Prague - Vienna: how to get there on your own by bus, train and car

Prague and Vienna are so close that combining them in one trip is a rather obvious decision. There are only 300 km between the two capitals of neighboring countries. The cheapest way to get there is by bus, the fastest way is by plane, the most convenient way is by car, and the most scenic trip is by train.

Contents

Bus Prague - Vienna
Train Prague - Vienna
How to find a bargain ticket?
Rent a car in Prague

Don’t miss out on the useful stuff:

Bus Prague — Vienna

Several carriers operate on the Prague-Vienna route: international Flixbus, Czech Regio Jet and Bulgarian ArdaTur. Each company has buses with toilets, wi-fi, power outlets and air conditioning.

Travel time varies from flight to flight: 4—5 hours.
Tickets: promotions start from 10 € average price 15—19 €.

Tickets can be selected and purchased on the website of the bus company or on the aggregators Busfor and Autobus. Travel or directly on the carriers' websites.

You can go to Vienna from Prague from the central bus station or from the airport.

The bus station is located on Křížíková Street and is open from 5:00 to 24:00. The station’s website has a schedule of buses to the Austrian capital.
The Regiojet bus stop at Prague Airport is visible when exiting both terminals: it is located on Aviatika Street under the overpass and is signed with the company logo.

Stations in Vienna from which buses to Prague depart: airport, bus and train station, Stadion center bus station in the city center and Simmering district train station in the southern part of the city.

Train Prague — Vienna

In Prague, the train station is located almost in the center of the city, near Wenceslas Square. There are 16—17 trains a day between Prague and Vienna. You can buy a ticket in advance or before departure.

Fare: from 19 €
Frequency: every 2—3 hours.
Travel time: 4 hours.
Mode of operation: from 4:48 to 00:30 hours.
Schedule

Transportation between the capital of the Czech Republic and the capital of Austria is well established: the road from one city to the other will take about 4 hours on average, a one-way ticket costs up to 20 €.

How to find a bargain ticket?

I prefer to first look for options on aggregator sites, such as Omio or Trainline: they tell me how to get there (by bus and/or train), how many carriers travel the route, how long the trip takes on average, and the order of prices. I check the options on both aggregators — the set of carriers they have differs. For example, Trainline is the only aggregator that shows Flixbus with their most favorable tickets. The plus side of aggregators is that you can find tickets from smaller regional companies that tourists usually don’t know about.

Then I check prices on the websites of specialized ticket agencies (for buses I use Busfor and Autobus. Travel) and the websites of the carriers themselves. If the price is the same, I buy on an aggregator: I prefer to buy tickets in Russian.

Rent a car in Prague

It is more profitable to rent a car in Prague: the prices will be slightly lower, in the range of 25—30 € per day.

I have seen the lowest rates at Rentalcars, Economybookings and AutoEurope.