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.
4hr 44min
Daily
Mon-Fri =3 x trains per day
Sat/Sun = 2 x trains 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.
First time bookers using the Omio mobile apps (Find them at www.omio.com/apps) can save 10% on purchasers of up to €100 by using the promo code SEP24 Valid for bookings by September 30th, 2024 (11:59 pm CET).
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
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.
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.
Final Destination: Bologna (or Rimini, summer only)
Connect in Bologna for destinations to the south including Ancona, Firenze/Florence, Roma and Napoli.
From early April Railjet trains will also begin to operate on this route.
The part of the train journey between Innsbruck and Verona is one of the most incredible in Europe, it's the most scenic part of the train ride, which is featured on our guide to the continent's most epic express train journeys.
Though you'll need to hope that your reserved seat will be on right of the train (when facing the direction of travel) to see the best of the stunning views.
If need be move over to that side, or head to the train's rear window.
Particularly during the most incredible part of the journey, which is the initial 35 mins between Innsbruck and the border at Brennero.
in winter:
Though the fabulous views continue after the train exits the Brenner Tunnel and begins to travel through Italy.
Between Brennero and Verona the railway route primarily travels through a massive valley, by the River Adige and on this part of the journey, there are some great views to be had from either side of the train.
The train will reverse direction on departure from Verona though the part of the journey from there on to Bologna, is actually exceptionally uninteresting.
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: 4 months ahead of the travel date
These direct trains are usually scheduled to depart from Innsbruck at 09:24 on Mon-Friday and at 11:24 daily, so if you want to travel by them, target those times when looking up this journey.
Discounted tickets
The discounted tickets are the 'Sparscheine' tickets and they can be booked online up until the day of departure, but they CAN'T be booked at stations, so booking last minute at the station is always more expensive.
Though you'll usually need to book the 'Sparscheine' tickets at least a couple of days ahead to obtain them at the cheapest possible price
It can pay off to take a look at the guide to Austrian train tickets - it should help you save time and money and confusion.
Refunds / Exchanges
Seat Reservations:
When booking tickets online on OBB a €3 price will be added to the shopping basket and you need to accept this price.
It is the cost of the mandatory seat reservation that is required when travelling by these trains from Austria into Italy.
Child tickets
When booking 'Sparschiene' tickets each adult (aged 15 and over) can take up to four children aged 14 and under for free!
These children will still require tickets, but there will be no charge for them.
When not booking 'Sparschiene' tickets;
Bike tickets
You will need purchase both a bike ticket AND a reservation for your bike prior to boarding; more info on how to do this is available on the [bikes on trains guide](/travel-info-and-tips/taking-a-bike-on-a-european-train/).
Dog tickets
If your dog is too large to be taken in a pet carrier you will need to add a dog ticket when making your booking;
Using rail passes:
When travelling on this Brenner over the Austria / Italy border paying a 'supplement' is required [when using 'global' Eurail or InterRail passes]https://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/reservations/trains-with-additional-supplements).
The fees for the supplement are €15 in 1st class and €10 in 2nd class.
However, the supplement is not a seat reservation.
You can purchase the supplements on the Eurail reservation service or the InterRail reservation service and the seat reservation will also be included - though you will be charged a €2 booking fee per reservation, per person.
Book the supplements for journeys to Italy by these trains, at the Reisezentrum desk at Innsbruck Hbf (or at any hauptbahnhof in Austria).
and you won't be charged a booking fee, but will also have to pay seat reservation charges of €3.50 in both 1st class and 2nd class.
OBB sells the supplements for these trains online, but the supplement is charged separately to the seat reservation, so you need to proactively also add the seat reservation when booking- and pay the additional cost of €3.50 in both 1st class and 2nd class.
Or you can board the train, find an available seat and then buy the supplement from the train conductor, but when doing so there is an additional charge of €5.
Though if you'll be happy to make connections on a longer end-to-end journeys, it's usually comparatively straightforward to avoid travelling to and from Italy on these trains.
There are alternative journey options when travelling to Austria or Germany from Bologna, or from Venice/Venezia.
And when travelling in the opposite direction from Munich and Innsbruck.
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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