Vienna and Venice?
 

I have posted a question two weeks ago regarding extending my conference in Vienna in October to visit Prague and Budapest and received some very helpful comments. My wife has now expressed a desire to join me after the business trip to Vienna and wants to see Venice. Can anyone help with the logistics. Feasible to do, say, Prague and Venice in 7-8 days and do them justice? By train preferred if practical. Trip to Vienna is first week of October so have to get on this. Thanks all.

Absolutely feasible, and ideal by train. Check www.oebb.at (Austrian rail) and www.bahn.de (German rail) for comprehensive timetables in English. You may have to use 'Praha' for Prague and 'Venedig' for Venice. The Prague-Vienna leg is 14 or 15 hours by train so you might want to do it at night.

Both of these websites have instructions (in German) for ordering tickets, but I don't know if they will send them internationally. Anybody else know?

Most people will tell you that arriving in Venice by train is unforgettably magical!

If you are using the Germanrail site to check schedules the term for "Venice" is Venezia and the station you want is S. Lucia (or S.L.) rather than Maestre. Use Wien for Vienna. I suspect you can make your seat reservations (if you choose to get them) a few days ahead once you are in Europe.
Logistically, it will be much easier to take a train from Vienna to Venice as opposed to traveling from Prague (Praha) to Venice..the former can take a little less than 8 hours and depending on the train you pick may not require any changes...otherwise you may be routed through Germany possibly and western Autria with another change in Verona.

A City Star round trip ticket from Vienna to Prague costs € 68.60 for one person, 102.90 for two. Vienna to Venice and back 129.40 for one, 207 for two. There is a useful night train in both directions between Vienna and Venice.

The City Star Ticket is valid a month from the first day of validiation. Outward journey within 7 days of the first valid day. Return trip earliest on the following Saturday, unless the outward journey is on a Sat or Sun.

(Das City Star Ticket gilt innerhalb eines Monats ab dem ersten Geltungstag. Die Hinfahrt kann an jedem beliebigen Tag erfolgen, muß aber innerhalb von sieben Tagen ab dem ersten Geltungstag angetreten werden, zur Rückfahrt gelten die Fahrausweise frühestens an dem nach Fahrtantritt folgenden Samstag. Findet die Hinfahrt an einem Samstag oder Sonntag statt, kann die Rückfahrt aber bereits ab diesem Tag angetreten werden.)

Hi,

I think that you will enjoy the trip from Vienna to Venice during the day. The mountains are lovely.

It is a good idea to take a day train from Vienna to Venice, but not necessarily back again.

Semmeringbahn, a short section of the Vienna to Venice railway, is on UNESCO's World Heritage List. 15 tunnels, 16 viaducts (some of them two storeys), more than 100 stone bridges and 11 iron bridges.
http://www.noe.co.at/partner/trsued/...gbahn/home.htm

The day train EC30 from Venice 13:14 to Vienna 21:02 will pass Semmeringbahn from 19:30 to about 20:15, when it is dark in October. Night train EN9734 from Venice S. Lucia 0:26, will pass Semmeringbahn between 7 and 7:45 in the morning, when the sun will shine on the mountains (unless there are clouds or it is raining...). This is also a great day trip from Vienna in sunny weather, from Wien Südbahnhof to Mürzzuschlag (1.5 hours).

EuroCity train surcharge is included in the City Star Ticket.

The Austrian Railways also sell package tours to Prague and Venice. http://www.railtours.at/framesetstaedte.htm

The train trip from Vienna to Venice through the Dolomite Alps is breathtaking. 'Nuff said!:-B

I took the train from Salzburg to Venice a couple years back. Nice views in the alps, but way too long, IMO. From Vienna, you need to go thru Salzburg, I believe. It will be close to 9 hours.

Take a plane.

Coachboy

No need to go via Salzburg or the Dolomites. The direct trains go via Klagenfurt and Udine.

My bad....

Still, however, it's 7+ hours vs a one hour flight.

Now if you drive, and spend the night in Graz, that's a much better option, IMO.

Coachboy

PS. Stay a Grand Hotel in Graz - gorgeous art nouveau breakfast room and the best breakfast I've yet to eat (and I'm not a breakfast person).

Thank you all! I really appreciate your advice and, Absurd, thank you particularly for the train details.
Cheers,
TJ

There is (was?) a train from Vienna Sud that left mid-morning and got into Venice late afternoon. It went through beautiful country.

Also there is (again was?) a train from Salzburg that went though the Taurern Alps and with a change at Villach arrived in Venice late afternoon. Probably the Vienna - Venice train. It is the train that goes though Udine.((P)) :-B