Best way to get from Manchester to Vienna

Ayman Ilham · 6 Aug 2017

Okay, so I might be planning to go to Vienna with my family (mum, dad, myself and 13 year old sister) sometime - I have relatives there so accommodation is not needed over there, just on the way depending on which option to use. I thought of the following options and I would like your recommendations on which one would be the best and preferably cheapest idea to get there considering I live in Manchester:
- Cheap RYR/EZY flight to a city in Germany followed by advanced train tickets
- Advanced train tickets from Manchester Piccadilly with either of these routes:
-- Virgin to London, Eurostar to Brussels, Thalys to Cologne, ICE rest of way
-- TPE to Hull, Ferry to Rotterdam, NS to Amsterdam, ICE rest of way
- Interrail global pass for the above routes instead (5 day in 15 option)

PS: I'm 20 by the way!
Update: Scrap direct flights cos that's boring!

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dutchflyer · 6 Aug 2017

U2=EZ=Easyjet also flies direct MAN-VIE, 3/week, I just tried and saw (pay extra for luggage) returns for around 80/90 EUR (so a little less in GBP) for sept. This is likely the best deal, though a very early start from MAN 6.00 am).
Next best is most likely-as this is a trains site, do all the work on flites by yourself, WIZZair, the Ryan for East-EUR, to Bratislava, often with very, very low fares. There are half-hourly (actually 2 companies both hourly) BUses=coaches, single from 5 eur, BRA airport to Wien.
Check COACH-bustickets.regiojet.com, a very good Czech long-distance bus LON-Praha (daily in around 20 hrs), with onward connections, sometimes there are promotions for 29 or even 19 eur/single, if (saving)money is the main objective.
For railfares that IR, certainly for junior/senior, and even more when bought in the 15% discount periods (likely again from 1/9), is best buy, as it now also includes 1 return in home country-the snag is that you have to pay at least 30 eur/single to use the EuroTunnelTrain, the rest can be done without any supplmt. Doubt if you can do it in 1 day, check yourself. But you still have some extra traveldays to use when there.
Forget Thalys-check bahn.de for any possible lower fares (from 59 eur possible) from LON-via BRU and DB-ICE to FRAnkfurt till last German station-Salzburg, then use Westbahn to Wien for lower fares-or the advance Sparschiene from OeBB. Can of course combine with flites the other way.

Sir Felix Pole · 6 Aug 2017

My personal preference for Austria these days is Eurostar to Paris, TGV to Zurich (via Dijon and Basel) and Railjet Zurich to Vienna (via Arlberg Pass, Salzburg and Linz). An overnight is required in Zurich - a very attractive city, but not the cheapest in Europe! A good alternative is the overnight Cologne to Vienna which still runs courtesy of OBB. ( Eurostar to Brussels, TGV/ICE Brussels to Cologne). A budget flight from Manchester is always going to be cheaper, but it is all vey boring and not much of an adventure!

Merseysider · 6 Aug 2017

When I visited Vienna in January, I did the following:

Ryanair flight to Budapest (£20)
Hostel overnight (£7 x2)

Train to Bratislava (£10)
Hostel overnight: (£6)

Train to Vienna (£10)

...and onwards to Prague and Nuremberg at roughly the same prices, with a £22 flight back to Manchester, so you could also do all that in reverse.

Don't just fly straight in though - that's boring!

philjo · 7 Aug 2017

I went to Vienna last month using Eurostar to Brussels and ICE to Cologne. Then used the Cologne to Vienna overnight sleeper. a very smooth ride overnght - slept much better than on the occasions I have used the sleeper to Scotland!
If you are sharing one cabin for 4 people it should be reasonable prices - mine was only more for a single cabin.

Ayman Ilham · 7 Aug 2017

Merseysider said:
Don't just fly straight in though - that's boring!

I totally agree, the whole reason I wanted this was for some train ride in Europe and since I have relatives and family friends over there, it gives a reason for my family to want to go there! Since I need to get from Manchester, should I use Interrail Global (then I can visit other cities like Amsterdam, Zurich and Berlin on the way) or advanced train tickets?

317666 · 7 Aug 2017

I'd second the option of using the Cologne to Vienna sleeper if you can, very time-effective and much more fun than daytime trains! Your relatives are lucky living in Vienna, it's probably my favourite of the cities I've visited so far!

Tim R-T-C · 7 Aug 2017

I went from Leeds to Vienna, taking the Eurostar, then TGV to Zurich and the sleeper train through to Vienna. If you have a night in London and catch the early Eurostar, you can have a good few hours in Vienna.

