Wien Hbf

Hamburg to Wien / Vienna by train

How to take the rail journey from Hamburg to Vienna / Wien

When travelling by train from northern Germany to the Austrian capital, there is a choice between travelling by day on an ICE train, or through the night on a Nightjet.

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Routes

Option 1: travelling by day

Travel Information

Final Destination: Wien Hbf

This train also calls at: Linz and St Polten

This train is named the 'Donauwaltzer'

Departing from Hamburg:

Before arriving in Hamburg Hbf, the train will have departed from Hamburg-Altona at 07:45, and will have also called in Hamburg-Dammtor at 07:54.

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.

Wien Meidling is connected to line U6 of the Vienna Metro, which serves the western side of the city centre.

1 x direct train per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

Reservations are highly recommended for this journey - book a 1st class ticket and your seat will be assigned, but not if you book 2nd class, or will be travelling with a rail pass.

The alternative daytime journeys:

In addition to this daily direct ICE train, there are also three other options for reaching Wien in a day by train from Hamburg '- and all of those involve making a connection between ICE trains at Wurzburg.

If the discounted tickets for this direct train have sold out, then those journeys (that have 1 in the chg. column on DB Bahn) can be cheaper.
Though the journeys with connections in Wurzburg will be at least an hour slower between April 1st and December 9th.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
DB from €35.90

DB Guide

DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.

It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.
Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

Two types of ticket have recently been made available;

  1. Cheaper 'Young' tickets which can only be booked by those aged 15-26 on the travel date.
  2. Flexi Plus tickets, which are now the most expensive type of ticket, but they're the only type of 2nd class tickets which DO include a seat reservation.
OBB from €36

OBB Guide

OBB is the national rail operator and its booking service offers journeys by express trains within Austria, as well as international journeys which don't involve making a connection outside of Austria.

It pays off to book online, as the discounted 'Sparscheine' tickets are only ever made available on the website, and when making international journeys to and from Austria, these Sparscheine tickets tend to be cheaper.
OBB can offer particularly good value for money when travelling with children on international rail journeys, but something to watch out for when travelling between Austria and Germany on daytime trains, is that reservations are an optional extra; but if you book 1st class tickets with the Germany railways website DB, the reservations are complimentary.

OBB often takes a unique approach to its booking path, but a key thing to keep in mind is that the first price you will see for any journey is that of a Second Class seat.
The costs of upgrading to first class, a reservation, or a sleeping cabin etc, is then added to this price.

Omio from €35.90

Omio Guide

Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

The three key advantages of using Omio are

  • it offers prices in multiple currencies
  • it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
  • when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.

The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.

Save A Train from €35.90

Save A Train Guide

Happy rail from €35.90

Happy rail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - YesRiver viewsHigh Speed (partial journey)

Good to Know

Until March 31st:

Note that another ICE train to Wien, which takes a different and slower route via Berlin, is typically scheduled to depart from Hamburg Hbf only two minutes later at 08:04, so take care to board this train with the train number 'ICE 91', which will be travelling via Hannover.

From April 1st:

Due to maintenance work the high-speed line between Kassel and Fulda, which this train uses, will be closed between April 1st and December 9th.
Between these dates this train will be cancelled, so the train via Berlin at 08:04 will be the only direct train from Hamburg to Wien/Vienna, so the journey time will be 9hr 34min.

Journey description:

The train will travel at more than 270 km/h on the high speed line between Hannover and Wurzburg

The most scenic part of the journey is between Regensburg and the Austrian border, on this part of the journey the railway runs beside the River Danube and then the River Inn.

North of Passau the river is on the left (when facing the direction of travel) and then south of Passau it switches over to being on the right.

But you won't miss out on a stunningly beautiful journey if you opt to take the overnight train.

The videos were taken on a train travelling in the opposite direction.

Between Regensburg and Passau Between Regensburg and Passau
Between Regensburg and Passau Between Regensburg and Passau
Between Nurnberg and Regensburg Between Nurnberg and Regensburg
Between Passau and Linz Between Passau and Linz
Between Passau and Linz Between Passau and Linz

Option 2: travel through the night

Travel Information

This train is usually scheduled to depart from Hamburg Hbf at 20:29 and arrive in Wien Hbf at 09:19.

It commences its journey at Hamburg-Altona station at 20:11; and then calls in Hamburg-Dammtor at 20:21.

Final Destination: Wien Hbf

This train also calls at: Linz/Donau, St Polten and Wien-Meidling.

1 x train per night

Tickets

This train is usually scheduled to depart from Hamburg Hbf at 20:29, so target that time when looking up this journey

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open:
6 months ahead of the travel date on OBB
3 months ahead of the travel date on DB Bahn

Our guide to booking night train tickets on the OBB (Austrian national railways) website is available HERE.

Our guide to booking night train tickets on the DB (German national railways) website is available HERE.

The choice of accommodation - summary:

  • Compartment Seats (Sitzwagen)
  • Couchettes (Liegewagen); 4 berths AND 6 berths
  • Standard sleeping cars (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
  • Deluxe sleeping cars (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins

Click the yellow train button above for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:

The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.

Travelling with a rail pass:

Rail pass users must reserve before boarding this train.

However, these rail pass reservations can NO longer be booked online the DB website, but you can now book rail pass reservations without paying booking fees on the OBB website (OBB operates these trains).
Though the process for doing so isn't particularly obvious, hence this step-by-step guide.

Or you can avoid the booking fees by arranging the reservations when you arrive in Germany, by purchasing them at a Reisezentrum travel desk, which you will find in any hauptbahnhof.

Though it's best to do this at the first hauptbahnhof (city centre station) that you will arrive at, the later you leave booking your accommodation, the more likely it is that your preferences will be sold out.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
OBB *

OBB Guide

OBB is the national rail operator and its booking service offers journeys by express trains within Austria, as well as international journeys which don't involve making a connection outside of Austria.

It pays off to book online, as the discounted 'Sparscheine' tickets are only ever made available on the website, and when making international journeys to and from Austria, these Sparscheine tickets tend to be cheaper.
OBB can offer particularly good value for money when travelling with children on international rail journeys, but something to watch out for when travelling between Austria and Germany on daytime trains, is that reservations are an optional extra; but if you book 1st class tickets with the Germany railways website DB, the reservations are complimentary.

OBB often takes a unique approach to its booking path, but a key thing to keep in mind is that the first price you will see for any journey is that of a Second Class seat.
The costs of upgrading to first class, a reservation, or a sleeping cabin etc, is then added to this price.

DB Bahn *

DB Bahn Guide

DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.

It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.

Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

On this journey

Journey Features

Night

Good to Know

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.

Wien Meidling is connected to line U6 of the Vienna Metro, which serves the western side of the city centre.

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