for breakfast & lunch (or food orders
taken & served at your seat in first & premium classes), so treat yourself as
the scenery passes by.
Daytime train times, Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, St Anton
► London
Travel from
Vienna, Salzburg or Innsbruck to Zurich through
the Alps via the Arlberg Pass. There are several
trains to choose from, for example a
Railjet train leaves Vienna
at 09:20, Linz 10:53, Salzburg 12:02, Innsbruck 13:54, St Anton
15:00, Feldkirch 15:48, arriving Zurich at 17:20. A
bistro car is available for
lunch (or food orders taken & served at your seat in first
& premium classes), so treat yourself!
Travel from Zurich to London
using any of the services suggested on the
London to Switzerland
page. For example, leave Zurich at 07:02,
arriving Paris at 11:34, change trains in Paris (with a 10 minute
walk between the Gare de l'Est & Gare du Nord), the
13:04 Eurostar from Paris Nord will get you
back at London St Pancras at 14:31.
On board the Lyria TGV...
The new TGV trains from Paris to Stuttgart feature chic
new interiors by designer Christian Lacroix.
Left: 1st class. Right: 2nd
class. There's a cafe-bar serving drinks and
snacks.
On board the Railjettrain from
Zurich to Innsbruck, Salzburg, Linz & Vienna...
Basel to Innsbruck costs 102 Swiss francs (£54) each
way 2nd class
Basel
to Salzburg costs 144 Swiss francs (£76) each way 2nd
class
Basel to Vienna
costs 169
Swiss francs
(£89)
each way 2nd class
Zurich to
Innsbruck costs 79
Swiss francs
(£42)
each way 2nd class
Zurich to
Salzburg costs 121Swiss
francs (£64)
each way 2nd class
Zurich to
Vienna costs 146
Swiss francs
(£77)
each way 2nd class
How to buy tickets...
Step 1, buy tickets from London to Zurich:
Book your tickets from London to Basel or Zurich online at
www.raileurope.co.uk
(no booking fee) or by calling Rail Europe on 0844 848 5 848
(lines open 09:00-21:00 Mon-Fri, 09:00-18:00 Sat,
10:00-17:00 Sun, £6 fee for phone bookings).
See the London to
Switzerland page for full details & booking tips.
Step 2, buy tickets from Zurich to Innsbruck or
Salzburg online at the Swiss Federal railways website,
www.sbb.ch.
For English, click 'EN' at the top. First, do a train
timetable enquiry for the journey you want (for example,
Basel to Innsbruck), then identify the 'Transalpin' in the
search results and click 'Fare/Buy'. You pay online
and can choose either a print-your-own ticket or ticket
collection at any staffed SBB station in Switzerland.
Print-your-own tickets are non-refundable, non-changeable,
collected tickets are changeable/refundable.
Travel from London to Munich
by Eurostar & Paris-Munich City Night Line sleeper
train, as shown on the
London-Germany page, leaving London at 16:02 (15:32
at weekends), changing trains in Paris and
arriving Munich at
07:16 next morning.
Travel from Munich to Graz
on a direct EuroCity train leaving Munich at 10:27 and
arriving Graz 16:22. Or you can leave Munich at
08:27, change at Bischofshofen (arrive 10:52, depart
11:13) arriving Graz at 14:22.
Train times Graz ► London
Leave Graz at 11:38 on a direct EuroCity train to
Munich, arriving at 17:35, and enjoy an evening in Munich.
Or you can leave Graz at 13:38, change trains at Wörgl
(arrive 18:58, depart 19:14) arriving Munich 20:25.
Travel from
Munich to London by City Night Line sleeper train &
Eurostar, leaving Munich at 22:43, changing trains in
Paris and arriving London at
12:29 next day, as shown on
the London-Germany page.
Book the
Munich-Graz trains online at
www.bahn.de.
How to buy tickets by phone...
If
you'd prefer to book by phone, just call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open
09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge), or a booking agency
such as
European Rail on 020 7619 1083 (lines open
08:30-18:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking
fee).
