There are four options available for taking a journey by train from London to Vienna/Wien:
Making the end-to-end journey by day.
If you will be leaving London on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday then it's possible to take a Eurostar to Bruxelles and then a night train on from there to Wien/Vienna.
Or if you will be leaving London on the other days of the week, an option is to make a connection of around 2hr 20 mins in Bruxelles in to a train on to Koln/Cologne, where around 4 hours after arriving there, an overnight train will depart for Wien/Vienna.
When travelling between most cities by train there is only one logical option, though on other journeys there is a choice between different trains or alternative routes. If different options are available you can use the info to decide which is best for you.
from 12hr 45mins (approx)
Daily
up to 2 x connections per day
ShowMeTheJourney earns a small commission on Trainline ticket sales. It can be a particularly good option for: Comparing different train services; Booking international journeys with connections; Travelling between the UK to destinations beyond Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris - and for international travellers who don't reside in western Europe.
It is possible to travel by day by train from London to Wien/Vienna.
*= On Monday to Saturday those second (back-up) options of the day are by taking the onward connections, available when departing London at around 09:00.
So opting to depart London at this time on Monday to Saturday is best avoided if possible, because you won't then be able to reach Wien/Vienna by the end of the day, if you depart at that time and then connections are missed.
In Frankfurt
Making the connection at Frankfurt (Main) hbf simply involves walking from on train to another.
Though some of the journey options connect in Frankfurt Flughafen where the connection simply involves waiting on the same platform / track for the train on to Wien / Vienna.
If a delay causes a late arrival into Frankfurt which leads to a booked connection to be missed, tickets and reservations can transferred to a later departure at a Reisezentrum travel desk.
At St Pancras:
Eurostar is currently suggesting that Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders should be at the Eurostar departure area in St Pancras International 90 mins before departure; and that Business Premier ticket holders should be there 45-60mins prior to departure.
The departure gates will close 30 mins prior to departure for Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders; and 15 mins prior to departure for Business Premier ticket holders.
Our guide to taking a Eurostar from London is here.
Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.
Final Destination: Bruxelles-Midi or Amsterdam
The e320 trains are used for the departures heading to Amsterdam, but the e300 trains can be used on the services which terminat in Bruxelles.
It's not a scenic journey, but it is a journey with six distinct phases and highlights:
1: For most of the first 8 mins of the journey the trains use tunnels to exit London (Stratford International station is located between the tunnels).
2: Then from the right of the train, there are views of the River Thames marshes and of the Queen Elizabeth II road bridge.
3: The third tunnel that the train will pass through is the tunnel under the River Thames.
4: Shortly after Ebbsfleet International station (can only be seen from the right of the train) is the scenic highlight of the journey - the crossing of the River Medway.
5: The train will slow down as it approaches The Channel Tunnel.
Announcements are no longer made that the train is about to enter the tunnel.
The journey through the tunnel will take around 22 mins.
6: There is little of note to be seen from the high speed lines in France and Belgium.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please go here to say thank you.
Final Destination Frankfurt (Main)
You may have to pass through security checks at Midi/Zuid station before boarding these trains and queues can build up at busy times.
This train journey from Bruxelles to Frankfurt is usually a great showcase for 21st century European train travel.
The sleek ICE 3 trains give any journey a wow factor and on virtually all of this route they're either travelling on a custom-built high speed line, or on a conventional railway that has been re-engineered so that the trains can travel faster.
The fastest part of this trip comes between Seigburg/Bonn and Frankfurt Flughafen, when the train will travel at up to 285 km/h on Germany's fastest high speed line.
Final Destination: Wien Flughafen (airport) or Wien Hbf
From December 10th, some of the departures will be by the ICE 4 trains
All trains also call at: Linz and St Polten and Wien-Meidling
Arriving in Wien/Vienna:
Check the location of your final destination in Wien/Vienna.
If you're heading to the south west corner of the city, or the area on the ring road around the Opera House - then it's likely that you'll have a faster and more convenient journey if you leave the train at Wien-Meidling station.
