train from venice to vienna
 

We are taking a trip next may and want to go by train from rome to vienna, We have checked out the timetables and want to do a night stopover in Venice.
My Question is this. We want to travel during the day to enjoy the view but want a quick, scenic route, any suggestions ?

We traveled in 2000 (but not much has changed--they're rail tracks, after all) from Venice to Vienna and much of the central part of the 7-9 hour (I can't quite remember the full time and there were a few stops along the way) was in Alpine countries. A fascinating view from the train was the change in building styles and especially roofs (from Italy's tile to Austria's metal) through the train's transition between the two countries. I'm not so sure it's quick, but it's a scenic journey.

Contrary to the above , many changes in this route.
Plese chaeck the schedule very carefully as you will find that often the connection from Venice to Villach in Austria is actually by a bus.
A example is the departure at 11:20 it will show IC Bus
You then connect to a train for the remaining portion of the journey.
It is said that this is due to the many financial troubles of the Italian railway system
Routing takes about 7- 8 hours or more . Several trains with no changes also. some scenic views.

schedules

www.oebb.at

the austrian rail website- the schedules will change in December 2009 for the following year but this can be a good guide. Changes are often limited.

My Thomas Cook Rail Timetable April shows a EuroNight train from Venice to Vienna. I took that many years ago. It's true that on a night train you don't see anything along the way except rail yards but you save a day of travel and a night's hotel cost. That would be my choice. In my plentiful experience riding trains in Europe there are few spectacular views and they usually last for only a few moments. There are too many trees that arrive before you can even focus your camera. I'm jaded on frozen hills, except for Mont Blanc, and that is best viewed from the air. Fly into Geneva from someplace south for the sight of your life, or the other way.

There are many day train Rome-Venice, see www.trenitalia.com.

From Venice to Vienna there is one daytime train and one overnight sleeper train. A second day train is now a bus to the Austrian frontier then train, as the Italians are being silly so the Austrians are running a bus connction for part of the way!

www.trenitalia.com will book both day and sleeper trains, with cheap 'smart price' fares usually available, if you can persuade it to accept your credit card. Otherwise wsee www.raileurope.com