Travel from London to Munich
by Eurostar & Paris-Munich City Night Line sleeper
train, as shown on the
London-Germany page, leaving London at 16:02 (15:32
at weekends), changing trains in Paris and
arriving Munich at
07:16 next morning.
Travel from Munich to
Villach & Klagenfurt on a direct EuroCity train leaving
Munich at 08:27 and arriving Villach at 12:43 and
Klagenfurt at 13:17.
See the photos above.
Train times Klagenfurt, Villach ► London
Leave Klagenfurt
at 16:31 and Villach at 17:18 by direct EuroCity train
to Munich, arriving Munich at
21:33.
Travel from
Munich to London by City Night Line sleeper train &
Eurostar, leaving Munich at 22:43, changing trains in
Paris and arriving London at
12:29 next day, as shown on
the London-Germany page.
Book the
Munich-Villach/Klagenfurt trains online at
www.bahn.de.
How to buy tickets by phone...
If
you'd prefer to book by phone, just call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge), or a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee).
Above: Stena
Line's overnight Harwich-Hoek ferry. All passengers
sleep in their own private en suite cabin with shower &
toilet. See the
Netherlands page for details.
If you want to avoid the Channel Tunnel, perhaps if you
suffer from claustrophobia or if problems are affecting the
Eurostar service, you can travel by train and ferry instead.
Indeed, if you need to travel at very short notice when cheap
Eurostar tickets are unavailable, the rail & sail option may
still be affordable. I don't recommend travelling via
Dover & Calais, even though it may seem like the most
direct route,
because bus transfers are now required between station and
port in both Dover and Calais, and you can no longer buy
through tickets from London to Paris this way. Instead,
I recommend using the excellent integrated rail & sail service
via Harwich & Hoek van Holland, because trains arrive right at
the ferry terminal in both Harwich and Hoek, through tickets are available from London
to any Dutch station, and an overnight ferry with comfortable
private cabins gets you to Holland in the morning in time for
onward daytime trains to Austria. This is also a handy
option if you live in East Anglia. It's one of the
routes shown in dark blue on the route
map above. Here's how to do it:
Travel overnight by train & ferry from London via
Harwich & Hoek van Holland to either Utrecht (the fastest
route, if you want to travel straight on to Austria by
daytime trains) or Amsterdam (if you want to stop off there
for the day and use a sleeper train to Munich for onward
trains to Austria).
You leave London Liverpool Street station around 20:38 for
Harwich International and board the 23:45 Stena Line
overnight ferry for Hoek van Holland. All passengers
on the ferry travel in a private en suite cabin with shower
& toilet. Arriving at Hoek at 07:45, take the next
available local train to Rotterdam and change for an
InterCity to Utrecht or Amsterdam. See the
Netherlands page for full
details of times, fares and how to buy tickets for this
excellent rail & sail service. You book your
rail & sail ticket from London to Any Dutch Station online at
www.dutchflyer.co.uk.
Now take onward
trains to Austria. You can check train times from
Utrecht or Amsterdam to Austria using the journey
planner at
www.bahn.de. Travelling by daytime
trains, you can be in Austria by late evening. Or
you could spend the day in Amsterdam, take the overnight
City Night Line sleeper from Amsterdam to
Munich then onward trains to Austria next morning.
You can book trains from Amsterdam or Utrecht to Austria
online at
www.bahn.de.
Booking tips: Try splitting the journey into
Amsterdam/Utrecht-Frankfurt and
Frankfurt-Austria. This means that German
Railways' cheap Netherlands-Germany and Germany-Austria
fares will show up, from just 39 euros each way, but they
won't show up if you ask for a Netherlands to Austria
journey all in one go. Or you can book by phone, call
DB's UK office on 08718 80 80 66, lines open
09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 at weekends.
DFDS Seaways 'Princess of Norway' about to sail
overnight from Newcastle to Amsterdam...
A Commodore deluxe cabin with minibar, satellite TV,
shower & toilet.
See the video...
A standard 'Seaways' class cabin with shower & toilet on
DFDS 'Princess of Norway' from Newcastle to Amsterdam.
