The journey by train from Cologne/Köln to Vienna/Wien is one of those routes on which travellers have a choice between:
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:
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.
3 x trains per day
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings usually open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
Finding tickets:
When looking for tickets from Köln on DB Bahn type ‘K or COLOGNE‘ into the ‘from‘ box and not ‘Ko‘.
Check that you’re looking at booking info for the direct ICE trains.
These trains are usually scheduled to depart from Koln at 05:53 and 09:53, so target those times when looking up this journey.
Reservations:
Book 1st class ticket journey tickets 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.
Opting to reserve is particularly recommended if you want to sit in the same seat for the duration of this journey.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
DB | from €35.90 | |
OBB | from €36 | |
Omio | from €35.90 | |
Save A Train | from €35.90 | |
Happy rail | from €35.90 |
The train will reverse direction on departure from Frankfurt (Main) hbf.
Ideally when boarding at Koln Hbf sit on the left on the train when facing the direction of travel, this may seem the wrong way round, but the train will initially head north on departure and then loop around the city before heading south on the river bank.
You can then see the stunning views of the Upper Rhine Valley between Koblenz and Bingen,
This is a fascinating and often beautiful journey of 10 distinct phases:
The best of the views occur when the trains travel through The Rhine Gorge between Koblenz and Bingen.
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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 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.
1 x train per night
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.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
OBB | * | |
DB Bahn | * |
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.
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.