31 January 2012. Train times valid from 11
December 2011 to 9 June 2012.
UK to Austria by train...
The city & castle of Salzburg, Austria.
It's easy to travel from the UK
to Austria by train, with no airports and no flights. Just take an afternoon Eurostar to
Paris then the excellent
City Night Line sleeper train
overnight
to Munich for an onward connection to
Innsbruck, Salzburg, Graz, Klagenfurt or Vienna next morning. Or
take a lunchtime Eurostar to Brussels, a high-speed
Thalys train to Cologne, then the
equally excellent
Austrian EuroNight sleeper train to Linz or Vienna,
arriving at breakfast time. Or take the
scenic
route, travelling from London to Zurich by Eurostar and
TGV-Lyria on day 1,
stopping overnight, then taking a superb
Railjet train from
Zurich to Austria on day 2, through the Alps via the fabulous Arlberg
Pass into the Austrian Tirol. 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 (shown
in orange via Zurich), 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, all departing daily. Each of these is explained
below.
Option
1 overnight via Brussels & the Cologne-Vienna
EuroNight sleeper train. 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 overnight via the Paris-Munich
City Night Line sleeper train & 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.
Option 3
London to Vienna in a day, by high-speed train across
Europe. Sadly no longer possible from December
2010, due to poor connections between Eurostar, Thalys &
DB.
Option 4 by daytime trains with an overnight
hotel stop in
Switzerland: Take a lunchtime Eurostar to Paris
& evening high-speed TGV-Lyria to Zurich, stay
overnight, then travel on next day by Austrian Railjet
train 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 & Linz
Travel
from London to Brussels by
Eurostar,
leaving London St Pancras at 12:57 and arriving in
Brussels Midi
at 16:05.
Travel from Brussels to Cologne by high-speed
Thalys
train, leaving Brussels
Midi at 17:28 and arriving in
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 19:15.
Travel from Cologne to Vienna on the excellent daily
EuroNight sleeper train, leaving
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 20:05 and arriving in Linz at
06:43, St Pölten 08:06 and Vienna Westbahnhof at 08:52.
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) &
ordinary 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!
More pictures & information about this EuroNight train.
Travel from
Vienna to Cologne by daily
EuroNight sleeper train, leaving Vienna
Westbahnhof at 19:48, St Pölten 20:35 or Linz at 21:55 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) & ordinary 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.
More pictures & information about this EuroNight train.
Travel from Cologne to Brussels by high-speed
ICE
train, leaving Cologne at 11:43 and arriving
Brussels Midi
at
13:35.
Travel
from Brussels to London by
Eurostar,
leaving
Brussels
Midi at 14:56 (14:52 at weekends) and arriving London St Pancras at
16:03.
On board Eurostar from London to Brussels:
See the Eurostar page
for photos & information about on-board facilities.
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
in 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.
Dinner in Cologne before you board?
By all means take an earlier departure from
London to Cologne (details
here), and have dinner before you board the
sleeper. For a traditional German meal in Cologne before
boarding your sleeper, try the Brauhaus Sion (www.brauhaus-sion.de),
5 minutes walk from Cologne hauptbahnhof, or the
Malzmuehle restaurant (www.muehlenkoelsch.de),
10-15 minutes walk from Cologne Hauptbahnhof, or
there's a restaurant in the Hauptbahnhof
itself at the Schweinske,
www.schweinske.de.
Feedback
is appreciated!
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 for Eurostar+ICE start at 49 euros (£43)
each way.
Fares
for Eurostar+Thalys start at £53 one-way (£39
London-Brussels + £14 Brussels-Cologne)
or £97 return (£69 London-Brussels +
£28 Brussels-Cologne).
Fares vary like
air fares, so book in advance to get the cheapest
prices.
If you live in the UK, 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.b-europe.com &
www.bahn.de
instead, see the next section (It can be worth checking
prices using both booking methods as one is sometimes
cheaper than the other).
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, and 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 a guide. Add this to your basket
& 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 (£2.25 fee) and
usually arrive in a couple of days.
There's a 2.5% credit card fee, so use a debit card if you
can. Only UK credit cards are accepted.
Booking tip: It's worth checking 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
the Belgian railways
international website
www.b-europe.comvor
at
www.eurostar.com, as sometimes
these are cheaper than
www.raileurope.co.uk.
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 earlier (at 08:57 or 10:57) and
spending some time in Cologne, in the return direction it
means spending the morning in Cologne and leaving Cologne at
11:43 arriving London at 16:03.
