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How to travel from Vienna to Brussels by train
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Wien / Vienna to Bruxelles / Brussels by train
The only direct rail service between the capital cities of Austria and Belgium is the the three nights per week, Nightjet train.
But despite the distance the daytime journey is straightforward, with what is typically an easily managed connection between two smart ICE trains.
Routes you can take to go from Wien / Vienna to Bruxelles / Brussels
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: direct, but overnight
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
13hr 42min
Frequency
Not Every Day
Travel Info
Departs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
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.
DB Bahn 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.
Travel Information
Final Destination: Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid
The train also calls at: Linz and Liege and Bruxelles-Nord
If you will be heading to Bruxelles city centre, you'll have a quicker journey if you leave the train at Bruxelles-Nord station and connect there into one of the frequent trains to Bruxelles-Central station.
Bruxelles/Brussels has rejoined the European night train network, thanks to the restoration of a direct overnight train from Wien/Vienna to the Belgian capital.
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
This train service is usually scheduled to depart from Wien Hbf on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings at around 19:45
The train will also have mid-morning arrival time, it will typically be scheduled to arrive in Bruxelles/Brussels between 09:30 and 10:00
On departure the train heading to Bruxelles will be joined to another train heading to Hamburg, so any info for Hamburg you see on the departure screens will also apply to this train.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open:
6 months ahead of the travel date on OBB
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.
Our guide to booking night train tickets on the OBB (Austrian national railways) website is available HERE.
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 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 it's best to do this when you first arrive in Austria, the later you leave booking your accommodation, the more likely it is that your preferences will be sold out.
Route Information
Via stations: Frankfurt (Main) Flughafen Fernbahnhof
Option 2: making a connection to travel by day
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
10hr 22min
Frequency
Daily
Travel Info
3 x optimum connections per day
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
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.
Exclusive for New Customers: Receive a 10% discount by using the code 24NOV on any purchase with a maximum total price of £100, until 28 November 2024 (11:59 pm CET). Limit one coupon per qualifying booking. Cannot be combined, transferred or exchanged.
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
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.
On journeys within Germany and on most international journeys from and to Germany on trains operated by DB:
- For journeys by the express trains, EC. IC and ICE trains an adult (on German railways an adult is a person aged 15 and over) can take up to four children aged 6 - 14 with them at no additional charge.
- Tickets need to be booked for children aged 0 - 5, but there is no charge for them.
- Those aged 65 and over can take journeys at a discounted rate.
- Dogs, which are too large to be placed in pet carriers, require tickets which cost 50% of the adult rate.
When booking both types of the discounted 'Sparpreis' tickets seat reservations are an optional extra, so need to be added when booking if you want an assigned seat(s).
Travel Information
When the usual timetable is available the first two optimum connections of the day, which typically involve departing at around 07;15 and 09:15 have a connection between trains in the station at Frankfurt Airport, which is used by long-distance rail services.
The time between trains is usually around 45 mins, which allows for contingency in the event of a delay to the train from Wien/Vienna.
But what makes the transfer exceptionally straightforward is that the train on to Bruxelles will leave from the same pair of platforms / tracks that the train from Wien will arrive at.
So all that's required is waiting for the train on to Bruxelles to arrive.
Though if you take the final end-to-end journey of the day, which involves departing at around 11:15, the connection between trains will be at Frankfurt (Main) hbf station.
Making the transfer at this station is also straightforward, all you will have to do is walk from one train to the other.
This journey is made up of 1 change.
Train 1
Between Wien Hbf/Hauptbahnhof and Frankfurt (Main) Flughafen FernbahnhofYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination:
Dortmund - the trains which have the connection at Frankfurt Flughafen
Frankfurt (Main) - the trains which have the connection at Frankfurt (Main Hbf)
These trains also call at: Linz and Wels
Departing from Wien/Vienna:
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.
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 and then until Wurzburg the train remains on the conventional railway.
On departure from Wurzburg comes a part of the journey with a wow factor, the train will be on the high speed line for less than 15 minutes, but there are some nice views as the train crosses some long viaducts; in particular look out for when the train will burst out of a tunnel and then immediately cross the River Main.
