Best Way to Get from Budapest to Vienna
 

We will travel from Budapest to Vienna and then Vienna to Prague in two weeks. Is the train the best/most economical way to travel to these two cities? Is there a choice of stations in each country, or just one station? And finally, is it best to buy our tickets before traveling to Europe from the US or should we buy them after our arrival?

Just back from the similar trip. We traveled by train from Budapest to Vienna and from Vienna to Prague, it was easy and comfortable. We purchased our tickets for the first segment in Budapest 2 days in advance – there are number of different rates depending on the fare you prefer. The chipset fare restricted to the specific train was not available for the day of our departure and we purchased ticket for specific date but could travel at any time at higher price. The agent did not recommend assigned seats, so most of the window seats were reserved.

Vienna to Prague. We got tickets at the train station on our arrival to Vienna. All trains between Vienna and Prague go from Wien Südbahnhof to Praha-Holesovice but some make more stops then others and it might take 1h longer if you choose the train with more stops. We paid 49 E for tickets with assigned seats. There are 29 E tickets available at www.oebb.at, but I could not find English version of this site and did not purchase tickets in advance.

Many years ago there were hydrofoil boats that offered a relatively fast connection from Budapest to Vienna.... you might have to do some internet research, but I remember it being fun and fast!

The hydrofoil takes about 6 hours.

Driving takes 2 hours.

I would suggest the train. It takes 3 hours. There is a non-stop train leaving from Keleti PU (Eastern Station) almost every 2hours, arriving a Westbahnhof. The Metro station is located at both Keleti and Westbahnhof.

The train is superb. We took it over the summer it was super clean. I would suggest buying food and drink to take with you. We bought a cup of un-drinkable coffee for 7euro on the train.

You do not need to make reservations ahead of time. I would however purchase tickets the day before, just to make it easier and less hassle on travel day. No need to purchase 1 st class tickets either. We ended up having a little cabin to ourselves, just the 4 of us. We did get there about 20 minutes early so we could get good seats. We where able to purchase a combo ticket that included our bus/subway tickets in Vienna. This was about 29 Euro. You can purchase the tickets direclty at Keleti PU. The international ticket booth is sort of in the back of the station, just follow the signs. You will think you are lost, but just keep going. There was some renavation going on then, don't know about now.

Check out www.oebb.at it is the Austrian train schedule site, I find it easier to read than the HU schedule.

Have a teriffic time. S

Thank you all for your input. We are looking forward to seeing Budapest, Vienna and Prague!

Another vote for the train.

I used it during the summer of 2007 to do a 3 night trip to Budapest during a home exchange in Vienna.

By the way, I went to Fiji, Australia and New Zealand this year. I had two home swaps in Australia followed by one in New Zealand. I flew Air Pacific, Quantas, Air New Zealand and Amerian before the whole trip was done.