How take a rail journey from Vienna/Wien to London

The booking agents will offer multiple combinations of trains for a rail journey by day from Vienna/Wien to London, but the easiest routing is to make only two changes of train; and to make those connections in Frankfurt (Main) Hbf and Bruxelles-Midi/Zuid stations.

Frankfurt (Main) hbf is an exceptionally straightforward location in which to have to connect between trains and the connection in Bruxelles/Brussels avoids having to transfer between stations in Paris - and many of the other journey options will involve travelling via the French capital.

The typically available schedules are;

• Depart Wien Hbf at 06:49 daily (and 09:13 not on Saturdays)
• Connect at Frankfurt Main Hbf or in the station at Frankfurt Flughafen into a train on to Bruxelles - 45-50 mins will be available for the transfer)
• Around 1hr 20 mins will be available to make the transfer at Bruxelles-Midi station
• Arrive London St Pancras at 19:43 daily - or at 21:57 (not Saturdays)

As can be seen the connections aren't tightly timed, but they aren't absolutely guaranteed, but on any day except Saturday, setting off on the first option of the day from Wien Hbf, allows for the contingency for a transfer to a later train in the unlikely event of a delayed arrival causing a missed transfer.

Departing from Wien/Vienna:

Most of these ICE trains between Wien/Vienna and Frankfurt (Main) 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.

If you do manage to make an end-to-end booking which departs Vienna at 06:49 then in the unlikely event of missing the scheduled connection at Frankfurt (Main) due to a late arriving train, speak to the train manager on the Wien to Frankfurt ICE.
Tickets can be transferred free of charge to alternative departures, though you will have to make an additional change of train in Koln/Cologne in order to arrive as early as possible into London.

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date
This booking period tends to be shorter when looking up journeys between mid August and mid October.

Seat Reservations:

Your seats will automatically be reserved on the Eurostar and Eurostar Thalys trains, but seat reservations on the ICE trains are optional and are therefore an additional cost - unless you book the most expensive type of ticket.

Eurostar train ticket terms summary

The only ticket type are the Flexible tickets, but it is the class of service you opt to travel by, which impacts on the terms and conditions of travel.

*Exchanges

Book to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure to the same destination up to one hour* before departure time.

• If the cost of your new ticket is more than the cost of your original ticket, you will be required to pay the difference;
• If the cost of your new ticket is less than the cost of your original ticket, you will not receive a refund of the difference.

Book to travel in Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure up until the end of the previous day, without having to pay any price differences on any other charges.

The Eurostar ticket terms summary is here

Refunds

Book to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class:

• Up to seven days or more before the date of departure you will need to pay a fee of £25 per person for a one-way / single ticket and £50 per person for a two-way / return ticket - So you will only receive any sum you paid in excess of these sums.
• Less than seven days before the date of departure, tickets are non-refundable - Also applies if you exchanged a ticket to an alternative departure, under seven days ahead.

Book to travel in Premier class:
Up until the end of the day before departure date, tickets can be refunded at no additional cost

Seat Reservations on the Eurostar

Reservations are mandatory so seats are assigned when booking - But after a booking has been completed, you use the ‘Manage Your Booking’ facility, which can be easily found on the Eurostar website and select specific seats within the travel class you have chosen.

You will need to enter a Booking Reference number - but other booking agents such as Trainline, Rail Europe, SNCF Connect, B-Europe and NS International, will also include this number on the communication sent to you.

The connection in Bruxelles:

Eurostar classifies end-to-end journeys involving Thalys + Eurostar trains as 'through tickets'.

There is relatively new E.U. legislation which protects travellers against financial loss in the event of missed connections due to train delays, but it only applies to 'through tickets'.
The Eurostar terms and conditions specifically state that when booking journeys which combine Eurostar + Thalys trains 'through tickets' will be issued.
However, 'for all other journeys that combine a Eurostar Service and a service provided by another carrier(s), including when purchased in a single commercial transaction, those tickets will be separate contracts and issues regarding delays, missed connections, cancellations, compensation, and the management of aftersales will be handled accordingly'.

Though DB, which operates the ICE train, and Eurostar, are members of The Railteam Alliance which offers a Hop on the next available train (HOTNAT) policy.
It 'allows travelers to take the next high-speed service leaving from the same station as originally planned when a delay on or cancellation of a preceding Railteam member’s high-speed service prevents them from making their originally-planned connection. This service is free of charge and is subject to the following conditions:

• HOTNAT only applies at the station at which the passenger originally planned to change trains and in cases of train delays and train cancellations.
• The approval of HOTNAT is subject to the available capacity on board each train. Seats are not guaranteed'.

