Budapest to Vienna: Train vs Bus vs Boat vs Car
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Nearly every hour, from half past five in the morning to half past eight at night, a train leaves Budapest-Keleti for Wien Hauptbahnhof, and it gets there in under three hours without a single change. Budapest to Vienna is the easiest capital-to-capital hop in Central Europe, so the real question is not how, but which version of easy suits your trip.
This guide compares the train, the bus, the boat that is not running and the car, with current fares, the track works in Budapest until 12 December 2026, and how to fit Vienna into a day. Planning both cities, or all three with Bratislava? Our Budapest vs Vienna comparison helps you split the days, and the Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest itinerary covers the three-city route.
📋 At a Glance
| Time | From | How often | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🚆 Train | About 2 h 50 min from Keleti, 2 h 25 min from Kelenföld | 13 euros (about $14.50), MÁV START Europa | Hourly, 05:30 to 20:30 | Almost everyone, and day trips |
| 🚌 Bus (FlixBus) | From 2 h 50 min | 13.48 euros (about $15) | 30 trips a day listed | Late or odd departure times, Népliget or Erdberg |
| 🚗 Car | About 2 h 40 min without traffic, about 245 km | Fuel plus two vignettes | Whenever you like | Groups, and road trips beyond Vienna |
| ⛴️ Boat | No scheduled service in 2026 | Not an option this year | ||
| ✈️ Plane | No sensible option |
Which One to Pick
Take the train unless you have a reason not to. It leaves from the middle of Pest, it runs every hour, and it drops you at Wien Hauptbahnhof, which sits on the U1 metro line, a few stops from Stephansplatz. Most departures are ÖBB Railjets or EuroCity trains, and MÁV says most of them carry a dining car. Book early and it is also the cheapest option, from 13 euros.
Take the bus when it is cheaper on your date or when its timing suits you better. FlixBus lists 30 trips a day, including stops the train does not serve, such as Népliget in Budapest and the Erdberg bus terminal in Vienna. At 2 hours 50 minutes at best, it matches the train, but it shares the motorway with everyone else.
Drive only if you are three or four people splitting the cost, or Vienna is one stop on a longer road trip. The motorway is straightforward, but parking in central Vienna is the part that eats the time you saved.
Forget the boat and the plane. No scheduled boat sails between Budapest and Vienna in 2026, and flying a distance this short means more time in airports than the train takes door to door.
By Train: Times, Fares and the Track Works
The route. Direct trains run from Budapest-Keleti via Budapest-Kelenföld and Győr to Hegyeshalom on the border, then on to Wien Hauptbahnhof, and some continue to Wien Meidling or further west. They do not stop in Bratislava. Keleti is on the M2 and M4 metro lines; Kelenföld, on the Buda side, is on the M4. If you are staying in Buda, boarding at Kelenföld saves about 25 minutes.
Times. The ÖBB timetable up to 12 December 2026 shows the direct trains leaving Keleti at half past every hour from 05:30 to 20:30, except in the afternoon, when the 14:30 is replaced by a 14:10 (arriving 17:20). Most trains reach Wien Hbf 2 hours 47 to 2 hours 50 minutes later. From Kelenföld, the same trains leave at 10 or 5 minutes to the hour. In the other direction, the last direct train leaves Wien Hbf at 21:40 and reaches Keleti at 00:29. ÖBB marks its timetable from 13 December as provisional, and its current data moves the evening trains back to 19:42, 20:42 and 21:42, so check your date.
The track works in Budapest. Until 12 December 2026, MÁV is rebuilding the Southern Circular Railway between Kelenföld and Keleti, and trains on line 1, the Budapest to Hegyeshalom line, run to a modified timetable. The international trains to Vienna, Munich, Stuttgart and Zürich still run the whole route from Keleti, just to the changed times above. MÁV says more closures are expected on the affected lines, so check its track works page before you travel. On the Austrian side, the ÖBB timetable shows no replacement buses on this route for November and December.
Fares. The cheapest tickets are tied to one train, so you lose them if you miss it.
- MÁV START Europa: from 13 euros (about $14.50) in second class, non-refundable. START Europa Plus, refundable until the day before travel, starts at 41 euros (about $46). Both are sold in limited numbers. Children aged 6 to 15 pay 5 euros (about $5.60) each, up to three per adult on a START Europa ticket. When they sell out, MÁV’s flexible Europa Flex tickets take over.
