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How to take the rail journey from Rome/Roma to Vienna/Wien
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Roma / Rome to Wien / Vienna by train
The only direct train from Roma / Rome to Vienna / Wien is the overnight Nightjet service
Though the optimum daytime journey involves making only one connection between trains - and if you set off early in the morning from the Italian capital, you can enjoy the stunning scenery on the Austrian part of the route!
Routes you can take to go from Roma / Rome to Wien / Vienna
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.
Choose one of the following options:
Looking for connections?
Route Information
Option 1: taking the direct overnight train
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
12hr 35min
Frequency
Nightly
Travel Info
1 x train per night
Purchase Tickets
OBB operates the Nightjet trains and it's bespoke booking path for these trains is particularly easy to follow, with detailed explanations of the accommodation options.
Nightjet Guide
Booking places in the sleeping cabins
When entering 2 travellers as 1 male and 1 female, you will automatically be given the option to book a 3-bed cabin for the sole use of the two of you - the 'double' cabin option.
So you will be in the cabin together with no other travellers.
3 men + 2 women or 3 women + 2 men = three beds in a triple cabin + two beds in a double cabin is what you will be offered, though the cabins will then be male and female only.
So if the combination of travellers is 1 male/female couple + 1 male/female couple and a child, you will need to make two separate bookings so that the two couples can each share a cabin.
When 4 Adults are travelling together you will be given the option of booking double or triple cabins.
If you select 'Double' you will automatically be assigned 4 beds in two double cabins.
Because the Triple cabins are segregated into male and female, when two women + two men are in the travel party, the two men will be sharing a triple compartment with another traveller, as will the two women
When 3 men + 1 woman or 3 women + 1 man are the travel party, the fourth person will then be sharing a three bed cabin with two other people.
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.
Trenitalia Guide
Trenitlalia is the national rail operator in Italy and in addition to its cheaper types of ticket; it also typically offers other discounts available to non-Italians, which include:
- Group Offers, provides for a discount of up to 50% when 3-5 Adults travel together.
- Family Offer for when groups of 2 - 5 people are travelling together and at least one of the party is a aged 11 and under.
- The Children Free Offer is available for journeys by Frecce trains, when groups of 2 - 5 people are travelling together and at least one of the party is a aged 15 and under.
Those aged 15 and under travel for free, but the Adults will need to purchase full price 'Base' tickets.
Travel Information
Due to construction work and a route closure in Italy, this train will not be available until September 10th/11th.
The train is usually scheduled to depart from Roma Termini between 20:00 and 20:30 and arrive in Wien/Vienna between 08:45 and 09:15.
Final Destination: Wien Hbf
The train also calls at: Wien-Meidling
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
If you awake before 06:45 open the blinds; as outside the depth of winter, this train travels over the most spectacular part of the route, The Semmering Pass between Buck am der Mur and Weiner-Neustadt in daylight.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
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 shower (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.
Rail Pass Users:
Click the train details for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
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.
Reservations can be arranged and paid for at Roma Termini station, or at the reservation desks at major Italian stations (ideally do this when you first arrive in Italy on your itinerary)
Making the rail pass reservation in advance is particularly recommended if you will be traveling between June and September.
If you wait until arriving in Roma to reserve, your first choice of accommodation may have sold out.
Route Information
Via stations: Venezia Mestre
Option 2: making a connection to travel by day
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
12hr 1min
Frequency
Daily
Travel Info
2 x connections per day
Purchase Tickets
ShowMeTheJourney earns a small commission on Rail Europe ticket sales. It can be a particularly good option when booking international journeys with connections and for travellers who don't reside in western Europe. Use the easy options on its home page if you will be booking tickets with a railcard: Or purchasing rail pass reservations.
Other Ticket Providers
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.
Travel Information
There are no direct daytime trains from Roma / Rome to Wien / Vienna and the only route which enables only one transfer between trains to be required is by connecting at Venezia Mestre.
Making a connection at Venezia Mestre is the optimum daytime route by both simplicity and time.
