International trains from Austria

Austria is second only to Germany on the 'which country in Europe has the most international trains' list , so there are plenty of options for travelling to and from the country by train.
Even better news, if you'll be exploring Europe with Eurail or Interrail passes, is that comparatively few of these daytime trains have mandatory rail pass reservation fees; though that's partially because Austria isn't served by any international high speed lines.

And the relatively new and ever expanding Nightjet network means that Austria has more international overnight trains than any other country in Europe.

Trains from Austria to Czechia/The Czech Republic take one of three routes, though most of them travel on the route through Breclav as it connects Wien/Vienna to Praha/Prague.

This route over the border to Breclav in Czechia is taken by the express trains from Wien/Vienna to Czechia; and beyond into Poland.

Trains from Graz and Wien to Praha

There are Railjets which now take a Villach - Klagenfurt - Graz – Bruck an der Mur – Wien – Breclav – Brno – Pardubice – Prag/Praha route.

There are also Regiojet trains which take the same route between Wien/Vienna and Prag/Praha.
Two of these Regiojet trains now commence their journeys in the station at Wien Flughafen / Airport.

Day trains to Poland

There are direct EC trains which cross Czechia on the Wien – Breclav – Brno – Ostrava – Katowice route.

• 1 x daily train, named the 'Sobieski', travels on to Gydnia calling in Warszawa, Gdansk and Sopot
• 1 x daily train, named the 'Polonia', travels on to Warszawa; but this train no longer commences its journey in Graz.

There is also a daily EC train named the 'Porta Moravia' which follows a Graz - Wien - Breclav – Brno – Ostrava – Katowice - Krakow route.
So this service provides a direct rail link from Graz to Krakow.

There is also now a second train from Wien to Krakow, as the train named the 'Danubius' takes a Wien - Breclav – Brno – Ostrava – Katowice - Krakow route.
It also has direct coaches which travel from Wien to Wroclaw.

Night trains to Poland (and Germany)

This route is also used by a Euronight train named the 'Chopin' which travels overnight on a Salzburg - Linz - Wien/Vienna - Warszawa route.

A new Euronight service named the 'Carpatiato' takes a similar route as the Chopin train, but it travels to and from Krakow instead of Warszawa.

There is also Nightjet train from Wien/Vienna to Berlin via Wroclaw in Poland; it takes a different route to the daytime ICE train between the two capitals, see below.

In even hours during the day, REX trains depart from Franz-Josefs station in Wien/Vienna and travel on this route via Gmund, crossing the border to terminate in the Czech town, Cezke Velenice.
At Ceske Velenice connections are available into trains on to Ceske Budejovice.
The daily departure from Wien/Vienna at 09:00 and the weekend departure at 15:00 now have their journeys extended beyond Cezke Velenice to Praha/Prague and also call at Tabor.
These services to Praha/Prague are branded 'Silva Nortica'

This is a border crossing to have benefited from a significant increase in train services in recent years.
Eight trains per day, which are operated by the CD, the Czech national rail company, travel from Linz to Ceske Budejovice; where connections are available to Plzen.
Four of these trains from Linz have their journeys extended beyond Ceske Budejovice so are direct to Praha/Prag/Prague.

Trains from Austria to Germany take one of five primary routes, as there are multiple rail links from between the two countries which lead off from Innsbruck, Linz, Salzburg and western Austria,

The day trains:

The ICE trains from Wien/Vienna and Linz to multiple cities Germany are the daytime express trains which make this border crossing.

Every other hour during the day they all follow this route Wien/Vienna – Linz – Wels – Passau – Regensburg – Nurnberg, but on departure from Nurnberg they take three different routes, depending on what time the train leaves the Austrian capital.

• to Wurzburg – Frankfurt (Main) (with 4 x trains per day continuing beyond Frankfurt (Main) to Frankfurt Flughafen/Airport Mainz – Koblenz – Bonn – Koln/Cologne)
  Connect in Frankfurt (Main) for Bruxelles and for Amsterdam and for Paris.
• to Wurzburg – Kassel – Hannover – Hamburg (1 x train per day])
• to Erfurt – Halle – Berlin - Hamburg (2 x trains per day)

From Feb 7th to Dec 12th this route is being impacted by construction work - the trains on the routes to/from both Berlin and Hamburg won't be available and the other services will be compromised.

In most hours regional Austrian trains also shuttle between Wels and Passau, for connections on towards Regensburg and Nurnberg.