Between this river bridge and Aschaffenburg comes another scenic part of the trip when the railway winds through some valleys.
As the train will spend less than 3% of its journey on the high speed line, it didn't see right to put this journey in the high speed (partial) category.
Train 2
Between Frankfurt (Main) Flughafen Fernbahnhof and Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel ZuidYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel Zuid
**All trains also call at: Aachen and Liege
Most trains also call at: Bruxelles-Nord
This route showcases high speed train travel at it's finest, the journey between Frankfurt Flughafen and Seigburg/Bonn in particular can fuel adrenalin!
For virtually the entire train journey from Frankfurt to Bruxelles the trains, will either be travelling at up to 290 km/h on purpose built high speed lines, or up to 200km/h on section of railway, that has been re-engineered to allow trains to travel faster.
It is a journey of seven distinct phases:
- On departure from Frankfurt Flughafen the train will then spend around 40 minutes travelling at more than 270 km/h on the high speed line.
The video was taking on a train travelling in the opposite direction, but it gives a sense of what a thrill this train ride can be; this is a journey when it's especially obvious that you're travelling on a high speed train!
- Between Koln and Aachen the trains travel at up to 200 km/h on a re-engineered stretch of railway.
- Then for most of the the 25 min journey between Aachen and Liege the train will travel at up to 290 km/h on a high speed line; this is also the most scenic part of the trip.
- Then for around five minutes after departure from Liege, the train will travel fairly slowly on a route which ascends from the city.
- Next up is the HS2 Belgian high speed route as far as Leuven, in theory the ICE and Thalys trains can accelerate back up to around 290 km/h on this part of the trip.
- From Leuven to just north of Brussel-Nord station the maximum speed is 200 km/h.
- For most of the journey between Brussel-Nord and Brussel-Zuid the railway crosses the city centre in a tunnel.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date - but this period of time is shorter when looking up journeys in August to October.
A choice of tickets
Four types of tickets are available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis Europa and Super Sparpreis Europa
Two types of non-discounted ticket - Flexpreis Europa and Flexpreis Plus Europa.
Though the ticket agents can use their own naming conventions
A key difference between these types of tickets is refunds:
- Super Sparpreis tickets are cheapest, but they can't be refunded at all.
- Sparpreis tickets can be refunded for a fee, but the refund will be in the form of travel vouchers to be used for alternative / future journeys.
- Flexpreis Europa and Flexpreis Plus Europa tickets can be refunded at no additional charge.
The other key difference is that both types of Sparpreis tickets are only valid on the specific departures selected when booking, but both types of Flexpreis tickets live up to their name, as they can be used on any departure on your travel date.
Note that none of the tickets can be exchanged to a different departure.
There's no need for this to be available for Flexpreis Europa tickets, as they aren't train departure specific.
If you book a Sparpreis Europa ticket and want to travel by a different departure you can refund it and then use the travel voucher towards the cost of the new booking.
Super Sparpreis Europa tickets can't be exchanged or refunded.
Seat reservations
For ticket holders seat reservations are always optional on this route, but if you will be using a rail pass they are now mandatory on the train on to Bruxelles when travelling between mid-June and mid-August - check the Train guide for the exact dates.
Regardless of whether you will be using tickets or rail passes they cost €4.90 when travelling in 2nd Class and €5.90 when travelling in 1st class.
They are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets and both 1st and 2nd class Flexpreis Plus tickets.
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.
When booking Super Sparpreis, Sparpreis and 2nd class Flexpreis tickets, you have the option of purchasing seat reservations later.
It can be worth re-looking up a journey a week or two ahead of travel, because the DB website will indicate how busy a departure will be.
Although if you do book your reservations later and your journey involves more than one train, you will then have to pay for separate reservations per train.
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.
They are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets and both 1st and 2nd class Flexpreis Plus tickets.
On this journey which involves two trains on which seat reservations are available, the fees cover all trains - if reservations are added when initially booking.
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