Anyone from any country can book a London-Vienna journey
in either direction using
a combination of the Belgian Railways website
www.b-europe.com and either the German Railways
website
www.bahn.de
or the Austrian Railways site
www.oebb.at.
Bookings open 90 days before departure, you can't book
before reservations open. As this method involves two
websites, do a dry run on both sites to check prices and
availability before booking for real. 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, book
your London-Cologne ticket: Go to
the Belgian Railways international website
www.b-europe.com and book a ticket from London to Cologne
and back using the
train times on this page as a guide.
You print off your own tickets. B-europe.com can book
both Eurostar+Thalys and Eurostar+ICE, and their booking
system handles this two-leg journey well, usually seeming to
find the cheapest prices.
Make sure you allow plenty of time for the connection in
Cologne, preferably at least an hour when connecting with a sleeper train.
It's obvious, but remember that your return departure date from Cologne will
be the day after your departure date from Vienna!
By all means take an earlier train from London to Cologne,
or a later train returning from Cologne to London, if this
has cheaper fares available or if you'd like some time in
Cologne.
Booking tip: Also try booking London-Cologne at
www.eurostar.com as they currently have some £45
one-way, £79 return fares using Eurostar+Thalys.
Booking tip: If you don't mind leaving London
earlier and spending some time in Cologne, you can
sometimes find cheaper tickets London to Cologne at the German
Railways website. 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 (08:57 or 10:57) and
spending some time in Cologne, in the return direction it
means spending the morning in Cologne and leaving Cologne at
11:43 arriving London at 16:03. Try for cheap tickets
using these links (I recommend booking a round trip as two
one-ways, it's easier):
Departing London at 08:57
Sundays or
departing London at
10:57 Mondays-Saturdays. Returning,
departing Cologne at 11:43
any day
Step 2, book your Cologne-Vienna ticket: Go to the German Railways website,
www.bahn.de, and use the journey planner to book from Cologne to Vienna and back,
looking for the direct EN (EuroNight) train with 0 changes.
You print out your own ticket.
Or use www.oebb.at:
You can also book
the Cologne-Vienna train at the Austrian railways website
www.oebb.at.
I find the German bahn.de website easier to use, and prices
were the same until recently, but now I'm seeing 39 euros
with couchette on oebb.at when it's increased to 59 euros at bahn.de.
So the
moral is, check both sites!
Go to
www.oebb.at
and click 'English' top right. Use the journey planner
to find trains from Cologne to Vienna, and identify the
evening EuroNight ('EN') train with 0 changes in the search
results. Click 'Ticket and prices' and you'll see a long list of possible
fares. Look for the type of couchette or sleeper you
want and click the cheap fare shown with a green clover
leaf. You may now have to switch it back to English
again if it's switched itself to German! Fill out the
form, and now you'll see yet another list of fares. Ignore the 'flexible' open tickets at the top,
and hunt down the list of fares shown as 'valid on a
specific train' until you see one for 'Valid connection:
from 20:05 to 08:52', for the type
of seat, couchette or sleeper that you want. Select
it, and buy it. 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.
Tailor-made travel & hotel arrangements...
If you want a compete tailor-made
trip with all your rail travel expertly booked for you and
good quality hotels arranged, UK residents can call
www.railbookers.com on 020 3327 0761. US
residents can call them on (646) 770 2894 (please
quote seat61) and Canadian residents on (416) 800 0732
(please quote 'seat61'). Australian residents can call
their Australian office,
www.railbookers.com.au on 02 8096 0550. Just tell them
what you want, and they'll advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels and sort it all out for you, hassle-free. They get
very positive reviews and take good care of their guests.
Browse suggested holiday itineraries & prices.
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 & Linz
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 16:01 (15:31 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 on the City Night Line sleeper train
'Cassiopeia', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est daily at 20:05 (20:20 at weekends) and arriving in
Munich at 07:10 next morning. It has a sleeping-car (1, 2 & 3 berth compartments,
either 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 Hauptbahnhof at 09:27 and
arriving in
Linz at 12:09 and Vienna Westbahnhof at 13:44.
More pictures &
information about this RailJet train.
Train times Vienna & Linz ► London
Travel from
Vienna to
Munich by air-conditioned Austrian 'RailJet' train, leaving Vienna
Westbahnhof at
16:14 or Linz at 17:51 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 daily at 22:47 and arriving at Paris Gare de
l'Est 09:24 next morning. The train has ordinary seats, couchettes
(4 & 6-bunk) and
a sleeping-car (1, 2 or 3-bed rooms, deluxe with shower or standard
with washbasin).
