Excursions FROM Vienna, Vienna

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May 2006 saw a new fast boat service operating between Vienna and Bratislava. Wisely we booked early, weeks before we left home. The boat only takes 100 passengers and is proving very popular - there were people turned away as we waited to board. If you want to spend the whole day in Bratislava, you'll need to catch the first boat in the morning - it goes at 8.30am and there's not another until 12.30pm.

It's a really stable boat, you have no idea of how it's hiking along until you step outside onto the back deck. The scenery may not be as pretty along this stretch of the river as it is through the Wachau (the other direction from Vienna) but there's plenty to see - fishing huts along the bank, villages, a ruined castle, barges and other river traffic. Finally you arrive in Bratislava, passing under the Bridge of Slovak National Uprising and disembark, ready for your day in the city.

Passports are checked as you board the boat and again as you leave but the formalities are brief. You'll need to check your own visa requirements depending on your nationality - as Australians we didn't need anything.

Check the website here for timetables and fares. Booking online proved impossible, it just kept freezing us out so our travel agent handled the booking for us. The boat leaves from Schwedenplatz on the Donau Canal.

We made the return journey by train. Trains run every hour until about 11 at night, and the fare is cheaper Bratislava to Vienna than the other way around.

Go to SCHOTTENTOR (the University stop) with a bus or tram and from there, take tram 38 that will take you straight to GRINZING. You'll love it. It goes uphill a bit and you'll end up in a very romantic place and green areas. There you can even take a walk uphill and discover more Heurige. White wines are generally better than reds around there.

Have a great time!

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Several people suggested that the best way to get to Bratislava from Vienna was via the Twin City Liner, a hydrofoil that goes along the Danube. The service runs 4-5 times a day in each direction and takes 1 1/4 hours, the current cost is between 16E and 26E each way, the cheaper fares on the early morning boats from Bratislava-Vienna and the late evening boats from Vienna-Bratislava. Tickets can be reserved in advance on the attached website, our boat was full or nearly full so it's a good idea if you have your heart set on taking it. If you reserve online, you should exchange your printout for a ticket at the booth on the pier, we didn't and they still let us on but they said we should have exchanged it.

I didn't think the scenery along the way was anything special, you saw some fishing cottages and foliage along the way but nothing in the way of sights until you approached Bratislava. For me it wasn't worth the 26E ($40US) per person we paid for it, the only good part about it was that the dock is closer to town than the train station, you could easily walk from the dock to the tourist areas.

If you do decide to take the hydrofoil, get to the dock early if you want a window seat, there was already a line forming 45 minutes before the departure time. The best seats, in the front window, were by reservation only. Bring your passport just in case, they didn't check ours either way but signs (maybe they were old) suggested that they were needed. Unless you've got money to burn, consider taking the train back, it was 304sk (around $16US) round trip which was actually less than a 1 way ticket which was 400sk.

One way on the hydrofoil between Vienna and Bratislava was enough for me so we inquired about taking the train back at the tourism office in Bratislava and she advised taking the train from the Bratislava-Petrzalka station to the south of the center instead of from Bratislava hl. st. that is north of the center as the trains run every hour at 40 minutes after the hour. Now that I'm home and looking at the schedule it appears that the main station is more convenient during peak hours with two trains leaving on the hour and at 50 minutes after the hour. No trouble buying a ticket on the spot, the cost was 304kc for a round trip ticket and 400 kc for a 1 way ticket so we bought a round trip and just didn't use the other part.

The train was comfortable and faster than the hydrofoil, the journey taking around an hour. The trains arrive in Vienna into Sudbahnhof although they might have also stopped at stations before that in Vienna, Sudbahnhof was the station closest to our hotel. You can also purchase a round trip train ticket between the two cities should you opt not to spend the money on the hydrofoil. I don't think there's any need to buy tickets in advance as there were plenty of open seats.