On the way back we went via Salzburg and Munchen, then the sleeper to Paris but sadly this is now discontinued.

For tickets, I don't know about the Interrail, I booked tickets via the SNCF and OBB websites, although there are sites like bahn.com and loco2.com that let you book various international routes. With advanced tickets it was not too expensive, I was able to book first class most of the way for less than the price of walk-up standard tickets.

Polarbear · 7 Aug 2017

You can do it by rail in one day, albeit a bit of an endurance test.

Leaving London at 09:24, you go via Paris (cross from Nord to Est), then TGV to Stuttgart for IC/ICE to Salzburg for a Railjet to Wein Hbf, arriving at 00:51.

That could all be done on an Inter Rail, with seat reservations for Eurostar (£26.50 standard class) and on the TGV (from £9.00).

30907 · 7 Aug 2017

Ayman Ilham said:
I totally agree, the whole reason I wanted this was for some train ride in Europe and since I have relatives and family friends over there, it gives a reason for my family to want to go there! Since I need to get from Manchester, should I use Interrail Global (then I can visit other cities like Amsterdam, Zurich and Berlin on the way) or advanced train tickets?

Especially if this is a family trip, you will probably want to plan the key journeys in advance. I very much doubt InterRail will be good value unless you are travelling at relatively short notice, but you should obviously cost it.

I am currently in CZ, having travelled with my wife (Leeds-)London-Lindau and returning Bad Schandau-Frankfurt-London on DB London Special tickets, and using Austrian Sparschiene tickets to and from Vienna.

And - reference another thread - I would have used Harwich-Hoek if I could, but the times didn't work!

PS depending on your (family) financial state, I would also cost out 1st class for day travel.

317666 · 7 Aug 2017

Polarbear said:
You can do it by rail in one day, albeit a bit of an endurance test.

Leaving London at 09:24, you go via Paris (cross from Nord to Est), then TGV to Stuttgart for IC/ICE to Salzburg for a Railjet to Wein Hbf, arriving at 00:51.

That could all be done on an Inter Rail, with seat reservations for Eurostar (£26.50 standard class) and on the TGV (from £9.00).

Alternatively you could leave London at 06:50 (time varies according to day of the week), take an ICE from Brussels to Frankfurt and then another ICE from Frankfurt to Vienna, arriving at 21:09. The advantages being that you don't get to Vienna really late, and ICEs don't require a supplement to use an InterRail on them.

MarcVD · 7 Aug 2017

The journey from Zurich to Vienna is really nice, specially the first part. Some people do not like the second class seating in Railjets so considering first class may be a good idea.

Envoyé de mon SM-T819 en utilisant Tapatalk

Polarbear · 7 Aug 2017

MarcVD said:
The journey from Zurich to Vienna is really nice, specially the first part. Some people do not like the second class seating in Railjets so considering first class may be a good idea.

Envoyé de mon SM-T819 en utilisant Tapatalk

Standard on Railjet is a bit like a GWR Mk3. I find it OK for short to medium distances but would opt for 1st on a long distance haul if I could.

urpert · 8 Aug 2017

MarcVD said:
The journey from Zurich to Vienna is really nice, specially the first part. Some people do not like the second class seating in Railjets so considering first class may be a good idea.

Envoyé de mon SM-T819 en utilisant Tapatalk

The seats are the same as in GWR HST standard class and tend to divide opinion (I think they're great!)

Edit: snap

MarcVD · 8 Aug 2017

Note that if you have a first class ticket, for a very modest supplement (just a few Euros really, paid on board to the train attendant), you can have access to the business class compartments situated in the driving trailer. Those are simply superb. I did that 2 years ago when I travelled from Brussels to Athens via Zurich, Budapest, and Sofia.

Envoyé de mon GT-I9505 en utilisant Tapatalk

rmt4ever · 8 Aug 2017

Ayman Ilham said:
Okay, so I might be planning to go to Vienna with my family (mum, dad, myself and 13 year old sister) sometime - I have relatives there so accommodation is not needed over there, just on the way depending on which option to use. I thought of the following options and I would like your recommendations on which one would be the best and preferably cheapest idea to get there considering I live in Manchester:
- Cheap RYR/EZY flight to a city in Germany followed by advanced train tickets
- Advanced train tickets from Manchester Piccadilly with either of these routes:
-- Virgin to London, Eurostar to Brussels, Thalys to Cologne, ICE rest of way
-- TPE to Hull, Ferry to Rotterdam, NS to Amsterdam, ICE rest of way
- Interrail global pass for the above routes instead (5 day in 15 option)

PS: I'm 20 by the way!
Update: Scrap direct flights cos that's boring!