More pictures
& information about this
City Night Line sleeper train. Travel tip:
This train leaves Munich combined with the Munich-Amsterdam
sleeper, so look for 'Amsterdam' on the departure
boards.
Travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord at
11:13 and arriving London St Pancras at 12:30.
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 a modern 'Comfortline' sleeping-car (1, 2
& 3-berth deluxe
compartments with private shower and toilet, 1, 2 & 3-berth
standard compartments 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, and the sleeper fare includes
a light breakfast.
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, why not catch the earlier 14:01 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 inside the hauptbahnhof.
1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper:
The most comfortable 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 new high-speed train, linking Munich,
Salzburg, Linz & Vienna and now also
Zurich, Innsbruck & Vienna. Designed to run at up to
230 km/h (143 mph) on sections of upgraded track, it
currently reaches 200 km/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 (I highly recommend the Weissbier!), 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...
If
you live in the UK, 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 in
Paris. 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 want these, see the section
below. 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 (£2.25 fee) or
collected at the station in London & Paris (free of charge).
There's no fee for debit cards, but a 2.5% 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).
Anyone from any country can buy tickets this way. Even
if you live in the UK, 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 looking for the direct CNL train
with 0 changes. 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).
Tailor-made travel & hotel arrangements...
If you want a compete tailor-made
trip with all your rail travel expertly booked for you and
good quality hotels arranged, UK residents can call
www.railbookers.com on 020 3327 0761. US
residents can call them on (646) 770 2894 (please
quote seat61) and Canadian residents on (416) 800 0732
(please quote 'seat61'). Australian residents can call
their Australian office,
www.railbookers.com.au on 02 8096 0550. Just tell them
what you want, and they'll advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels and sort it all out for you, hassle-free. They get
very positive reviews and take good care of their guests.
Browse suggested holiday itineraries & prices.
Regrettably, Eurostar, Thalys & DB's poorly-coordinated
timetable changes made in December 2010 significantly
worsened connections between London & Germany. For
most practical purposes, it is no longer possible to
travel between London & Vienna in a day, at least
without unrealistically tight connections and a very
early start from London. Please either use a
sleeper train, or travel the scenic route by day with an
overnight hotel stop in Zurich, as shown below.
Option 4:
London to Vienna by daytime trains with
hotel stop in Zurich. The scenic
option!
Vienna is too far to reach from London in a day, but if you
prefer daytime trains and scenery to overnight sleepers, no
problem, here's an ideal option with an overnight hotel stop
in Zurich. You take
an afternoon Eurostar & evening high-speed TGV-Lyria from London to
Switzerland, stop overnight in Zurich, and next morning
take a
relaxing low-speed ride on a modern Railjet train snaking through the fabulously scenic Arlberg Pass
into Austria. The world-class 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
TGV-Lyria, leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 18:23 and arriving in Zurich at 22:26. A cafe-bar is available on
board.
Spend the night in Zurich.
Zurich hotels at Hotelscombined.com.
Zurich hotels at Venere.com. For something
special, look no further than the superb
Hotel Schweizerhof, located right next to Zurich
station. One of my favourite hotels, they'll even
send a uniformed commissionaire to meet you at the
station and carry your bags across the road.
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 a modern air-conditioned Railjet train
leaves Zurich at 08:40, travelling via Innsbruck & Salzburg, arriving
Linz at 15:09 and Vienna 16:44. 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'. Look out for
views of Salzburg's castle on the right as the train
crosses the River Salzach approaching Salzburg station. A bistro car
is available for breakfast & lunch (food orders
taken & served at your seat in first & premium class), so treat yourself as
the scenery passes by.
Daytime train times, Vienna ► London
Travel from
Vienna to Zurich through
the Alps via the fabulous Arlberg Pass. There are several
trains to choose from, for example a
RailJet train leaves Vienna at 09:14 or Linz at 10:51, going via Salzburg & Innsbruck, arriving Zurich at 17:20.
Or there's a later 13:14
RailJet train from Vienna, 14:51 from Linz via the same route
arrives Zurich at 21:20. A
bistro car is available for lunch (food orders are 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 07:34 by
TGV-Lyria
arriving Paris at 11:37, change trains in Paris (with a
10 minute
walk between the Gare de l'Est & Gare du Nord),
and the
13:13 Eurostar from Paris Nord will get you
back at London St Pancras at 14:36. But by all means
have a leisurely breakfast and take a later service.
On board the TGV-Lyria 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...
There's a
café-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 interiors by designer Christian Lacroix.
