It’s time – finally time – to look beyond our vast and sun-kissed shores to international travel. Want to know what’s top of our travel wish list? Austria! For the scenery, culture, history, and – it’s at the top of the list, let’s be honest – for the strudel.
The enchanting options for Austrian travel experiences are as plentiful as the strudel is scrumptious, so we’ve come up with a handy choose-your-own-adventure guide to travelling Austria.
And because we love comfort, ease, and affordable travel, we’re ditching the car and travelling Austria by train!
With most of us struggling to choose from the local surf club’s limited dinner menu, knowing that there are over 1000 stations to start, stop, or pause your Austrian journey can be overwhelming.
Use this handy guide to select the best rail-tastic Austrian vacays.
Choose one, choose two, or choo-choo-choose them all for the ultimate holiday.
Keep Calm and Carriage On: The ÖBB Rail Network
The expansive options to travel by rail across Austria and beyond is brought to you by the Österreichische Bundesbahnen (aka ÖBB, aka Austrian Federal Railways), founded in 1882.
Their history, experience, and commitment to on-time service makes them a well-oiled machine. Except, there’s no oil used at all, as ÖBB is an eco-friendly company transporting 1.3 million passengers daily using renewable energy!
We love Austria, and now we love travelling to Austria even more, knowing that 100% of the electricity used on the ÖBB network is from renewable sources. Another travel win for us all!
The Classic: Vienna to Salzburg
ÖBB’s network connects over 5,000 kilometres of national and international destinations, with their Vienna to Salzburg service one of their most popular.
Taking in two of Austria’s most iconic destinations is a breeze on the ÖBB network. You can travel from the dynamic, elegant capital of Vienna to the gastronomic mecca of Salzburg in only 2.5 hours.
With 32 trains per day, you could easily be exploring the majesty of Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace in the morning and munching on Mozart balls (pur-lease, it’s a sweet treat) at Salzburg’s Café Konditorei Fürst in the arvo.
Learn more: Discover how to get cultured in Vienna here and experience 48 magical hours in Salzburg here.
The Historically Significant: Vienna to Graz
When a rail route has sublime scenery and is considered one of the world’s most significant engineering projects, you’d be rail-ly (sorry, groan) upset if you missed it!
Getting from Vienna to Graz to take in Europe’s very first mountain railway is super easy, thanks to the 23 trips ÖBB makes per day. After exploring Vienna highlights like the Leopold Museum and Mozarthaus, you can hop aboard and appreciate how perfectly the train’s carriage windows frame the jaw-dropping Semmering Pass scenery.
Arrive in Graz two hours later (unless you hop off to explore the quaint alpine towns of Gloggnitz and Semmering), ready to take in the sights, sounds, and – most definitely – tastes of Graz.
Learn more: Check out why Graz is the whole strudel (and not just the slice) here.
The Active:
Hiking in Austria is such a soul-enriching experience, it should be compulsory for all travellers. With mountain views that bring a tear to the eye, well-marked trails across a range of terrain, and incredible accommodation options along most routes, it’s a highlight for those that pack their trail shoes.
Does the ÖBB network make hikers’ lives easier? Does a hiker like trail mix? That’s a fat yes on both counts.
The Arlberg Scenic Train Route is one of our faves – for hiking in summer and skiing/boarding in winter. We’re also fans of the narrow gauge Mariazell Railway, joining St Pölten and Mariazell, which offer beautiful hiking trails.
Learn more: Discover more about the Arlberg and other tempting mountain tramps here, as well as lush Austrian forests to explore here.
The Day Trips: Gateway to Everywhere
If you enjoy having a ‘home’ base on your travels, the Austrian rail network is your enabler. Basing yourself in Vienna affords easy access to Salzburg (2 hours), the Abbey of Heiligenkreuz in the Vienna Woods (an hour), and the pretty spa town of Baden bei Wien (30 minutes), to name a few.
You can even nip over the border to Budapest in Hungary as 14 high-speed trains whizz there daily, in over two hours.
Using Salzburg as your base, Innsbruck is a no-brainer day trip. In two hours, you can find yourself amid Innsbruck’s stunning views and striking architecture. Both provide ample opportunities for FOMO photos to send the peeps back home.
The charming lakeside town of Zell am See is reachable in 90 minutes, also. Alternatively (or additionally), experience the traditional, picturesque pottery town at Gmunden (around an hour and a half).
Whatever your base and destination, knowing that such an extensive – and regular – network of trains awaits makes not only the planning easy, but the actual on-the-ground doing.
Learn more: Curious which hotels to base yourself from in Vienna? Read this. Want to know what else makes Innsbruck special? Check this post to see why Innsbruck is the ‘golden child of Austria’.
The Night Life: ÖBB Nightjets
If you’re like us, you love a good night train. With ÖBB Nightjets, it’s more than a budget-friendly and effortless way to travel; this is the most climate-friendly travel option out there!
We love the buzz of comradery on a night train as you settle into your cabins, meet your neighbours, and share a tale or two. There’s free Wi-Fi onboard, too!
Choo-choo-choose (can’t stop, won’t stop) from comfy sleeper cars, couchette coaches, and day coaches to get across ÖBB’s extensive night network. Nightjets gives you overnight access to 25 European cities, including four in Austria, plus Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France, and more.
Whatever your destination, Nightjets ensures you arrive refreshed and ready to crack on with your sightseeing itinerary for the day.
Get the Skinny on ÖBB
To prep for the coming-soon-to-a-border-near-you opportunities to travel to incredible Austria, head here to discover everything you need!
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