Business class to Vienna from Manchester with BA, connecting flight at LHR T5

racklam · 8 Aug 2017

hungry said:
Business class to Vienna from Manchester with BA, connecting flight at LHR T5

Having flown BA's European business class many times on the company account, I would never recommend anyone actually spend their own money on it. Definitely not worth the additional cost.

rmt4ever · 8 Aug 2017

racklam said:
Having flown BA's European business class many times on the company account, I would never recommend anyone actually spend their own money on it. Definitely not worth the additional cost.

Lounge access with hot food at T5 and as much champagne as you can drink. Generous baggage allowance. Unlimited champagne on board and proper meals. And priority check in/boarding.

Certainly beats a gruelling all day trek across multiple basic train services through Europe, or Ryanair !

Ayman Ilham · 8 Aug 2017

Polarbear said:
You can do it by rail in one day, albeit a bit of an endurance test.

Leaving London at 09:24, you go via Paris (cross from Nord to Est), then TGV to Stuttgart for IC/ICE to Salzburg for a Railjet to Wein Hbf, arriving at 00:51.

That could all be done on an Inter Rail, with seat reservations for Eurostar (£26.50 standard class) and on the TGV (from £9.00).

Not gonna work considering I have to get a train from Manchester first :lol:

Ayman Ilham · 8 Aug 2017

If I travel entirely by train (planes are boring for flights within Europe and I can see much more out of trains and maybe even check out other cities on the way) from Manchester to Vienna, would it be possible to book it all from one site or will I have to book from separate sites? Which site(s) should I use?

JB_B · 8 Aug 2017

Ayman Ilham said:
...Which site(s) should I use?

I'd recommend loco2...

https://loco2.com/

Polarbear · 8 Aug 2017

Ayman Ilham said:
Not gonna work considering I have to get a train from Manchester first

If you bought an Inter Rail global pass, the cost also covers one journey within your home country, with no time restrictions.

That would allow you to use a peak hour train from Manchester to London to get to the earlier Eurostar services. I appreciate that there may be other reasons why you'd not want to set out at silly o'cock though!

If you wanted to take a bit longer & book separate tickets, you could try to buy a DB London Special ticket (or whatever they're called these days. These are available from the DB website & should get you as far as Passau on the Austrian border. The OBB website will sell you a ticket for the rest of the journey to Vienna.

Shaw S Hunter · 8 Aug 2017

Ayman Ilham said:
Okay, so I might be planning to go to Vienna with my family (mum, dad, myself and 13 year old sister) sometime - I have relatives there so accommodation is not needed over there, just on the way depending on which option to use. I thought of the following options and I would like your recommendations on which one would be the best and preferably cheapest idea to get there considering I live in Manchester:
- Cheap RYR/EZY flight to a city in Germany followed by advanced train tickets
- Advanced train tickets from Manchester Piccadilly with either of these routes:
-- Virgin to London, Eurostar to Brussels, Thalys to Cologne, ICE rest of way
-- TPE to Hull, Ferry to Rotterdam, NS to Amsterdam, ICE rest of way
- Interrail global pass for the above routes instead (5 day in 15 option)

PS: I'm 20 by the way!
Update: Scrap direct flights cos that's boring!

One note of caution which you haven't mentioned: how keen are your family members to join you on the more extended journey options? The advantage of flying all the way is not having to worry about your larger baggage items between departure check-in/baggage-drop and arrival airport baggage reclaim. As opposed to handling your own luggage at the various places where you change trains, some of which will be in foreign countries with all the possible concerns about not understanding directions, etc. Of course all of these may be a non-issue but I hope you have at least considered them.

One option not so far mentioned is flying to Berlin. Easyjet and Ryanair both fly direct from Manchester (to Schoenefeld) while one-stop options are available (to Tegel) via Heathrow, Brussels, Amsterdam or Frankfurt with the "legacy" airlines. From Berlin there are regular services to Vienna which pass through Dresden and Prague: such a routeing opens up some interesting stop-off possibilities if you are so inclined.

Ayman Ilham · 8 Aug 2017

Polarbear said:
If you bought an Inter Rail global pass, the cost also covers one journey within your home country, with no time restrictions.

That would allow you to use a peak hour train from Manchester to London to get to the earlier Eurostar services. I appreciate that there may be other reasons why you'd not want to set out at silly o'cock though!

