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Messages - tUt

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931
Do we need the Swiss Saver Pass, the two country Eurail Pass, or just point to point tickets?
Well, we will just try to let you know the cheapest point to point options, so that you can afterward compare it with pass fares and make your choice.
We fly into Paris and will catch a train to Luzern, Switzerland the same day.
Since there is no direct train to Luzern from Paris, thus you will need to make at least one change. Most convenient station to change probably would be Basel. So you can either purchase Paris-Basel ticket (discounted tickets start from 20 EUR (tgv-europe.com), but you need to buy them in advance) and then another Swiss domestic Basel-Luzern (31 CHF full fare or from 12.4 CHF discounted SuperSaver tickets might be available as well). Or on the contrary you might hunt for one ticket Paris-Luzern presupposing change in Basel, those might be found for as low as 40.8 EUR.
Similar ticketing for your way back.
While in Luzern we would like to do the Golden Roundtrip to Mt. Pilatus one day
Neither Swiss Pass or Eurail gives you free travel here, both give only 50% discount, so instead of 66 CHF you'll pay 33 CHF. Similar story with Jungfraujoch railway (if you plan to go all the way to the top)
and another day take a train to Interlaken.
Standard full fare tickets cost 30 CHF, discounted from 12 CHF
we will possibly take the train to Gruyere, etc.
Full ticket cost 58 CHF, discounted can be purchased only till Romont (from 31.2 CHF), full fare Romont-Gruyeres 12.2 CHF 
Approximately 3 of these days we will be taking the train for day trips outside of Paris.
Here you just need to go to tgv-europe.com and search for full fare or possible discounted fare Paris-destination of your choice-Paris. Then just sum it up and compare all of the above to the passes you had in mind.

Resume: in general pass allows you certain amount of freedom while traveling, but if you have an exact plan with fixed dates, then you can beat pass price by purchasing in advance discounted point to point tickets (most of which are non refundable).

932
Train fares and tariffs / Re: Bratislava-lvov?
« on: February 05, 2011, 02:05:05 pm »
Unfortunately I got an answer from Slovenian Railways that's impossible to buy/reserve such carriages(Bratislava-Lvov) in Slovenia.
Hmm... hard to believe that SZ doesn't have access to the any all European reservation system. Maybe ticket cashier just wasn't skillful enough? Because those couple carriages aren't easy to spot, because you need to enter train R 609, route Bratislava hl.st.-Lvov and then chose either 1/1, 2/2 or 2/3, but not just Bratislava-Lvov. So maybe it worth trying another time with more detailed instructions to cashier ;)
I assume I shouldn't have problems to purchase these carriages at any station in Austria 60 day in advance?
Yes, with OeBB it's definitely not a problem. Here is the example of reservation for Zilina-Moscow carriage (since 09/2010 substituted with Bratislava-Moscow)

933
Train fares and tariffs / Re: Bratislava-lvov?
« on: February 04, 2011, 04:54:45 pm »
I was informed that City Star ticket from Slovenia to any station(in our case Čierna nad Tisou) in Slovakia would cost 45eur per person.
That is a really good price, so your choice here is the best, just go with Slovenia-Bratislava-Cierna CityStar (just make sure you give the cashier correct route within Slovakia: carriages to Ukraine run via Zilina-Poprad-Kosice route). CityStar ZSSK-UZ isn't that good anyway to buy it for Bratislava-UZ connections
Then we could buy a return ticket Čierna nad Tisou-Lvov. What's the price for this part of journey.
Return ticket with ZSSK-UZ 30% discount will cost app. 25 EUR per person. But since there are 3 passengers, then it makes sense to purchase CityStar ZSSK<100 UZ<500km, it should be app. 30 EUR (or maybe even a bit less since UZ lowered fare for UZ part) for the first passenger and 1/2 for the others, thus making app. 60 EUR for all three of you.
Then we need a sleeper reservation which should be 19eur from Bratislava to Lvov one way as I red in another post.
Yes, it is still 19 EUR, but you can actually save 5 EUR, if you purchase Kosice-Lviv sleeper (14 EUR) and use standard ZSSK seating carriage on leg Bratislava-Kosice. Anyway it is the same R 609 and ride is during the day. Or purchase reservation to RZD carriage Bratislava-Moscow, sleepers are cheaper there.
Is it possible to buy these tickets outside Slovakia?
Carriages on the route, both RZD and UZ are in the EPA, so you shouldn't have problems purchasing it anywhere with access to the EPA reservation system. But it is not a good idea to purchase ticket Cierna-Lviv anywhere besides Slovakia or Ukraine, since there are special discount applies and it won't be available if you do purchase tickets anywhere else.