Above left, 2nd class, above right, 1st class. All
seats have power sockets for laptops & mobiles. Watch the video:Inside
a Christian Lacroix TGV.
On board the Railjettrainfrom
Zurich to Innsbruck, Salzburg, Linz & Vienna...
Step 1, buy tickets from London to Zurich:
UK residents can buy tickets from London to Basel or Zurich online at
www.raileurope.co.uk.
I recommend booking London-Paris as one journey, adding to
basket, then booking Paris to Zurich as a second journey.
You can still pay for both tickets as one transaction.
You can also book by phone, calling Rail Europe on 0844 848 5 848
(lines open 09:00-19:00 Mon-Fri, 09:00-18:00 Sat,
10:00-17:00 Sun, £8 fee for phone bookings).
Alternatively, anyone from any country can book the Eurostar
at
www.eurostar.com (you print your own tickets) then book
the Paris-Zurich TGV-Lyria at
www.tgv-europe.com with tickets self-printed or
collected in Paris. See the London to
Switzerland page for full details & booking tips.
Step 2, buy tickets from Zurich to Vienna online at
the Austrian railways website
www.oebb.at,
as this will book this journey in either direction with
print-at-home tickets and cheap fares if you pre-book.
For English, click 'english' top right. Use the
journey planner to bring up trains from ZURICH (or Zurich HB)
to VIENNA. Locate a direct 'Railjet' train with 0
changes in the search results and click 'Ticket and prices'.
Now click on a cheap fare for the specific departure you
want shown with the green clover leaf. Make sure it's
the one in the right-hand 'Price without reduction' column.
On the next page, switch it back to English again, top left!
Click 'Search for offers' and on the next page select the
cheap 'clover leaf' fare on the train you want (again!) and
proceed to payment. You print your own ticket. A
little fiddly, but OK once you get the hang of it, and
that's one long journey from just 29 euros! No changes
or refunds are allowed at these 'clover leaf' prices, of
course.
Tailor-made travel & hotel arrangements...
If you want a compete tailor-made
trip with all your rail travel expertly booked for you and
good quality hotels arranged, UK residents can call
www.railbookers.com on 020 3327 0761. US
residents can call them on (646) 770 2894 (please
quote seat61) and Canadian residents on (416) 800 0732
(please quote 'seat61'). Australian residents can call
their Australian office,
www.railbookers.com.au on 02 8096 0550. Just tell them
what you want, and they'll advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels and sort it all out for you, hassle-free. They get
very positive reviews and take good care of their guests.
Browse suggested holiday itineraries & prices.
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
train 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 198 mph
TGV train to Munich, and a late night train to
Salzburg. London to Austria in a day!
Option 3, take a lunchtime
Eurostar to Paris and an evening TGV-Lyria to Zurich in Switzerland, stay overnight, then travel on to
Innsbruck or Salzburg next day through the fabulously scenic
Arlberg Pass. This is a relaxing & scenic way to go!
Option 1: London to Innsbruck or Salzburg via the
Paris-Munich sleeper...
This is the simplest, cheapest & most time-effective option,
using the daily
City Night Line sleeper train between Paris & Munich.
Train times London ► Innsbruck & Salzburg
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 16:01 (15:31 at weekends), arriving Paris Gare du Nord at
19:17 (18:47 at weekends).
In Paris, it's 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 on the City Night Line sleeper train
'Cassiopeia', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est daily at 20:05 (20:20 at weekends) and arriving in
Munich at 07:10 next morning. It has sleeping-cars (1, 2 & 3-berth 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.
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. Direct Paris-Innsbruck sleeper
on winter Fridays! On Friday nights from late
December to mid-April the Paris-Munich City Night Line
sleeper train is extended to Innsbruck, arriving at 10:36,
with no need to change at Munich.
For Kitzbühel
or St Johann in Tirol,
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.
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 in Tirol, 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 daily at 22:47 and arriving at Paris Gare de
l'Est 09:24 next morning. The train has ordinary seats, couchettes
(4 & 6-berth) and
sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-berth compartments, deluxe with shower or standard
with washbasin).
More pictures
& information about this
City Night Line sleeper train. Travel tip:
This train leaves Munich combined with the Munich-Amsterdam
sleeper, so look for 'Amsterdam' on the departure
boards.
Travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord at
11:13 and arriving London St Pancras at 12:30.
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 a modern 'Comfortline' sleeping-car (1, 2
& 3-berth deluxe
compartments with private shower and toilet, 1, 2 & 3-berth
standard compartments 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, and the sleeper fare includes
a light breakfast.
