huckleberryFinn

Has anyone taken this train route? Is it worth the better part of a day in terms of the scenery or would it be best travelled at night, perhaps even sleeping?

cigalechanta

ttt

ira

Hi Huck,

Look up the route at http://plannerint.b-rail.be

Click on the train number and it will give you all of the stops along the route.

You can then follow the route at www.viamichelin.com

I would do it in the daytime.

PalenqueBob

It's a fairly scenic ride thru low Alps and lovely Austrian countryside but not dramatically so. In relative terms one of the prettier routes in Europe but if you've been thru Switzerland not as awesome as that. Bucolic - nice towns with bulbous church steeples.

bob_brown

I think before you make your final decision, you should take a look at the train schedule from Venice, Santa Lucia, to Salzburg.

One of the night connections arrives in Salzburg at 4:10. That raises the question of what do you do for the next few hours while waiting for a room to be made ready?

Another connection has a change in Kufstein about 5:30. After that point there is no sleeping facilities.
You leave Venice about 23:00 and either sit up or lie down for 6.5 hours.

Again, the train arrives in Salzburg at 7:00 (about). None of the primary tourist attractions will be open at that time.

For daylight travel, there is a departure at 8:46 with arrival in Salzburg at 14:55. There is one change of trains in Villach, and the train from Venice to Villach requires a reservation.

If you wanted to combine daylight and some after (near) sundown travel, there is a departure from venice at 14:44 that arrives in Salzburg at 20:48.

You would have time to look around Venice one more time before departure, but have enough daylight to see the country side as you ride through it, and still arrive in Salzburg in time to get a ful night's sleep before going out to enjoy the sights and sounds of Salzburg.\

I find the Old Town part of the city to have a pleasant feel to it, and there is quite a bit that you can see in one day.

On a couple of occasions we have by chance encountered street musicians performing for tips. The most memorable one was a trio of the most unusual collection of instruments I have yet heard: an accordian, a mandolin, and a bass balalaika. The players were running off Rossini overtures like they were programmed into their genes.

I recall that we were coming out of one of the churches when I heard the unmistakeable sound of the Overture to La Gazza Ladra despite the fact that it had most unsymphonic sound to it. I headed that way as fast as I could walk and stood there enthralled while these young men pumped out the music with a most virtuostic touch, and hardly any sheet music. Given the instrumentation, they had to have to have written their own arrangements. Considering that Rossini was an eclectic innovator, I think he would have smiled had he heard those guys play. They captured not only the style but also the mood with virtuostic skill.

If you attend a performance at the Marionetten Theater (which is akin to a magic show with music) and visit Schloss Hellbrunn with its incredible water displays, you will need an extra day.

If you take an excursion to one of the lovely villages near Salzburg such as Mondsee, St. Gilgen, Hallstatt or Berchtesgaden, you will need another day.

So take a look at the schedules. You may do so at www.oebb.at and get the most recent information. You did not say when you were going, so between now and August, for example, there can be minor changes in the timing.

The country side is nice to view, but like the others said, it is not dramatic in terms of riding on the edge of a cliff or plunging into a glacial valley, such as one experiences in Switzerland when descending from Goppenstein to the Valley of the Rhone.

Dukey

There is actually more than one route.

An alternative is to take the (daylight) deparure which routes you through (and with a change in) Verona. That partiular route takes up into the Dolomites and over the Brenner Pass which is fairly scenic.

huckleberryFinn

Thanks, I'll look into all these possibilities--I have a lot of time, relatively speaking.

grayer

I hope no one minds if I tag on my questions about this train route.

We are planning to make this Venice-Salzburg trip on March 28. I was able to pull up the 14:44 departure on Trenitalia with a change in Villach and would like to take that. I haven't purchased tickets from Trenitalia in advance in the past because the routes I was traveling were served by frequent connections. This route doesn't have as many options each day and I do not want to take a night train. Is there any need to purchase tickets prior to our arrival in Venice? I am planning to purchase them when we arrive in Venice at the American Express office there. That would be a couple of days before we plan to travel that route. The trenitalia website doesn't allow this ticket to be purchased. I also checked the Austrian railways website and it doesn't allow me to purchase the ticket or give pricing information either. About what should I expect to pay for 2 adults one way?

Thanks,
grayer

ira

Hi grayer,

I suggest checking with www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.euraide.com

bob_brown

The trip to Salzburg from Venice can indeed be done via the Brenner Pass and Innsbruck, Austria.

The shortest travel time is 7 hours, 36 minutes. Some of the connections take 8 hours or longer.

As for ticket purchase, I see no reason to buy before arriving in Venice if you are buying two or three days in advance.

European trains are not usually booked as full as airplanes.

One caveat to that, I was on a train in England headed for London and it was very full with people standing. I was very glad I had seat reservations. Some trains require them, such as the TGVs in France and the Cisalpino trains to and from Italy.

grayer

Thanks for the info everyone. I think we will purchase the tickets when we arrive in Venice since it doesn't look like availability will be an issue if we book a couple of days ahead. This way we can avoid the travel agent fees it appears we will have to pay to purchase them now since I can't purchase through the trenitalia website.