934
Train fares and tariffs / Re: Italy Rail Pass seems to pay?
« on: February 03, 2011, 04:54:23 pm »
Now I have to decide if the convenience of a pass is worth the extra 35 or so EUR.  I worry that we'll miss a train and then have to buy another ticket at full price.
As we already noted, since we counted that extra not tied to a specific trains (but chosen randomly), then the best thing for you will be just to recheck for your desired connection on your desired date. Than you will exactly now "the extra" and can make your mind.
Is it very much trouble to make a reservation? Can it be done just before we get on the train?
It is not very complicated thing, but you might encounter some queues and potentially even "fully booked" trains (really depends on time and date), especially since there is a limit for passholders.
TrenItalia website as well offers reservations for passholders online, when selecting a price of your journey, you need to click on "more fares" and chose "Global Pass". 

935
Train fares and tariffs / Re: Italy Rail Pass seems to pay?
« on: February 02, 2011, 09:08:35 pm »
Standard seat reservation fare for EuroStar trains is 10 EUR per seat, so you can yourself add it to the pass price. Unfortunately, but at the moment offer Mini is the best thing you can get while traveling on high-speed in Italy, but it really depends on day and train - earlier purchase->better fare. What we see for app. late March-April:
For MXP-Rome TrenItalia doesn't sell "Mini", but do for Milano-Rome (from 49 EUR + MXP-Milano from 7 to 11 EUR by train). Roma-Napoli "Mini" by EuroStar is from 19 EUR (+ 3.4 EUR for Circumvesuviana Napoli-Sorrento); Sorrento-Napoli same 3.4 EUR, Napoli-Florence by EuroStar from 50 EUR, for Florence-Bergamo leg better to use two separate ticket, since anyway you will need train change (Florence-Milan 'Mini' from 19 EUR, Milano-Bergamo from 4.05 EUR). All the ticket for EuroStar already include seat reservation.
As result, while adding all of the above we get around 160 EUR and maybe for most expensive legs like Milano-Roma and Napoli-Florence you can even get a bit cheaper rates, since we didn't check all the dates and trains.
Resume: depending on date and train purchasing point to point with "Mini" offer might get you a cheaper travel at the end, but you need to check all the preferred trains and purchase tickets in advance.

936
Is is better then to just buy these tickets (TLK) at the stations rather then try and get them in advance?
Tickets for cheap InterRegio and Regio trains you simply can't be purchase online, for TLK train you can (link was given above). But neither of trains require compulsory reservation, so not a chance that whole train will be sold out. Thus we would probably just purchase tickets already on the spot. If to travel in peak time, then it even makes sense to buy optional seat reservation, so you won't need to stand some time in the hall.
If so what stations would I leave and arrive from in Krakow and Warsaw and Ostrava assuming there are multiple stations as there were in Vienna and Budapest when I was there...
In Krakow there are just one main station Krakow Glowny, all the trains to Warsaw stop there, but some transit trains also stop at other stations, like Kraków Płaszów. So depending on your location in Krakow, the best thing is just to check your preferred train on www.rozklad-pkp.pl and then choose, if possible, closest station to board the train. In Warsaw most of the trains in southwest direction stop at all three station Warszawa Wschodnia, Warszawa Centralna and Warszawa Zachodnia, so again you might simply chose most convenient for you. In Ostrava most of the trains from C.Tesin (that is the Czech name for Cieszyn) stop at the main station (Ostrava hl.n.), but some local ones go a bit different route transiting south Ostrava (stations Ostrava-Kunčice, Ostrava-Vítkovice,Ostrava-Svinov). So again depends on your preference - where do you exactly need to get in Ostrava. But since C.Tesin-Ostrava route served like every 30 minutes or even less during the daytime, you can just wait the next train, if you don't need main station or south part of Ostrava.

