My family (six of us altogether, all adults) will be going by train to Salzburg from Vienna International Airport on 22nd of December to stay at the Gersbergalm for 5 nights. Although I've found timetable info, I'm finding it difficult to get general information about the trains - what I would like to know is:

- How close is the train station to Vienna airport? Is it walking distance or will we need a taxi?
- Should tickets be booked in advance or can we buy them on the day? Where's the best place to buy them?
- Can anyone give me an estimate as to how much return tickets will cost?
- Will there be enough room for all our luggage on the train? We want to avoid going by car as I've read driving conditions can be hazardous in december.

Also - if anyone has any info on local transport in salzburg it would be useful as we won't have a car to get around and our hotel is a 10 minute drive from the centre of salzburg. I hope the taxi's are good!

Incidentally, I'm a first time traveller (only 20!) and the task has fallen on me to organise travel for all of us as I'm the least busy and the only one who has access to the internet. So I'd really appreciate any and all advice so that I don't end up getting us all stranded somewhere in the Alps in the middle of December!

thanks again.

I guess you have read the Fodor's "Destination" page for both Vienna and Salzburg? Really GREAT information to be found there...
I used Fodor's Destination - Paris when I first went there...great tid-bits of data for "how to do" and "where to", etc.

Airports are never within walking distance of railway stations.

Vienna has several railway stations. Trains to Salzburg depart from Westbahnhof Wien (Vienna west railway station).

There is an airport bus that leaves the airport every 30 minutes, arrives at Westbahnhof 35 minutes later (although I imagine one has to leave some leeway for traffic, etc.), and costs 6 Euros.

Trains between Vienna and Salzburg are so frequent that I cannot imagine that you would have to book them in advance. Most people will not yet have started their Christmas traveling on 22 December. Buy your tickets on arrival at Westbahnhof.

The time from Vienna to Salzburg is approx. 3 hours.

A regular second-class return ticket for one person costs 73 Euros. There may be a promotional fare; you may have to pay more for a reserved seat; you will evidently have to pay more if you want to travel first class.

How much luggage do you have? The Vienna-Salzburg train is not a commuter train, so it presumably has room for a normal amount of luggage for each passenger.

It's been quite a while since I was in Salzburg. I think there are bus lines, but those buses will not be equipped to take luggage for six people. You will probably have to take two taxis for the six of you.

Great - thanks so much, you answered everything!

Hi Folks,

Eloise, great info. However, I can't help but comment on your "never" statement about airports & train stations. What about Zurich, Geneva, Frankfurt, and Munich (well . . . Munich only if you include the S-bahn . . .), all of which have train stations co-located at or next to the airport. Just in case others take your words literally . . .

s

To update Eloise's post, as with many airports in Europe, there is a train station IN the airport. You can take a train to the terminal in downtown Vienna, near to St Stephen's cathedral, in less than 20 minutes. The fare is 9 Euros. Take a look at www.cityairporttrain.at or http://english.viennaairport.com/bbpp.html. It also has bus information.

As you need to depart from the Westbanhof station, you may need to take a tram or underground to that station from the train terminal in downtown Vienna. Given this, it may be simpler just to take a bus from the airport to the WEstbanhof station or to take a taxi. You can look at the websites and make up your mind.

I agree you do not need to buy tickets until you arrive.

Swandav2000: You're perfectly right: my mistake!

There is a train station at Rome Fiumicino for a shuttle to Rome Termini (as well as a number of local lines).

I just short-circuited: to me, the train station is where I take the train to my next destination and is normally downtown. I simply didn't think of the train stations connected to airports.

Salzburg has a good bus system for getting around to the sights. here is a web address showing the bus route map (only in German): http://www.stadtbus.at/media/pdf/pdf198.pdf We were there in April and I recall that we bought day bus passes. You also can purchase a Salzburg Card that gives unlimited transport and free admission to most major museums/sights--24/48/72 hour duration options. Web address is: http://www2.salzburg.info/sehenswertes_283.htm

Your hotel seems to be quite a distance from the city center, so I don't know if buses run there or not. You might wish to e-mail the hotel to find out.

Do visit the Augustiner Brauerei--the beer is great and the old monastery in which it is served is very cool.

You'll love Salzburg--a beautiful city

don't reserve ahead of time as your plane could be late and in Austria there rarely seems a problem getting seats as trains go hourly. Ask for a mini-group ticket, sometimes available for five or more people (I don't know about Austria but ask).