Train from Munich to Vienna
 

Can someone help me by telling me how to book a train ticket from Munich to Vienna. I will arrive in Munich Airport Sunday December 23 and I want to travel directly to Vienna. I do not want to use a commercial website such as eurorail because of cost. Can someone provide options and step by step details? I am nervous beause I only read / write English.

Thank you

Michael

Very simple.
Use www.bahn.com, the official website of German Rail.
You can buy cross-border tickets to Austria online and print them at home.
When you are asked to fill in your starting point, use MUNICH AIRPORT T (not Munich Hauptbahnhof or Central) so that also your first leg from Munich Airport to the central station will be covered by your ticket.
As your destination you want to use the proper German word for Vienna, i.e. WIEN. (you don't need to fuss about which station in Wien, use the first suggestion of just WIEN in capital letters).

The most convenient connections shall be with just one transfer at Munich Central (or Hbf, Hauptbahnhof) to the RailJet (abbreviated as RJ in the itineraries you will be given by the website) to Vienna.

As Dec 23 is just around the corner and there will be many people traveling, you should not expect to find (m)any saver fares still available. While not compulsory, reservations are highly recommended for the RailJet on that last weekend before Christmas.

When you book + print a ticket and reservations you will be asked to choose one piece of ID. When you wish to use your credit card for that purpose, you MUST have that very same credit card with you when you travel.

P.S. Have you checked airfare for non-stop flights to Vienna with airberlin.com? Since you will be at Munich airport anyway, it may be worth a look, though I guess fares will be quite steep now.

Based on the fact that the train trip will be about 5 hours - plus to and fro the stations - I would consider getting a flight on to Vienna. Usually train is a good idea - but this time flying may make sense.

Be not nervous, Michael.

Our Western European friends almost always speak not only their native language (whew!- think of life if they couldn't get that one right!) but several - and one of those is virtually always English.

I swear that some Dutch people I have met speak English better than many people with whom I work.

Learning how to "greet" say "goodbye" in the local language is always appreciated and is often all you need to get an immediate and enthusiastic reply in English. An even better approach is to learn how to ask if you may speak in English.

I am still amazed, and humbled, at how generously almost all Europeans respond when approached by a native English speaker who immediately starts speaking in English.

It takes so little effort to learn a few words and to ask permission to benefit from the "gift" that we anglophones receive by being able to travel so freely among other cultures.

Oh, and Cowboy's advice, as usual, "ist absolut perfekt"

At www.bahn.de/en a train ticket from Munich Hauptbahnhof to Vienna costs from €29 and you print your own ticket. Booking iopens 92 days before departure.

The train is a nice swish Railjet - www.railjet.at for the virtual tour!

OP travels on December 23rd, i.e. NEXT saturday!
One-way train tickets cost from €59 and up to €94 in 2nd class on THAT day.
Do NOT use Munich Hauptbahnhof but Munich airport to book+print the ticket, or you pay an extra €10.40 to cover the suburban train from Munich airport to Munich central station.

At www.bahn.de/en a train ticket from Munich Hauptbahnhof to Vienna costs from €29 and you print your own ticket. Booking iopens 92 days before departure.>

Well as Cowboy points out this is irrelevant to the OP who is traveling soon and those very limited in number 29 euro fares are long gone and OP should realize that even the discoumted 59 euro fare may well be train-specific and non changeable nor refundable (I am not sure but they well could be) - planes can be late so if buying a non-refundable non-changeable ticket then build in a lot of fudge factor time in case plane is late - if you miss the train you may be out of 59 euros plus have to buy a 94 euro full-fare ticket to boot.

Or just wait and buy that 94 euro ticket upon arrival and hop on the very next train (from the Hauptbahnhof where you have to change after taking either of two S-Bahn lines in from the airport to the main station, Hauptbahnhof where trains to Vienna are from I believe - do not think any direct to Vienna from airport.

For lots of great stuff on European trains check out www.rickstevees.com; www.seat61.com (Man in Seat 61 who posts above, his commercial site that if you get pass the ever proliferating banner ads gives a wealth of info) and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

And yes put any angst to rest about only speaking/reading/writing English when dealing with trains and buying tickets once there - in a train station like at Munich Airport the clerk will surely speak some English as will most in any main station in Germany.

And posted info is language-proof, say like once you get to the Munich main station (Hauptbahnhof) - overhead signs very clearly indicate where that train is going, etc. I do not speak German and for decades have traveled on German trains sans any problems.

The airport train ticket office does not open until about 7 AM as I recall so if the OP's flight arrives much earlier a pre-bought ticket will be more convenient.

Or use the automatic ticket machines to buy a S-bahn ticket to the main train station where ticket windows should be open earlier than that. And get a ticket them and there for a train you can surely catch. Pre-bought tickets must match the type of train - and different type trains have different fares.