Thanks to everyone who helped with our Vienna itinerary!

Now I have a quick train question. When arriving in Vienna airport, does anyone know if it is walking distance to the train terminal (are they interconnected like Paris)? We have decided to go to Budapest and are considering leaving directly from Vienna airport upon arrival.

Also, when returning to Vienna, which train station is in the town center? The train schedule I have found:

Wien Westbanhof to Budapest Deli Pu departing 14:15 arriving 16:58.

The return is Deli Pu to Westbanhof departing 13:10 arriving 15:50.

Are these the correct stations to be taking? I'm assuming Westbanhof is the airport terminal, but is there another station central to Vienna that we should return into? Thanks again!

The Schnellbahn, which is downstairs from the airport, runs from the airport to Wien Mitte station. From there you can take the U-bahn to Westbahnhof.
There are also buses that go directly to the Westbahnhof from the airport. They leave approx. every half hour from the front of the terminal and cost around 5 Euro.

Don't know if this will be helpful to you, but we took the train from Prague to Vienna and arrived at Westbanhof, however, when we left Vienna to go to Budapest we left from Sudbanhof. I have no idea how many stations there are in Vienna, but this was our situation.

Okay, I think I understand it now. How long does it take to travel from the airport to the Stephansplatz area?

I'm using www.sncf.com for my train info, is there a better site someone can recommend? We live in France, so we are not eligible for the railpasses sold to U.S. residents.

Hi Expatmommy:

In March we sort of did it the other way around (flew into Budapest, train from Deli pu to Westbanhof & flew out of Vienna, but were in Vienna for 3 days before we flew out).

All fairly easy walking distance provided you don't have a lot of luggage (or anything heavy), as you'll be train-subway-train.

As I recall, it will be about 60-90 minutes from the airport, depending on the train at the airport (~30 minutes from the airport to the subway station, ~30 minutes from the subway station to Westbanhof with airport trains every 30 minutes at :00 & :30 except early morning & late night).

In Budapest we stayed at the Mecure Buda which was next door to the Deli pu station, while its a train / subway / streetcar stop it was a fairly quite area, fairly conviently located (1 evening we walked from the Parliament buildings in Pest, across the Chain Bridge, through the tunnel to the hotel in ~40min and its ~1km from the castle walls), fairly inexpensive (but we got a great deal) and for convience it had a PC with free high-speed internet access on the top floor.

Hope this helps,

Z

Thanks Z - I think I've been using your website (travel.masterpiece-cs.com) from an early post to get Budapest info, we are going to try to stay at Mercure Buda as well.

Do we need to arrange for airport to Westbanhof transfer ahead of time or can we just walk up and wait?

I searched the Vienna airport site and came up with the schedule for a bus that runs from VIE directly to Budapest. Fares are 28 euros one way or 39 roundtrip. I don't know how that compares with the S-Bahn/U-Bahn/train option fare or time wise or even if it fits your schedule but it might be worth looking into also. Has anyone used this service before?

http://english.viennaairport.com/pdf/bus2.pdf

As Operaman says, Vienna Schwechat station is part of the airport. Trains from there are local: they go in to Vienna stations that will not get you to Budapest. So you need the bus from the airport building every 20 to 30 minutes that runs to Sudbahnhof and Westbahnhof, both inside the city of Vienna, a mile from the city centre at St Stephansdom. For none of these need you book a seat.

Your best web site will be Austrian railways on http://www.oebb.at/: they have an English version. They confirm the trains you found, 14:15 to 16:58 and 13:10 to 15:50. Both are restaurant car trains. But other trains leave Vienna West at 0614, and with restaurant cars at 0845, 1007, 1545, and 2001, and these may make a quicker journey from your touch-down in Schwechat. You need not book your rail seat, but can buy it at Schwechat or West station. Still another restaurant car train leaves Sud at 0715: again you can book as you go.

Now the Budapest end. The trains from Vienna West at 1415 and 1828 go to Deli station, which will suit you in the Mercure. Most people need a metro or tram from Deli over to the Buda or eastern side of the city, where most hotels are. So such people prefer a train to Budapest Keleti. These trains are from Vienna Sud the 0716, and from Vienna West the 0614, 0845, 1007, and 2001.

The trains from the airport do run to Vienna Mitte, and that is ten minutes by metro to central Vienna, St Stephansdom. But I would not arrive at St Stephans with luggage, as you will have a bus ride or taxi from there to your hotel. If you just want a couple of hours you would leave your bags at Westbahnhof left luggage office, on the ground floor to the right.

ben.haines@:btinternet.com

The bus takes 35 minutes from the airport to reach the Wien Westbahnhof; the S-Bahn (suburban rail) services run from the airport to Wien Mitte and Wien Mitte stations.
You are correct about the train services to and from Wien Westbahnhof to Deli-pu.
There are three train stations in Wien, Nord, Sud, and West and they are pretty much all equally distant from Stephansplatz.
You can also use the GermanRail time table to check schedules:
http://www.bahn.de/pv/uebersicht/die...l_guests.shtml

Thanks so much for everyone's help!