The night trains:

This route is also taken by the Nightjet trains on two routes from Wien/Vienna and Linz to:
(1) Hamburg via Hannover
(2) Amsterdam via Koln/Cologne; this is the only direct train from Austria to The Netherlands.
On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays this train also goes to Bruxelles via Liege; - this is the only direct train service from the Austria to Belgium.

This route from Salzburg to Freilassing is the busiest Austria to Germany route, but travellers should note that immigration checks can cause trains to be delayed by more than 30 minutes.

Multiple train services take this route, as this is the border crossing taken by the many services which connect Salzburg to Munchen/Munich; a train journey between the two cities takes less than two hours.

Railjets from Vienna and from Graz via Klagenfurt

There are Railjet trains which depart every other hour on the Wien/Vienna – Linz – Salzburg – Munchen/Munich Hbf route.
Connect in Munich for ICE trains to multiple destinations including Frankfurt (Main), Hamburg, Koln/Cologne, Nurnberg and Stuttgart.

There are also now Railjet trains on a Wien - Graz - Klagenfurt - Villach – Bad Gastein – Salzburg – Munchen/Munich route; as seen below ICE trains also take this route

The express trains from which travel beyond Munich

These routes by ICE trains provide direct rail links from locations in Austria, to destinations in Germany north of Munchen/Munich:

• Graz - Klagenfurt → Villach → Bad Gastein – Salzburg → Munchen/Munich → Augsburg → Ulm → Stuttgart → Heidelberg → Frankfurt (Main)
• Graz - Klagenfurt → Villach → Bad Gastein → Salzburg → Munchen/Munich → Augsburg → Ulm → Stuttgart → Mannheim → Koln/Cologne → Dusseldorf → Duisburg → Dortmund - Munster

These ICE trains call at both Munchen Ost and Munchen Hbf stations.

If your final destination is in Munchen/Munich city centre, the quickest end-to-end train journey option is to connect at Munchen Ost station into frequent S-Bahn trains to central Munich.

The regional and local trains

Hourly regional trains, operated by Meridian, link Salzburg with Munchen Ost and Munchen Hbf.

Local trains also shuttle across the border every hour on a Salzburg - Freilassing – Bad Reichenhall route.
Connect in Freilassing for trains to Berchtesgaden.

The night trains

Two overnight services come this way

(1) The EuroNight train to Munchen/Munich and Stuttgart from Budapest which provides the overnight service to Bavaria from Wien/Vienna

(2) The Euronight train from Zagreb to Stuttgart, which travels through Austria in the middle of the night, but it calls in Villach at around 00:15.

The route from Kufstein to Rosenheim is taken by express day and night trains from Innsbruck towards Munich; and beyond.

The day trains

On Monday to Friday, the only daytime trains which travel over this border crossing are
(1) the seven daily Railjet trains which take an Innsbruck – Jenbach – Worgl – Kufstein – Munchen/Munich route.
During the day these trains depart Innsbruck in even hours.
ICE trains from Munich/Munchen provide the opportunity to travel on to every other major city in Germany.

(2) A daily daily ICE train which is direct from Innsbruck to Berlin - it typically takes a Innsbruck - Jenbach – Worgl – Kufstein – Munchen/Munich - Augsburg - Nurnberg - Erfurt - Leipzig - Berlin route.

The night trains

This is also the route of the nightly Nightjet train from Innsbruck to Hamburg via Hannover - and the Nightjet train from Innsbruck to Amsterdam via Munster, Arnhem and Utrecht.

on to cities in Germany

If you time it right, you don’t have to change trains in Bregenz and/or Lindau, because there are also trains on two long-distance international direct routes, which comes this way

(1) A daily German ICE train takes an Innsbruck – St Anton – Feldkirch – Bregenz – Lindau - Freidrichshafen - Ulm – Stuttgart – Mannheim – Koln/Cologne – Dusseldorf - Essen - Dortmund route.

(2) There are now seven smart ECE trains trains per day, which have commenced their journeys in Zurich and link Bregenz directly with Munchen/Munich.

The local trains

The charming towns of Bregenz in Austria and Lindau in Germany on the shore of the Bodensee are connected by frequent local trains, which travel along the shore of the lake.

Bregenz is served by express Railjet trains which take a Wien/Vienna – Linz – Salzburg – Innsbruck – Feldkirch – Bregenz route.
Though there's no need to target the trains heading to Bregenz if their timings don't suit.
An hourly REX train service provides a direct link between Feldkirch and Lindau via Bregenz.
Feldkirch has more frequent trains than Bregenz from cities to the east, plus it is also served by Railjets that have travelled from Zurich via Buchs.