However, there are only two direct trains of the day from Venezia Mestre to Wien Hbf.
Though a plus is is that the time between trains in Venezia Mestre station is an easily managed 40 - 45 mins and each binaro (platform) at the station is equipped with elevators to enable a step-free connection.
And the reward for rising early to take the first train of the day from Roma to Venezia Mestre, will be the opportunity to experience the lovely Austrian landscape by daylight.
This journey is made up of 1 change.
Train 1
Between Roma Termini and Venezia MestreYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Venezia S. Lucia
These trains also call at: Roma Tiburtina
The first connecting train of the day is typically scheduled to depart Roma Termini at 05:35 and this should be a Frecciarossa 1000 train - depart at this time and you should be arriving into Wien Hbf before 17:45.
The second connection of the day typically requires a departure at 13:35, depart at this time and you will arrive into the Austrian capital after 23:30.
The high speed train journey from Rome to Venice has three distinct phases:
(1) The high speed line between Rome and Florence is more scenic than most, it's not a beautiful journey, but there is a wow factor of travelling across the rolling landscape at more than 240 km/h.
The direttissima between Rome and Florence was the first high speed railway line to be built in Italy, so it has a slower maximum speed than the other Italian high speed lines.
This video, taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction, gives an idea of the journey experience on this part of the trip.
These Frecce trains also divert off the direct route in Florence so that they can call at Firenze S.M.Novella station, where they will reverse direction.
(2) Once the train has departed from Florence it will travel at up to 290 km/h, but nearly of the high speed line between Florence and Bologna is within tunnels.
(3) There is no high speed line between Bologna and Venezia Mestre, but the trains follow a comparatively fast and straight route, over a flat landscape.
Train 2
Between Venezia Mestre and Wien Hbf/HauptbahnhofYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
These trains are usually scheduled to depart from Venezia Mestre station daily at around 10:05 and 16:05.
Final Destination: Wien Hbf
These trains also call at: Villach (connect trains to Salzburg and buses to Ljubljana), Klagenfurt, Leoben, Bruck an der Mur (connect for Graz), Wiener Neustadt and Wien Meidling.
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.
(all of the videos were taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction)
The first highlight of the trip from Venezia Mestre comes as the train leaves Udine behind and threads through the jagged peaks of the Dolomites on its way to Tarviso - though much of this part of the route is in tunnels.
Between Villach and Klagenfurt, from the right, there are some beautiful views over the lake named the Worthersee.
Then between Klagenfurt and Leoben comes arguably the most pleasing part of the journey with frequent
sweeping vistas over valleys to be enjoyed from both sides of the train.
After Bruck an der Mur the train heads towards the star attraction of the journey - the passage over the The Semmering Railway
The best of the views between Bruck and Wiener Neustadt are on back the right, but keep your eyes peeled for when the train crosses the viaducts - between the frequent tunnels.
And in summer the foliage obscures many of the most spectacular views on this part of the train ride.
This journey, in the opposite direction, is featured on the The Daily Telegraph's list of Best Rail Journeys to take in 2018.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date
When booking more than 5 months ahead, if you only see 1st class tickets available for sale on OBB check back a few days later to see if the 'Sparscheine' 2nd class tickets have been added to the booking service.
The types of ticket:
When booking this journey you will in effect be purchasing two separate tickets in the one transaction for each train, Roma to Venezia + Venezia to Wien.
So there are separate terms for each type of ticket.
Booking with OBB:
The Austrian national operator sells what it terms as 'Internationaler Globalpreis Tagverkehr' tickets for the train between Roma and Venezia.
For the journey between Venezia and Wien it offers Sparschiene, Sparschiene-Komfort and Standard tickets.
Booking with Omio or RailEurope:
These agents also typically offer a choice of Sparschiene, Sparschiene-Komfort and Standard tickets, for the part of the journey between Venezia and Wien..
However, they also offer a choice of tickets for travel on the first train from Roma to Venezia to - which are Super Economy, Economy and Base tickets.
