Looking down into the main departure hall at Munchen Hbf used by the long distance trains

Venezia / Venice / Venedig to München / Munich by train

How to make a rail journey from Venezia/Venice to Munich/Munchen

When taking the train from Venezia/Venice
to München/Munich you can either opt to take the fantastically scenic daytime journey, or travel overnight on a sleeper train

Share

Routes

Option 1: travel during the day

Travel Information

Final Destination: Muenchen (Italian spelling)

This train also calls at: Venezia Mestre; Kufstein, Rosenheim and München Ost

1 or 2 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for the direct EC train.

When booking tickets for this journey, look for the trains that usually depart Venezia S. Lucia at around 13:35 (daily) and 15:35 (Sat/Sun only).

It can be worth comparing prices on the OBB website with the other websites on which this journey can be booked, these trains are operated by OBB.

A choice of stations in Venezia/Venice:

These trains also call at Venezia Mestre after they depart  from Venezia S. Lucia, which is the station in the historic heart of Venice/Venezia.

If you will be heading from historic Venice/Venezia take care when booking online, or using an agent, that your ticket is valid FROM  Venezia S. Lucia.

A choice of stations in Munchen/Munich:

These trains will also call at München Ost station before arriving at Munchen Hbf.

If the finishing point of your journey is in central Munich/Munchen (around Marienplatz), it will be a quicker trip if you leave the train at Munchen Ost and connect into a local S-Bahn train at that station

When making a booking online on DB Bahn, it uses ‘Munich (München)’ as a default for looking up journeys to the city in the ‘to’ box.
But it is possible to select München Ost as the ‘to’ station (you need to use the German spelling with the character (the umlaut) over the ‘u’).

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Italia rail from €33 approx

Italia rail Guide

Italiarail lives up to its name by selling tickets for rail journeys within Italy and the core feature of its service is that it is primarily designed to be used by international visitors to Italy.
So the English translations of place names are used when looking up journeys and the terms and conditions for using each type of ticket are clearly explained.
It also clearly points out the additional costs of upgrading to other classes and types of tickets while spelling out the additional benefits of doing so.
Though Italiarail will charge a booking fee, typically of around €3.

The Early Bird service

Italiarail has launched an 'early bird' pre-booking service for journeys by Frecce trains.
Tickets can be booked up to a year ahead of travel at a flat-rate price per route, before the tickets have been released for sale by Trenitalia.
If when they are placed on sale, the price is cheaper than what you have already paid to Italiarail, it will automatically refund the price difference.
Conversely, if the price is more expensive, you won't be charged the price difference.
You can also have the peace of mind of securing your seat(s) on the Frecce train(s) when you are first planning a trip.
If before the tickets are placed on sale, you decide to change your plans, you can request a refund; but once the tickets are released for sale, you will then be bound by the terms and conditions of the ticket(s) you have booked.

OBB from €33

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.

DB from €33 approx

DB Guide

DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.

It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.
Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

Two types of ticket have recently been made available;

  1. Cheaper 'Young' tickets which can only be booked by those aged 15-26 on the travel date.
  2. Flexi Plus tickets, which are now the most expensive type of ticket, but they're the only type of 2nd class tickets which DO include a seat reservation.
Trainline from €33 approx

Trainline Guide

Trenitalia from €33 approx

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.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - YesLandscape (Hills / Mountains)River viewsNot High Speed
Between Trento and Bolzano Between Trento and Bolzano
Between Bolzano and Brenerro Between Bolzano and Brenerro
Between Bolzano and Brenerro Between Bolzano and Brenerro
Between Bolzano and Brenerro Between Bolzano and Brenerro

Step on board, sit back and enjoy the wonders of one of Europe's most epic express train journeys.

(the videos were filmed from a train travelling in the opposite direction)

What earned this train, that departs Venezia at around 13:50 (daily) and 15:50 (Sat/Sun only), its place on that list, wasn't the fact that it takes the stunning route Brennero Pass route between Verona and Innsbruck.

It's not the only train to take that incredible journey, but it is the only train which takes that route AND also crosses the Venetian lagoon.

To make the most of this train ride you need to be on a train that travels as far as Innsbruck by daylight, so depending on the time of year, at weekends it can be worth targeting the 13:50 departure.
Between Verona and Brenerro 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.

But it is the views to the south of Innsbruck, after departure from Brennero, which are the highlight of this journey - and they can be seen on the left.

On departure from Innsbruck the train will follow the River Inn through the valley as far as Kufstein - and the best of these views are back over to the right.

Option 2: travel overnight

Travel Information

The train is usually scheduled to depart Venezia S. Lucia at 21:05 and arrive in Munchen Ost at 05:50; note the exceptionally early arrival time!

The train also departs from Venezia Mestre, Treviso (usually departs 21:35), Udine (usually departs 23:01)
It takes a different route to that taken by the daytime train

Final Destination: Stuttgart Hbf

Because this train no longer calls at the main station in Munich it is easier to make connections on to other Germany destinations in Stuttgart.
Within 90 mins of arriving there ICE trains will be departing Stuttgart for Berlin, Frankfurt (Main), Hannover and Hamburg.

The train also arrives at Ulm and Augsburg

1 x train per night

Tickets

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

These trains are provided by Austria's national rail operator, OBB, the travel through Austria on this journey between Germany and Italy.

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.

Click the train details for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:

Using rail passes:

Rail pass users must reserve before boarding this train.

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 reservations can be arranged and paid for at Venezia S.Lucia 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 Venezia/Venice to reserve, your first choice of accommodation may have sold out.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
OBB *

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.

On this journey

Journey Features

Night

Good to Know

On departure from Venice, the train heading for Munchen will be attached to another train heading to Wien.
There is no need to be overly concerned about this as your reservations will be in a coach/car heading to Munchen/Munich.
Though any info on the departure screens for the NJ train to Wien will also apply to this train.

Take the stress out of your journey Everything planned to your specification, so sit back and relax… Try Concierge
hand-money

Please support ShowMeTheJourney

Help keep us advertising and paywall free!

Donate

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.

See if there’s a unique journey guide for your trip, featuring info on the trains, tickets & stations.
Leaving From
Going To
ShowMeTheJourney

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.