If you wanted to take a bit longer & book separate tickets, you could try to buy a DB London Special ticket (or whatever they're called these days. These are available from the DB website & should get you as far as Passau on the Austrian border. The OBB website will sell you a ticket for the rest of the journey to Vienna.

I know about using the Virgin trains Manchester to London w/ Interrail, the thing is the buses from my house to Piccadilly don't run that early, although I could take a taxi which would be better if I'm going with my family!

Ayman Ilham · 8 Aug 2017

Shaw S Hunter said:
One note of caution which you haven't mentioned: how keen are your family members to join you on the more extended journey options? The advantage of flying all the way is not having to worry about your larger baggage items between departure check-in/baggage-drop and arrival airport baggage reclaim. As opposed to handling your own luggage at the various places where you change trains, some of which will be in foreign countries with all the possible concerns about not understanding directions, etc. Of course all of these may be a non-issue but I hope you have at least considered them.

One option not so far mentioned is flying to Berlin. Easyjet and Ryanair both fly direct from Manchester (to Schoenefeld) while one-stop options are available (to Tegel) via Heathrow, Brussels, Amsterdam or Frankfurt with the "legacy" airlines. From Berlin there are regular services to Vienna which pass through Dresden and Prague: such a routeing opens up some interesting stop-off possibilities if you are so inclined.

Ever since I told my family about the idea, my dad has been very keen on this! As for my mum and sister, they'll only be okay with it if they find something reasonably priced (i.e. a lot lot less than £800)! I guess I could fly to Berlin or Amsterdam using RYR/EZY cos those are also cities I really wanna visit and then take trains to Vienna from there!

PS: If my family actually do take this idea forward, I'll tell my parents to minimize the luggage!

swt class 450 · 8 Aug 2017

Personally i would recommend taking the train.

One option is to first take a train from Manchester to London then stay overnight in London. The next day take a Eurostar from London to Brussels. Then the DB ICE from Brussels to Cologne Hauptbahnhof. Thalys also operates as well but the ICE trains are much nicer and can often be cheaper and don't require any seat reservations and tickets can be bought onboard from the Guard if necessary so its less hassle. Once in Cologne you have to take a frequent local train (they run every five minutes) one stop from Cologne Hauptbahnhof to Cologne Messe/Deutz (a short three minute journey) or alternatively you could walk it quite easily. Then take another DB ICE from Cologne Messe Deutz to Frankfurt. Then finally a DB ICE from Frankfurt to Vienna. The only problem with this option is that the Brussels to Cologne trains (both DB ICE and Thalys services) are rather infrequent so there is a lot of waiting around. This is an example of the services you could take The times will of course depend on what day of the week you travel. So check the timetables before travelling.

Eurostar
06:13 - London Kings Cross St Pancras
09:22 - Brussels South/Zuid/Midi

Deutsche Bahn (ICE)
10:25 - Brussels South/Zuid/Midi
12:15 - Koln (Cologne) Hauptbahnhof

Deutsche Bahn (S-Bahn / RB / RE / IRE)
---- - Koln (Cologne) Hauptbahnhof
---- - Koln (Cologne) Messe/Deutz

Deutsche Bahn (ICE)
14:44 - Koln (Cologne) Messe/Deutz
15:48 - Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof

Deutsche Bahn (ICE)
16:21 - Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof
23:09 - Wien (Vienna) Hauptbahnhof

Or there is this way which might be more convenient (it has a later start time so you don't have to wake up so early). The connections are also better so they don't require so much waiting around (except in Paris where the Eurostar connection isn't very good and requires a lot of waiting around). For this option you can take a train from Manchester to London then stay overnight. The next day take the Eurostar from London to Paris Nord then a short five minute walk to Paris Est to get a SNCF TGV to Stuttgart. Then take a DB EC train from Stuttgart to Salzburg followed by a OBB RJ train from Salzburg to Vienna. Again here is another example of the services you could take. The times will of course depend on the day so check these before travelling as well.

Eurostar
09:24 - London Kings Cross St Pancras
12:47 - Paris Nord

SNCF (TGV)
13:55 - Paris Est
17:23 - Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof

Deutsche Bahn (EC)
17:58 - Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof
22:08 - Salzburg Hauptbahnhof

OBB (RJ)
22:25 - Salzburg Hauptbahnhof
00:51 - Wien (Vienna) Hauptbahnhof

There are also other ways using entirely local regional trains which are very cheap but this will take a lot longer (probably about two days).

I am not entirely sure of the prices. I have done Calais to Vienna before and bought all my tickets on the day (either at the ticket offices or from the Guard) but if you choose to buy in advance it might be cheaper (but less convenient as it restricts you to certain trains).