Naturally, one option is to take a train up
to London, then travel to Austria as described
above. You can buy special connecting train tickets
from most UK stations to
London International,
see advice on buying
connecting train tickets to London. But
DFDS Seaways (www.dfds.co.uk) run an excellent daily
cruise ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam overnight,
P&O Ferries (www.poferries.com)
sail overnight from Hull to Rotterdam, and Stena Line sail
overnight from Harwich in
Essex to Hoek van Holland with train connections to
Amsterdam (www.dutchflyer.co.uk).
After a day in Amsterdam, take the
excellent City Night Line
sleeper train from Amsterdam to Munich with connections to
Innsbruck, Salzburg & Vienna. So why not
by-pass London, and have a day in Amsterdam into the
bargain?
Scotland, the north of England,
East Anglia ►
Austria
Day 1, Take an afternoon train from your local station
to either Harwich, Hull or Newcastle, whichever is most
convenient for where you live. Transfer to the ferry
terminal.
Sail
overnight by cruise ferry to Holland, with bars, restaurants
& comfortable en suite cabins, arriving next morning.
DFDS Seaways operate Newcastle-Amsterdam (the port is
actually IJmuiden), P&O operate Hull to Rotterdam
Europoort, and Stena Line operate Harwich-Hoek van Holland
with train connections to Amsterdam. For details of
ferry timetables, station-port transfers, fares & how to buy tickets for
travel via each of these ferry routes,
see the UK-Netherlands page.
Day 2, spend
some time
in Amsterdam, all the sights are easy walking distance from
Centraal station. Left luggage lockers are available
at Centraal station, 4-6 euros for 24 hours, paid for with
Maestro or Visa cards.
Day 2 evening, take
the City Night Line sleeper train 'Pollux' from Amsterdam to
Munich.
The Pollux leaves Amsterdam at 20:31 daily,
arriving Munich Hauptbahnhof at 07:16 next morning (day 3). for details of what
this train is like see here. Change in Munich for onwards trains to Innsbruck, Salzburg
& Vienna,
as above.
Austria ►
Scotland, the north of England, East Anglia
Day 1, evening: The
City Night Line sleeper train 'Pollux' leaves Munich at
22:43 daily, arriving at Amsterdam Centraal at 09:03 next
morning.
For details of what this train
is like see here.
See above for connections from
Innsbruck, Salzburg & Vienna to Munich.
Day 2: Spend the day in Amsterdam.
Left luggage lockers are available.
Day 2, late afternoon/evening: Travel overnight by cruise ferry from
Holland to either Harwich, Hull or Newcastle, whichever is
most convenient for where you live, arriving next morning (day
4). Transfer to the station and take a train home.
For full details of train & ferry times and how to buy tickets
for each of these routes, see the UK-Netherlands page.
To check
Amsterdam-Vienna or Amsterdam-Munich sleeper train fares &
book online, go to either
www.raileurope.co.uk (easy to use and can be cheapest
way to book, but may have difficulty booking 4 berth
couchettes) or
www.bahn.de (look for the direct train with 0 changes).
The Thomas Cook European Timetable
The
Thomas Cook European timetable
has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency
& climate
information. Published since 1873, it costs £13.99.
It's essential for any serious traveller
and an inspiration for armchair travellers. Still
not convinced you need one? More information
on what the Thomas Cook Timetable contains. You can
buy the latest monthly edition online at
www.thomascooktimetables.com with worldwide delivery or
buy it in person from any UK branch of Thomas Cook (ask at the
bureau de change), or from W H Smiths in Victoria or Kings
Cross stations in London.
Or
buy the twice-yearly independent traveller's edition with
laminated cover from Amazon.co.uk:
Summer 2010 edition (June to December 2010)
The Thomas Cook Rail Map of
Europe is the best and most comprehensive
map of train routes right across Europe, from Portugal in the
west to Istanbul, Moscow & Ukraine in the east, from Finland
in the north to Sicily & Crete in the south. High speed
&
scenic routes are highlighted. Highly recommended!
Buy online
at
www.amazon.co.uk
(worldwide delivery).
See an extract from
the map.
