I'll be going to Austria next week with my mom, and as soon as we land in Vienna, we're going to the Westbahnhof Train Station to catch a train to Salzburg. I purchased non-reserved 1st class tickets on
railpass. My question is, how does this work? Can I just jump on any train to
Salzburg? Do I have to validate my train ticket? Can I sit anywhere on the train? Or do I have to be careful not to sit in "reserved" seats? And my last and final question, is there a place where I can
store my luggage? I'm bringing a 26" suitcase and afraid there won't be enough storage space. Thanks for your help!

Michele

Hi Michele,
yes, you can jump on any train to Salzburg. Trains will depart about every 30 minutes.
No, you don't have to validate your ticket, this will be done by the Schaffner (train personnel) on the train.
Yes, be careful not to sit in reserved seats. If a seat is reserved, there will be a small notification tag to the left or right of the door of the compartiment or above the seats.
What time will you arrive at Vienna Airport? You may want to check departure time of trains at www.oebb.at.
Hope that helps. Have a nice trip!

With a first class ticket you can ride anywhere that is not specifically reserved, and a reserved seat is marked. If I had a first class ticket, I would look for a non smoking, first class car. First class is clearly marked with a 1 on the car.


Some of the Austrian trains are the "old fashioned" type in that they have compartments with sliding doors that open into the aisle. The compartments hold 6 people. Some of the newer cars do not have compartments.

I don't think you will have a problem with finding a place to put your luggage. The problem might be hoisting it up onto the rack, however. It depends on how heavy it is and how strong you are.

If the train car has compartments, a reserved seat will be marked by a piece of paper stuck in a clip on the door.
Usually the window seats are reserved, but not always.

I would check the schedule before I arrived and decide which train you want to take. Some trains are more local and make more stops.

The 11:30 and 13:30 and 15:30 departures take just under 3 hours while the 13:34, for example, train takes 3:18. It makes 7 stops whereas the 11:30, 13:30 and 15:30 and 16:00 departures make only 3 stops enroute to Salzburg. There are also faster trains at 17:30 and 18:30.

The difference in time is so small that I don't think it pays to wait for a faster train. It might if you were going all the way to Innsbruck or Sargans because the slower trains usually involve changes.

Most of the train connections to Salzburg require no changes at all.
(Departures at 10:45 and 8:45 require a change. I would avoid those two. Changes are not bad; they just require the effort of moving your suitcase. If not other connections were available, then I would not hesitate. But there are over 30 departures per day, so you can be a little more selective.

Sorry for the editorial blunders. I was trying to edit the message when I got an error message from the server and my response was posted out from under me. I think the meaning is clear, even if my syntax sounds like I need help.

One other thought about the Austrian trains. If you arrive for a departure that causes the trip to extend over the normal lunch hour, don't worry about the quality of the food on Austrian trains. I have found it to be acceptable. I once had some lake trout that was well prepared. I think the chances of finding a good dining car on the express trains would be better than on some of the local ones. The notation BordRestaurant means dining car

Other than that, people take food onto the trains on a routine basis.

topping for M

Would I be wise to purchase train tickets from home before my departure? We are traveling by train from Salzburg to Vienna to Budapest and back to Salzburg the end of May. Can I easily purchase them from the train station without speaking German or Hungarian? How do you get a reserved seat? I don't think these questions have been answered so far on this thread.

I had no trouble using English in the station at Salzburg. Many Austrians are quite good at English.
In some cases they seem to be somewhat proud of their fluency, which is ok with me. I know many of younger ones are very smooth with English.

No, trains on your routes are frequent enough, so there is no point in buying your tickets or seat vouchers before you go. Pretty well all staff in main stations of Salzburg and Vienna speak English, and most of those in Budapest Keleti do, too. All stations take credit cards. A travel agency called Carlton Wagons Lits is on Dorotheer ul in central Budapest, just round the corner from Gerbeaud s fine café. They charge a small fee, but speak English, take credit cards, have comfortable armchairs, and are handy to the café after you have booked. You need not book more than once, as each place I have named sells all of the tickets you seek, so if you know your dates you can book them all in Salzburg, your first station.

Welcome to Europe

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To KGIBBONS:
We just returned from a trip traveling by train Munich-Hohenschwangau-Ruette(bus)-Innsbrook-Salzburg-Budapest-Vienna-Munich.
It seems scarier when you're planning it than when you are doing it. We bought tickets as we went. Did not reserve seats--except once, and then the reserved seat we were given was the wrong number for the car assigned. We traveled second class and they assigned a first class seat, and we didn't need the reservation anyhow. Wasted about $10. As to luggage, we NEVER had to hoist it up, even though we were traveling during the Austrian's spring two-week vacation when they are all on the road. In most cars you can stow luggage between two seats, and the rest you can pile on a seat facing yours when the cars are not full--as they never were. (I'm sure that is not the case in summer).
No problem with the language at any of the stations. Just be sure you know which bahnhoff you're getting off at. Some trains stop at several places in a city. In Budapest we had anxious moments until we realized there was a stop before our Keleti stop.
We also purchased a ticket from a travel agent in Budapest who was very helpful and spoke good English. It is called Blaue Gaus and is on the large plaza where all the metro lines meet--Deak Ter.
All cars are clearly marked on the outside as to smoking or non smoking. Plenty of signs to tell you schedules.Conductors are friendly and always reminded us of where we needed to get off when they checked our tickets.
Have a great time.