A) Krakow to Warsaw (Thurs)
Just go to www.rozklad-pkp.pl and check out times when TLK or InterRegio trains leaves, so you can plan which exactly train suits your desired time.
B) Warsaw to Cieczyn (Sun)
If you prefer overnight, then there is a nice option to leave Warsaw on TLK53202 (00:25 from Warsaw Centr. and 00:30 from Warsawa Zah.) till Czechowice Dziedzice (5:49am), the train has sleeping cars (in case you are interested), then Czechowice Dziedzice-Cieszyn (6:20-7:29). Ticket without sleeper reservation 64 PLN. There are also a number of daytime options, so just check the timetable and decide.
C) Cieczyn to Ostrava 
As said above, train C.Tesin-Ostrava leave really often, thus you will hardly for long time there. Ride takes only app 40 minutes.
D) Ostrava to Cieczyn (Wed) to Oswiecim
With Ostrava-C.Tesin/Cieszyn everything seems to be clear, with Cieszyn-Oswiecim also everything easy - many train and bus connections as well. In most cases one change required, but there are direct train as well.
E) Oswiecim to Krakow (Fri)
Trains go every hour or even less during peak time, so no problem at all.

937
In the case of this trip your ticket solutions isn't really complicated, so:
1) Krakow-Warsawa: try to avoid expensive EIC (ExpressInterCity) trains, since having similar timing as other options on the route they cost like twice as much (111.5 PLN), while TLK trains cost only 56.6 PLN and InterRegio only 43.5 PLN. EIC usually only 5-15 minutes faster than TLK/IR. If you still intend to use expensive EIC train, then it is better to purchase your ticket in advance online - https://bilet.intercity.pl/irez , if do it some time in advance, then you can get special offer ticket (Super Bilet) - from 59 PLN.
2) Warsawa-Lodz-Polish-Czech border: as far as we understand your stop in Lodz won't be long, thus it makes sense to purchase one through ticket Warsawa-Lodz-Polish-Czech border. Long distance tickets in Poland anyway are valid for 2 days, thus you purchase one ticket and make a stop in Lodz. Since there are two different rail companies in Poland, it is cheaper not to mix trains of different companies. One company runs TLK/EIC/EC/EN trains, other Regio and InterRegio. So according to your preferred timing just choose either to use only R/IR trains or a combination of TLK trains, in either case such through ticket will cost less than 60 PLN
3) Polish-Czech border-Ostrava. Here you have to options:
    a) either to use direct international trains with standard international ticket, return, because you plan to come back to Poland after side trip to Ostrava. For instance easy choice is Katowice-Ostrava-Katowice (16 EUR). This plan is good since you with such international ticket you can board any train and just go. In such case in 2) it will be Warsawa-Lodz-Katowice
    b) cheaper option is to go to Cieczyn instead of Katowice. Cieczyn is an interesting place since the town is located in two countries at the same time (check google maps) - one is in Poland and the other in Czech Republic, thus you can get domestic ticket Warsawa-Lodz-Cieczyn, walk 1.5 km from polish trains station to the Czech side train station and board train to Ostrava (ticket cost 54 CZK). As result you will avoid paying for the more expensive international ticket. Same trick with Cieczyn on your way from Ostrava to Oswiecim. Cieszyn-Oswiecim by train takes from app. 2 hours and 13.6 PLN or one through ticket Cieszyn-Oswiecim-Krakow for 21.7 PLN.