So 'issues regarding missed connection and cancellations' should be 'handled' by Railteam's HOTNAT policy.

Though HOTNAT can't be applied if the arrival into Paris is after the final Eurostar of the day has departed for London.

The night train will usually be be departing on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings only and will be typically be scheduled to leave Wien/Vienna at 19:40 - and it will typically be scheduled to arrive into the Gare De l'Est at 09:42.
Though due to the length of the journey it can be particularly susceptible to having its schedule altered due to work on the railways.

The Eurostar on to London:

It will depart from the Gare Du Nord - how to make the transfer between the stations in Paris.

A possible connection will be to take the Eurostar which departs the Gare Du Nord (daily) at around 11:15 and arrives in London at 12:30.
Though as an hour is required to make both a stress-free transfer to the Gare Du Nord and check-in for the Eurostar, this only allows around 30mins of contingency time in the event of the train from Wien being delayed.

Due to the length of their journeys overnight trains are more prone to delay than daytime trains, so SMTJ's recommendation is to aim for the Eurostar which is usually scheduled to depart the Gare Du Nord at around 13:15 and arrives in London at 14:30.
Though on Sunday there is also usually a departure from Paris to London at around 12:15.

Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.

These trains will no longer be calling at Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International, until an unspecified date likely to be in 2025 at the earliest.

Because London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.

This routing is not sold as an end-to-end journey by tickets agents so separate bookings will be required for each train.
As a consequence, in this separate booking scenario, there is no automatic protection against the need to re-book the Paris to London journey, in the event of a delay to the Nightjet train causing a missed connection.
Hence the recommendation to book tickets for the 13:13 Eurostar instead of the 11:13, then if the Nightjet does arrive in Paris on time, you can go to the Eurostar ticket desk at the Gare Du Nord and ask if they will swap the tickets to the earlier departure.

Two options worth considering are:

1. Booking for the 11:13 from Paris and taking out a travel insurance policy to protect against missing the connection due to a train delay.
2. Or heading off from Paris in the late evening, using the left-luggage facilities at the Gare Du Nord and spending the afternoon having fun in the French capital.

Eurostar train ticket terms summary

The only ticket type are the Flexible tickets, but it is the class of service you opt to travel by, which impacts on the terms and conditions of travel.

*Exchanges

Book to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure to the same destination up to one hour* before departure time.

• If the cost of your new ticket is more than the cost of your original ticket, you will be required to pay the difference;
• If the cost of your new ticket is less than the cost of your original ticket, you will not receive a refund of the difference.

Book to travel in Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure up until the end of the previous day, without having to pay any price differences on any other charges.

The Eurostar ticket terms summary is here

Refunds

Book to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class:

• Up to seven days or more before the date of departure you will need to pay a fee of £25 per person for a one-way / single ticket and £50 per person for a two-way / return ticket - So you will only receive any sum you paid in excess of these sums.
• Less than seven days before the date of departure, tickets are non-refundable - Also applies if you exchanged a ticket to an alternative departure, under seven days ahead.

Book to travel in Premier class:
Up until the end of the day before departure date, tickets can be refunded at no additional cost

Seat Reservations on the Eurostar

Reservations are mandatory so seats are assigned when booking - But after a booking has been completed, you use the ‘Manage Your Booking’ facility, which can be easily found on the Eurostar website and select specific seats within the travel class you have chosen.

You will need to enter a Booking Reference number - but other booking agents such as Trainline, Rail Europe, SNCF Connect, B-Europe and NS International, will also include this number on the communication sent to you.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings a Nightjet train to Bruxelles will usually be scheduled to depart from Wien Hbf at around 19:40 - and to arrive in Bruxelles/Brussels shortly before 10:00
Though due to the length of the journey it can be particularly susceptible to having its schedule altered due to work on the railways.

The Eurostar on to London:

A Eurostar is scheduled to depart less than five minutes before the scheduled arrival into Bruxelles-Midi station and the next train for London won't be leaving until close to three hours later at around 12:55.
But this is a positive - due to the length of their journeys overnight trains are more prone to delay than daytime trains, and connecting into the booked Eurostar makes the going much easier.

Our guide to taking the Eurostar from Bruxelles/Brussels has more information including details of check-in and how to connect into the Eurostar from other train services.

These trains will no longer be calling at Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International, until an unspecified date likely to be in 2025 at the earliest.

Because London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.

Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.