More
pictures & information about this train.
Travel tip: For a good meal in a classic
Parisian brasserie before boarding the sleeper train in
Paris, why not catch the earlier 14:01 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 inside Munich Hauptbahnhof.
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 similar, with air-conditioned
carriages. The journey to Innsbruck is also a
very scenic ride...
Above: This is
the Austrian EuroCity 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...
If
you live in the UK, 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
book 4-berth couchettes, if you want these see the section
below. And if you've a child
aged 4- 5 or 12-14,
please
read this note.
Step 2, after booking
the Paris-Munich 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 (£2.25 fee) or collected at the station in
London & Paris (free of charge). There's no fee for
debit cards, but a 2.5% fee applies to credit cards.
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.
Anyone from any country can buy tickets this way. Even
if you live in the UK, 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, and
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, which are the correct 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 looking for the direct CNL train
with 0 changes. 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, now 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).
Tailor-made travel & hotel arrangements...
If you want a compete tailor-made
trip with all your rail travel expertly booked for you and
good quality hotels arranged, UK residents can call
www.railbookers.com on 020 3327 0761. US
residents can call them on (646) 770 2894 (please
quote seat61) and Canadian residents on (416) 800 0732
(please quote 'seat61'). Australian residents can call
their Australian office,
www.railbookers.com.au on 02 8096 0550. Just tell them
what you want, and they'll advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels and sort it all out for you, hassle-free. They get
very positive reviews and take good care of their guests.
Browse suggested holiday itineraries & prices.
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 198 mph TGV, leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 15:25 and arriving in Munich at
21:36. The TGV has a café-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 07:28 and arriving in Munich at
09:14. 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 19:36
(20:36 on Saturdays).
How much does it cost?
London to Paris starts at £39 one-way or £69 return.
Paris to Munich or Paris to Salzburg starts at 39 euros (£34) one-way,
78 euros (£68)
return.
Munich-Innsbruck starts at 19 euros (£17) each way.
How to buy tickets online...
UK
residents can go to
www.raileurope.co.uk and book both the Eurostar to Paris and
the TGV from Paris 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.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address (£2.25 fee) or
collected in London and Paris. You can also book the
Munich-Salzburg and Salzburg-Stuttgart trains at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
but you may find it cheaper to use German railways website
www.bahn.de.
Alternatively, and this may be the cheapest way to book,
anyone from any country can book the London-Paris Eurostar
at
www.eurostar.com, then (if travelling to Salzburg) book
from Paris to Salzburg at the German railways website
www.bahn.de. If travelling to Innsbruck, book from
Paris to Munich at
www.bahn.de, then make a second booking from Munich to
Innsbruck also using
www.bahn.de.
How to
buy tickets by phone...
If you
prefer to book the journey by phone, or if you have problems booking
online, call Rail
Europe on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open
09:00-19:00 Mondays-Fridays, 09:00-18:00 Saturdays,
closed Sundays).
Option 3: London to Innsbruck
&
Salzburg by daytime trains with
hotel stop in Zurich. The scenic
option!
You can just about reach Salzburg in one day from London (see
above), but it means an early start and
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-Lyria from London to
Switzerland, stopping overnight in Zurich, then
taking a
relaxing low-speed Railjet train snaking through the fabulously scenic Arlberg Pass
into Austria. The world-class 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 TGV-Lyria, leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 18:23 and arriving in Zurich at 22:26. A café-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 10:57, Innsbruck 12:06, Salzburg
13:58, Linz 15:09 & Vienna 16:44. 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 (food orders
are 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 09:14, Linz 10:51, Salzburg 12:02, Innsbruck 13:54, St Anton
15:00, Feldkirch 15:48, arriving Zurich at 17:20. On
the Railjet, a
bistro car is available for
lunch (or food orders taken & served at your seat in first
& premium classes), so treat yourself!
Alternatively, another
Railjet train leaves Vienna at 13:14,
Linz at 14:51, Salzburg at 16:02, Innsbruck at 17:54, St
Anton at 19:00, Feldkirch at 19:48, arriving Zurich at
21:20. Refreshments available.
Travel from Zurich to London
using any of the services suggested on the
London to Switzerland
page. For example, leave Zurich at 07:34,
arriving Paris at 11:37, change trains in Paris (with a 10 minute
walk between the Gare de l'Est & Gare du Nord), the
13:13 Eurostar from Paris Nord will get you
back at London St Pancras at 14:36. But by all means
have a leisurely breakfast and take a later departure
back to Blighty.
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-Lyria to
Zurich about to leave Paris...