Three primary Regio services head from Lindau on into Germany:
(1) to Munchen/Munich via Memmingen
(2) to Munchen/Munich via Kempten
(3) to Ulm via Friedrichshafen; connect in Friedrichshafen for Radolfzell, Singen, Schaffhausen and Basel.

The route from Seefeld to Mittenwald is taken by the regional trains from Innsbruck to Germany.

Every other hour regional REX trains depart on the scenic Innsbruck – Seefeld – Mittenwald – Garmisch-Parternkirchen route.

Up to five of these trains per day have their journeys extended beyond Garmisch-Parternkirchen to Munchen/Munich; but in the hours when there are no direct trains, the connections in Garmisch-Parternkirchen should be straightforward.

Though the Railjets and other trains from Innsbruck (see above) are faster and will also be cheaper if you book in advance; and rail pass users don't have to reserve on those EC trains when travelling from Austria.

The majority of trains from Austria to Hungary take one of three primary routes, with the route via Hegyeshalom being busiest, as this border crossing is less than 90 mins from Wien/Vienna by train.

The long-distance day and night trains from Wien/Vienna to Budapest and beyond into Romania, Ukraine (and Serbia) all take this border crossing.

Day trains:

These can be grouped into four different services:

(1) Railjets which, every other hour, take this route; Salzburg – Linz – St Polten – Wien Hbf – Gyor – Budapest (Kelenfold) – Budapest Keleti
One Railjet per day to Hungary commences its journey in Switzerland, so also calls at Feldkirch, St Anton and Innsbruck and Salzburg on route to Budapest.

(2) During the day in the hours when no Railjet to Hungary is scheduled to depart, Hungarian IC/EC trains also take the Wien Hbf – Gyor – Budapest (Kelenfold) – Budapest (Keleti) route.
New trains which are similar to the Railjets are now used for these services

(3) A couple of regional trains per day travel from Wien/Vienna to Gyor.

(4) A daily EC train USUALLY takes this route; Wien - Gyor – Budapest (Kelenfold) –Budapest (Keleti) – Kelebia – Subotica – Novi Sad – Beograd/Belgrade.
This train service has been suspended until a yet to be confirmed date, due to construction works on the railway line in Serbia, a substitute bus service is operating over to the border to Novi Sad in Serbia, as the new faster railway has opened between there and Beograd.

Night trains

The night trains which comes this way are:

(1) The overnight train from Wien/Vienna to Buccresti/Bucharest, named 'the Daciia' which is the only train service from the Austrian capital to the Romanian capital; it also calls in Arad and Brasov.

From June 5th to Oct 5th, there is the opportunity to connect in Buccuresti/Bucharest for direct trains on to both Istanbul and Sofia,
Outside of those dates you can travel on to Istanbul via Ruse and Sofia.
Though at any time of the year an overnight stay is required in Bucuresti, but despite that, this is the simplest route route for a Wien/Vienna to Istanbul train journey.

(2) A daily train, named 'the Hortobagy' which departs Wien at 16:42 and travels beyond Budapest to call at cities in eastern Hungary, including Debrecen and Zahony; it also typically conveys sleeping cars heading on to the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Kiev/Kviv.

Two train services now take this route:

• A relatively new daily service by EC train that typically departs Graz hbf shortly after 08:30 and is direct to Budapest via Szombathely and Gyor.
• In addition up to seven local trains per day from Graz have their journeys extended over the border so that they terminate in Szentgotthard.
  At Szentgotthard connections are available on to Szombathely, from where there are express trains on to Budapest

On Monday to Friday hourly regional trains depart Wiener-Neustadt for Sopron; the journey between the two cities only takes around 40mins; though the trains on this route are less frequent at weekends.

Wiener Neustadt is served by comparatively frequent trains from Wien/Vienna and you can connect in Sopron for trains to Budapest and Szombathely.

The majority of the express day and night trains from Austria to Italy take one of two routes, which are located at either end of the border between the two countries, so trains head south from either Innsbruck or Villach.
Though the direct rail route from Wien/Vienna and Graz to Trieste through Slovenia has also been restored in recent years.

If you will be travelling with a Eurail or Interrail pass, fairly expensive rail pass reservation fees are required on the direct daytime express trains; so the notes below also point out the alternatives to taking these express services.
Rail pass users also have to reserve on the overnight Nightjet services from Austria to Italy.

Three different train services now travel on this spectacular route through the Brenner Pass.