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For people, who prefer to take the train, there is an ordinary returnticket for the direct train Wien - Suedbahnhof to Bratislava for just 14 Euros and it even includes all means of the local transport in Bratislava (including the bus #29 that takes you to DEVIN-castle)
For holders of a VORTEILSCARD it is even just 9 euros !!!
The cheapest Vorteilscard is just 19,90 euros for 12 months for young people under 26, there are others for 99 euros a year, that makes in fact sense only for Austrians !!
trains are leaving once each hour,between 05.28a.m. and 11.50p.m.
trains are always at minute 28 leaving from Vienna and every hour at minute 50 from Bratislava
the ride takes about 60 minutes and includes a passport-control INside the train, during the journey. Slovakia is part of the SCHENGEN-area now as well and they even got the EURO since 2009 !!!
This ticket is available the whole year, the ticket may be bought at the machines or at any counter, and will have the date indicated for the ride TO Bratislava. the return must be within 4 days !!

This bus might make sense, when you want to combine a budget-flight from/to Bratislava and a connecting flight from/to Vienna Airport. The bus will first go to Bratislava Novy Most and arrive at Bratislava Airport 75 minutes later.
This bus is leaving the airport of Vienna
5 times each day, all of the year:
at 08.15 + 11.45a.m. and 04.45 + 06.45 + 08.45p.m.
the fare is 4,90 one way
and 9,80 euros for return
children 0-12 pay 50%
Attention: This cheap fare is calculated from AIRPORT of Vienna to Airport of Bratislava.
From Wien U3-ERDBERG to Bratislava AIRPORT it is 10 euros one way !!!
Airport of Vienna to Novy Most is just 3,60 Euro one way !

you take the bus line 1187 from the airport to Vienna South-Station ("Suedbahnhof"), departing from the arrival-terminal every 20 minutes; from Suedbahnhof you have sveral trains to Prague, for instance the EC74 at 15:33, arriving at 19:32.
Check the trains according to your arrival-time by yourself at the Austrian Railways site at
http://tinyurl.com/2lbpf5

In case of additional questions you could contact the callcenter of Austrian Railways also from abroad +43 5-1717

Good Luck !

PURCHASING THROUGH EURAIL AGENCIES (Raileurope, etc.) ANY TICKET OR RAILPASS IS MOST LIKELY A RIP-OFF. MOST RAILPASSES ARE A RIP-OFF.

A sample case:

http://forum.virtualtourist.com/discussion-404935-1-1-Travel-0-0-Prague-discussion.html

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Otherwise:

1) the trains from Vienna to Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary are MUCH more expensive than going the other way or between Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary.

2) most trains to Budapest and Salzburg are departing from Wien Westbahnof, while most to Bratislava and Praha from Südbahnhof.

3) First class tickets have often zero benefit. On some trains even the seats are the same. The biggest GUARANTEED difference: there is a yellow line painted on the car's outside and a large "1" number. Not sure, it's worth the difference. There is no guarantee of any kind in Europe what the "first class" quality is. In order to know, is it worth or not you have to know the REAL train car contest (car nationality, buid date, etc.) - that's what only few crazy railfans know. In Europe you can meet cars of any nationality you would probably not expect to be there.

To give an idea how a car contest looks like, here is an (almost correct) 2008 contest chart of trains to/from Hungary:

http://diesirae.atw.hu/menetrend/nemz_vonatok.htm

For Slovakia: http://www.vlaky.net/servis/radenia.asp?lang=2
(click on the train numbers to see the cars!)

If it is a bit confusing and you do not know the difference between "Apeer61" and "BDshmee": don't buy first class!

4) Best is usually to travel a daily round-trip by bus from Vienna to Bratislava and buy all your train tickets in Bratislava.

Sample walk-in prices in Bratislava:

Budapest = 16 Euro
Praha = ca. 30 Euro (hint: buy only tickets to Kuty, from Kuty on buy from the czech Conductor!)

5) Salzburg and Bratislava is OK for a daytrip. Budapest and Praha: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.