Definitely
take a good guidebook. For independent travel, the best guides
are the the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide. Both guidebooks have
the same excellent level of practical information and cultural and
historical background. You won't regret buying one! My own
book, an essential handbook for train travel to Europe based on this
website called "The
Man in Seat 61", was published in June 2008, and
is available from Amazon with shipping worldwide.
Find a hotel in Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck or anywhere else in
Europe...
It's
easy to book hotels online to go with your train tickets, just
use the form below. This links to
www.hotelscombined.com, which is a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites for you
(including Expedia, Travelocity, LateRooms, Opodo, Venere and many
others) to find the cheapest hotel rates. Set
up in 2005, it's an amazing system and probably the best place
to start for booking any hotel online in any country,
worldwide. It saves me hours going round in circles on
umpteen different hotel sites!
www.laterooms.com negotiates discounts for hotel rooms booked
within 3 months of travel, which makes it ideal for train
travellers booking train travel within the normal 90 days
advance booking period.
www.tripadvisor.com
is the place to find
independent travellers' reviews of all the main hotels.
Backpacker hostels...
www.hostelbookers.com: If you're on a tight budget,
don't forget about backpacker hostels. Hostelbookers
offers online booking of cheap private rooms or dorm beds in
backpacker hostels in Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck and most
other European cities at rock-bottom prices.
Travel insurance, health card, SIM card
Get travel insurance..
Never travel without insurance from a
reliable travel insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover loss of
cash (up to a limit) and belongings, and cancellation. An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year (I have an annual policy myself). Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
If you live in the UK, get quotes from
Columbus Direct or
Go Travel Insurance, or go to
Confused.com to run a price comparison on a whole range of
travel insurance providers for your dates of travel, seeing
their policy's features at a glance.
Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed
connection, but European international rail conditions of
carriage (known as the 'CIV') contain consumer protection
provisions that entitle you to travel forward by the next
available train if you miss a connection because of a delay to
the first train, irrespective of who operates which train, and
even if your ticket is in theory train-specific and
non-changeable.
Feedback from using
insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome.
If you're a
UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free
European Health Insurance Card, which entitles you to free or
reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in
many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with
the NHS. This replaced the old E111 forms
as from January 2006. The EHIC card is available from
www.ehic.org.uk. It doesn't remove the need for
travel insurance, though.
Get a pre-paid euro currency MasterCard from Caxton FX...
You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a
Caxton FX euro currency MasterCard, or indeed the
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' MasterCard.
Find out about these cards & sign up here.
Get an international SIM card...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're
not careful you can return home to find some huge bills
waiting for you. I've known people run up over £1,000 in
data charges just by leaving their iPhone connected during a
simple trip to Europe. However, if you
buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company
such as
www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85% and
limit any damage to the amount you have pre-paid. Go-Sim
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also allows cheap data access for laptops
& PDAs. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.
If you want a holiday to Austria
by train not plane, and want someone to organise all the train
tickets & hotels for you, several specialist companies do just
that, for a holiday with no airport hassles and no long days
in cramped coach seats on motorways. Railbookers offer
tailor-made individual holidays with departure on any date you
like, whereas Treyn Holidays & Great Rail Journeys offer
escorted tours with specific departure dates.
Railbookers can
tailor-make a flight-free holiday to Austria for you, with
train travel & hotels, for however long you like, leaving on
any date you like. If you tell them what you want,
they'll advise you on the best trains, routes & hotels and
sort it all out for you. They get a lot of repeat
business!
See their Austria page for details...
Treyn Holidays
offers escorted tours to Germany & Austria, with 3* hotels and
2nd class rail. Check details & departure dates at
www.treynholidays.co.uk,
then book online or call 0845 402 2069.
GRJ offers
five-star inclusive escorted tours with 1st class train travel
and 5* or 4* hotels. Tours include
tours to the Austrian Alps and a
tour covering Vienna, Budapest and Prague,
both tours starting from London by train with a range of
departure dates.
Great Rail Journeys also offer
holidays by train to other European countries. Check
the tour details online, then call 01904 527120 to
book or use their
online
booking form.
www.venere.com
If you live in the UK, get quotes from
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the
EU, see
If you live in the USA or Canada, see