1: to Bologna, Verona and Venice by Railjet and EC trains

Railjet trains per day, which will have commenced their journeys in Munchen/Munich, take this route:
Kufstein – Worgl – Jenbach – Innsbruck – Brennero – Bolzano – Fortezza – Bolzano – Trento – Roverta - Verona.
Connect in Verona for cities to the west including Brescia, Desenzano for Lake Garda, Milano and Torino/Turin.

Three of these trains have their journeys extended beyond Verona to Bologna - and at the height of summer one train continues beyond to Bologna to Rimini.
*Two trains at weekends.
Connect in Bologna for cities further south including Ancona, Bari, Firenze/Florence, Napoli and Roma.

Two of these trains continue beyond Verona to call at Vicenza, Padova/Padua and Venezia/Venice, for the time being, the first of these daily departures are by EC train.

(The overnight trains from Munchen/Munich and Wien/Vienna to Italy take the route through Villach and Tarvisio; see below).

2: Direct from Vienna to the South Tyrol

A daily Railjet train, which departs from Wien/Vienna at 15:30 and calls in both Linz at 16:44 and Salzburg at 17:52 and then travels on via Innsbruck, Brennero and Fortezza to terminate in Bolzano.

3: Local trains

Hourly local S-Bahn trains depart Innsbruck for Brennero
In Brennero some of these trains make connections with Italian Regionale trains heading south to Merano via Bolzano, or into Regionale Veloce trains heading south to Bologna via Bolzano, Trento and Verona.
So if you'll be using an Interrail or Eurail pass and want to avoid the rail pass reservation fees, when travelling from Austria to Italy, you can target this combination of trains and connect in Brennero.
Though note that the trains heading to Merano are not operated by Trenitalia, so rail passes are not valid on these trains.

Day trains:

Two Railjet trains per day come this way on the Wien/Vienna – Bruck an der Mur – Graz – Klagenfurt – Villach – Tarvisio – Udine – Treviso – Venezia/Venice/Venedig route.
Connect in Venezia/Venice for frequent trains to other Italian cities including Bologna, Firenze/Florence, Milano, Napoli, Torino/Turin and Verona; by changing trains at Venezia Mestre station.

A new Railjet service takes a Wien/Vienna – Bruck an der Mur – Graz – Klagenfurt – Villach – Tarvisio – Udine – Trieste route

In addition two regional trains per day travel on this part of the route; Villach – Tarvisio – Udine
These trains enable rail pass users to avoid paying any reservation fees on this route; Regionale trains link Udine to Trieste and Venezia/Venice.

Night trains:

The Nightjet overnight trains from Austria to Italy on these two routes also make this border crossing:

(1) Wien/Vienna – Wiener Neustadt – Bruck an der Mur – Graz – Klagenfurt – Villach – Bologna – Firenze/Florence – Arezzo – Roma
The is the only direct train from Austria to Firenze/Florence and Roma.

(2) Wien/Vienna – St Polten – Linz – Salzburg – Tarvisio – Udine – Treviso – Venezia/Venice

Plus between the second Saturday in June and the second Saturday in September there is a summer only service on a Wien/Vienna – Wiener Neustadt – Bruck an der Mur – Leoben – Klagenfurt – Rimini - Ancona route
There are good connections on to Bari, Lecce and Pescara from this train.

On Monday to Friday hourly trains travel from Lienz to Fortezza, where connections are available into trains heading south to Bologna, Bolzano, Venezia and Verona.
The service is less frequent at weekends.
Lienz has a sporadic service of S-Bahn trains from Klagenfurt via Villach.

There is also a daily IC train which departs Vienna/Wien Hbf for Lienz at 08:25, this train then makes a connection into a train on to Fortezza, which then makes a connection into a Regionale Veloce train on to Bologna via Bolzano, Trento and Verona.
However, rail pass users travelling this way should note that Trenitalia does not operate the route between San Candido and Fortezza, so rail passes are not valid on this section of the route.

The most frequent train services between Austria and Slovakia are the regional (REX) trains from Wien/Vienna to Bratislava.
They depart hourly from Wien Hbf on two routes, via

• Marchegg, and
• Bruck an der Leitha,
  but only the trains via Marchegg arrive at the Bratislava hl.n, the main station in the Slovakian capital.

In addition to these Regional trains, which provide the bulk of the rail service between Europe's two most closely spaced capital cities, there are two daily express trains.

(1) A daily IC train, which is usually scheduled to depart from Wien/Vienna at 14:42, travels beyond Bratislava to Kosice, where it is due to arrive at 20:42; it also calls in Zilina and Poprad Tatry.

