I’m not usually a spontaneous person but my arm can be twisted pretty easily. Especially if it involves premium travel, nice hotels and good food. Budapest is only a 6.5-hour train journey from Salzburg and is serviced by the brand new Railjet high-speed train from Austrian Railways.

This train has three classes: Economy, First and Premium. Even though train travel in Western Europe is usually always comfortable no matter what class you’re in, it was time to splurge. Premium class on the Railjet offers oodles of space, a private cabin, personalised service with complimentary food and drinks (Prosecco included!) and all those little extras that make a long journey comfortable. All this for an additional €25 on the price of a first class ticket. Good value if you’re travelling a long way!

Since I’ve been to Budapest many times, there was no sightseeing and limited consumption of “Hungarian” food. So the photos are mainly of the train trip, a few food shots (with the Point&Shoot Crapera) and of the hotel club lounge.

Premium Class onboard the Railjet to Budapest

Since we took a morning train from Salzburg, breakfast was served shortly after departure. There is a drinks list which includes various types of coffee, juices, mineral water and Prosecco. The best part, everything is complimentary…for a whole 6.5 hours!

Breakfast with glass of Prosecco No. 1

Chocolate Mousse with glass of Prosecco No…3???

Savoury bite before arrival (Chicken with Liptauer)

 We stayed at the Intercontinental Budapest which was great and very central. Our room had access to the Club Intercontinental which was fantastic. An extensive breakfast buffet was served daily as well as afternoon tea, pre-dinner cocktails with hot and cold fingerfood and snacks and refreshments all day long. Definitely worth the extra $$$!

Pre-dinner drinks and canapes

Breakfast and afternoon tea

As I mentioned before, I have been to Budapest before and stuffed myself with Hungarian food. However, in an interesting move, we decided to go to Goa Cafe, an Asian Fusion restaurant for dinner.

Despite the lack of Hungarian cuisine on this trip I did indulge in one very popular dish at the Great Market Hall.

Burn-your-mouth-it’s-so-hot Hungarian Goulash

It was time to make our way back to Salzburg on an afternoon train. This time we were served savoury snacks every hour. These snacks ranged from ok to good. The rice ball which we got somewhere between St. Pölten and Linz was absolutely disgusting. You will notice that there is a glass of Prosecco or white wine in every photo. I am NOT an alcoholic. It was a 6-hour trip! You gotta keep the liquids up!

Pumpkin Soup

Stick of Lamb with Cabbage and Potato

Beef Souvlaki with Tzatziki

Grilled Prawns with Liptauer

That rice ball (spew)

White Chocolate Mousse

We had the whole cabin to ourselves in both directions and although the service on the inbound was rough and unfriendly, the outbound made up for it. This is definitely the best way to travel in style if you’re going between Budapest and Austria/Zürich/Munich.

-The Young Foodie