Tiger_Lily

Hi all,

I really would appreciate advice.
My parents are taking a short trip to Europe this October and I'm helping make the travel arrangements for them.

They want to get from Vienna to either Zurich or Frankfurt to catch a flight home.

I've checked whichbudget.com and only Helvetic or Airberlin flys to Zurich. No flights to Frankfurt in October.

But I was wondering if perhaps a train might be easier? or cheaper?... We've no experience with train travel in Europe other than the Eurostar.

I checked the web and the train company that links Austria, Switzerland and Germany (exactly what our targeted cities are) is ICE. It's only a one-way trip that my parents will be taking. But I can't find a website to ICE per se. And the Europerail website seems to focus on multi-countries, multi-day combo passes.

Could really use some suggestions to point me in the right direction.

Thanks
Tiger Lily

sundown

Those are both major train trips (7 + hours to Frankfurt, 9+ hours to Zurich) so I think that eliminates the train. There are other airline options from Vienna to Zurich, including Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Air.

The train idea might be a good option if you could adjust the itinerary to get them closer to where they have to fly out of.

metlc

Tiger,

It's worth mentioning that the Vienna-Zurich route is one of the most scenic in Europe, especially the Tyrolian leg from Innsbruck to Sargens. Plus, we were able to get an entire cabin to ouselves in October.

Tiger_Lily

Thanks Sundown. Where did you get the timings?

Metlc, did you book the tickets prior to reaching Vienna or would you recommend buying on the spot?

Would anyone be able to direct me to a website to book an ICE ticket for my parents?

BTilke

I've taken the day train several times from Vienna to Brussels, which stops in Frankfurt (city and airport). Usually I'm on the DB ICE train departing Vienna, sometimes the EC train. The ICE is a very pleasant ride, the train has a restaurant car (as I recall), and if you can go first class you'll find it quite comfortable.
Two caveats: it is a long ride (which doesn't bother me, whenever possible I take a train instead of flying) and it tends to run late. On every single journey I've taken along that route, the train ran up to 45 minutes late. About 20 to 30 minutes late was the norm and for some reason the ICE trains ran later than the EC trains. Occasionally passengers with tight connections had to get off at different stations to catch up with other trains that would get them to their connecting destination faster. But you'll be going direct, so that's not a problem.

BTilke

To answer your previous question, I booked my seats in advance in Brussels. But on most of my trips, the trains were not full (especially in first class) and it would have been easy to book the trip in Vienna. I do recommend they spend the extra few euros for seat reservations...it will make the trip more relaxing knowing they won't have to move after they're settled in.

swandav2000

Hi Tiger Lily,

I wonder if you've found these great sites for train travel: www.rail.ch (though it's the Swiss rail website, it has rail schedules for all of Europe, and it's easy to use), and www.railsaver.com (can price international rail journeys). These may help you as you continue your planning . . .

Also wonder if your parents would consider flying out of Munich? Obviously an easier haul from Vienna.

Let me know if I can help further.

s

sundown

I used the rail.ch site swandav mentioned above and an old Eurail timetable I had for the times. It's worth mentioning that the Swiss and Austrians have teamed up to do a joint Rail Pass. RickSteves.com is a pretty good place to find explanations on the various rail passes. I didn't look up the cost of the Vienna-Zurich trip but sometimes a single longer trip like that can pay the entire price of a rail pass That would also allow them the option of getting off the train wherever they wanted and taking a stroll, having a meal, etc. I'm not a huge fan of the idea of spending the entire last day of a trip just trying to get back to the airport.

viennese

ICE is not a train company, it is a kind of train meaning InterCityExpress as it connects major cities.

There are flights from Vienna to Frankfurt on Austrian Airlines. Although AUA is not a budget airline, they offer flights from € 160. However, you have to book early as there is only a limitied number of seats for that price. The trick is to book a return flight even if you won't use the return ticket. You book Vienna-Frankfurt in Oktober and Frankfurt-Vienna (which you won't use) for December or whatever applies to the tariff. The more in the future your return flight is, the more likely are you to get the cheapest price.

The same with AUA flights from Vienna to Zurich.

https://www.aua.com/at/eng/Flights/Search/default.htm

metlc

Tiger,

My wife and I arrived in Paris around Sept 8, and the next day we reserved our Vienna/Zurich (Sargens) seats for travel on Sept 17. (We were on Railpasses.) That train was the last of three ICE morning departures (9:00 AM, I think) that went all the way through to Zurich the same day.

Upon boarding on the 17th, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that we had the six-seat first-class cabin all to ourselves. This worked out especially well since my wife had caught a chill in Vienna and we could recline all six seats to make one big bed! She was able to recoup enough to view the ride from Landeck to Sargens, which is quite a view.

Tiger_Lily

Hi all,

Thank you for your advice and experiences.

My parents and I have discussed and they would have loved to take the scenic route. But they felt that a 9 hour ride is just too long especially since they're going to be hopping on another long plane ride home right after that... So they've decided to fly from Vienna to Zurich. Going to book them on an AirBerlin flight.

Thanks again

Cheers