How to take the rail journey from Cologne/Köln to Vienna/Wien

Final Destination: Wien

All trains also call at: Bonn, Koblenz and Linz; 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.

The faster alternative to taking these direct trains:

These direct ICE trains from Koln/Cologne to Wien/Vienna don't use the high speed line between Koln and Frankfurt (Main) - they still take the 'classic' and very scenic route through The Rhine Valley via Bonn and Koblenz

Therefore when looking up departures, you will see faster journey options, than these direct trains, with 1 x chg. of train.
These faster journey options involve taking a train from Koln, that does use the high speed line, and then connecting at Frankfurt Flughafen or Frankfurt (Main) into one of these direct trains; that has taken the longer route via Koblenz.

In effect you can leave Koln hbf an hour later and overtake one of these direct trains while it is on route to Frankfurt (Main) hbf, which also happens to offer a step-free transfer between trains.
So you can save time by doing this, but will also skip over the most scenic part of the route taken by these direct trains.

Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date - but this period of time is shorter when looking up journeys in August to October.

A choice of tickets

Four types of tickets are available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis and Super Sparpreis
Two types of non-discounted ticket - Flexpreis Aktion and Flexpreis

A key difference between these types of tickets is refunds:

• Super Sparpreis tickets are cheapest, but they can't be refunded at all.
• Sparpreis tickets can be refunded for a fee, but the refund will be in the form of travel vouchers to be used for alternative / future journeys.
• Flexpreis tickets can be refunded at no additional charge.
• Flexpreis Aktion tickets can't be refunded either - but their higher cost is due to...

...the other key difference is that both types of Flexpreis tickets live up to their name, as they can be used on any departure on your travel date - in contrast, both types of Sparpreis tickets are only valid on the specific departures selected when booking,

Note that none of the tickets can be exchanged to a different departure.
There's no need for this to be available for both types of Flexpreis tickets, as they aren't train departure specific.
If you book a Sparpreis ticket and want to travel by a different departure you can refund it and then use the travel voucher towards the cost of the new booking.
Super Sparpreis tickets can't be exchanged or refunded.

When travelling to and from the major cities, the Sparpreis, Flexpreis Aktion and Flexpreis tickets also include 'City tickets', which can be used on public transport between locations in Köln city centre and Köln Hbf.

Seat reservations

For ticket holders seat reservations are always optional on this route, but if you will be using a rail pass they are now mandatory when travelling between mid-June and mid-August - check the Train guide for the exact dates.
Regardless of whether you will be using tickets or rail passes they cost €4.90 when travelling in 2nd Class and €5.90 when travelling in 1st class.

They are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets and both 1st and 2nd class Flexpreis Plus tickets.
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.

When booking Super Sparpreis, Sparpreis and 2nd class Flexpreis tickets, you have the option of purchasing seat reservations later.
It can be worth re-looking up a journey a week or two ahead of travel, because the DB website will indicate how busy a departure will be.
Although if you do book your reservations later and your journey involves more than one train, you will then have to pay for separate reservations per train.
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.

They are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets and both 1st and 2nd class Flexpreis Plus tickets.

When booking Super Sparpreis, Sparpreis and 2nd class Flexpreis tickets, you have the option of purchasing seat reservations later.
It can be worth re-looking up a journey a week or two ahead of travel, because the DB website will indicate how busy a departure will be.

Reservations are highly recommended for this journey, particularly if you'll be travelling 2nd class* or with a rail pass - it's worth it to ensure that you have an assigned seat for the entire trip.

Booking on the DB website

When looking for tickets from Köln Hbf on the DB website type ‘K‘ or 'COLOGNE' into the ‘from‘ box and not ‘Ko‘.

You can find these direct trains more easily by making a proactive selection of 'Direct Trains Only'.

To see all the combinations of trains and journey options, some of which may be cheaper, take off the 'fastest connections' default.

Final Destination: Wien Hbf

The trains also calls at: Linz and St Polten

It's still possible to travel through the night from Koln/Cologne to Wien/Vienna, you don't have to take the daytime trains.

This train is USUALLY scheduled to depart at around 22:15 and arrive in the Austrian capital at around between 09:15 and 09:30.

The journey experience is dependent on the type of accommodation you choose to travel by one the train, click the train details button to discover more about the available options.

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

The train conveys:

- 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 with showers (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins

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

Using rail passes:

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.