When booking with Omio or RailEurope, you will be able to choose between different types of ticket per train, including the ability to choose to travel in 1st class on the first train on to Venezia.
Saving money:
When still available the cheapest combination of tickets is Sparschiene + Super Economy, so note that this combination of tickets is not sold by OBB - but note that this combination of tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded at all in the event of a changed travel plan.
Exchanges / Refunds:
Roma to Venezia:
- Super Economy = Cannot be refunded or transferred to another departure at all
- Economy = Cannot be refunded, but can be transferred to another departure up to two hours before the train you were originally booked on to is due to leave. Though you will need to pay the price difference, if tickets for the train you have swapped to, are more expensive (they likely will be).
- Base = Can be be refunded and can also be transferred to another departure up until the time of the of your original departure
- Internationaler Globalpreis Tagverkehr = Cancellation free of charge until 15 days before the valid day. After that, until the day before the 1st day of validity, a cancellation fee per person of 50% of the fare, at least 15 euros, is due.
Venezia to Wien:
- Sparscheine tickets = cannot be refunded at all.
- Sparscheine Komfort tickets = can be cancelled free of charge up to 15 days ahead of the journey, but if you cancel it with 15 days left to go, you'll receive up to* 50% of what you paid for it
- Standard-Ticket = You can cancel and obtain a full refund at any time pre-travel date.
Seat reservations:
Technically seat reservations are optional on the Railjet train for the part of the journey between the Italian border and Wien, but are mandatory on the section of route between Venezia and the border.
So the ticket agents evidently struggle to manage this scenario in terms of the information they supply to travellers, but ShowMeTheJourney's understanding is that seas will be assigned on the Venezia to Wien train - so the reservation will be included in the ticket price.
Seats are assigned and reservations are included in the ticket price on the Firenze to Venezia train.
Child Tickets
The child ticket terms differ per train.
For the part of the journey between Venezia, and Wien and there is no charge for children aged 15 and under when accompanying Adults book Sparscheine tickets
For the part of the journey from Roma to Venezia, OBB will only offer Internationaler Globalpreis Tagverkehr tickets which have no child discount, but the other agents will offer Italian types of ticket on which children aged 4 to 14 receive a 50% discount.
Book more than 10 days ahead and the Family Offer can be available, on which children aged 4 to 14 travel for free and Adults travel at 50%.
Travel with non-folding bikes
When travelling with non-folding bikes, tickets won't be available for the end-to-end journey, so separate bookings will be required per train.
On the Venezia to Wien train, which is a Railjet, 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/).
However, for the journey between Roma and Venezia, non-folding bikes cannot be taken on board the direct Frecce or Intercity trains.
Travel with dogs
Tickets won't be available for the end-to-end journey, so separate bookings will be required per train.
On the Venezia to Wien train, you will need to add a dog ticket when making your booking.
On the Roma to Venezia train, If you can take your dog in a container or basket measuring 70x30x50cm no ticket will be required, but tickets are required for larger dogs - They cost €5 when travelling on Monday to Friday and Sunday; and only €1 when travelling on a Saturday.
Using Rail Passes:
The rules are different when using a rail pass to travel to Italy by these Railjets compared to travelling by Railjet to other destinations.
Rail pass users must pay a supplement of €15 in 1st class and €10 in 2nd class.
However, there are two elements to the rail pass supplement; the seat reservation and the rail pass surcharge for travelling on an express train in Italy.
You can pay a single charge, which covers both elements, by using the Eurail reservation service or the InterRail reservation service - though you will be charged a €2 booking fee per reservation, per person.
If you pay the supplement at a Reisezentrum travel desk at a major Austrian station, you won't pay the booking fee, but a seat reservation won't be included; and will cost an additional €3.50, as per the info on this page.
OR if you book the 'Tarvisioverkehr Pass1' supplement on the OBB website, the instructions are here, you will need to also select the seat reservation and pay the additional €3.50 cost.
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