938
Train fares and tariffs / Re: Berlin/Gdynia - Kaliningrad
« on: January 31, 2011, 03:08:03 am »
It's shown also here, on DB reservation list, page 52
Yep, you are right it is in DB reservation list, but somehow not in similar RZD one (www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/rzd_2011_information_from_12_12_10.pdf). 
Yes, but last summer there was train 7/8 Gdynia - Kaliningrad, with two seating coaches Gdynia - Braniewo, sleeping car Gdynia - Kaliningrad, and sleeping car Berlin - Kaliningrad attached in Tczew. So, Berlin - Kaliningrad car isn't going via Gdansk, but Gdynia - Kaliningrad is. That train is also shown for this summer on PKP timetable.
Well, this is a well known trick. Originally this cross border carriage used to be "rebuilt" seating RIC car, but couple years ago RZD simply substituted with regular RIC sleeper. And, what is important here, it is used as seating carriage (in all the docs it is listed as "Сидячий 30 мест") with no obligatory reservation, thus you simply even can't purchase T3 reservation since carriage listed as seating.   

939
Train fares and tariffs / Re: Berlin/Gdynia - Kaliningrad
« on: January 30, 2011, 09:22:14 pm »
Between Gdynia and Kaliningrad there is train with direct car Berlin - Kaliningrad, running from late May till early October.
As far as we can see, the carriage is shown for summer 2011 only on PKP website, but no info about it from DB or RZD. Hmmm...
1) Berlin - Poznan standard fare ticket (TCV) (is there youth, or RailPlus discount?)
Simplest thing is just check today DB timetable, there you can find exact full fare ticket price (that will be SCIC-NRT/TCV tariff for connection you need). And yes, RailPlus works for DB-PKP connection.
2) Tczew - Kaliningrad return ticket
App. 40 EUR.
3) T3 reservation Berlin - Kaliningrad
During summer 2010 the fare was 33 EUR, for this summer, as you can guess, no info available yet.
4) T3 reservation Kaliningrad - Gdansk
Carriage Kaliningrad-Berlin doesn't run via Gdansk since 2009, last summer it was reattached in Tczew, thus you can't purchase T3 for leg Kaliningrad - Gdansk.

p.s. you also might consider potential problem with your plan involving carriage Berlin-Kaliningrad since it is Russian and your combination of  two TCV tickets + one East-West together with one through sleeper might puzzle the conductor. As result, unfortunately you never know what will be the final reaction  :(

940
Train fares and tariffs / Re: Suceawa to Istanbul
« on: January 28, 2011, 02:46:02 pm »
Since there is no CityStar to Turkey either from Romania or Bulgaria, then "3 people" factor doesn't really work here (unfortunately for you).
If you plan to travel there and back, we would probably recommend Balkan Flexi pass. 5 day pass for 86 EUR adult (51 EUR<26 or 69 EUR>60 years old), because straight forward Bucuresti-Istanbul ticket cost 40 EUR one way or 80 return, thus pass obviously wins here in price since covers Suceava-Bucuresti-Suceava part as well (+ you even get an extra day to travel wherever you want).
Couchette for direct carriage Bucuresti-Istanbul cost from 9.4 EUR, sleeper from 22 EUR.
If you plan to travel only one way, then cheapest way will be to purchase Suceava-Giurgiu (domestic Romanian tariff), then cross the Danube to Bulgarian Ruse and purchase ticket Ruse-Istanbul (will cost app. 20 EUR). But such plan, as you can see, involves a bit of hassle. Easier way is to purchase ticket Bucuresti-Ruse (around 10 EUR) and reservation Bucuresti-Istanbul, board Bucuresti-Istanbul carriage and while train waits in Ruse just buy second ticket Ruse-Istanbul. The only problem here is timing, the stop in Ruse is 35 minutes, but there are border control and customs, thus not easy to predict exact length of those procedures.

