I was writing about some cancelled routes for the night trains but also about some good news. Since I'm starting to make sense out of the new changes, I will start to present them, in no particular order. The first one, probably useful only to me, is the shorter route towards Italy. While right now it takes almost nine and a half hours to get from Vienna to Trieste, starting December 14, it will take around six and a half hours. Price-wise, €52,60 for two adults and our kid, one way with seat reservations. While Trieste might not be the best place to start exploring Italy, it definitely is an interesting one. Next, I will (probably) focus on Vienna to Paris, since the direct night train was cancelled.

Since my main travelling countries are Austria, Italy and France, I want to present ways to reduce prices for families. It's one thing to buy a ticket for yourself, but the prices hit differently when you need to pay three or four times that price. In Austria, I recommend the ÖBB "Vorteilscard Family". You can buy it online for the price of €19 for an adult and its validity is one year. If the price isn't discounted (Sparschiene Ticket), the adults pay 50% while the kids travel for free. You still have to pay €3 to reserve the seats for adults when it's the case. As a practical example, our family of two adults and a child travels for the price of one adult. In France, you can use "Carte Avantage Adulte TGV INOUI", where it is enough to be purchased by only one of the two parents, for €49. It gives a 30% discount for you, 30% for an adult who accompanies you, and a 60% discount for kids. It also puts a cap on maximum prices that you can pay, so you should check it out before travelling to France. They also have a lot of regional solutions. With Italy, it's simpler because there's no need to pay extra. The family options are included in the total price if you search for them in advance because they apply for a limited time (eg, no less than 15 days for FRECCIAROSSA tickets).

Also, here's a random Italian regional train.

I've been quiet lately because starting December 14, when the 2026 train schedule kicks in, there are some changes. Some bad, some good. We'll have a few routes cancelled for the night trains (Vienna - La Spezia, Vienna - Paris), but also better times towards the South since Koralm Railway will be ready by then, and it will allow quicker and more convenient routes, but also a rise in frequency. We have other good news from other countries, like Switzerland, for example, where the French TGV Lyria will have direct routes from Lausanne and Geneva to Marseille, but that will start in April. Other than that, if you are curious about a route and you have some rough dates, I should be able to help. Right now, I'm slightly interested in a trip to Italy, but in smaller cities like Rimini, Civitavecchia, Santa Marinella, etc. In the next days, I'll write something about cutting prices while travelling in/through Austria, especially with kids.

By chance, I took a few exterior pictures at some point with the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. It was in a smaller train station in Vienna, with no customers, so most likely for cleaning, food supplies, etc. For those who don't know about it, it's a luxury train that runs mainly on the Paris-Venice route, and it's composed of restored Art Deco carriages from the 1920s.

I guess some enjoy even my bad pictures. 🤣😂 Here's a regional train (S-Bahn) from Austria. View quoted note →

And, of course, my profile picture with two Italian Frecciarossa trains in Milano Centrale. View quoted note →