- Paying in forints. MÁV charges international tickets bought online or in its app in forints, at its own exchange rate: 370 HUF to the euro on 29 October 2026. So the 13-euro fare comes to about 4,810 HUF (about $14.60). At MÁV’s international ticket offices and on board, you can pay in forints or euros.
- ÖBB Sparschiene: ÖBB’s own low fares on the same trains, bookable up to six months ahead, limited per train, valid only on the train you choose, with no cancellation or refund. The Sparschiene Komfort version includes a seat reservation and can be refunded free of charge up to 15 days before travel.
Seat reservation. Not compulsory. ÖBB recommends one on busy days, when demand can exceed the seats, and sells it from 3 euros (about $3.30), from 1.50 euros with some ÖBB discount cards.
Vienna transport on arrival. Wien Hbf is on the U1 and on tram and bus lines into the center. Vienna raised its fares in January 2026; our Budapest vs Vienna comparison lists the current single and 24-hour ticket prices.
Passport. Austria has notified temporary controls on its land border with Hungary from 16 September 2026 to 15 March 2027, so a check on the train is possible. Keep your passport, or national ID card if you are an EU citizen, on you rather than in the luggage rack.
Sources: MÁV-START track works page and the line 1 track works timetable (PDF), valid to 12 December 2026; MÁV-START Austria page for START Europa fares, children’s fares, the payment rule and the exchange rate; ÖBB timetable (Scotty) for 18 and 21 November 2026, and 16 December 2026 (provisional); ÖBB Budapest connection page, Sparschiene page and seat reservation page; European Commission, temporary reintroduction of border control; all read on 29 October 2026.
One more train. RegioJet, the Czech operator, also runs its own Prague to Budapest line via Brno and Vienna. In the ÖBB timetable for 18 November 2026 its first train leaves Keleti at 07:15 and reaches Wien Hbf at 10:32 (later ones at 11:15 and 14:15), so it is slower than the hourly trains, and RegioJet sells it on its own site.
Sources: RegioJet rail pass lines page; ÖBB timetable (Scotty); both read on 29 October 2026.
For trains inside Hungary, see our guide to traveling Hungary by train.
By Bus
FlixBus sells Budapest to Vienna from 13.48 euros (about $15), with the fastest trips at 2 hours 50 minutes and 30 trips a day listed. One piece of hold luggage and one piece of hand luggage are included.
- Budapest stops: Népliget (Üllői út 131, on the M3), Kelenföld bus station (Etele tér), Mexikói út, Déli railway station (Krisztina körút), Keleti railway station (on Thököly út, north of the station building) and a stop at the MOL station in Törökbálint.
- Vienna stops: Erdberg (the Vienna International Busterminal, Erdbergstraße 200A), Hauptbahnhof (Südtiroler Platz), Westbahnhof (Felberstraße), Matzleinsdorfer Platz, Karlsplatz and Meidling station.
Not every trip calls at every stop, and FlixBus says the up-to-date address is the one on your ticket, so check it the day before.
Source: FlixBus Budapest to Vienna route page, read on 29 October 2026.
By Boat: Not in 2026
There is no scheduled boat from Budapest to Vienna this year. MAHART PassNave, the Hungarian operator, lists no Vienna service for 2026, and even its domestic hydrofoils were suspended from July to 31 October 2026 because of extremely low water on the Danube. If you want a stretch of the river on the way, the Twin City Liner sails between Vienna and Bratislava in season; our Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest itinerary has its timetable and fares.
River cruises are a different product. Multi-day cruise ships sail between Budapest and Vienna as part of longer Danube itineraries, with the nights spent on board. They are a holiday in their own right, priced and booked as one, not a way to get from one city to the other. For an hour on the water in Budapest itself, see our Danube river cruise guide.
Source: MAHART PassNave service notices and site navigation, read on 29 October 2026.
By Car
It is about 245 km from central Budapest to central Vienna, almost all of it on motorway: the M1 west past Tatabánya and Győr to the border at Hegyeshalom, then the Austrian A4 to Vienna. Allow about 2 hours 40 minutes without traffic.
- Two vignettes. The M1 is a toll motorway, so you need a Hungarian e-matrica (e-vignette), bought online at nemzetiutdij.hu before you drive onto it. Austrian motorways need their own vignette, sold by ASFINAG, the Austrian motorway company, as a digital vignette at asfinag.at. Check the date it becomes valid when you buy it.
- Rental cars. Check that your rental agreement allows the car into Austria before you book. Our car rental guide covers the rest.
