Wien / Vienna to Trieste by train

How to take the rail journey from the Austrian capital to The Adriatic

Step on board one of Europe's most fabulously romantic railway journeys

Share

Routes

How to take the train from Vienna/Wien to Trieste

Travel Information

Departing from WienVienna:

This train to usually departs from Wien Hbf at 07:58.

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.

Final Destination: Trieste

The train also calls at: Ljubljana, Logatec, Postojna, Pivka, Divaca, Sezana and Villa Opicina

1 x train per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

Reservations are compulsory on this journey.

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets, but rail pass users will need to be pay a reservation fee prior to boarding.

The train usually departs from Wien Hbf at around 07:58, so target that departure time when looking up this journey.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
OBB from €29.90

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

Scenic - YesLandscape (Hills / Mountains)River views

Good to Know

The train is due to arrive in Trieste Centrale shortly after 17:15 so connections are available with trains on to Tarvisio, Udine and Venezia/Venice.

This epic journey includes the passage over the fabulous Semmering Pass, so wonderful that it's a U.N.E.S.C.O. World Heritage Site, though that's partially due to the construction methods and not just because of the scenery.
Though aside from when the train is travelling over the numerous viaducts, the trees tend to obscure the views, particularly in the summer.

The best views can be seen from the left of the train (when facing the direction of travel) between Wiener Neustadt and Murzzuschlag.

The video, which was filmed travelling in the opposite direction, gives an impression of the journey: and showcases that the scenery can be fabulous even on grey day.

Though this is a journey which saves the best until the final 90 minutes
After the train departs from Celje, it will head south through a series of lovely valleys, as it follows the course of the The Savina River

And then after departing from Zidania Most for the final 45 mins of the journey, the train travels through the wonderful Sava River gorge.
The best of the views on this part of this trip will also be on the left - again this video was filmed on a train traveling in the opposite direction, but it showcases what makes this journey so special.

Then after Ljubljana this train travels on through the through the Slovenian landscape before looping around after it crosses the Italian border in order to descend to the Adriatic coast at Trieste.

The Guardian newspaper have published a detailed guide to this journey.

Ascending up to the Semmering Pass Ascending up to the Semmering Pass
The view from one of the Semmering Pass viaducts on a grey day The view from one of the Semmering Pass viaducts on a grey day
Beginning to descend after Semmering station Beginning to descend after Semmering station
South of Wiener Neustadt South of Wiener Neustadt
Travelling through Slovenia south of Maribor Travelling through Slovenia south of Maribor
Through the river valley between Celje and Zidani Most Through the river valley between Celje and Zidani Most
Departing from Zidani Most Departing from Zidani Most
Travelling through the Sava River gorge in Slovenia east of Ljubljana Travelling through the Sava River gorge in Slovenia east of Ljubljana
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.