We will be in Budapest in October and want to go to Vienna for a few days. We were seriously considering taking the bus (Volanbusz) because its so cheap and seems to take the same amount of time as the train, but after looking around a little bit I am worried that it would be not fun to take the bus. My questions are:
1. Is there THAT much of a difference between comfort level/cleanliness between the bus and the train?
2. Is it worth it to save some money and take the bus or is it really better to pay a little extra for the train.
My thought was that I have taken the train before in Europe, from Paris to Madrid over night, and I couldnt imagine that a bus would be that much different, but thought I would see if anyone had actually done it and what their thoughts were.
Thanks!
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On a train you can easily walk around, sometimes a restaurant car is added. Additionally I suppose that the train runs more often between Vienna and Budapest than the coach does.
It depends on the amount saved!
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Don´t forget that Hungary is still not part of the Schengen-cooperation area, whixch means there are still intensive border- controls on the road between Hungary and Austria, which can easily cause traffic jams of an hour and longer on the road, which effect the bus. On the train, these controls are conducted while the train is driving on, so no risk there !
Regarding the quality, I wouldn´t bother, because of the cooperation between both the Austrian and Hungarian railway organisations and the Austrian and Hungarian bus-companies, you can never know in which Compartment you will sit anyway. In the best case, you might end up with a hypermodern Eurolines-bus for a cheap fare, or in the worst case pay more and then end up sitting in a wrecked old commuter train ...
Greetings, Fritz
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The standard fare for the train (one way, not bound to a train) is € 33,60. There is also the SparSchiene offer (limited offer, only valid on the booked train) at € 19.
Here%26#39;s information on the Sparschiene offer:
oebb.at/vip8/…index.jsp
Booking thru the CallCenter only. Standard fares can be bought whenever you want, also just 5 mins. prior to departure.
There are 9 trains to Budapest daily.
As these are fast, international trains, you won%26#39;t find too old coaches, all will have a/c. Except of the night trains, all trains have a restaurant coach.
As Fritz says, one can never say which coaches will be used... but most of them are austrian, some hungarian. IC 345, dep. at 9:25 has, as far as I know, a mixture of austrian and jugoslavian coaches, but these are also quite modern.
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Hi, I have not taken the bus to Vienna..but bus travel is generally good..
If the difference in price is considerable I would advise the bus no doubt...
I have taken the train which is fine..A good buffet / bar...The food for me was`fine since I am English and they had ham and eggs !!!
The views`are frankly boring so a good book or companion is a plus..
Mark.
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