How to travel by train from Warsaw / Warszawa to Vienna / Wien

Final Destination: Wien Hbf

On some timetables the morning departure, shortly before 06:00, is named the 'Polonia' and the afternoon train, at around 14:10 is named the 'Sobieski'.

The first train of the day is usually scheduled to arrive into Wien / Vienna at around 13:40, while the later train is scheduled to arrive at around 21:59

Departing from Warszawa / Warsaw

The morning train departs Warszawa Wschodnia station, which is on the eastern side of the city centre.
If you will be commencing a journey in the vicinity of the old town, you can take tram line/route 13 direct from the 'Stare Miasto' stop direct to Wschodnia station.

It then goes on to call at Warszawa Centralna and then call at Warszawa Zachodnia.
So check the location of the starting point of your journey, to see which of these three stations will suit you best.~

Presumably due to construction work on the railways around the Polish capital, on the latest timetable, the afternoon train has been switched away from the city's main railway station, Warszawa Centralna.
Instead it will be departing from a station to the north of the city centre, named [Warszawa Gdanska].

This isn't a problem because Warszawa Gdańska station is a public transport interchange
It is directly adjacent to Dworzec Gdański station on line M1 of the Warsaw Metro, so line M1 connects Centrum station, which lives up to its name with a city centre location, to Warszawa Gdańska

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 60 days ahead of the travel date

Tickets for the train journey from Warszawa/Warsaw to Wien/Vienna are sold by both the Polish express train operator's website, PKP InterCity, and the OBB website provided by Austria's national train operator.

Booking on the PKP InterCity website:

Tickets to Wien/Vienna tend to be cheaper on the PKP InterCity website, but you will need to use a currency conversion took to make the comparison with the OBB website as the ticket prices on PKP are only available in Polish zlotys.

The PKP website can be a tad quirky for first time users, so we have published a guide to what to look out for when using it.

In particular pay attention to the booking screen that's been highlighted here - if you don't tick the box you won't be booking the cheapest tickets available, at the price that will be shown for each departure.

Booking on the OBB InterCity website

Our guide to booking train tickets (and reservations) on the OBB website is available HERE.

Note that the cheapest tickets on the OBB webite, the 'Sparschiene' tickets, can't be refunded or exchanged if you subsequently need to change your travel plans.

Also if you book on the OBB website, you can only obtain your tickets for this journey by printing them off from an OBB ticket machine at a station in Austria, or by taking your booking comnfirmation reference number to an OBB ticket desk at a station in Austria.

Travelling with a rail pass:

If you will be boarding these trains and using an InterRail or Eurail Pass, you will need to make a reservation* prior to boarding.

*According to the Eurail and InterRail websites, the reservation fees still apply to international journeys by these EC trains, despite fees no longer being charged to travel by these DAY trains for domestic journeys within Poland – OR in Czechia and Austria

Final Destination: München Hbf

On the new European rail timetable this 'Chopin' train is being re-routed on the part of its journey after departure Wien Hbf.
But in order to facilitate this change to a longer route, the arrival time into Wien / Vienna has been brought forward to before 05:00!

Departing from Warszawa / Warsaw

This overnight night train isn't scheduled to call at the city's main railway station, Warszawa Centralna.
Instead it is typically scheduled to depart from Warszawa Wschodnia / Warsaw East station at around 19:40.

Though if the starting point of your journey is in the old town area of Warsaw, the easiest beginning to the trip will be to head east to Warszawa Wschodnia, as tram line/route 4 connects the tram stop, Stare Miasto, which is located on the southern edge of the old town area, to the station.

From the city centre an option is to head to Centrum station, which lives up to its name with a city centre location, to take line M1 of the Warsaw Metro, to the stop stop named Dworzec Gdański.
This Metro stop has an easy interchange with the station named Warszawa Gdanska, which is to the north of the city centre.
This train will also depart from Warszawa Gdanska shortly before 20:00.

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date (usually)

Polish Railways (PKP provides this train and it conveys:

- Compartment Seats 
- Couchettes; 4 berths AND 6 berths
- Sleeping cars with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 bed (Delux cabins have showers)

However, this train cannot be booked on the PKP website, but it can be booked on the OBB, Austrian national railways, website; our guide to making this booking is is available HERE.

A plus of booking online is that you will have ensured your place on the train. Your first choice of accommodation MAY be sold out if you don't book before arriving in Warsaw/Warszawa.

Rail Pass Users:

If you will be making this journey with a valid rail pass, you must reserve before boarding these trains, but these reservations cannot be booked online.

Reservations can be arranged and paid for at the  ticket desk at Warszawa Centalna station - ideally do this when you first arrive in Warszawa on the preceding train on your itinerary.

Or by calling OBB Customer Service (+43 5 1717) or by using the Eurail/InterRail reservation service

Rail pass users can obtain good value for money on this train, particularly if you travel in the couchettes.