How To Get From Vienna To Bratislava

Paul and I had decided to do a day trip from Vienna to Bratislava. Yet, not knowing anything about the transport options or how long it would take… I decided to do some in-depth research.

So, in this blog post I’ll go through different options for travel from Vienna to Bratislava. Plus, I’ll run through our choice and how we went about it.

And a word of caution… this was my research so if you want to be 100% sure about the options, please check further.

Car

If you want door to door service with a private car, this may be the most expensive option. Yet, this depends on how many people are going on the trip.

So for example… a one-way private car with a pick up from Vienna city to Bratislava city, can cost about 70 Euro. And this is the price per 4 seater car, not per person.

So, if you’re traveling in a group this maybe a good option for you. There are plenty of private car companies and taxi groups that will do this journey… such as Vienna-Bratislava Taxi.

And you could try negotiating a return trip price, as you never know unless you ask!

Ferry

At the time of writing this… there was only 1 company that was offering a ferry Vienna Bratislava service. And this company was the Twin City Liner.

So the tickets for one adult started from 35 Euro each. And the journey for travel from Vienna to Bratislava… would take about 1 hour 15 minutes.

The times vary across the seasons, for example there are more journeys in Summer. So, if a scenic ferry ride along the Danube is your preferred way to Bratislava… best to check first.

Bus

Taking the bus from Vienna to Bratislava appeared to be the cheapest option. And with fares starting from about 5 Euro per person, this may be the best option if you’re on a budget.

The travel time from Vienna Hauptbahnhof Central Station to Bratislava… is about 1 hour 20 minutes. There are different stations where the bus would stop in Bratislava.

And there are different companies that we could’ve used… including OBB and Slovak Lines. Yet, on buses as its using the road with other traffic… the journey time could take longer.

So, on this occasion we decided not to take the bus… as we didn’t want the risk of a 1 hour 20 minute journey turning into a 3 hour trip!

Train

This is the option we decided to take. So the train travel from Vienna to Bratislava was with OBB.

I did some research on their site regarding pricing and the train timetables. You can go to their website by clicking HERE.

There are 2 stations in Bratislava where trains can stop:

Hlavna Stanica – this is the main station in Bratislava
Bratislava-Petrzalka

So as we were going to do a lot of walking, we decided to look for trains that stopped at Hlavna Stanica. Because from here, it’d only take about 10-15 minutes walk to get to the nearest sightseeing spots for us.

And just so you know, there are buses that can take you into the city leaving from both stations.

Ticket Tip:

So, a one-way adult ticket for one person started from 10.80 Euro. Yet, as I was doing more research, I found a ticket called… Bratislava-Ticket. This is also known as the Euregio Slovakia.

So with this ticket… for one person it would only cost 16 Euro from Vienna to Bratislava and back.

Buying Our Tickets

Yet, as I was going to book the tickets online… it looked like I had to choose a particular time to depart, and return. But we wanted an open ticket so that we could come back anytime we wanted.

Then we decided to buy the tickets on the day, and if the train was full… there were lots of other places to visit anyway!

So, on the day of our trip, we arrived at the main station Wien Hauptbahnhof…

To get tickets we went into the massive ticket area…

Then, we had to get a ticket at the machine and wait to be served. And while we were waiting, we kept an eye on the screens to see when we were up…

The gentleman who served us was helpful, and said that the tickets were open. So we could leave and return any time we wanted based on the train schedule. Then, he gave us a brochure as well, which outlined the train times.

There are massive boards in the station, so we could check which platform the train was leaving from…

Plus, if you’re feeling peckish… there’s lots of places to eat or drink…

We’d suggest you get to the platform at least 10 minutes earlier than the departure time… because then you have a better choice of seats.

On The Train From Vienna To Bratislava

What we noticed on the train when we got on, was that it was warm and stuffy. And it wasn’t just us either… as other people were opening the windows to let some air through.

Yet, the train itself is fine, and the ride is smooth. We didn’t use the toilets, but we overheard a couple say that they were fine!

So while the journey was direct to Bratislava without any changes. Yet, it did make a some stops along the way…

And the stops from Vienna in order were:

Wien Simmering
Wien Stadlau
Aspern Nord
Siebenbrunn-Leopoldsdorf
Marchegg (we stopped here for several minutes)
Devinska Nova Ves
Bratislava (Hlavna Stanica)

So, a ticket inspector came through to check the tickets on our way out… but not on our return trip.

Yet, in the end, the train travel from Vienna to Bratislava was quick. But it was a bit warm without air-conditioning, especially on the return trip.

Plus, the Bratislava-Ticket could be used on the public transport in Bratislava. But, that’s not the same in Vienna. So best to check with OBB to make sure, based on where you want to leave from in Vienna.

So in just over an hour or so, we were in Bratislava Slovakia. WOO HOO, excitement plus we were in a new country!

So if you haven’t been to Bratislava, we recommend you take a day trip out there. As it has some beautiful buildings, delicious food and drinks! Plus, in the main town area it’s very quaint and pretty.

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