Traveling from Vienna to Mainz

My husband and I will be in Vienna next year in September and want to visit friends in Mainz. I hate driving in Europe and want to go either by train or if possible by riverboat. I know the trains have gotten very expensive in Europe but does anyone know of cheaper train fares and how you get them. Also we would fly if there is a way to go that is not too expensive. I would love to go by river boat but I wonder if there is such a thing that does not include tours, etc but just goes from Vienna to Mainz as a means of transportation. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Ann

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You have several options for travel to Mainz.

Have you looked at discount airlines such as Ryanair.

They fly from Bratislava ( 1 hour east of Vienna )to Frankfurt- Hahn. offer low fares

Trains too often offer deep discounts- example you can now take the train from Vienna to Berlin for 29 euros with some restrictions.

www.oebb.at - for more information

Some cruise lines do run not just to Mainz but along the Danube then Rhein - Main canal past Mainz - this would not be a cheap trip as I assume that no one would offer a discount for you leaving the ship before the end of the trip.

No other ships but organized tours are available to my knowledge.

The time to look for the cruise is now - Perhaps Viking Line , W T cruises, etc. or similar look at their web sites

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I don%26#39;t know if there%26#39;s a direct cruise ship (definately no riverboat), but if there is one, it would take at least one week from Vienna to Mainz as the ship will stop anywhere.

I think the better alternative is the train! There are some direct trains via Nuremberg (at 8:30 12:30 and 14:30) and one which requires one change at Nuremberg (which is easy to do) at 10:30 from Wien Westbahnhof.

You could also go during night, which takes longer but there%26#39;s a very comfortable CNL (City Night Line)-train, which also has rooms with private bathroom, but mind that you will arrive quite early (6:32).

Have a look at www.oebb.at, chose %26quot;Language --%26gt; English%26quot; on top of the page. For fares for international trains, just send them an e-mail and they will answer within or or two days.

For the CNL-night-train, have a look at www.citynightline.de (poorly they don%26#39;t have an english version, only for purchasing tickets). For fares and tickets, klick %26quot;Tickets kaufen%26quot; and %26quot;English%26quot; ... but night trains are relatively expensive and take longer!

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Thanks for all your information. I have always found the trains so expensive but I will check them out. Is it that they run specials from time to time and that makes the difference? I agree the river boat will probably be too expensive but fun. Any more suggestions? Ann

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For flights have a look at

http://www.airberlin.com

But up to now they haven%26#39;t published schedules for September 2006.

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Thanks for that tip. We will look at AirBerlin. We will also want to go to Prague from Vienna. I guess the train is again the way to go.

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I have checked the train webpage but because of the floods in Austria, I can%26#39;t really get much information but I have a question for anyone in Austria. I notice there are very inexpensive Senior tickets available but I was just wanting to know if they are for all seniors or just for Austrian citizens. If anyone knows , please let me know. I found the website hard to operate and still can%26#39;t get an idea of what the reduced fares from Vienna to Mainz or Frankfurt would be. If anyone is better at it than I am and has the time, could you check out the cheapest day fares for me and let me know about how much to expect them to be either one way or if cheaper, round trip. Thanks so much. Ann

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May I know how old you are? There is reduction available for passengers up to 26 years and older than 60 (female) and 65 (male)...

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magmagrill, I do not know whether Austrian Railways will accept seniors from other countries for cheaper prices. But look at www.db.de, german railways, they always ask your age. In case, think about buying a ticket just up to the frontier and buy your german ticket from austrian frontier up to Mainz per Internet. Good luck!

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Thanks for all your help, everyone. I just found out from friends in Vienna that the senior fare is only for Austrian citizens. I thought that might be the case. I am afraid I cant seem to find other fare although I did see that there were cheaper fares to Frankfurt airport which wouldn%26#39;t be bad. If anyone finds a fare on the train during the day from Vienna to Mainz, please let me know what it is. Thanks. Ann

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The %26quot;VorteilsCard Senior%26quot; is for ALL* persons older than 60 (female) or 65 (male). For buying it, you just need a passport or valid ID and a photo. It costs € 26,90 a year and allows you -45% for tickets inside Austria bought at a ticket counter or from the conductor, -50% for tickets inside Austria bought at a self-service machine, via SMS, WAP (mobile phones) or on the internet. For travelling from Austria to abroad, you will get a discount of -25%. Both reductions apply in 1st and 2nd class. There are also reductions on regional busses allover Austria.

So Vienna - Mainz will be -45% from Vienna to Passau (border) and -25% for Passau-Mainz. If you do a round trip, know which trains you will use and buy enough time in advance (at least 3 days, and only if enough cheap-fare-seats are available) and you stay over the weenend (night Sat/Sun) you will get another 25% reduction.

If you go between 24.09.2005 and 27.09.2005, between Sat midnight and Sun noon, you can buy a %26quot;Senioren Wochenende-Ticket) for only € 7,00 which allows you to travel on all trains inside Austria, 2nd class.

*there can not be a reduction only for nationals, as this would be against the laws of the European Union.

Hope that was not too much information :-)