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Meeting Your Trip in Steyr - 2011
This page offers help (concrete or informational) on reaching your trip. Topics include...
- Where you Join Your Trip (see immediately below)
- Our “Access Packages,” designed to help you to do so.
- Suggestions on how to time your trip to the trip, whether you are having us arrange your travel, or doing it yourself.
- Service information regarding train travel to your trip start location.
- Suggested pre-trip visits, especially when these are not geographically obvious, but are rendered economical and convenient by direct rail connections.
- Hopefully helpful hints for those setting up their own travel to the trip.
If you wish to arrange some or all of your travel through us, please tell us what by means of this response questionnaire, designed to collect all the information we need to be able to book your travel.
1. WHERE and WHEN Do You Join Your Trip?
We meet at our hotel in Steyr on Saturday evening, in time for dinner (both the night, and dinner, are included in the cost of the trip).
We will send you details of meeting time and place with your final itinerary.
If you wish to make your own way to the trip (in other words, not to set up your travel arrangements through us), a couple of hints on getting to Steyr are offered at the bottom of this page.
2. Our ACCESS PACKAGES
as of August 17, 2011
Our “Base” Access Package comprises a train ticket from any of the intercontinental airport cities closest to Steyr: Vienna, Munich, Prague, or Salzburg.
Price: 44€ from Vienna or Salzburg, 59€ from Munich or Prague (+8€ from either airport).
To see what this means in your currency, look here : http://www.bluemarble.org/CurrencyConv.html
Availability is guaranteed from Vienna, and reasonably reliable from Munich (at least for departures after noon or so), until about 30 days prior to trip start. With less notice,, availability must be confirmed from Munich, and costs may be higher from other points if paper tickets are required (they often are on these routes).
Included:
- Train tickets to Steyr from Munich, Vienna, Prague, or Salzburg, to Steyr.
Tickets from Munich and Munich Airport are not refundable or exchangeable once ordered (see below for extra cost flexible tickets).
- A printed schedule / itinerary, highlighting any connections.
- Our “Route Sheet to the Trip,” helping you through your journey.
- All agency charges, booking fees, taxes, baggage charges...
All those things that airlines add at the last minute, right before you push the “buy” button.
Options Offered at an Extra Cost (subject to availability)
Prices are in addition to the “Base” Access Package Price.
Except as specified, tickets are not refundable or exchangeable once ordered (see below for extra cost flexible tickets).
For a general discussion of train upgrades, see here. Topics include the relative comfort of first versus second class, and different types of accommodation available on overnight trains.
- Tickets from London. Add 119€ if you are also purchasing tickets back to London, 159€ if not, or if you prefer a changeable return. In 1st cl., add 179€ or 219€; 1st class tickets include meal service on the train from London to the continent.
- Tickets from Frankfurt or Zurich (downtown or airport). Add 29€ 2nd class, 56€ 1st class.
- Tickets from other points: prices on request.
A maximum additional fare of 96€ in 2nd class, 119€ in 1st class, will generally apply, and fares from many points are lower.
- First class train tickets (in lieu of 2nd class): +36€ from Munich, Vienna or Prague
- Flexible (modifiable) tickets.
Tickets from Vienna, Salzburg and Prague are already modifiable, without additional cost.
In 2nd class: +30€ from Munich, +41€ from all other points.
In 1st class: +45€ from Munich, +55€ from all other points.
On overnight trains: +59€, regardless of cabin type or origin.
These tickets are valid for alternate trains on a space-available basis, should you miss your scheduled service or change your plans. At most, you may need to make a seat reservation for the new service, at a cost of 5€. They are refundable less 20%.
3. TIMING Your Trip
Steyr is a pretty city, and it won’t hurt you to arrive early and look around. But we are here for two nights, so you will have other opportunity to explore. Any arrival that has you in by dinner is fine....
4. Service Information
Schedules are approximate – exact timetables can be consulted at
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/point_to_point/triprequest.htm.
Best trains are mentioned. Others are slower or have multiple connections.
- From Vienna: journey time is 2 - 2.5 hours, with one connection. Service is hourly.
A railroad-operated bus runs directly from the airport to the main rail station, Westbahnhof.
- From Munich: journey time varies from 3'45" to 5 hours, with one or two connections. Service is irregular, but the longest service gap is 2 hours.
A shuttle train runs from the airport into the main rail station.
- From Prague: journey time is circa 7 hours, generally with 2 connections.
The best train on the line is a comfortable express at 7:15a, with a single connection, arrive Steyr 1:45p. Equally fast trains run at 9:15a and 11:15a, but with two connections, and using less comfortable equipment. Services after the 11:15a are more painful, in one or more dimensions, but one or another plodding, multi-connection service will always get you there....
- From Frankfurt.
Service is roughly hourly, 7 hour trip.
- From Zurich.
Service is roughly every 2 hours, fastest trip time = 8 hours (but this is a gorgeous journey through the Alps).
- From London.
° Comfortable overnight services depart London at 1p (9a arrival in Steyr) or 4p (noon arrival in Steyr).
° Saturday service is an all-day journey with 3 connections. Depart London 8a, arrive Steyr at nearly 11p (you miss dinner).
5. Suggested PRE-TRIP VISITS
We like Venice, and we like the trip from Venice to Steyr, which can be made on comfortable trains through the heart of the Alps. But we also like Paris, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna....
6. Hints on TRAVELLING INDEPENDENTLY to the Trip
Guests subscribing to an “Access Package” need not read this section.
See also “Timing Your Trip” and “Service Information,” above, as either of these may additionally help.
We gladly provide travel consulting (schedule or routing information) concerning pre-trip individual travel. In particular, we have invested a great deal to become railway experts. Our service fees are reasonable: a 20€ charge for all but the most complex projects – or the most simple (for instance, only a 10€ charge applies if the service is limited to the preparation of a routine rail ticket). You will generally find them well-justified by the time they will save you in research, standing on line, overpaying for your tickets, or all three.
But, for some, this type of research is fun. So, here are some hints, intended to start off hardened “do-it-yourselfers.”
Trains. Schedules for all routes can be consulted on this web site:
http://www.raileurope.com/index.html
Steyr is on a branch line off the main, “Y” shaped east-west trunk route from Vienna (in the east) to either Munich or Frankfurt (in the west). Hourly local trains run on the branch, connecting from main line services in either Linz or St.-Valentin.
Should you by chance fly into Linz, the local tickets on the train to Steyr may be purchased on a walk-up basis: there are no savings associated with advance purchase, and no seat reservations are required (or even available) on this route.
Planes. The closest airports to Steyr are, in order, Linz (intra-European service only), Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Frankfurt / Prague / Venice (all about the same).
If you wish to arrange some or all of your travel through us, please tell us what by means of this response questionnaire, designed to collect all the information we need to be able to book your travel.
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