There's a
café-bar car serving drinks & hot & cold snacks. It
also sells Paris metro tickets, which can save
you time on your return journey...
The TGV trains from Paris to Zurich feature chic
new interiors by designer Christian Lacroix.
Zurich
to Innsbruck starts at €19 (£17) each way in 2nd
class or €29 (£25) 1st class.
Zurich
to Salzburg starts at €29 (£25) each way in 2nd
class or €49 (£44) 1st class.
How to buy tickets...
Step 1, buy tickets from London to Zurich:
UK residents can buy tickets from London to Zurich online at
www.raileurope.co.uk.
I recommend booking London-Paris as one journey, adding to
basket, then booking Paris to Zurich as a second journey.
You can still pay for both tickets as one transaction.
You can also book by phone, calling Rail Europe on 0844 848 5 848
(lines open 09:00-19:00 Mondays-Fridays, 09:00-18:00
Saturdays, £8 fee for phone bookings).
Alternatively, anyone from any country can book the Eurostar
at
www.eurostar.com (you print your own tickets) then book
the Paris-Zurich TGV-Lyria at
www.tgv-europe.com with tickets self-printed or
collected in Paris. See the London to
Switzerland page for full details & booking tips.
Step 2, buy tickets from Zurich to Innsbruck or Salzburg online at
the Austrian railways website
www.oebb.at,
as this will book this journey in either direction with
print-at-home tickets and lots of cheap fares if you
pre-book.
For English, click 'english' top right. Use the
journey planner to bring up trains from ZURICH (or Zurich HB)
to Innsbruck Hbf or Salzburg Hbf. Locate a direct 'railjet'
train with 0 changes in the search results and click 'Ticket
and prices'. Now click on a cheap fare for the
specific departure you want shown with the green clover
leaf. Make sure it's the one in the right-hand 'Price
without reduction' column. On the next page, switch it
back to English again, top left! Click 'Search for
offers' and on the next page select the cheap 'clover leaf'
fare on the train you want (again!) and proceed to payment.
You print your own ticket. A little fiddly, but OK
once you get the hang of it, and that's one long journey
from just 19 or 29 euros! No changes or refunds are
allowed at these 'clover leaf' prices, of course.
Travel from London to Munich
by Eurostar & Paris-Munich City Night Line sleeper
train, as shown on the
London-Germany page, leaving London at 16:01 (15:31
at weekends), changing trains in Paris and
arriving Munich at
07:10 next morning.
Travel from Munich to Graz
on a direct EuroCity train leaving Munich at 10:27 and
arriving Graz 16:23. Or you can leave Munich at
08:27, change at Bischofshofen (arrive 10:52, depart
11:13) arriving Graz at 14:23.
Train times Graz ► London
Leave Graz at 11:37 on a direct EuroCity train to
Munich, arriving at 17:33, and enjoy an evening in Munich.
Or you can leave Graz at 13:37, 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 22:47, changing trains in
Paris and arriving London at
12:30 next day, as shown on
the London-Germany page.
Book the
Munich-Graz trains online at
the German Railways website
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 16:01 (15:31
at weekends), changing trains in Paris and
arriving Munich at
07:10 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 13:15.
See the photos above.
Train times Klagenfurt, Villach ► London
Leave Klagenfurt
at 16:43 and Villach at 17:16 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 22:47, changing trains in
Paris and arriving London at
12:30 next day, as shown on
the London-Germany page.
Book the
Munich-Villach/Klagenfurt trains online at
the German Railways website
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).
London to Holland by 'Dutch Flyer' train &
ferry... A train takes you from
London's Liverpool Street station directly to the
ferry terminal at Harwich. You walk off the
train, into the terminal, get your
boarding card & cabin key at the Stena Line
check-in desk and walk straight onto the overnight
ferry to Hoek van Holland. The new superferry
'Stena Hollandica' is the largest ferry of its kind in
the world. See the
Netherlands page for more details...
Cosy cabins: The overnight Harwich-Hoek ferry is a
floating hotel. All passengers travel in a cosy private
cabin with
en suite shower & toilet and satellite TV. This is the
cheapest 2-berth
cabin...
A Captain's Class cabin with double bed...
Onwards to Austria by ICE high-speed train:
This is a superb German
ICE train at
Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof...
