Budapest to Vienna by train
 

Any advice on taking the train to Vienna from Budapest on October 17? Planning on an early afternoon train as we will tour the Parliament building in the morning. How far is the train station (staying at the Marriott)? Tickets are not available yet but from looking at earlier dates, there are frequent trains.

Thanks!

This is the type of question that is much easier/faster to Google, since one would have to be familiar with the location of your hotel and guess approx. how far it is from the station.


https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Buda...bc9400390d!3e0

Sorry, that link didn't work. It's 3.2 km to the station.

What advice are you seeking? Vienna and Budapest are relatively close. They are capitals of neighboring countries that used to be a single entity. The trains run constantly. So ultimately, what's your question?

Just trying to gather general info. I looked at raileurope and tickets are not available yet. Is this the correct site for me to use to purchase tickets.

elberko Thanks for the reminder about the google maps site. Very helpful in helping me wrap my mind about the location of the various sites. Always an overwhelming task when I first start to plan out our days in a new city.

It's a short trip, most of it not scenic. Raileurope used to impose a hefty surcharge, don't know whether or not that's still the case.

Check bahn.de for schedules. It's been awhile, I think the last time I did this the concierge at the Buda Hilton booked our tickets for us because we weren't decided on date and time before we arrived. We were debating about taking the hydrofoil which was much longer (10 years ago).

Go right to the Hungarian or Austrian railways' sites and book discounted tickets- great info on that at www.seat61.com - for general info like 1st vs 2nd class, etc also check www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

This site is a good resource for trains in Europe:
https://www.seat61.com/Europe-train-tickets.htm

I've done this excursion while staying with friends in Budapest. No need whatever to bother with advance train tickets, they're cheap, Vienna is close, many trains as mentioned, just buy a ticket at the station & go.

A nice surprise, my fare from Budapest included public transport in Vienna. Do ask when you buy your ticket if that very useful benefit is still in effect.

elberko, seat61,com was very informative and helpful. Thanks again for your suggestions. I haven't booked intercountry trains in a while and couldn't remember the best way.

https://www.trainline.eu/

Books most European long-distance trains at prices matching those of national rail sites -

We did this just by buying tickets at the station. One thing I always recommend is to printout the train schedule and highlight your preferred train - helps greatly with communication.

Yeh you can always buy tickets once there - full-fare but not that much on that run.

And hyrdofoils also run on the not-so-blue Danube.

I know we can probably buy tickets at station, but I prefer to have the tickets in advance. Hydrofoils run until
Sept 30 so not an option. Could hire a driver. Anyone have experience with that?

Has anyone actually checked walk-up price vs advance purchase for this route? As I mentioned, it was very cheap just buying at Keleti prior to departure and I suspect the fare may be one of those on which there's no or little savings in advance. And it would cost more if purchased through an agent. It's a very inexpensive run.

I also like to have a ticket in hand when it makes sense. This one had no advantage to me but I understand if it does to you.

I know we can probably buy tickets at station, but I prefer to have the tickets in advance.>

Well be sure to get a perhaps optional seat reservation too - having a ticket means you can board the train (unless seat reservations are mandated then they come with the ticket usually)- ticket and seat reservation both are needed to guarantee a seat.

If my experience in the spring (May) is any indication, I wouldn't worry too much about having a reservation for a seat in the fall. My trains, going & coming back, were far from full.

Cheaper to buy ahead:

https://seat61.com/international-tra...dapest-Austria

I wound up in first class last time because it was cheaper than second class by the time I got around to buying my ticket.