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How to take the rail journey from Salzburg to the Austrian capital
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Salzburg to Wien / Vienna by train
On the route between Salzburg and Wien trains operated by Westbahn compete with the Railjet trains operated by Austria's national rail company OBB, check the 'Train Guides' to compare the on board experiences.
Aside from the journey times, ticket availability/booking and the on-board facilities, a key difference between the two services is that they arrive at different stations in Wien/Vienna.
So it can be worth checking your ultimate destination in the city and working out your optimum onward connections, as the stations that these trains use, aren't in the city centre.
The Railjet and IC trains arrive at the city's main station Wien Hbf, which is served by line U1 of the city's subway/metro; and they also call at Wien Meidling, which is on line U6.
Most of the Railjet trains also continue beyond the city centre to the station at the airport, Wien Flughafen.
In contrast the Westbahn services live up to their name and they arrive at the city's former main station, Wien Westbahnhof, it is served by lines U3 and U6.
Routes you can take to go from Salzburg 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 a Railjet (RJX)
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
2hr 25min
Frequency
Daily
Travel Info
1 x train per hour
Purchase Tickets
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.
Trainline Guide
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.
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.
Happyrail 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.
Travel Information
Final Destination: Budapest or Flughafen Wien or Wien Hbf or Bratislava
All trains also call at: St Polten
These faster Railjet services on this route are branded as 'Railjet Express' or 'RJX' services.
These RJX services only make three station calls between Salzburg. and Wien/Vienna.
The slower 'IC' services make 10 station calls.
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Good to Know
Check the location of your final destination in Wien/Vienna.
These Railjet trains call at Wien-Meidling and Wien Hbf stations in the Austrian capital.
The only Metro interchange available at Wien Hbf is with line U1.
But the alternative Westbahn trains arrive in Wien-Westbahnhof
Wien-Westbahnhof has a connection with line U3 and line U6 of the Vienna U-Bahn/Metro.
These lines don't call at Wien Hbf, so if the end point of your journey in the city is located along these lines, it's likely that you'll have a faster and easier trip if you target the Westbahn trains.
These video clips were taken from trains travelling in the opposite direction towards Salzburg.
The scenic highlight of this trip occurs around 10 to 15 minutes into the journey, when the railway passes by the Wallersee.
Then for the most of the journey between Salzburg and Linz the train will pass through a pleasant rolling landscape, with distant views of mountains to the south.
Instead of building an entirely new high speed railway, the decision was taken to upgrade and straighten the main Western Railway which crosses Austria.
So between Wien/Vienna and Linz the train will travel at up to 230 km/h (close to the high speed threshold).
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
The train service between Salzburg and Wien is split between THESE trains operated by OBB and alternative trains operated by WestBahn.
The limited numbers of discounted 'Sparpreis' tickets for those trains, are cheaper than the discounted 'Sparschiene' tickets which are made available by OBB for these Railjet trains.
However, those Westbahn 'Sparpreis' tickets can sell out faster than the 'Sparschiene' tickets, so taking the Railjets can be the cheaper option when looking up a journey; and the 'Sparschiene' tickets can be booked online up until the day of departure.
Though a sliding scale of prices is applied to the 'Sparschiene' tickets, so you can save by booking ahead; and the most heavily discounted tickets inevitably remain on sale longer for the slower Railjet services.
Tickets for the trains operated by Westbahn are not available on the OBB ticket booking site and vice versa, tickets for these trains operated by OBB are not available on the Westbahn site, but both services can be directly compared on the Trainline website.
Last minute tickets booked at the station are more expensive than booking the discounted tickets in advance online.
Though if you want to leave booking tickets until the day of travel, it's highly likely that you'll save by taking the Westbahn trains.
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.
Exchanges and Refunds
Book a Non-Flex ticket or a Semi Flex Ticket and it will be specific to the departure you selected when making a booking
Meaning that if you arrive at a station too late to board a train because your taxi got stuck in traffic, or there was a fault on the tram etc, you will have to pay the full price at the station for a replacement ticket.
The only scenario in which these ticket types can be used for an alternative, later departure is IF your journey involves more than one train AND a delay to an OBB train causes you to miss the departure you were booked on to.
Non-Flex and Semi Flex Ticket tickets also can't be exchanged to an alternative departure pre-travel.
However, if post-booking you subsequently change your travel plans, you can cancel a Semi Flex ticket and receive 50% of your payment, but Non-Flex tickets can't be refunded at all - And that is the key distinction between the two types of ticket!
These terms also apply if you want to use Semi Flex and Non Flex tickets to travel in First Class!
If you will want to have the freedom to both refund your ticket and take any train on your travel day, you will need to pay extra for a Flex ticket.
Seat reservations
Reservations are available, but optional for journeys for journeys within Austria by Railjet trains.
Therefore, seats on the train you will be travelling are NOT absolutely guaranteed if you haven't reserved.
