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16

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Krakow to Ljubljana

« on: May 14, 2015, 05:17:37 pm »

I’m having to make a couple of changes to the itinerary to meet up with a friend who is visiting Croatia at the beginning of October.  We have a few days when we leave Ljubljana at the end of September (when we had originally planned take the train to Salzburg).  Our choice as I see it is:

1) Return by the same route to Salzburg/Ljubljana and then onto Croatia. 
2) Visit Salzburg at the beginning of the trip.  I know, not the best planning but we have no time constraints then.  We can fly into Munich, train to Salzburg, stay a few days and then train to Krakow.

I estimate the return Ljubljana/Salzburg journey is about the same length of time as Salzburg/Krakow so there is no particular advantage either way that I can see.  Are there any cheap day fares from Salzburg to Krakow?  Which alternative would you recommend?  Or it might be cheaper to fly.

We can spend about a week/10days before flying up to the UK from Croatia, but I notice that there are no trains to Dubrovnik.  I have to admit I haven't done much homework on the country yet.  A lot depends on where we are going to meet our friend who is arriving from Prague (probably by plane).

17

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Ljubljana to London

« on: May 10, 2015, 07:53:11 am »

After visiting Krakow, the High Tatras in Slovakia, Budapest & Ljubljana, we need to get up to London. We have choices to make:
1) See more of Slovakia and work our way back to Poland by train for a flight from Krakow (not booked yet and we need to work out feasibility/cost of fitting it in with our international flights). This would be a reverse of one of your suggestions in my previous post.
2) Take a train route that allows us to stop off a couple of times in places we haven't visited before or are happy to revisit - Salzburg, Munich, Cologne, Strasbourg seems to be on the main routes.  This is probably our preferred option if we can stop over and the price is right, or even better...
3) Wait to see what alternatives you come up with   
Thank you!!

18

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Krakow to Ljubljana

« on: May 10, 2015, 06:40:32 am »

Hi again tUt and thank you again. 
I think I have all the info I need for that leg of our journey - but I know where to come back if I need to.    The list of stations to store luggage is great and works in well with our plans.
I will start a new post for the next part of our journey.
SEL

19

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Krakow to Ljubljana

« on: May 07, 2015, 03:05:03 am »

I’m going to run out of thank yous soon tUt!  Having spent an inordinate amount of time researching your recommended bus/train connections (yes great Slovak website) and places to visit I finally decided to take the ‘northern’ route.  However I haven't investigated going via Piwiczna-Zdroj/Lomnica-Zdroj yet as there were so many good reviews for travelling via Zakopane.  Anyway at some unearthly hour of the morning I realised that we would want to leave our luggage somewhere while we explore.  We travel light, very light by most standards, but I do not want to take it with me on any short excursions.  Do the smaller railway stations have secure lockers?  Any suggestions?

20

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Krakow to Ljubljana

« on: May 05, 2015, 05:10:50 pm »

I am now also researching places to visit in Slovakia en route to Budapest.  So much to take in!

In case you like nature or some old towns/castles you can choose to travel for instance Krakow-Zakopane-Stara Lubovna/Bardejov(-Kezmarok-Levoca-Spisske Podhradie)-Presov-Kosice-Budapest (obviously some of the middle points here can be thrown out or changed) or see some central Slovakia (Banská Bystrica, Levice etc.)

Yes.  That sounds good.  I have checked the train maps and Slovakrail web site and places like St Lubovna and Barejov appear to be at the end of branch lines and not on a direct route to Kosice?  Therefore if I want to go to Bardejov I would have to take a return journey from say Kysak?

Validity of Trains Tickets in Slovakia: tickets (one way & return) for distances <100 km are valid on the day shown on them and on the next day till 4 a.m. Tickets for distances >100 km are valid on the day shown on them and on the next day till 12 p.m. Return tickets for distances >100 km are valid until the 24th hour of 3rd day of their validity

Therefore if I decide to stay over en route for a night or two I would have to split the journey and buy two tickets?

Can I buy a ticket through to Budapest at any of the smaller stations if I have to split the journey or wait til I get to a larger terminal like Kosice?

First of all it means that you can count on cheap Budapest-Ljubljana daytime train (discounted tickets which can be bought from Hungarian Railways website start from only 19 euro, while before departure you'll pay 39 euro), which actually goes through Celje (dep. Budapest 13:35 - arr. to Celje 20:03)

Booking period on website:
Maximum 3 months before the date of travel
Minimum the day of travel - (but they may have run out of the cheaper bargain tickets by then?!)

The only other part of the journey I’m still unsure of is getting from Krakow-Zakopane and over the border into Slovakia.  Bus or train? 

Many thanks again, your knowledge is invaluable!

21

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Re: Krakow to Ljubljana

« on: May 04, 2015, 07:13:26 am »

Thank you tUt for your immediate & detailed reply, and Maxy, for your comments. Option C seems to be the best outcome of the three.

However now that you have shown that there are alternate routes perhaps I should have been more exact with our plans and stop making assumptions - my apologies.

We will be travelling in Sept and our final destination from Krakow is near Celj, Slovenia but I had assumed that we would have to travel to Ljubljana to get there.  We intend to take the journey at a leisurely pace (at least one stop for a few days). Our only reason for stopping off in Vienna was to revisit the city, as our previous stay was in winter and I had assumed that it was on the easiest & most direct route. 

We have never been to Slovakia and I am thinking that perhaps we should stop off somewhere along the line if we accept Option C.  (Recommendations appreciated).  Another route I gather is via Budapest.  Another city we’d love to visit, as once again we have only been there in mid-winter, but not necessary. 

So without, I hope, taxing you too much, would you recommend another more direct route that avoids going through Austria? However we are also happy to use bus connections or walk the extra km if that helps at border crossings - but no hitch hiking!

I am also sorting out the next stage of our journey NW or W from Ljubljana but I’ll leave that for another time...

Thank you both so much for sharing your knowledge.

22

Travel plans, routes and timetables / Krakow to Ljubljana

« on: May 02, 2015, 01:46:22 pm »

Hi
Firstly, I'm very pleased to have stumbled across this forum.
I am planning a rail trip from Krakow to Ljubljana via Vienna in September.  I gather from other posts that the cheapest way is to buy point to point ticket for stations within each country.  However I'm finding it difficult to find a definitive map with a route that allows me to identify the various border stations to check timetables and prices.  We would also like to stop off in Vienna for a few days so wonder if there is any ticket that allows us to break the journey or if we would have to buy two tickets to travel through Austria.
I also notice that on the Polrail website they ask for the ages of passengers. Do they actually give a discount to youths or seniors from other, or non European, countries?
Thank you in advance for any information you can give me to help plan my itinerary.