I am trying to do a cost comparison of taking a train from Venice to Salzburg and then on to Vienna or going straight from Venice to Vienna but the Trenitalia website does not give costs for trips outside of Italy. Does anyone either have any knowledge of the Venice - Salzburg or Venice - Vienna costs or, alternatively, how I can go abaout finding out those costs?

The national rail sites are www.trenitalia.com and www.oebb.at, but for international schedules, www.bahn.de may be quicker.
If you can't find the international fare, find the frontier station (or one near the border) then add together the fares in each country. In most European countries, rail fares are calculated from the distance, so find the fare from Venezia to the border and from the border to Wien or Salzburg.

You could also try the Rail Europe website (www.raileurope.com). We got rail tickets from Venice to Geneva on this website. Good Luck.

I'd hazzard a guess that Venice-Vienna and Venice-Salzburg are about the same - perhaps Salzburg a few euro cheaper.

So basically the Salzburg-Vienna will be the cost difference - about $40-50 i'd think in 2nd class but www.oebb.at will tell you exactly that

We used the Train from Vienna to Venice last August and we used the trenitalia website. It worked out very nicely since we were staying exactly at those two cities. I do not remember it being too expensive and remember getting tickets for first class. When I get home tonight, I will see if I still have the information on our research.

Try Austria's online train service instead. www.oebb.at (info in English if you can't navigate it in German).
There are some special rates...I found one Venice-Vienna rate at 29€. But those low rates may not be available for your dates (or you may not fit the rate requirements).

Nuttela, can you (or anyone else for that matter) tell me a little about the trip itself. Is it a very scenic trip and do you get good views of the mountains or is much of the trip through tunnels, and with the mountains away in the distance? Also, would you recommend first class over second class? Thanks

I did not find the information last night but we are still a living out of boxes, so maybe with more searching I can find the information you need. If you click on my screen name, you should find a thread or two when I went searching for my tickets last year. The responses I got were very helpful, not sure how valid they are for today though.

Honestly, I do not remember much of our train ride; we slept through most of it (we left on an early train). Of what I did see, I remember thinking how tranquil things looked outside. I think the traveling between the border of Austria and Italy was the nicest. (I remember it because we had to get our passports checked at the border.)

We traveled first class since it was our honeymoon and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we had a good amount of leg room and there was enough room for my husband and I, and our 3 pieces of luggage (we are still learning how to travel light.) I think if we were in second class it would have been cramped, since it looked crowded.

Sorry that I wasn't more help. What I can tell you is that we do not regret taking the train ride. We enjoyed our stay in Vienna and Venice. We had a lot of fun at both locations. If you have any more questions, let me know I will try to help out. I wish you all the luck on your travels. Just remember that once the planning is done to enjoy your vacation and let the days come as they will.

Thanks for the advice Nuttela. You are a star!

Yes the trip either to Salzburg or Vienna is mildly scenic the whole way and somewhat awesomely scenic at parts - lots of mountains.

Not a problem Bazzak. I am glad that I can offer some help after so many on this site has helped me out.