Though the OBB online booking service now indicates whether a specific departure is proving to be exceptionally busy.
Reservations in both 1st class and 2nd class cost €3 per person when booking Non-Flex and Flex tickets, but are included as a complimentary benefit when booking Semi-Flex tickets
Reservations for travel in Business Class cost €15 regardless of the type of ticket booked.
Note that reservations will also be required any children aged 5 to 15 - children aged 4 and under don't require tickets, but the expectation is that they will be travelling in the adult's lap..
If you have a valid Eurail or Interrail pass you can opt to make reservations for this journey but you can simply board with a pass and hope that seats will be available.
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;
- Children aged 5 and under travel for free
- Children aged 6 – 14 travel at half-fare
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
If you have a valid Eurail or Interrail pass you can opt to make reservations for this journey, but you can simply board with a pass and hope that seats will be available.
However, in SMTJ's experience, it's a good idea to reserve when:
- departing between 08:00-10:00 and 16:00 -18:00 Monday to Thursday
- on Fridays
- Saturday mornings
- Sunday afternoons/evenings.
Route Information
Option 2 - taking an IC train
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
2hr 50 min (approx)
Frequency
Daily
Purchase Tickets
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.
Trainline Guide
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
These IC trains are typically scheduled to depart from Salzburg less than 5 mins after the departure of a Railjet, and they are slower, but what can tip the balance to them being a good option is price.
They tend to be cheaper than taking the Railjets.
**Final Destination:**Wien Hbf or Wien Flughafen
All trains also call at: St Polten
Check the location of your final destination in Wien/Vienna.
These IC trains call at Wien-Meidling and Wien Hbf stations in the Austrian capital.
The only Metro interchange available at Wien Hbf is with line U1.
But the alternative Westbahn trains arrive in Wien-Westbahnhof
Wien-Westbahnhof has a connection with line U3 and line U6 of the Vienna U-Bahn/Metro.
These lines don't call at Wien Hbf, so if the end point of your journey in the city is located along these lines, it's likely that you'll have a faster and easier trip if you target the Westbahn trains.
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Good to Know
Comparing the services:
Journey times from Salzburg:
- Railjet (RJX) = 2hr 25 min
- IC = 2hr 50 min
- Westbahn = 2hr 28 min
Arrival stations
- Railjet Express = Wien Meidling, Wien Hbf
- IC = Wien Meidling, Wien Hbf
- Westbahn = Wien West
The on board experience:
The Railjet trains offer three levels of service and the Westbahn trains have two levels of service.
A key difference between the three services is catering:
- Railjets = a bar car offering hot and cold food to all passengers, plus an at seat service of a full menu in first and business class.
- Westbahn = vending machines which sell hot/cold drinks, sandwiches, snacks - plus a catering trolley with no hot food available, which provides an at-seat service in the equivalent of 1st class and may also be available in 2nd class.
- IC services = vending machines
Ticketing Summary:
The Trainline sells tickets for both train services, though except when promotions are running, Westbahn tickets are a fixed price.
In contrast you can save by booking ahead for the Railjet trains, and when the cheaper discounted tickets are still available on the Railjets, they're cheaper.
If you will be buying tickets last minute you will likely save by taking the Westbahn, on the Westbahn trains you can pay a €1 surcharge to buy a ticket from the conductor.
These video clips were taken from trains travelling in the opposite direction towards Salzburg.
The scenic highlight of this trip occurs around 10 to 15 minutes into the journey, when the railway passes by the Wallersee.
Then for the most of the journey between Salzburg and Linz the train will pass through a pleasant rolling landscape, with distant views of mountains to the south.
Instead of building an entirely new high speed railway, the decision was taken to upgrade and straighten the main Western Railway which crosses Austria.
So between Wien/Vienna and Linz the train will travel at up to 230 km/h (close to the high speed threshold).
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
The train service between Salzburg and Wien is split between THESE trains operated by OBB and alternative trains operated by WestBahn.
The limited numbers of discounted 'Sparpreis' tickets for those trains, are cheaper than the discounted 'Sparschiene' tickets which are made available by OBB for these Railjet trains.
However, those Westbahn 'Sparpreis' tickets can sell out faster than the 'Sparschiene' tickets, so taking the Railjets can be the cheaper option when looking up a journey; and the 'Sparschiene' tickets can be booked online up until the day of departure.
Though a sliding scale of prices is applied to the 'Sparschiene' tickets, so you can save by booking ahead; and the most heavily discounted tickets inevitably remain on sale longer for the slower Railjet services.
Tickets for the trains operated by Westbahn are not available on the OBB ticket booking site and vice versa, tickets for these trains operated by OBB are not available on the Westbahn site, but both services can be directly compared on the Trainline website.
Last minute tickets booked at the station are more expensive than booking the discounted tickets in advance online.
Though if you want to leave booking tickets until the day of travel, it's highly likely that you'll save by taking the Westbahn trains.
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.