941
Train fares and tariffs / Re: Summer trip advice, Cologne - Belgrade
« on: January 26, 2011, 12:25:54 am »
Day 1. Cologne to Leipzig
In order to travel cheap on this route you have two choices:
a) purchase discounted Dauez Spezial tickets for the whole route (at least one change, from 5 hours on the road). Tickets for these connection start from 29 EUR per person, but in order to get such fare you need to buy them online (www.bahn.de) really early, like couple month in advance.
b) use daily group pass (called Schönes Wochenende Ticket for the weekend, up to 5 passengers for only 39 EUR or Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket, same thing, but for weekdays, will cost 46 EUR for two passengers). Both can be bought even on the day of travels. But those passes are valid only for regional trains, thus you will need to make extra train changes and spend a bit more time.
Day 3. Leipzig to Dresden
Best choice here is same group pass, but only for Saxony, called Sachsen-Ticket (Saxony-Ticket) cost 29 EUR (same conditions as previous passes)
Day 6. Dresden to Brno
Cheapest option just to purchase discounted tickets from DB website in advance (link was given above), fare start from 19 EUR per person.
Day 9. Brno to Bratislava
Cheaper to purchase your tickets at least 3 days in advance from Czech Railways website (https://www.cd.cz/eshop/international/search_int.aspx?tt=2), will cost 151 CZK per person, at the station you' pay 234 CZK per person.
Day 11. Bratislava to Keszthely, Lake Balaton
no need to purchase anything in advance here, but better at least to break your tickets via Budapest (anyway you will need to change trains there). Bratislava-Budapest (16 EUR per person), Budapest-Kesztely with Hungarian domestic tariff is 3360 HUF (app. 12 EUR). If your really want to save more, then you will need to add an extra changeover: buy domestic ticket Bratislava-Sturovo (from 6.3 EUR per person), Sturovo is located exactly across the Danube from Hungarian town Esztergom, thus you will need to walk from Sturovo train station to Esztergom trains station (for part of the walk you can take public bus as well), then purchase ticket Esztergom-Keszthely with change in Budapest (4130 HUF or app.15 EUR per person)
Day 15. Keszthely to Zagreb
Simplest way just to purchase ticket already at the station, sounds strange, but return due to special discount will be actually cheaper than one way (app. 16 EUR per person).
Day 17. Zagreb to Belgrade ( overnight sleeper )
Same thing as previous one, just purchase the ticket at the station. Ticket cost around 160 kuna (app. 21 EUR) + sleeper reservation

942
I do look into the Bavaria-Bohemia ticket. It is the cheapest way from Germany to Czech!
Well, it is exactly the point - you pay only 23 EUR for all your travels within Bavaria, visit to Salzburg and all your legs within western Czech Republic.
The only shortcoming of such option is the fact that Bayern-Böhmen-Ticket is valid from 9am during weekdays. So if you plan to arrive Mon-Fri, then you either will need to wait till 9am in order to catch train to Salzburg or pay extra 10 EUR for ticket Bologna-Freilassing (instead of Bologna-Rosenheim/Munich), thus allowing you to be in Salzburg around 8am. 

