Europe Trains Guide Forum
General discussion => Travel plans, routes and timetables => Topic started by: henrique on October 30, 2013, 06:00:57 am
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Hello, thanks for this wonderful forum. I currently studding Vilnius and i'm trying to plan a trip by train or bus to Prague or Brno. What i would like to know is if already someone tried to this, which is the cheapest route and other advices. I already did a lot of search in the web but i looks like there is no information at all about this matter.
Thank you
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First of all let me remind you that the newly established Lithuanian airline company - Air Lituanica (http://www.airlituanica.com/en/) - has relatively cheap flights directly from Vilnius to Prague 4 times a week (with promo fares now available you can fly Vilnius-Prague-Vilnius for just slightly more than 100 euro, which is not a bad price. If you don't want to go by plain, then there is still absolutely no need to use direct bus from Vilnius to Czech Republic (like EcoLines), because it will be expensive and way too long journey. A better option will be to consider going via Warsaw, where you can either quickly change or, if you have time, stay for a few hours/day and take a look around.
Traveling by train on leg Vilnius-Warsaw nowadays is a bit complicated (+not very cheap), so probably here better to consider bus option, especially since Vilnius and Warsaw connected by multiple buses from multiple companies (Simple Express (http://www.simpleexpress.eu/lang/), Ecolines (http://ecolines.net), Toks/Eurolines (http://toks.lt)) and totally not a problem to travel during daytime or with overnight option paying less than 20 euro. While from Warsaw you already have a number of options: a) you can get direct daytime or overnight train* (to both Prague & Brno) or b) relatively cheap bus to Prague (PolskiBus (http://www.polskibus.com/en) company tend to have the cheapest fares on this route).
*the only inconvenience with traveling by direct train from Warsaw to Prague/Brno is that cheapest tickets (starting from only 24 euro) can't be purchased online via Polish Railways website. However this problem can be solved for those who maybe have a friend or somebody in Poland to purchase ticket in advance or ready to play some ticket tricks (if you interested we can explain in details how to do it)
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The Vilnius-Warsaw train service is currently suspended. The only rail option is via Belarus, which most people won't want to bother with (visa needed).
What is the ticket trick for Warsaw-Prague?
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The Vilnius-Warsaw train service is currently suspended.
Yep, first there was a bus substitution for the short cross-border leg, but now even that option is not available. Anyways, from the rumors it all connected with construction works (Rail Baltica line border-Kaunas)
What is the ticket trick for Warsaw-Prague?
For those who can't get discounted tickets (but still want to travel mainly by rail) there are a few tricks:
a) "easiest": in advance via CD eShop purchase ticket Bohumin-Prague (310 CZK, can be printed at home), while in Poland simply get Warsaw-Zebrzydowice domestic PKP ticket (since "Chopin" in Poland consider TLK it will be just 65 PLN) and international Zebrzydowice-Bohumin (8,2 EUR or 6,4 if same ticket purchased in Czech Republic). Such "combination" of three tickets instead of one international Warsaw-Prague allows to save some good money (roughly 35 euro vs. 81 euro when international ticket Warsaw-Prague bought in Poland or 55 euro when bought in Czech Republic)
b) "even cheaper": travel via Cieszyn/Cesky Tesin. Key idea here is that it's possible to omit paying for any international tickets, meaning that you get to Cieszyn using relatively cheap Polish domestic fares, cross the border by foot and then already use Czech domestic fare. Minuses of this route is that it takes longer & in most cases will involve short bus ride (Cieszyn isn't all the time reachable easily just by rail)
c) "interesting": also possible to travel from Warsaw to Prague via Wroclaw/Jelena Gora. Also as in a previous case such route will be longer than using direct train. Regarding tickets trick is the same as above - domestic PKP fare till the border, short cross-border fare (either Meidzylesie-Lickkov or buses via Nachod/Harrachov)
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a) "easiest": in advance via CD eShop purchase ticket Bohumin-Prague (310 CZK, can be printed at home), while in Poland simply get Warsaw-Zebrzydowice domestic PKP ticket (since "Chopin" in Poland consider TLK it will be just 65 PLN) and international Zebrzydowice-Bohumin (8,2 EUR or 6,4 if same ticket purchased in Czech Republic). Such "combination" of three tickets instead of one international Warsaw-Prague allows to save some good money (roughly 35 euro vs. 81 euro when international ticket Warsaw-Prague bought in Poland or 55 euro when bought in Czech Republic)
This won't work if traveling by couchette or sleeper, though. PKP ticket office will refuse to sell a reservation based on such a combination.
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PKP ticket office will refuse to sell a reservation based on such a combination.
Well, if to show the cashier all the tickets in straight forward sense, then maybe s/he will try to say that you can't purchase one through reservation for such combination (however, by the rules it's not forbidden to have couple tickets with one reservation). But there is absolutely no need to let cashier know about tricks like this ;) Just come and ask for reservation only, meaning without showing any tickets. Actual tickets can be purchase after or before in the neighboring ticket counter (or even at the other train station). Personally did such tricks and never had any problems combining one through reservation with couple tickets