Exchanges and Refunds
Book a Non-Flex ticket or a Semi Flex Ticket and it will be specific to the departure you selected when making a booking
Meaning that if you arrive at a station too late to board a train because your taxi got stuck in traffic, or there was a fault on the tram etc, you will have to pay the full price at the station for a replacement ticket.
The only scenario in which these ticket types can be used for an alternative, later departure is IF your journey involves more than one train AND a delay to an OBB train causes you to miss the departure you were booked on to.
Non-Flex and Semi Flex Ticket tickets also can't be exchanged to an alternative departure pre-travel.
However, if post-booking you subsequently change your travel plans, you can cancel a Semi Flex ticket and receive 50% of your payment, but Non-Flex tickets can't be refunded at all - And that is the key distinction between the two types of ticket!
These terms also apply if you want to use Semi Flex and Non Flex tickets to travel in First Class!
If you will want to have the freedom to both refund your ticket and take any train on your travel day, you will need to pay extra for a Flex ticket.
Seat reservations
Reservations are available, but optional for journeys for journeys within Austria by Railjet trains.
Therefore, seats on the train you will be travelling are NOT absolutely guaranteed if you haven't reserved.
Though the OBB online booking service now indicates whether a specific departure is proving to be exceptionally busy.
Reservations in both 1st class and 2nd class cost €3 per person when booking Non-Flex and Flex tickets, but are included as a complimentary benefit when booking Semi-Flex tickets
Reservations for travel in Business Class cost €15 regardless of the type of ticket booked.
Note that reservations will also be required any children aged 5 to 15 - children aged 4 and under don't require tickets, but the expectation is that they will be travelling in the adult's lap..
If you have a valid Eurail or Interrail pass you can opt to make reservations for this journey but you can simply board with a pass and hope that seats will be available.
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;
- Children aged 5 and under travel for free
- Children aged 6 – 14 travel at half-fare
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
If you have a valid Eurail or Interrail pass you can opt to make reservations for this journey, but you can simply board with a pass and hope that seats will be available.
However, in SMTJ's experience, it's a good idea to reserve when:
- departing between 08:00-10:00 and 16:00 -18:00 Monday to Thursday
- on Fridays
- Saturday mornings
- Sunday afternoons/evenings.
Route Information
Option 3: taking a Westbahn train
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
2hr 28 min
Frequency
Daily
Travel Info
2 x trains per hour
Purchase Tickets
Travel Information
Final Destination: Wien-Westbanhof
Note that the Railjet trains call at different stations in Wien/Vienna.
All trains also call at: St Polten
If you want to look up this journey before heading to the station, these Westbahn departures can be compared with OBB's trains on the Trainline website; see below.
If the on board experience is your main criteria, check the 'Trains Guides', to see how the trains compare.
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Good to Know
The only interchange available at Wien Hbf is with line U1.
Wien-Westbahnhof has a connection with line U3 and line U6 of the Vienna U-Bahn/Metro.
These two lines don't call at Wien Hbf so if the end point of your journey in the city is located along them it's likely that you'll have a faster and easier end-to-end trip, if you target these Westbahn trains
Until the outskirts of Wien, these trains take the same route as the Railjets.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
The train service between Salzburg and Wien/Vienna is split between other Railjet trains operated by OBB and these trains operated by Westbahn
Tickets for these trains operated by Westbahn are not available on the OBB ticket booking site and vice versa, tickets for the trains operated by OBB are not available on the Westbahn site.
However the tickets those OBB (Railjet) trains and these Westbahn trains can be directly compared on Trainline Österreich; see below.
The limited numbers of discounted 'Sparpreis' Westbahn tickets are cheaper than the discounted 'Sparschiene' tickets, which are made available by OBB for the Railjet trains.
However, these Westbahn 'Sparpreis' tickets can sell out faster than the 'Sparschiene' tickets, so the taking the Railjets can be the cheaper option.
Like those ''Sparschiene' tickets, the 'Sparpreis' tickets for these Westbahn trains, are specific to the departure you select when making a booking.
Last minute tickets booked at the station are more expensive than either of these discounted tickets.
Though if you want to leave booking tickets until the day of travel, it's highly likely that you'll save by taking the Westbahn trains.
Seat reservations
In contrast to the taking the Railjet trains, specific seats are automatically when assigned booking tickets.
Using Eurail/Inter Rail passes
Users of 2nd class Eurail and Interrail passes can board into the 2nd class seats on the Westbahn trains without paying a seat reservation fee.
However, holders of 1st class Eurail and Interrail passes should avoid the Westbahn trains, as reservation fees aren't mandatory when travelling in First Class on the alternative Railjet trains
That's because to travel in First Class on the Westbahn trains, users of 1st class class rail passes need to pay a comparatively expensive €9 supplement.
To avoid paying this fee on the Westbahn trains, users of 1st class Eurail and Interrail passes can travel in 2nd class, but the clear better value for money option is to travel in 1st class on the alternative Railjet trains.
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