Due to the three hour interval between trains in Bruxelles, separate bookings will normally be required for Wien to Bruxelles and Bruxelles to London trains.

However, in this separate booking scenario, there is no automatic protection against the need to re-book the Paris to London journey, in the event of a delay to the Nightjet train causing a missed connection.

So an option is to dedicate much of the day to exploring Bruxelles between trains and book tickets for an evening departure on to London.

Eurostar train ticket terms summary

The only ticket type are the Flexible tickets, but it is the class of service you opt to travel by, which impacts on the terms and conditions of travel.

*Exchanges

Book to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure to the same destination up to one hour* before departure time.

• If the cost of your new ticket is more than the cost of your original ticket, you will be required to pay the difference;
• If the cost of your new ticket is less than the cost of your original ticket, you will not receive a refund of the difference.

Book to travel in Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure up until the end of the previous day, without having to pay any price differences on any other charges.

The Eurostar ticket terms summary is here

Refunds

Book to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class:

• Up to seven days or more before the date of departure you will need to pay a fee of £25 per person for a one-way / single ticket and £50 per person for a two-way / return ticket - So you will only receive any sum you paid in excess of these sums.
• Less than seven days before the date of departure, tickets are non-refundable - Also applies if you exchanged a ticket to an alternative departure, under seven days ahead.

Book to travel in Premier class:
Up until the end of the day before departure date, tickets can be refunded at no additional cost

Seat Reservations on the Eurostar

Reservations are mandatory so seats are assigned when booking - But after a booking has been completed, you use the ‘Manage Your Booking’ facility, which can be easily found on the Eurostar website and select specific seats within the travel class you have chosen.

You will need to enter a Booking Reference number - but other booking agents such as Trainline, Rail Europe, SNCF Connect, B-Europe and NS International, will also include this number on the communication sent to you.

This is the only overnight option when departing the Austrian capital by train on Wednesday and Friday evenings.

The OBB Nightjet train, that usually departs from Wien at around 20:10 is usually due to arrive in Koln hbf station shortly before 07:00.
Though due to the length of the journey it can be particularly susceptible to having its schedule altered due to work on the railways.

At 07:42 an ICE train departs from Koln Hbf for Bruxelles/Midi and is due to arrive there at 09:35
However, a Eurostar will be typically scheduled to depart Bruxelles at 09:51 - too soon to gamble on making the connection - and the next train for London won't be leaving until over three hours later until around 12:55.

But this is a positive - due to the length of their journeys overnight trains are more prone to delay than daytime trains, and connecting into the booked Eurostar makes the going much easier.

Because the only option is to book separate tickets for the Wien to Bruxelles and Bruxelles to London journeys.
And as explained in the 'Ticket Information' - it can pay off to leave a significant gap between arrival and departure when booking separate tickets.

Due to the three hour interval between trains in Bruxelles, separate bookings will normally be required for Wien to Bruxelles and Bruxelles to London trains.

However, in this separate booking scenario, there is no automatic protection against the need to re-book the Paris to London journey, in the event of a delay to the Nightjet train causing a missed connection.

So an option is to dedicate much of the day to exploring Bruxelles between trains and book tickets for an evening departure on to London.

Eurostar train ticket terms summary

The only ticket type are the Flexible tickets, but it is the class of service you opt to travel by, which impacts on the terms and conditions of travel.

*Exchanges

Book to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure to the same destination up to one hour* before departure time.

• If the cost of your new ticket is more than the cost of your original ticket, you will be required to pay the difference;
• If the cost of your new ticket is less than the cost of your original ticket, you will not receive a refund of the difference.

Book to travel in Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure up until the end of the previous day, without having to pay any price differences on any other charges.

The Eurostar ticket terms summary is here

Refunds

Book to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class:

• Up to seven days or more before the date of departure you will need to pay a fee of £25 per person for a one-way / single ticket and £50 per person for a two-way / return ticket - So you will only receive any sum you paid in excess of these sums.
• Less than seven days before the date of departure, tickets are non-refundable - Also applies if you exchanged a ticket to an alternative departure, under seven days ahead.

Book to travel in Premier class:
Up until the end of the day before departure date, tickets can be refunded at no additional cost

Seat Reservations on the Eurostar

Reservations are mandatory so seats are assigned when booking - But after a booking has been completed, you use the ‘Manage Your Booking’ facility, which can be easily found on the Eurostar website and select specific seats within the travel class you have chosen.

You will need to enter a Booking Reference number - but other booking agents such as Trainline, Rail Europe, SNCF Connect, B-Europe and NS International, will also include this number on the communication sent to you.