- Parking in Vienna. Parking in central Vienna costs money and time. If Vienna is your only stop, the train is less work.
The distance and driving time are our own, calculated from OpenStreetMap data between Deák Ferenc tér and Stephansplatz on 29 October 2026.
By Plane
Skip it. On a trip this short, airport transfers and check-in take longer than the whole train ride.
Vienna as a Day Trip from Budapest
It works, as long as you start early. The cheapest tickets are tied to one train, so pick a return train you can make without running.
| Time | What |
|---|---|
| 06:30 | Leave Budapest-Keleti (or 06:50 from Kelenföld) |
| 09:18 | Arrive at Wien Hauptbahnhof, U1 into the center |
| 09:30 to 19:15 | Almost ten hours in the city: the Ringstrasse and the old center, one palace or one museum, a coffee house |
| 19:42 | Leave Wien Hbf |
| 22:35 | Arrive at Budapest-Keleti |
Earlier and later. The first train leaves Keleti at 05:30 and arrives at 08:20. Going back, there are direct trains at 20:37 (arriving 23:35) and 21:40 (arriving 00:29), which is late but gives you dinner in Vienna. If you come back on the 20:37 or the 21:40, check the last metro on the BKK journey planner and be ready for a taxi or the night bus; our Budapest taxi guide explains the fares.
One day is enough for a first look, not for Vienna. If you can, stay a night: our Budapest vs Vienna comparison lays out what each city does best.
Source: ÖBB timetable (Scotty) for 18 November 2026, and MÁV-START line 1 track works timetable (PDF) for the Kelenföld times; both read on 29 October 2026.
The Verdict
The hourly train is the answer for nearly everyone: under three hours, city center to city center, from 13 euros if you book ahead. Take the bus when it is cheaper on your date, drive only when Vienna is one stop of many, and save the river for a multi-day cruise.
Prices in euros are converted at the ECB reference rate of 1 euro = 1.1133 USD, and forint prices at 1 USD = 330 HUF (ECB, 28 October 2026). Fares change with demand and dates, so check the final price when you book.
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Good to know
How long is the train from Budapest to Vienna?
About 2 hours 50 minutes from Budapest-Keleti to Wien Hauptbahnhof on the direct Railjet and EuroCity trains, according to the ÖBB timetable up to 12 December 2026. From Budapest-Kelenföld on the Buda side, the same trains take about 2 hours 25 minutes.
How much is the train ticket from Budapest to Vienna?
MÁV's START Europa ticket starts at 13 euros in second class, and the refundable START Europa Plus at 41 euros. Both are sold in limited numbers. Bought online, MÁV charges international tickets in forints at its own rate, 370 HUF to the euro on 29 October 2026, so 13 euros comes to about 4,810 HUF. Children aged 6 to 15 travel for 5 euros each, up to three per adult on a START Europa ticket.
Do I need a seat reservation on the Budapest to Vienna train?
No, it is not compulsory, but ÖBB recommends one on busy days. A reservation costs from 3 euros and can be added in the ÖBB app or Ticketshop.
Can you do Vienna as a day trip from Budapest?
Yes. The first direct train leaves Keleti at 05:30 and arrives at Wien Hbf at 08:20; the 06:30 arrives at 09:18. Until 12 December, the last direct trains back leave Wien Hbf at 19:42, 20:37 and 21:40, reaching Keleti at 22:35, 23:35 and 00:29; check the times for later dates. Out on the 06:30 and back on the 19:42 gives you about ten hours in Vienna.
Is there a boat from Budapest to Vienna?
Not in 2026. MAHART PassNave, the Hungarian operator, lists no scheduled Budapest to Vienna sailing, and its domestic hydrofoils were suspended from July to 31 October 2026 because of extremely low Danube water. Multi-day river cruises do sail the stretch, but that is a holiday, not a way to get to Vienna.
Is the bus or the train better from Budapest to Vienna?
The train for most people: it runs every hour, leaves from the city center and takes about 2 hours 50 minutes. The bus is worth it when it is cheaper on your date, when you need a time the train does not offer, or when you are heading to a stop like Vienna Erdberg.
Are there track works on the Budapest to Vienna line?
Yes, on the Budapest end. Until 12 December 2026, works on the Southern Circular Railway between Kelenföld and Keleti mean a modified timetable on line 1. The Vienna trains still run from Keleti, at half past every hour except the 14:10 in the afternoon. Check the MÁV track works page before you travel, because more closures on the line are expected.
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