943
Does anyone know what I will expect to pay for these tickets?
One way full fare for connection Prague-Budapest is 57.2 EUR, while return CityStar ticket is 100 EUR for the first passengers and only 50 EUR for the second, thus two passengers return ticket will cost you 150 EUR in total (roughly 75 EUR each) 
Sleeper reservation for "double" will cost from 21 EUR to 39 EUR per person (depending on carriage - 21 EUR for group of carriages going Praha-Budapest and 39 EUR for group going Berlin-Praha-Budapest). Unfortunately ticket for the overnight train can't be purchased online (for daytime trains you actually can buy ticket online, those start from 19 EUR).
In total for the whole return trip each will pay 75 EUR+21/39 EUR*2

If you want to purchase tickets online, then you might consider purchase of tickets to Budapest from German station, for instance Dresden. The thing is that overnight train from Prague to Budapest is nothing else than transit train EN 477 Berlin-Budapest. In Prague just couple carriages added to it, thus you can buy ticket from German Railways website (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?newrequest=yes&protocol=http:&) for route Dresden-Budapest, but board the train in Prague. It is fully legal, so no problem with late boarding. As of know, for March 26th DB offers tickets Dresden-Budapest for "double" for only 69 EUR (ticket+sleeper reservation in one), same story with return tickets Budapest-Dresden.
In total for the whole return trip each will pay 138 EUR (or 69+69 EUR)

944
Maybe they are undergoing some maintenance....
Actually it might just be long lasting problem of the whole online ticket selling system. There are multiple reports about problems in general, problems with cards acceptance etc.. So you might simply consider purchasing ticket from DB. They don't sell tickets for Bologna-Salzburg or Linz, but you can buy ticket Bologna-Rosenheim/Freilassing (from 43 euro seats, 59 for 6 berth couchette) or  Bologna-Passau (seats from 53 euro, couchette from 69 euro). Freilassing is basically outskirts of Salzburg, while Passau-Linz is rather short ride.

You can also hunt for OeBB discounted tickets, their online systems seems to work fine, but there are two conditions for tickets Italy-Austria bought from OeBB (only accepted in Italy if: "they have already been confirmed with a control stamp by a member of the ÖBB train crew on the jorney from Austria to Italy (I guess this will not work for you) or you have a member of the ÖBB train crew in the couchette coach or sleeper put a control stamp on your ticket immediately at the start of your jorney in Italy")

Not sure whether visit to Linz is essential for you or it is just a way to get to C.Krumlov? If it is the second option, then you might also consider buying ticket Bologna-Rosenheim from DB website, in the morning in Rosenheim purchase Bavaria-Ticket Single, visit Salzburg (the ticket is valid till it), then simply omit Austria and go to C.Krumlov via Bavaria (route via Plattling-Zelezna Ruda looks shorter, but via Wurh im Wald-Domazlice seems faster). You can also purchase Bavaria-Bohemia ticket instead, thus covering you Czech border-C.Krumlov part of the journey.
is the night train from Venice to Prague not running anymore?
Well, routes and schedules do change over time ;)
Most of such overnight trains in the region run by CNL, more about up to date routes here http://www.citynightline.ch/citynightline/view/en/index.shtml

945
Unfortunately for you, but tickets sold with tariff "Smart" (basically it is discounted global price fare, in which actual ticket part 'merged' with seat reservation part) are only valid for a non-stop journeys or journeys with predefined stopovers (like change from EuroStar to EuroNight train in Venezia Mestre for proposed by TrenItalia overnight route Bologna-Linz), thus if you will get off train in Salzburg you won't be able to continue to Linz with the same ticket (even if it will say "Bologna-Linz").
In some countries you can actually choose those predefined stopovers and even increase time of the stopover, but not in this case.

Concerning the 8 euro fare. It does sound strange, thus almost certainly it is some kind of system error. We just tried to book similar Smart2 ticket Bologna-Linz for random dates in March, first it showed 28 euro in total for EuroStar Bologna-Mestre and C6 Mestre-Linz in EuroNight Venice-Vienna, but after all the required fields were filled it showed message "Sorry but we are unable satisfy the type of travel solution requested. Please select a different solution. (Error 2170)", while on previous stage it showed availability of Smart2 ticket for both legs. And such thing happened couple times.
So with TrenItalia online booking you can be definite about fare and possibility to book only while approaching the very last stage :(

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