If you want to avoid the Channel Tunnel, perhaps if
problems are affecting the Eurostar service or if you
suffer from claustrophobia, 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:
London, East Anglia & Harwich ►
Austria
Day 1:
Travel
from London to Hoek van Holland by 'Dutch Flyer' train &
luxury ferry. You leave London's Liverpool
Street station at 19:32 on a train to Harwich International. At
Harwich, the station is right next to the
ferry terminal and you walk off the train into the
terminal, check in at the Stena Line desk and walk straight onto Stena Line's
luxurious overnight superferry 'Stena Hollandica' to Hoek
van Holland. All passengers travel
in cosy private cabins with en suite toilet & shower,
free WiFi & satellite TV.
Deluxe 'Comfort class' or 'Captains class' cabins are also
available, with complimentary minibar. You
can get on board the ferry around 9pm, have a late
dinner in the restaurant and settle into your cabin.
The ferry sails at 23:15 and arrives at Hoek van Holland
at 07:45 Dutch time next morning. This 'Dutch
Flyer' London-Netherlands train & ferry service is a
fully-integrated service with special fares from London
to Any Dutch Station which cover the train to Harwich, the
ferry and onward train to anywhere in the Netherlands,
see the Netherlands page for
full details. The same special fare from London is valid from any National Express East Anglia station,
for example Norwich, Cambridge, Romford, Ilford, Ipswich.
Day 2: Now take the next
available local train to Rotterdam and change for an
InterCity to Utrecht or Amsterdam, arriving mid-morning. 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.
Option 1
is to take daytime
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, though it
will be a long day.
Option 2
is to spend the day exploring Amsterdam, then leave
Amsterdam Centraal at 20:34 on the overnight
City Night Line sleeper
train
Munich arriving 07:10 next morning (day 3 from London).
Then take onward trains to Austria, for example the
08:27 from Munich arriving Salzburg at 10:09 or the
09:27 Railjet
train from Munich arriving Vienna at 13:44.
You can book trains from Amsterdam or Utrecht to Austria
online at
www.bahn.de.
Austria ► Harwich,
East Anglia & London
Option 1:
Take daytime trains from Austria to Hoek van Holland.
Using this option, you'd leave Austria on the morning
of day 1, and arrive London in the morning of day 2.
Use
www.bahn.de
to find suitable daytime trains from Austria to Hoek van Holland,
arriving no later than 21:00.
You'll need to leave Austria fairly early. At Hoek van
Holland, the ferry terminal is right next to the station.
Option 2:
Take
an afternoon train from Austria to Munich, then the sleeper train to Amsterdam, and spend a
free day in Amsterdam. Using this
option, you'd leave Austria in the afternoon of day 1,
spend day 2 exploring Amsterdam, and arrive London in
the morning on day 3. Take a train from Austria to
Munich, see
www.bahn.de
for times and fares. For example, A
Railjet train
leaves Vienna at 16:14 and Salzburg at 19:02 and arrives
in Munich at 20:34. Leave
Munich daily
at 22:43 by City Night Line sleeper train, arriving Amsterdam Centraal
at 08:56. The train has sleepers (1, 2 & 3-berth rooms, either
standard with washbasin or deluxe with en suite toilet &
shower), couchettes
(4-berth & 6-berth) & ordinary seats.
More information about City
Night Line trains. Spend the day in Amsterdam,
then take the 18:46 train from Amsterdam to Rotterdam
and change onto the local sprinter train to Hoek van
Holland. The ferry terminal is right next to the
station.
Travel overnight from Hoek van Holland to London by
'Dutch Flyer' train & luxury ferry. Check in at
the Stena Line desk, then walk
onto the luxurious superferry 'Stena Britannica' and sail overnight
to Harwich in a snug private cabin with shower, toilet,
satellite TV and free WiFi. The ferry sails from Hoek at 22:30
Mondays-Fridays or 22:00 Saturdays & Sundays and arrives at Harwich
International at 06:30 next morning (day 2), UK time.
Take a train on to London arriving 08:45-08:59 (day 2).
See the Netherlands page for
full details about the 'Dutch Flyer' train & ferry service.
How much does
it cost?
London to
Amsterdam or Utrecht starts at £39 per person each way,
plus the cost of a cabin. Cabins start at £30 for
a single berth cabin or £43 per cabin for a 2-berth, and
are compulsory on the night sailing. The fare
covers the train from London to Harwich, the ferry, and
onward Dutch trains from Hoek van Holland Haven to any
station in the Netherlands, see the
Netherlands
page for full details of fares and cabin types and
costs.
If you prefer
option 1, Utrecht to Frankfurt starts at 39 euros each way,
then Frankfurt to Vienna also starts at 39 euros.
