Despite the distance it's super easy to travel from München/Munich to Wien/Vienna by train.
The daytime trains are smart and comfortable, the stations at both ends of the trip are very passenger friendly and the journey is easy on the eye.
Or if you need to be in Wien/Vienna before breakfast there is an overnight train, but note that it isn't a Nightjet train.
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.
4hr 15min (approx)
Daily
7 x trains per day
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.
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:
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).
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.
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
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.
Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.
HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.
Final Destination: Budapest or Wien
These trains also call at: Linz, St Polten, Wien-Meidling*
*Check the location of your final destination in Wien/Vienna.
If you're heading to 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 leave 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.
Note that these trains do not call at Munchen Ost station.
The final direct daytime train of the day departs from Munchen Hbf at around 17:30.
We may have been a tad generous with the scenic rating for this journey as this is a pleasant, rather than spectacular train ride, the views of the mountains will be distant ones.
The prettiest part of the journey by train from Munich to Vienna is between Salzburg and Linz, though we lack the images to prove it, as on the most recent two occasions we came this way, it was pouring with rain!
So this is a route when taking the alternative overnight train means you won't lose out on seeing spectacular views!
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 go here to say thank you.
It can be particularly worthwhile comparing prices on the national ticket agents for this journey, becasue when the cheapest tickets have sold out on the DB (German railways website), they can still be available on the OBB (Austrian railways wesite) and vice versa.
The OBB website also tends to offer additional, generally cheaper options, which involve changing trains.
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.
A key difference between these types of tickets is refunds:
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.
The Sparpreis, Flexpreis and Flexpreis Plus tickets also include 'City tickets', which can be used on public transport between locations in Munchen city centre and Munchen Hbf.
Seat reservations
Seat reservations are optional on Railjet trains - take note if you will be using a rail pass.
They cost €4.90 when travelling in 2nd Class and €5.90 when travelling in 1st class.
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.
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.
Booking on the DB website
You can find these direct trains more easily by making a proactive selection of 'Direct Trains Only'.
To see all the combinations of trains and journey options, some of which may be cheaper, take off the 'fastest connections' default.
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so if you can be flexible with your departure time use the 'best prices' tool - at the top right on the list of journey options.
4hr 3min
Daily
5 x trains per day
Final Destination: Wien-Westbanhof
Note that these trains arrive at a different station in Wien/Vienna to that used by the Railjets.
These trains also call at Wien Hutteldorf which has an interchange with line U4 of the Vienna Metro, which makes multiple stops on the southern side of the city centre, including at Karlsplatz.
Departing from Munchen/Munich:
These trains also call at: Munchen Ost
The alternative Railjet services do not call at Munchen Ost, but if your starting point is located by Marienplatz or Isator stations in Munchen/Munich city centre, you will save around 20 mins by making a connection from these local cross-city trains at Munchen Ost instead of at Munchen Hbf
The only metro interchange available at Wien Hbf, which is where the Railjets arrive, is with line U1.
However, Wien-Westbahnhof has a connection with line U3 and line U6 of the Vienna U-Bahn/Metro.
These two lines don't call* at Wien Hbf so if the end point of your journey in the city is located along them it's likely that you'll have a faster and easier end-to-end trip, if you target these Westbahn trains.
*=Though the Railjet trains also call at Wien-Meidling which has connection with line U6.
Book early and save: Yes
The daytime train service between Wien/Vienna and München/Munich is now split between Railjet trains operated by OBB and these trains operated by Westbahn.
The two train services have similar journey times;, the difference is generally less than 10 mins compared to OBB's fastest services), but the Westbahn trains depart from a different station in Wien/Vienna
Tickets for the trains operated by Westbahn are not available on the OBB ticket booking site and vice versa, tickets for the trains operated by OBB are not available on the Westbahn site, but both services can be looked up and booked on Trainline.
Though on this route when travelling on Monday to Thursday limited numbers of WESTsuperpreis tickets will be available for €23.99, they must be booked in advance and are only valid when travelling on the selected departure.
Last minute tickets booked at the station are more expensive than booking in Advance.
Differences in ticketing terms to travelling by Railjet:
6hr 59min
Nightly
1 x train per night
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 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.
Final Destination: Budapest
Note that this train departs from München Ost station and not the city's main rail station, München Hbf, though the connections from the city centre are similar when heading to either station.
This train is usually scheduled to depart at around 23:35 and arrive in at around around 06:30 - note the exceptionally early arrival time.
The coaches heading to Wien/Vienna, and on to Budapest, will be joined to other coaches heading to Zagreb and Venezia/Venedig.
The train will be separated during its journey.
Also note that OBB Nightjet trains are not used on this particular route.
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open:
6 months ahead of the travel date on OBB
3 months ahead of the travel date on DB Bahn
'Kalaman Imre' is the name given to this train that is provided by Hungarian Railways (MAV) - the train will is heading to Budapest.
It comprises
- Compartment Seats
- Couchettes ; 4 berths AND 6 berths
- Sleeping cars with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins (there are no deluxe sleeping cars with showers in the cabins available on this route).
Click the train button above for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
Using rail passes:
Rail pass users must reserve before boarding this train.
However, these rail pass reservations can NO longer be booked online the DB website.
If you want to reserve seats, berths in couchettes or beds in the sleeping cabins before you arrive in Germany, the best option is to pay a booking fee and use the Eurail or InterRail reservation services.
Or you can avoid the booking fees by arranging the reservations when you arrive in Germany, by purchasing them at a Reisezentrum travel desk, which you will find in any hauptbahnhof.
Though it's best to do this at the first hauptbahnhof (city centre station) that you will arrive at, the later you leave booking your accommodation, the more likely it is that your preferences will be sold out.
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.
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.
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