Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date - usually
These trains are usally scheduled to depart from Wien Hbf at 11:15 and 15:15, so target those times when looking up this journey.
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It can be worth comparing prices on the different ticket agents, the cheapest 'Europa Spezial' tickets can still be available on DB, the German railways website, when the most heavily discounted 'Sparschiene' tickets are sold out on OBB, the Austrian railways website.
And the reverse can be true, cheaper Sparschiene tickets can still be available on OBB, meaning that DB can be more expensive.
Our step-by-step guide to booking train tickets on the DB (German national railways) website is available HERE.
When looking for tickets to Köln on DB type ‘K‘ into the ‘to‘ box and not ‘Ko‘.
Our step-by-step guide to booking train tickets on the OBB (Austrian national railways) website is available HERE
If you're new to booking tickets for train journeys to Germany, we also recommend taking a look at our guide to German train tickets - it should help you save time and money and confusion.
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Seat reservations:
Book 1st class ticket journey tickets on DB Bahn and your seat reservation is included - but they're optional when booking 2nd class tickets, or if you will be travelling with a 1st or 2nd class rail pass.
If you will be travelling 2nd class we highly recommend opting to add a reservation when booking, the ICE trains to Germany from Austria are always comparatively busy.
So if you don't reserve, being able to remain in the same seat all the way from Vienna to Cologne, is something you definitely can't take for granted.
Note that if you opt to book 1st class tickets on OBB, your seat reservation won't be automatically be included, so you will need to be proactive and add it to your booking.
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Alternative connections:
These direct ICE trains to Koln/Cologne from WienVienna don't use the high speed line between Frankfurt (Main) and Koln, they still take the pre-high speed route through The Rhine Valley via Bonn and Koblenz.
Therefore when looking up journeys, you will see faster journey options, than these direct trains, that have 1 x chg. of train.
These faster journey options involve connecting at Frankfurt Flughafen or Frankfurt (Main) into a train that will take the high speed line and not this longer (and much more scenic) route via Koblenz.
