sarahb
Traveller
14 comments
Posted 13 years ago
Hi,
me and my friend are travelling from Vienna to Venice at the beginning of September. We have searched the trains and found the night train which provides a direct route, but according to the website there is only one seat left on this train and we would quick like to avoid the higher fares if possible.
We have a few days extra in our trip currently so were hoping to stay somewhere along the way which has good connections to and from these cities but is nice in itself! Preferably somewhere 'nature'-y as most of the other places we are visiting are cities and we like the look of Austria!!! We liked the look of Villach but it looks expensive, so we were wondering if you could give us any help with suggesting somewhere to stay which would be (relatively!) cheap, just for one night.
Thank you,
Sarah
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi Sarah!
- At which website did you look for this train?
- Graz is nice, of course. ;) Hourly trains from Wien, 2h30; to Venezia you can take the night train Wien - Venezia (from Bruck/Mur, Graz - Bruck is 30min) or during the day with the Bus via Villach. There is a youth hostel and an Etap hotel, both are around 25€ per night.
Flo 8)
sarahb
Traveller
14 comments
hi Flo,
it was the website through the interrail one, and the one it advises in my friends europe tour book. We may have misunderstood it, but we would also like to a avoid missing a lot of Austria by travelling by night and see more of it if we can while we're there, even if it is out a train window :)
Okay thanks, I will look into Graz and suggest it as an option :)
Sarah
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Do you have a link to the website?
If you have several extra trips to plan with, you could do this: Wien - Graz during the day, you pass over the Semmeringbahn, UNESCO World Heritage, the oldest mountain railway line in the world.
From Graz you could head to Triest via Slovenija; or make another stop in Ljubljana.
sarahb
Traveller
14 comments
I spoke to my friend, we're thinking we definitely won't head straight to Venice from Vienna, so going to make at least a days stop somewhere :)
My mum recommends Salzberg; would you do the same?!
Also (sorry to keep throwing questions at you!) on the ticket website (the one I am using as you asked is [ux]https://rail.shop/oebb[/ux] ) it mentioned VORTEILScard; would you recommend this? From the pricing I have found it would be cheaper to buy this card and get the reduction on train fares than just one train without the reduction. We are currently thinking of not getting an interrail card because from how we've worked it out, so far it seems cheaper to make the journeys individually, without all the supplements and this. [b]Is this a foolish mistake[/b] or would it be more worthwhile getting a card?
Thank you, Sarah
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Salzburg is nice too but more touristy than Graz. Well, since I live in Graz, I might not be 100% unbiased on that one. ;)
Vorteilscard gives you discount for domestic travel in Austria; for international journeys you get a smaller discount too. To answer the question whether an InterRail pass would be worth its money I have to know more about your route - where you are going, how long, what is your country of residence,... :)
Flo 8)
sarahb
Traveller
14 comments
Well, we are from England. Flying to Budapest. Then Budapest - Vienna - *somewhere in austria!* - venice/verona (staying somewhere in between) - florence(?) - somewhere in switzerland. Very well organised ;) ...!! haha.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Well, what you will need for reservations on this route so far:
7€ to Venice, either during the day with ÖBB bus or during the night with the ÖBB Wien - Venezia night train. At this point I have to correct myself because the Wien - Venice night train is running via Salzburg, not via Bruck, so staying in Graz and then taking the night train to Venice would not be an option. But then you've already mentioned you want to travel through Austria during the day so no problem there. :)
Venice/Verona - Firenze: 3€ (optional) with an IC train, 10€ (compulsory) with a faster Eurostar train
Firenze - Switzerland: first you have to go to Milano, reservations costs as above; from Milano you have direct EC trains to Zürich, Basel, Geneve but with 10€ reservation. Instead I would recommend to use regional trains to cross the border and continue with IC/EC trains domestically in Switzerland where you dont have to pay extra.
My personal favorrite of course is the Berninabahn, from Tirano to St Moritz. Read more here :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/bernina-express/f1749[/u]
Flo 8)
sarahb
Traveller
14 comments
Fantastic thank you :D Regarding that line from Vienna to Venice, if we got off at Salzberg and stayed there for a night then got back on the same route to Venice, would we have to pay extra charges? I mean I assume we'd have to pay for the reservation fee twice, as it would be two seperate trains (!) but would there be any other costs involved in doing it that way, as the first half would be domestic service only? I assume not because it's the same route but just thought I would make sure!
weaselwithin
Traveller
5 comments
Hi!
Just been reading this thread with interest, as we are also going through Austria. We were planning:
Vienna-Salzburg-Bled-Ljubljana-Graz-Venice
Just a little concerned as Flo you mentioned you can't go overnight from Graz - Venice. On [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u] it seems you can, but do you know differently?
Thanks :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
The link doesnt show a timetable. :|
You certainly can get overnight Graz - Venice but it isnt very comfortable as you either arrive very early or have to change trains in the middle of the night. ;)
Flo 8)