This is a journey of nine distinct phases: (the videos were filmed from a train travelling in the opposite direction)
Between Frankfurt (Main) and Aschaffenburg the railway passes through a string of commuter towns.
Then east of Aschaffenburg, is a scenic and slow part of the trip as the railway follows a series of valleys.
As the River Main comes into view on the right, the train will speed up before bridging the river and entering a tunnel which will link it to the high speed line.
The train will spend around 10-15 mins on the high speed line as it nears Wurzburg, just before the station look out on the right for a brief panorama over the river and city.
Because the train will spend such a small percentage of the journey on the high speed line, this hasn't been classed as a high speed trip
On to Nurnberg the train will be on conventional railway tracks.
Between Nurnberg and Regensburg the train travels across a rolling landscape of hills.
Between Regensburg and Passau the railway line is beside the River Danube, which can be seen on the left.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please go here to say thank you.
Book Early And Save: Yes
Online bookings open: usually open around 6 months ahead of the travel date.
This booking period tends to be shorter when looking up journeys between mid August and mid October.
Eurostar's online booking service does not sell tickets for this journey.
Eurostar train's general ticket terms:
Customers can exchange tickets for travel in Standard and Standard Premier class multiple times without paying an exchange fee, as long as tickets are exchanged 7 days or more before the departure time of their individual journey
Though if the new ticket option is more expensive the difference in price will need to be paid, but if it is cheaper the price difference won't be refunded.
But make the exchange within 7 days of the individual journey and an admin fee of £30 will need to be paid, along with the price difference
Tickets to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class are not refundable.
In contrast tickets to travel in Business Premier Class can be refunded and they can be exchanged to alternative departures without paying the admin fee, or the price difference.
Eurostar's full ticket terms and conditions are here .
ICE trains ticket terms summary:
Seat Reservations:
Your seats will automatically be reserved on the Eurostar, but seat reservations on the ICE trains are an additional cost unless you book the most expensive type of ticket.
What if you miss a booked connection in Bruxelles:
Eurostar classifies end-to-end journeys involving Eurostar + Eurostar Thalys trains as 'through tickets', but it classifies journeys involving Eurostar + ICE trains as being booked as a ticketing bundle.
There are relatively new E.U. 'rules' protecting against financial loss in the event of a delay, but they only apply to 'through tickets'.
But DB which operates the ICE trains on to Frankfurt, has signed up to Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC) policy for when a traveller holds separate transport 'contracts' for an end-to-end journey involving more than one train.
So this agreement applies both when 'a bundle' of tickets / contracts is issued as the result of a single transaction - and if travellers have bought several different tickets for their journey, even from different sales channels/ticket providers.
As long as the passenger had planned enough connecting time to change trains (called “reasonable connecting time”), the AJC will apply.
So in usual circumstances, if a delay to a Eurostar has caused a booked connection on to Wien to be missed, replacement tickets/reservations should be issued at Bruxelles-Midi
However, the AJC does not cover the cost of any overnight accommodation which will need to be booked if the final connections of the day on to Wien/Vienna are not made on time.
Using Rail Passes:
Rail pass users can now pay reservation fees to travel on Eurostar trains, in a similar manner to other international European high speed trains.
The new rail pass reservation fees are similar to the cheapest single journey ticket prices, but as those cheapest tickets can sell out quickly, it's likely that the rail pass reservation fees will save money.
You can purchase these online on B-Europe.
Booking in advance is recommended as it's not unknown for rail pass reservations on specific Eurostar services to sell out weeks in advance, there is evidently limited availability per departure.
17hr 15min
Not Every Day
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
ShowMeTheJourney earns a small commission on Trainline ticket sales. It can be a particularly good option for: Comparing different train services; Booking international journeys with connections; Travelling between the UK to destinations beyond Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris - and for international travellers who don't reside in western Europe.
If you will be departing London on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday*, this combination of trains will usually be available:
*= This connection had previously departed Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
At St Pancras:
Eurostar is currently suggesting that Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders should be at the Eurostar departure area in St Pancras International 90 mins before departure; and that Business Premier ticket holders should be there 45-60mins prior to departure.