(2) A Railjet service to Bratislava, which commences its journey in Zurich and calls at these stations in Austria; Feldkirch – Innsbruck – Salzburg – Linz – St Polten and Wien/Vienna (depart 20:42).

Trains from Austria to Slovenia take three beautiful routes, but if you want to explore some of the most spectacular European landscapes and cities by train, then worth knowing is that the Austrian city, Villach, is the gateway for train journeys between the Alps and Slovenia.

Though the trains on to Serbia from Croatia and the trains from Serbia to Bulgaria haven't resumed since being cancelled at the start of the pandemic.
Also still suspended are all of the international trains on to Greece.

This is the railway route from southern Austria into Slovenia and on to Croatia

After many years of extensive maintenance works, a full service will typically be available on the new timetable, which comprises trains departing Villach every other hour between 06:00am and 20:45 / 8:45pm and heading to Ljubljana via Lesce-Bled.

Some of these services travel beyond Ljubljana :

(1) For those prepared to set the alarm, there is a train which, has come from Zurich, which calls at stations including Feldkirch, St Anton and Landeck-Zams before travelling through the night to Villach, from where it typically departs between 06:00 and 06:30am on route to Zagreb via Ljubljana.
This train also calls in Innsbruck, but it typically departs from there shortly after 01:00am.

This train now connects in Zagreb for a train on to Beograd, but the trains on from Beograd to Sofia are suspended due to works on the line.
The Sofia To Istanbul Express has resumed, but the rail route from Sofia to Athina/Athens also remains suspended.

(2) There is a train which typically departs from Munchen/Munich shortly after 10:15 and travels via Salzburg (departs after midday), Schwarzach St Veit amd Bad Gastein and it now departs from Villach after 14:30 on a Villach → Jesenice → Lesce-Bled (for Lake Bled) → Ljubljana → Zidani Most → Dobova → Zagreb route.
Though in the opposite direction this train terminates in Villach with a connection on to Munchen via Salzburg.

(3) A train which departs Villach after 18:30 / 6;30pm and takes a Villach → Jesenice → Lesce-Bled (for Lake Bled) → Ljubljana → Zidani Most → Dobova route.

The express trains which come this way include the daily EC express services on these two wonderfully scenic routes, which connect Austria to the capital cities of both Croatia and Slovenia

(1) Wien/Vienna – Wiener Neustadt – Bruck an der Mur – Graz – Maribor – Zidani Most – Ljubljana

(2) Wien/Vienna – Wiener Neustadt – Bruck an der Mur –Graz – Maribor – Dobova – Zagreb

In addition to these express trains, there are also now hourly InterRegio (IR) trains which link Graz with Maribor.

On Monday – Friday two trains per day now head to Maribor, from the Austrian border town of Bleiburg; though there is only a daily train at weekends.

On Monday-Friday connecting trains should depart Klagenfurt for Bleiburg at 08:05 and 16:35.

When looking at a map of from Austria the country has a long neck at its western end, where its border with Switzerland is located.
Hence the trains from Austria into Switzerland only take one of two routes.

The three long-distance services which travel over the border from Feldkirch to Buchs are:

(1) The Railljet trains which operate every other hour on the Wien/Vienna → Linz → Salzburg > Innsbruck → St Anton → Feldkirch → Buchs (connect for Chur) → Sargans → Zurich route.

(2) One EC train per day, the 'Transalpin' which takes a Graz → Zell Am See → Kitzbuhel → Innsbruck → St Anton → Feldkirch → Buchs (connect for Chur) → Sargans → Zurich route.
This train conveys an observation car which First Class ticket holders can ride in.

(3) The overnight trains from Graz, Wien/Vienna and Villach to Zurich.
The train from Wien will have commenced its journey in Budapest and the train from Villach will have travelled from Zagreb via Ljubljana.

Connect in Zurich for most other Swiss cities including Basel, Bern, Biel, Brig, Geneve, Lausanne, Lugano and Neuchatel.

The only other trains which take this route are the local commuter trains, which shuttle across the border from Feldkirch to Buchs during the early mornings and late afternoons on Monday to Friday.

The only trains which makes this border crossing are the seven daily EC trains on the newly improved Munchen/Munchen – Lindau – Bregenz – St Margrethen - St Gallen –Zurich Flughafen/Airport – Zurich route.
Connect in St Margrethen for trains to Chur via Landquart.
Note that these are the only trains from Austria which are direct to Zurich Airport; connections are available from Feldkirch in Bregenz.

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