The train is certainly a nice option. Whatever route you take will have nice scenery so you will probably see a lot more than you would on an airplane.

rmt4ever · 8 Aug 2017

swt class 450 said:
Personally i would recommend taking the train.

One option is to first take a train from Manchester to London then stay overnight in London. The next day take a Eurostar from London to Brussels. Then the DB ICE from Brussels to Cologne Hauptbahnhof. Thalys also operates as well but the ICE trains are much nicer and can often be cheaper and don't require any seat reservations and tickets can be bought onboard from the Guard if necessary so its less hassle. Once in Cologne you have to take a frequent local train (they run every five minutes) one stop from Cologne Hauptbahnhof to Cologne Messe/Deutz (a short three minute journey) or alternatively you could walk it quite easily. Then take another DB ICE from Cologne Messe Deutz to Frankfurt. Then finally a DB ICE from Frankfurt to Vienna. The only problem with this option is that the Brussels to Cologne trains (both DB ICE and Thalys services) are rather infrequent so there is a lot of waiting around. This is an example of the services you could take The times will of course depend on what day of the week you travel. So check the timetables before travelling.

Eurostar
06:13 - London Kings Cross St Pancras
09:22 - Brussels South/Zuid/Midi

Deutsche Bahn (ICE)
10:25 - Brussels South/Zuid/Midi
12:15 - Koln (Cologne) Hauptbahnhof

Deutsche Bahn (S-Bahn / RB / RE / IRE)
---- - Koln (Cologne) Hauptbahnhof
---- - Koln (Cologne) Messe/Deutz

Deutsche Bahn (ICE)
14:44 - Koln (Cologne) Messe/Deutz
15:48 - Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof

Deutsche Bahn (ICE)
16:21 - Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof
23:09 - Wien (Vienna) Hauptbahnhof

Or there is this way which might be more convenient (it has a later start time so you don't have to wake up so early). The connections are also better so they don't require so much waiting around (except in Paris where the Eurostar connection isn't very good and requires a lot of waiting around). For this option you can take a train from Manchester to London then stay overnight. The next day take the Eurostar from London to Paris Nord then a short five minute walk to Paris Est to get a SNCF TGV to Stuttgart. Then take a DB EC train from Stuttgart to Salzburg followed by a OBB RJ train from Salzburg to Vienna. Again here is another example of the services you could take. The times will of course depend on the day so check these before travelling as well.

Eurostar
09:24 - London Kings Cross St Pancras
12:47 - Paris Nord

SNCF (TGV)
13:55 - Paris Est
17:23 - Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof

Deutsche Bahn (EC)
17:58 - Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof
22:08 - Salzburg Hauptbahnhof

OBB (RJ)
22:25 - Salzburg Hauptbahnhof
00:51 - Wien (Vienna) Hauptbahnhof

There are also other ways using entirely local regional trains which are very cheap but this will take a lot longer (probably about two days).

I am not entirely sure of the prices. I have done Calais to Vienna before and bought all my tickets on the day (either at the ticket offices or from the Guard) but if you choose to buy in advance it might be cheaper (but less convenient as it restricts you to certain trains).

The train is certainly a nice option. Whatever route you take will have nice scenery so you will probably see a lot more than you would on an airplane.

What a load of faff to avoid a short few hours flight!! Do people not value their time at all these days

317666 · 8 Aug 2017

hungry said:
What a load of faff to avoid a short few hours flight!! Do people not value their time at all these days

Do people not value life's simple pleasures such as a long train journey these days?

317666 · 8 Aug 2017

swt class 450 said:
Deutsche Bahn (ICE)
10:25 - Brussels South/Zuid/Midi
12:15 - Koln (Cologne) Hauptbahnhof

Deutsche Bahn (S-Bahn / RB / RE / IRE)
---- - Koln (Cologne) Hauptbahnhof
---- - Koln (Cologne) Messe/Deutz

Deutsche Bahn (ICE)
14:44 - Koln (Cologne) Messe/Deutz
15:48 - Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof

Not quite sure why this is necessary, seeing as the ICEs from Brussels go straight through to Frankfurt after serving Cologne? Although Cologne is well worth stopping off in if you have the time!

duesselmartin · 8 Aug 2017

hungry said:
What a load of faff to avoid a short few hours flight!! Do people not value their time at all these days

It is better to travel than to arrive. For me the journey is part of the holiday and train travel is the most relaxing. I would even prefer a coach to a plane.

Best way to get from Manchester to Vienna

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