The departure gates will close 30 mins prior to departure for Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders; and 15 mins prior to departure for Business Premier ticket holders.
Our guide to taking a Eurostar from London is here.
Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.
Final Destination: Bruxelles-Midi
It's not a scenic journey, but it is a journey with six distinct phases and highlights:
1: For most of the first 8 mins of the journey the trains use tunnels to exit London (Stratford International station is located between the tunnels).
2: Then from the right of the train, there are views of the River Thames marshes and of the Queen Elizabeth II road bridge.
3: The third tunnel that the train will pass through is the tunnel under the River Thames.
4: Shortly after Ebbsfleet International station (can only be seen from the right of the train) is the scenic highlight of the journey - the crossing of the River Medway.
5: The train will slow down as it approaches The Channel Tunnel.
Announcements are no longer made that the train is about to enter the tunnel.
The journey through the tunnel will take around 22 mins.
6: There is little of note to be seen from the high speed lines in France and Belgium.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please go here to say thank you.
Final Destination: Wien Hbf
The train also calls at: Linz and St. Polten and Wien-Meidling.
The journey experience is dependent on the type of accommodation you choose to travel by on the train - click the 'Nightjet' button above to discover the available options.
Online bookings open 6 months ahead
You will need to book each journey separately; the details of how to do this are included on each of the respective journey guides:
17hr 15min
Nightly
1 x connection per day
If you will be departing London on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, this combination of trains will usually be available:
*= Book this connection and if need be tickets can be transferred to the later Eurostar Thalys train at 19:25 - it will arrive in Koln more than 35 mins before the departure of the train on to Wien.
At St Pancras:
Eurostar is currently suggesting that Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders should be at the Eurostar departure area in St Pancras International 90 mins before departure; and that Business Premier ticket holders should be there 45-60mins prior to departure.
The departure gates will close 30 mins prior to departure for Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders; and 15 mins prior to departure for Business Premier ticket holders.
Our guide to taking a Eurostar from London is here.
Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.
Final Destination: Bruxelles-Midi
It's not a scenic journey, but it is a journey with six distinct phases and highlights:
1: For most of the first 8 mins of the journey the trains use tunnels to exit London (Stratford International station is located between the tunnels).
2: Then from the right of the train, there are views of the River Thames marshes and of the Queen Elizabeth II road bridge.
3: The third tunnel that the train will pass through is the tunnel under the River Thames.
4: Shortly after Ebbsfleet International station (can only be seen from the right of the train) is the scenic highlight of the journey - the crossing of the River Medway.
5: The train will slow down as it approaches The Channel Tunnel.
Announcements are no longer made that the train is about to enter the tunnel.
The journey through the tunnel will take around 22 mins.
6: There is little of note to be seen from the high speed lines in France and Belgium.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please go here to say thank you.
ICE train = Final Destination: Frankfurt (Main)
Eurostar Thalys train = Final Destination: Dortmund
Final Destination: Essen/Dortmund/Koln
All trains also call at: Aachen
The trains travel on high speed lines between Leuven and Liege and between Liege and Aachen.
Final Destination: Wien Hbf
The trains also calls at: Linz and St Polten
The journey experience is dependent on the type of accommodation you choose to travel by on the train - click the 'Nightjet' button above to discover the available options.
The coaches heading to Wien will be joined to another part of the train, which will be heading to Innsbruck
If you see a train heading to Innsbruck on the departure screens then the info will also apply if you are travelling to Wien.
Don't be concerned about boarding the wrong part of the train, your reservations will be in coaches that will be heading to Innsbruck.
The train manager will also greet travellers who have booked to travel in the couchettes or sleeping cabins.
Our guide to travelling on European overnight trains is available HERE.
Online bookings open 6 months ahead
You will need to book each journey separately; which due to the long connecting time between trains shouldn't be an issue, the details of how to do this are included on each of the respective journey guides:
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
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