SanDiego1K

Great instructions, perfect links. I just bought one way first class for 24.2 euros on an IC train. It will take about 5 hours for the trip. I was the first to choose seats so got facing seats with a table between. railways, thank you for your help. You made it so easy for me.

Will the IC train have Wifi? Free? And a restaurant car? Or should we plan to buy sandwiches in advance to take on the train?

railways

Yes, free wifi and a restaurant car:
InterCity trains
Services on InterCity trains

Sweet Willie

Thought I'd tag onto this thread as it involves train travel between Vienna & Bratislava.

Only booked Europe train travel once before (Antwerp to Paris) and found the process easy & straightforward. I'm now trying to book train travel from Vienna to Bratislava, stay a couple days in Bratislava, then continue onto Budapest.
I can find a number of sites that offer tickets, however all tickets are 2nd class tickets. Are first class tickets available on the route I mentioned or are all seats 2nd class? (I realize the trips are relatively short)

KayVeeBee

Vienna to Bratislava is a trivial local trip. Just buy that at the station in Vienna.
For Bratislava to Budapest you could also just book at the station there. Or you can book on line at http://www.mavcsoport.hu/
1st class is available.

railways

Vienna to Bratislava is 2nd class only. You can buy a ticket online, if you prefer, on the OeBB site . It not train-specific and costs EUR 11.40.

For the Bratislava to Budapest train, which will generally be a EuroCity train from Prague, I wouldn't bother with first class, personally. There is usually just one first class car in a six- or seven-car train, so it can be busy, and the seating isn't particularly great. Instead, I would buy a second class ticket and eat and drink in the very reasonably-priced Czech restaurant car. Sit on the right-hand side of the train in the direction of travel to get the best views of the Danube bend, just after crossing over the border into Hungary at Szob.

But if you want to buy a first class ticket for this journey, you can on the (clunky) MAV website . On the search page click on "detailed search", then on the next page toggle the "1st class only" filter on the right to "on".

Sweet Willie

Will do, got confirmation from RailNinja:

Dear Traveler,
Thank you for your email. Please be advised that seat reservations are not available for this route (Vienna-Bratislava) and there is only one Class available for this journey, that's why there is only Economy Class available.
In case of any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us back.
Kind Regards,
Support Team | Rail Ninja
appreciate the details, and thank you for the tip to get the best views !

KayVeeBee

Stay clear of Rail Ninja. These people are scammers.

the810

Vienna to Bratislava is a 60km route, the vast majority of the trains are local trains which only have second class. There are two trains per day which also offer the first class, but they are unlikely to fit into your schedule. You can pre-book this trip to save few euros, at either zssk.sk or oebb.at (both sell the same jointly operated trains), fares starting around 9 euros. But even if you buy the ticket on the day, it won't be more than 12-15 euros, so the savings aren't substantial.

For Bratislava to Budapest, check both zssk.sk and jegy.mav.hu, again both selling the same jointly operated trains at different prices. The price difference between purchasing early or on the day on this route is a bit higher, but even the full flex tickets aren't prohibitively expensive.