Hi all,
Trying to plan a trip to Italy/Austria for May with my wife. Will be traveling by train which I have never done extensively in Europe before. Right now the plan is to fly into Milan and take an overnight train from there to Vienna. (ideally would like to fly into Vienna and out of Milan at the end of the trip, but we are on a budget and round-trip to Milan seems to be the best deal) Anyway, I am still not sure if we will be using railpasses or not. If so, would it be possible to get into Milan in the afternoon and then make reservations for a sleeper compartment on the a train leaving that night? If no rail passes, is it easier to buy the train tickets ahead of time or wait until we get there? Any advice or even things I hadnt thought of are appreciated. Sorry for the rambling but thanks for the help.

--Forest--

If tickets are available you can buy them even on many night trains - i mean sleeping berths - such trains often have a sign on it "beds free" - beds are available - but it may be sold out as well. Best to reserve via www.trenitalia.com and look for special fares - that said this is a fickle site - in the U.S. you could try RailEurope, which is generally much more expensive but on these Italy-Austria Allegro night trains they can have surprisingly cheap fares at times - probably not but check and compare to online fares (i'd call BETS, a RE agent to check: 800-441-2387 who i highly recommend for any European rail product or info) but in most cases you'll save a lot by buying online from Europe or once in Europe.
Whether or not a certain night train may be booked up is hard to tell - i think Fridays and Sundays on such trains are more full - or there could be some football match in Vienna, etc. but most likely you could book this at the Malspensa trenitalia rail desk upon arrival or at Milano Centrale station without problem. As more folks are taking cheap flights night trains are not so full as they once were but again they've cut back on the number of such trains along with the slump in demand.
If using a railpass then buy the night train supplement when buying the pass to be sure - it will cost a bit more here than there but since you are landing the same day you want to take off it may be a wise investment. BETS and others who sell passes will also make these reservations. The pass pays for the train fare but not the sleeping supplement. the only railpass you would consider is the EurailSelect pass probably.

In January I took the overnight <i>Treno Notte</i> from Milano to Vienna (Wien). It was one of the best overnight trains I have used.

I was traveling on a full price Eurailpass. My supplement for a bunk in a T3 (3 bunks) cabin on this train was 35 euros. I bought the bunk on the day of departure. There was nobody else in my cabin for the trip.

I carried on board a bottle of Italian Merlot, a slab of gorgonzola, salami, and some buns. It was a great dinner.

The wash basin in the cabin had a cleverly designed night pan underneath. This became the destination of the Merlot after filtering it through my digestive system.

In the morning as we approached Wien I was served a Continental breakfast gratis.

Would I do this again? Before you can exhale.

For a good web site about night trains see
www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap17/rail3.htm.

The cost of round-trip train travel between Milan and Vienna, particularly if you add sleeper accommodations, could easily exceed the additional cost of an open-jaw arriving in Vienna and departing from Milan. I suggest you explore the idea of flying into Vienna.

Thanks for the advice. I will look into open-jaw flights. Any idea on the cheapest places to look for such a ticket? Also, to encourage any other money saving travel tips, we will be doing Vienna, Salzburg, Venice, Rome and Milano/Como. Thanks again,

--Forest--

To find open-jaw flights, go to one of the flight booking sites such as Orbitz or Travelocity and click on Multi-City or Multiple Destinations. Then you make the first flight Home Airport to Vienna and make the second Milan to Home Airport.