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Wien / Vienna to Berlin by train
How to take a rail journey from Vienna/Wien to Berlin
Not very many years ago the direct trains between the German and Austrian capitals had disappeared from the timetables, but now there are three very different options to choose from when taking the train from Wien/Vienna to Berlin.
When you look up this journey on the ticket booking websites you'll also see a swathe of other journeys which involve making connections between trains.
So these direct trains can be tricky to spot amidst all of those other options, so you can use this info to find them more easily.
(1) The daytime service is an is an ICE train, but it spends less than 25% of its journey travelling at high speed.
(2) In the early evening there is a nightly IC train, it's a train usually used for daytime services, which happens to travel through the night.
(3) The final departure is a Nightjet and this is the train to take if you want to travel from Berlin to Vienna/Wien in a bed in a sleeping cabin, or in a bunk on a couchette.
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Routes
Option 1: the daily direct ICE train
Journey Summary
7hr 43min
Daily
Travel Information
This train also calls at: Wien-Meidling; St Polten; Linz; and Berlin-Sudkreuz
Departing from Wien/Vienna:
Final Destination: Berlin Gesundbrunnen
If your journey in Vienna is commencing in 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 join 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.
Arriving in Berlin:
Check the location of your final destination in Berlin, as Berlin-Sudkreuz station is connected by local S-Bahn trains to the eastern and western edges of the city centre,
It also has direct S-Bahn trains on lines S2 and S25 and S26 which head north into the city centre and call at Anhalter and Brandenburger Tor and Postdamer Platz and FriedrichstraBe stations; amongst others.
It is also now linked by direct train to the new Berlin Brandenburg airport.
Berlin Gesundbrunnen has connections to destinations on the northern edge of the city centre.
Check your connections in Berlin on this public transport map.
1 x direct train per day
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date; usually
This train is usually scheduled to depart daily from Wien Hbf at 10:15.
So target this departure time when looking up tickets; though travelling on indirect trains from Vienna/Wien to Berlin (connecting in Nurnberg ) tends to be cheaper.
It's already clear that the most heavily discounted tickets are selling out months ahead on this direct train.
It can be worth comparing prices on the different ticket agents, the cheapest 'Europa Spezial' tickets can still be available on DB, the German railways website, when the most heavily discounted 'Sparschiene' tickets are sold out on OBB, the Austrian railways website.
And the reverse can be true, cheaper Sparschiene tickets can still be available on OBB, meaning that DB can be more expensive.
Seat reservations:
Book 1st class ticket journey tickets on DB 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.
If you will be travelling 2nd class we highly recommend opting to add a reservation when booking, the ICE trains to Germany from Austria are always comparatively busy.
So if you don't reserve, being able to remain in the same seat all the way from Vienna to Berlin, is something you definitely can't take for granted.
Note that if you opt to book 1st class tickets on OBB, your seat reservation won't be automatically be included, so you will need to be proactive and add it to your booking.
Rail pass users:
As explained on our guide to using rail passes on German trains, a tick in the box for travelling by ICE trains, is that you won't HAVE to make a seat reservation.
However, irrespective of whether you will be travelling with a 1st class or 2nd class pass, we recommend opting to make the reservation on this train, if you want to enjoy a stress-free journey.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| OBB | from €39 | |
| DB | from €39.90 | |
| Trainline | from €39 | |
| Save A Train | from €39.90 | |
| Happy rail | from €39.90 | |
| Happy rail | from €39.90 |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
When looking up the Berlin to Vienna/Wien train journey, you will likely see alternative options available, which involve changing trains.
Those indirect journeys are often a cheaper option than taking this direct train.
Of these alternative journey options target those that have '1' and 'ICE' displayed on the DB website, as they involve what should be a straightforward connection in Nurnberg.
From Wien/Vienna until Wels the train will travel at up to 230 km/h (close to the high speed threshold) on the main Western Railway which crosses Austria.
On departure from Wells the train will head towards the border with Germany and to the south of Passau, the railway takes a charming route on the east bank of The River Inn, which can be seen on left.
Then between Passau and Regensburg the River Danube is on the right.
Between Regensburg and Nurnberg the train rushes across a delightful rolling landscape, then after departure from Nurnberg the train will remain on the conventional railway until it has passed through Bamberg.
Between Bamberg and Halle is the high speed section of the journey, aside from the call at Erfurt station, the train will spend around 90 minutes travelling at up to 280 km/h
Option 3: making connections between two ICE trains
Journey Summary
8hr 14min - 8hr 39min
Daily
Tickets
Book in advance and save: YES
Online bookings usually open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
When looking up a Wien/Vienna to Berlin train journey by day on DB, you will now see the direct trains, plus multiple other journey optiions which involve making one or more connections.
These alternative options with a change of train tend to be cheaper than taking the direct trains; and obviously the departure/arrival times of the direct trains may not suit.
Of the alternative options, we recommend this routing, with one theoretically straightforward connection between trains in Nurnberg.
On DB look for the journeys which have '1' in the chg. column and 'ICE' in the Products column.
Use the earlier/later buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.
Connections at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day; so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Seat reservations:
Book 1st class ticket journey tickets for these journeys on DB Bahn 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.
If you will be travelling 2nd class we highly recommend opting to add a reservation when booking, the ICE trains to Germany from Austria are always comparatively busy.
Note that if you opt to book 1st class tickets on OBB, your seat reservation won't be automatically be included, so you will need to be proactive and add it to your booking.
Rail pass users:
As explained on our guide to using rail passes on German trains, a tick in the box for travelling by ICE trains, is that you won't HAVE to make a seat reservation.
