Vienna to Salzburg by train - prices?!

Hi guys

Thinking about doing a day trip to Salzburg when we are in Vienna if we leave nice and early and go back late. However I'm wondering about train tickets - I went on the Austrian rail website (OEBB) and it seems to quote 47.50 Euros per person. Does this sounds about right? Is it cheaper to buy a ticket at the station on the day/are there any cheaper options? It's more than we would like to pay but we would love to go. I was just surprised at the price when I've seen that you can get the train to Bratislava for about 15 Euros.

Would Bratislava be a good alternative day trip in other people's opinion? I've read some pretty scathing stuff online from other people who went and said it was a disappointment.

Vienna to Salzburg is about 4 times as far than Vienna to Bratislva, that's the simple reason for the higher price for this connection. There are discount tickets (Einfach-Raus ticket), but this limits you to low speed trains.

And in my opinion it does not make any sense to do a one-day side trip to Salzburg because you will spend at least 5 1/2 hours in trains (if you take the fastest ones) and you will need some time to go to and from the train stations, so you won't have really a lot of time there.

Bratislava is a better option, you are there much faster and one day is enought there (it's a very nice city - but the nice center is small). You could as well think to take the boat instead of the train, which is more expensive but gives you the nice option to combine your day visit with a nice boat trip.

http://www.twincityliner.com/

Hello!
There is a special offer from the ÖBB called "Sparschiene": http://www.oebb.at/en/Travelling_in_Austria/SparSchiene_Austria/index.jsp
The number of tickets are limited and you have to book online. Please have a look - you can go to Salzburg from Vienna for as little as about 19,- Euro
Another possibility is to use the privat train company Westbahn: https://westbahn.at/
The single ticket costs you abour 24 € and you can buy the ticket in the train
Best regards
Isabella_W

Thanks both! We might go for Bratislava just for the opportunity to visit Slovakia - I think Salzburg might warrant a city break all of its own sometime!!

Edited by: pip_pop