vienna to bratislava by train
 

hellow,from my map i realized that bratislava is a mere 60km away from vienna.i've done daytrips before 200km away! i have to visit this city.

anyone ever do this journey before without booking in advance?


In the train site listing,apart from the IC trains which i am familiar with, there is a lot of "Zr" trains. What is a Zr train?

thx

It's a very short trip, I haven't done it myself, but I know people who have (Bratislava has been called "Vienna East", because they're so close, and Bratislava wants to try to get some of the tourists). Like most short trains in Europe, there's no reason to book ahead, just show up a few minutes before the train you want and buy the ticket (there won't be a reservation). Not sure what a Zr is, but since it's an hour-long trip, it doesn't really matter, people take longer rides than that on subways all the time.

No need to book in advance. There are a couple of options. The shorter trips are from Sudbahnhof and they go into the newer Petrzalka station on the south side of Bratislava. You can then take a bus north into the city. You cross the Danube on this route. I think there are also slower trips from a different Vienna station that goes into the older Bratislava station which is on the north side of the city. You then can take a bus or tram south into the old town. (Or you could probably walk.) Try to get a map somewhere to help. Check the Deutsche bahn website for the different choices of trains.

When I said you cross the Danube on this route, I meant on the bus from the station into the city.

If you search for trains on www.bahn.de or oebb.at, you should find that most of non EC/IC are labelled "E". That's "Eilzug" or "through train".

Basically the same as the Regional Express in Germany or other moderately fast medium-distance trains.

There are others labelled EU (EuroRegio) or SPR (Sprinter).

Regardless of train type, they all take about the same time. More importantly, check which station in Vienna they depart from. The E/EU/SPR usually leave from Sudbahnhof, while the IC/EC are often from Westbahnhof.

thanks for great info

Just got back and we bought our train tickets to Brataslava just before departing the train station in Vienna.

neat. did you take the bus from Petrzalka station across the river?

how was your bratislava excursion?

Be careful. Some connections are complicated with train transfers. Vienna shops in Bratislava. Note auto licenses in shop parking lots. Check liquor prices in Vienna and then in Slovakia. Skip the coffee in Vienna..you can get lunch in Bratislava with coffee for the price of a cup in V. Find out if the ferry transfers are running...

bratislava is popular with the viennese too then...are there rush hours on the trains between them or certain days of the week which are unusually busy? or do they go by car?

A good alternative to the train-
a new fast boat service to Bratislava-
city center to city center- just more than one hour begins June 1.

www.twincityliner.com


No one calls Bratislava - Vienna East exscept the discount airlines landing there and using the term as a marketing tool to lure unsuspecting tourists.