However, irrespective of whether you will be travelling with a 1st class or 2nd class pass, we recommend opting to make the reservation on these trains, if you want to be sure of having a stress-free journey.
Train 1
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
All of the ICE trains which travel from Wien/Vienna to cities in northern Germany call in Nurnberg/Nuremberg, so you can take a train in odd hours between 06:50 and 16:50
Final Destination: Dortmund or Frankfurt (Main) or Hamburg or Berlin
All trains also call at: Wien-Meidling and St Polten and Linz
Departing from Wien/Vienna:
Most of these ICE trains between Wien/Vienna and Nurnberg commence their journeys at Wien Flufghagen/Vienna Airport station.
If your journey in Vienna is commencing in 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 join 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.
Though we particularly recommend opting to make reservations on these trains if you want to join these trains at Wien-Meidling.
From Wien/Vienna until Wels the train will travel at up to 230 km/h (close to the high speed threshold) on the main Western Railway which crosses Austria.
From Wien/Vienna until Wels the train will travel at up to 230 km/h (close to the high speed threshold) on the main Western Railway which crosses Austria.
On departure from Wells the train will head towards the border with Germany and to the south of Passau, the railway takes a charming route on the east bank of The River Inn, which can be seen on left.
Then between Passau and Regensburg the River Danube is on the right.
Between Regensburg and Nurnberg the train rushes across a delightful rolling landscape.
Train 2
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Hamburg-Altona
All trains also call at: Leipzig;
These trains take the newly opened high speed line between Bamberg and Halle which has cut the journey time of trains between Nurnberg/Nuremburg and Berlin by nearly two hours!
These are the most frequent service of ICE trains between the two cities, but they divert off of what is now the direct route in order to call at Leipzig - where they reverse direction.
Option 4: Travel overnight in sleeping cabins and couchettes
Journey Summary
11hr 6 min
Nightly
Travel Information
This train is usually scheduled to depart from Wien Hbf station at 22:10 and it makes no other station calls in Austria.
Final Destination: Berlin-Charlottenburg
This station is in West Berlin, but if you'll be heading to the area around Berlin Zoo station, leave this train at Berlin Hbf and take an S-Bahn train to Zoologischer station.
This train also calls at: Berlin Ostbahnhof
If you will be heading to Berlin city centre, then it's likely that your best option will be to leave this train at this station and connect there into one of the frequent S-Bahn trains to Alexanderplatz or Friedrichstrabe stations.
1 x train per night
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
This train is usually scheduled to depart from Vienna/Wien at 22:10, so target that time when looking up this journey.
Online bookings open:
6 months ahead of the travel date on OBB
3 months ahead of the travel date on DB Bahn
The choice of accommodation - summary:
- 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
Click the train details below for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.
Travelling with a rail pass:
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 Austria, by purchasing them at a Reisezentrum travel desk, which you will find in any hauptbahnhof.
Though if you leave making the booking until your travel date, the more likely it is that your preferences will be sold out.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Nightjet | * | |
| OBB | * | |
| DB Bahn | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
If you'll be content to travel in a seat for an overnight train journey from Vienna/Wien to Berlin is now available.
If you want to travel in a seat, that other service offers:
- a choice of 1st class or 2nd class seats (no 1st class seating is available on this Nightjet service).
- an earlier arrival time
And if you will be travelling with a Eurail or InterRail pass you can also avoid all reservation fees, because reservations are optional on that IC train.
On departure from Wien Hbf the train to Berlin will be joined to another train heading to Berlin, so if you see 'Berlin on the departure screens, then the info will also be for this train.
Don't be concerned about joining the wrong part of the train, your reservations will be in the part of the train that will be heading to Berlin.
And the train conductor will greet passengers travelling in the sleeping cabins.
Option 5: travelling overnight on a train typically used for daytime services.
Journey Summary
11hr 11min
Nightly
Travel Information
Final Destination: Warnemunde
This train also calls at:
Linz - departs at 20:26
Leipzig - arrives at 04:50
Rostock - arrives at 08:39
It is the only direct overnight train between Linz and Berlin and betwen Vienna/Wien and Leipzig
1 x train per night
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date (if booked on DB)
When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for this direct train, which is usually scheduled to depart from Wien Hbf at 19:15.
Seat reservations:
Book 1st class ticket journey tickets on DB Bahn 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.
Note that if you opt to book 1st class tickets on OBB, your seat reservation won't be automatically be included, so you will need to be proactive and add it to your booking - and there will be a charge for doing so.
Rail pass users:
As explained on our guide to using rail passes on German trains you won't HAVE to make a seat reservation when boarding German IC trains.
So Rail Pass users willing to forsake comfort over cost, should take this train and not the OBB Nightjet train.
Reservations are optional, so all additional reservation fees can be avoided.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB | * | |
| OBB | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
This train is usually a cheaper alternative to the OBB Nightjet train which also travels between Berlin and Wien/Vienna
However, it is a daytime IC train that happens to run overnight
It does not have any couchette sleeping berths or sleeping cabins.
Though the windows have blinds which help block out the early morning light, particularly on the upper deck
These newly introduced trains are used for this service, so they're NOT the IC trains you'll see pictured if you click on the train details bwlow
If you want to avoid the reservation costs for travelling in a couchette or sleeping cabin, this IC train has a wider choice of seating accommodation than is available on the Nightjet.
First Class seats are available on this IC train, but they're not available on the Nightjet.
However, none of the seats on this train will be in compartments, they're all saloon style, so you won't be able to fold the seats down.
This IC train also leaves Wien/Vienna earlier, it usually departs at 19:15 as opposed to 22:10.
So it typically arrives in central Berlin around 06:30, more than three hours before the Nightjet.
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