Train (other means of transportation?) from Venice to Budapest

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Hi There,

From the research I have done, it looks as if the best way to get from Venice (Italy) to Budapest is by the night train which goes via Vienna.   Can you tell me if I would need to change trains in Vienna or is it the same train?

I've looked for flight options, but there doesn't seem to be any direct flights and they all seem to take a long time.  If you know of a direct flight, could you advise please.

We will be travelling in May 2013.

Your advice will be appreciated.

Sheila

Can you tell me if I would need to change trains in Vienna or is it the same train?

You will need to change trains, since both direct overnight trains (one from Rome via Venezia-Mestre and other from Venezia St.Lucia) terminate at Vienna and there is no through carriage to Budapest. Though change isn't very complicated, it will be the same station, so no need to go anywhere in Vienna (unless you want to stop for sightseeing)

From the research I have done, it looks as if the best way to get from Venice (Italy) to Budapest is by the night train which goes via Vienna.

If we speak about "by land" option, then yes, most passenger will prefer such option, since it's rather easy. However you can also travel via Slovenia-Croatia, especially if you have time. Ljubljana or Zagreb aren't Vienna, but still rather nice destinations to visit

I've looked for flight options, but there doesn't seem to be any direct flights and they all seem to take a long time.  If you know of a direct flight, could you advise please.

Well, there is a direct RyanAir (famous low-cost airline company) flights few times a week from Venice-Treviso airport. If you book the flight app.2-3 month in advance, you can get a really good deal (like <10 euro), which much cheaper than any (even discounted) train ticket fare.
Plus there is a small trick on how to travel from Venice to Budapest cheaply and fast any day. There are plenty of direct flights to Budapest from neighboring airports, like from Milan-Malpensa, Bologna, (Milan)-Bergamo. So you can simply take a short train ride from Venice to Bologna/Bergamo/Milan and catch cheap low-cost flight by RyanAir or WizzAir from there

Thanks so much for your advice.

Sheila

Hi, thanks for this post and info - I am also hoping to do a similar route at the end a week long trip ending in Budapest.  We are starting from London on 19 August to Geneva, staying over in Geneva and zermatt for two days then on to Venice for three days (via Milan) and need to get to Budapest for Sunday 25th August to meet family.  I intended to take the train to Budapest from Venice and maybe stopover in Vienna for one night but after researching how long the journey will take may look at flying.  I then thought the sleeper train may be an option but we are a party of 5 - travelling with my parents and two sons and haven't been able to find info on a couchette for 5 and wonder how comfortable it will be.  Also looking for advice on prices as haven't been able to get prices of tickets as its so far in advance to try and work out whether inter rail pass will be more cost effective.
Grateful for any advice, thanks, g

I intended to take the train to Budapest from Venice and maybe stopover in Vienna for one night but after researching how long the journey will take may look at flying.

Well, if you do decide to fly, just remember that most of the low-cost airlines (including WizzAir & RyanAir) have rather tricky pricing systems. It might sound a bit illogical, but sometimes buying your flight ticket too early is almost as expensive as buying it too late. From our experience, too early is usually >3 month in advance, while to late is <1 month in advance. It's not a universal rule or anything, but just from our experience cheapest tickets for low-cost flights usually available during period <3 month & >1 month   

I then thought the sleeper train may be an option but we are a party of 5 - travelling with my parents and two sons and haven't been able to find info on a couchette for 5 and wonder how comfortable it will be.

Direct overnight train from Venice to Vienna has couchette compartment for 4 & 6 passengers (prices start from 59 & 49 euro per passenger) and sleepers (triple, double & single, from 69, 89 & 129 euro respectively). So you basically have a choice - buy 6 berth compartment (maybe even all 6 berth, so it would be all to your family) or purchase a combination (like 3 berth in 3 bed sleeper compartment & two in double sleeper). 6 berth couchette compartment are OK in this case, will look something like this

Also looking for advice on prices as haven't been able to get prices of tickets as its so far in advance to try and work out whether inter rail pass will be more cost effective.

That's a usual question regarding pass vs. point-to-point tickets. We here a bit bias here on europetrainsguide.com, since in most cases would advise to go with point-to-point tickets (mainly because in 90% of cases it's simply cheaper). But in order to give you are rough estimate let's count:
London-Paris-Geneva: tickets for EuroStar train London-Paris can be bought for as low as 39 GBP (or 48 EUR), while for high-speed TGV train from Paris to Geneva from 25 EUR. Obviously both tickets are discounted & require purchase far in advance
Geneva-Zermatt: again best case scenario is discounted SuperSaver tickets from 37,2 CHF (or 30 euro)
Zermatt-Brig-Milan: Zermatt to Brig with SBB SuperSaver tickets is 14,8 CHF & another 23 CHF for discounted international ticket Brig-Milan
Milan-Venice: here again bought in advance discounted ticket (offer 'Super Economy'), price can be as low as 9 euro per passenger
Venice-Vienna: as we already mentioned above, couchettes can be bought from 49 euro, sleepers from 69 euro, seats from 29 euro)
Vienna-Budapest: discounted international tickets start from 19 euro per person
As result, if to sum up everything it will be roughly 200 euro (with 6 berth couchette on Venice-Vienna leg) with point-to-point tickets for the whole trip London-Paris-Geneva-Zermatt-Milan-Venice-Vienna-Budapest. Obviously price can be cut down even more, but then it will require certain changes, like going to Budapest not by overnight option or not via Austria (but via Slovenia) etc.