Getting There and Away

Written by Celine Fournier, Elsa Holm, Finn Weber
18/09/2025
Picturesque autumn view of a historic building beside Lake Constance in Bregenz, Austria.
Fatih Turan, Pexels

Bregenz, Austria, features several key transport hubs including the Bregenz Hauptbahnhof (Main Station) and Bregenz Hafen (Harbor) train stations, which serve both national and regional rail lines. The city also has a central bus station, Bregenz Busbahnhof, providing extensive bus connections. For lake travel, the Bregenz Harbor is a significant hub for ferry services across Lake Constance.

By Train:

Bregenz is well-connected by train, with frequent services from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) offers direct routes from major Austrian cities such as Vienna, Salzburg, and Innsbruck. International trains connect Bregenz directly to Munich, Germany, and Zurich, Switzerland. A direct train from Zurich Hauptbahnhof to Bregenz can take as little as 1 hour 25 minutes, with tickets starting from approximately €40. Regional trains from Lindau, Germany, to Bregenz take around 13-16 minutes, with fares from €9. An overnight Nightjet train service to Vienna is also available.

By Bus:

International bus services, primarily operated by FlixBus, link Bregenz to numerous European cities. Direct connections are available from destinations like Munich, Berlin, and Leipzig in Germany, Zurich and St. Gallen in Switzerland, and Milan, Italy. A bus trip from Munich to Bregenz typically takes about 2 hours 30 minutes and costs between €12-€22. From Zurich, a bus journey can take approximately 1 hour 55 minutes, with tickets ranging from €9-€16.

By Air:

The closest airports to Bregenz are St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport (ACH) in Switzerland (around 14 km away, 26-minute drive) and Friedrichshafen Airport (FDH) in Germany (about 32 km away, under an hour's drive). Zurich Airport (ZRH), approximately 120 km away, and Memmingen Airport (FMM), about 75 km away, also serve the region. From Friedrichshafen Airport, local trains to Bregenz start from €11.

By Ferry:

Scenic boat trips are available on Lake Constance through Vorarlberg Lines, connecting Bregenz Harbor to neighboring towns in Germany and Switzerland, including Lindau, Friedrichshafen, Meersburg, and Konstanz. Ferries from Lindau Hafen to Bregenz Hafen take about 22 minutes and cost €7-€10.

By Car:

Bregenz is accessible via the A14 autobahn, which connects to Route E43. Car rental services are available from various international companies such as Hertz, Europcar, and Enterprise. Driving from Zurich to Bregenz takes approximately 1 hour 26 minutes and costs €21-€30.

Check out our other pages on Bregenz

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