If you prefer
option 2, Amsterdam to Munich by City Night Line
sleeper train starts at 59 euros one-way with a couchette in
6-berth, 69 euros with a couchette in 4-berth, 99 euros with a
bed in a 2-bed sleeper, 139 euros with a bed in a single-bed
sleeper. Munich to Salzburg starts at 19 euros, Munich to
Vienna starts at 29 euros.
How to
buy tickets...
Step 1, buy a 'Dutch Flyer' train & ferry ticket from London to Utrecht or
Amsterdamas
shown here.
Step 2, book your
trains from Utrecht or Amsterdam to Austria:
Go to the German Railways website
www.bahn.de. If you want to take the
Amsterdam-Munich City Night line sleeper, ask the
system for Amsterdam to Munich departing after
20:00, and look for the overnight CNL train with 0 changes.
Then use
www.bahn.de
again to book onward trains from Munich to your Austrian
destination, allowing at least 1 hour in Munich in case of
any delay. If you want to book daytime trains from Utrecht to
Austria, first check train times at
www.bahn.de,
note the trains you want, then split the journey.
If, for example, you were to change trains at Frankfurt,
you'd split the journey
into Utrecht-Frankfurt (and back) and Frankfurt-Austria
(and back) and look for the trains shown above. This
way, the system will offer you German Railways' cheap
Netherlands-Germany and Germany-Austria fares for each
leg, from just 39 euros each way for each leg. These cheap fares
will not show up if you ask for a Netherlands to Austria
journey all in one go. If you prefer 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,
and
P&O Ferries (www.poferries.com)
sail overnight from Hull to Rotterdam. 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 ►
Austria
Day 1, Take an afternoon train from your local station
to 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), and P&O operate Hull to Rotterdam Europoort. 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 20:34 daily,
arriving Munich Hauptbahnhof at 07:10 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
Day 1, evening: The
City Night Line sleeper train 'Pollux' leaves Munich at
22:47 daily, arriving at Amsterdam Centraal at 08:56 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 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:
Winter/Spring 2011/12 edition (Dec 2011 to June 2012) or
(when available)
Summer/Autumn 2012 edition (June to Dec 2012)
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.
A good guidebook
is a sound investment. 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.
Or buy Lonely Planet guides from the
Lonely Planet website, with shipping worldwide.
Alternatively, you can download just the chapters or areas you need
in .PDF format
from the Lonely Planet Website, from around £2.99 or US$4.95 a
chapter.
www.hotelscombined.com
is probably the best hotel search system I've seen, a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites (Opodo, Expedia,
Booking.com, Hotels.com, AsiaRooms, Travelocity, LateRooms and
others) to find the cheapest hotel rates. Set up in
2005, it's probably the best place to start for booking any
hotel online in any country, worldwide.
Other hotel sites
worth trying...
www.tripadvisor.com
is the place to find
independent travellers' reviews of all the main hotels.
www.booking.com is my own preferred hotel booking system
(Hotels Combined being a search/comparison system). It
has a simple interface, a good selection in most countries
worldwide, useful online customer reviews of each hotel, and
decent prices, usually shown inclusive of unavoidable extras
such as taxes (a pet hate of mine is systems that show one
price, then charge you another!).
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, it's essential...
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).
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. Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
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 spare credit card, one designed for foreign travel with no currency
exchange loading & low or no ATM fees...
It costs nothing to take out an extra credit card.
If you keep it in a different part of your luggage so you're
not left stranded if
your wallet gets stolen, this is a form of extra travel insurance in itself. In addition,
some credit cards are significantly better for
overseas travel than others. Martin Lewis's
www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which
UK credit cards
have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something
overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when
you use an ATM abroad. Taking this advice
can save you quite a lot on each trip compared to using your
normal high-street bank credit card! You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a
Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or indeed the
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card,
find out about these cards & sign up here.
Get an international SIM card
to save on mobile data and phone calls...
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 or short break 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! A 2-night short break to Vienna by train both
ways starts at £509. An 8-night trip to Vienna &
Venice via the Swiss Alps starts at £949. Or how about
8 nights to Vienna, Prague & Budapest from £939, also by
train throughout.
See their Austria page for details. You can use
London-based
www.railbookers.com to arrange a European train tour
whatever your country of residence, in fact they now have an
office in Sydney Australia (www.railbookers.com.au)
or you can call their London office from overseas on +44
20 3327 0761.
Treyn Holidays
offers escorted tours to Germany & Austria, with 3* hotels and
2nd class rail. Check details & departure dates at
www.railholidays.com,
then book online or call 01904 730 727.
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.
In
the UK, try
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the
EU, try
If you live in the USA or Canada, try
