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106
« on: March 29, 2016, 02:21:35 pm »
i have read this post and other posts. you suggested to book to next station pass Prague to overcome the issue with the website In case you ok overpaying for your ticket (=buying everything via MAV ticket counter at full fare price when you already in Hungary), then you can purchase it for the carriages with decent arrival time to Prague (6:43am) since it arrive Prague too early 4am, can I go to the next station, then ride back? Sure, you can even travel all the way to German Dresden if you want, but the last Czech station will be Decin (arr. 5:58am). Journey back (i.e. Decin-Praha) takes between 1:30 & 2 hours depending on train. Btw, you can stop for a bit in Northern Czech Republic, e.g. train passes quite picturesque Elbe river valley. do I need to buy additional ticket to ride back? Yes, you would still need a ticket back (e.g Decin-Prague or Usti nad Labem-Prague), but those aren't very expensive - with in advance purchase you can buy it for as low as 129/109 CZK I still would have to wake up ~4am, right? If you would have the ticket till one of the next stations (e.g. already mentioned Decin or one before it - Usti nad Labem), then no, you can sleep till 5:30-5:45am If I missed the stop, what would happen? Well, if you will have ticket till Usti nad Labem/Decin and miss stop in Prague, then nothing will happen, since you have the valid travel documents. But in case you purchase ticket till Prague and don't get off the train there, then you will be the passenger without valid travel document (=penalty). However I doubt that you can really miss the stop, since in couchette/sleeper carriages there is a conductor who knows where passengers get off and can easily wake you up. is there train arrive Prague in the morning past 6am? Yes, there is a group of carriages which leaves Budapest with EN 476 "Metropol" train, but then in the middle of the night get "unhooked" and spend couple hours just standing at Pardubice station, while around 5:30am it gets reattached to one of the Czech domestic train and thus arrive to Prague main station at 6:43am (not 4am as rest of the "Metropol" train). Also there is an early morning EuroCity train dep. Budapest 5:25am and arr. to Prague at noon also, I don't understand name of different train station, BUDAPEST*- vs. Budapest Keleti. if I buy BUDAPEST*- can I board train on any train station? Budapest Keleti- means I can only board train on Keleti station? BUDAPEST* is just a generic term, which basically means all the Budapest stations (it is there for those who don't know from which station train departs, so by inserting BUDAPEST* system will search from all the station in the city. Trains to Prague have only one stop in Budapest and it's Budapest-Keleti station, you can't board it on any other station. So it doesn't really matter whether you insert BUDAPEST* or Budapest-Keleti. how do i find out the nearest train station to the hotel I stay? As was said earlier, trains to Prague depart only from Budapest-Keleti station (which is not very far from the city center and has good transport connection to almost any part of the city) Please also share you perspective about 1st, and 2nd class seat, sleeper, own compartment, Couchette etc, Hmm... a bit difficult to do so without knowledge of your preference, but 2nd class seat compartment on the overnight train would look more or less like this, couchette like this, sleeper like this and there is no 1st class carriages in "Metropol" train between Budapest and Prague I guess own compartment would be more quite, but most expensive. without own compartment, we would have to share with others. I don't mind, but just worried about if it's too much noise. Cheapest discounted sleeper would cost you 49 euro per person, thus 147euro for 3 passengers (=entire compartment), while in 2nd class seating carriage you can travel for as low as 19 euro
107
« on: March 27, 2016, 02:13:26 pm »
we want to find a cheap way to travel. originally we wanted to take the night train, but saw it is very expensive. Well, it depends what to compare it with. In case you decide to travel with the state railways companies, then minimum price will be 19 euro (ticket + 6 berth couchette reservation) per passenger, thus making it around 100 euro for all five (in case you prefer sleepers, then it will be min. 25 euro per person). However great thing about Czech-Slovakia connection is that it's not monopolized by state rail companies, thus you can travel also with private one. E.g. RegioJet which offers tickets for the overnight Prague to Poprad for as low as 10 euro (seats), 13,60 euro (couchettes) or 23,60 euro (sleepers). What it means is that all five can travel for as low as 61,20 (5 berths in 6 berth couchette) or 106,20 (3 bed sleepers). Overnight vs. day time dilemma: during daytime cheapest discounted ticket you can get will cost you 66 euro (1795 CZK) with state railways or already mentioned 40,50 euro with RegioJet and back with a stop on the way back for 2 days in the area of mala fatra (zilinia)l You can purchase same discounted tickets from Zilina to Prague as well, it will be even cheaper then Prague-Poprad with state railways. The only thing you should take into consideration that Zilina to Prague it's just 5-max.6 hours journey with overnight trains, thus it might not be very comfortable night (e.g. boarding the train at half past midnight and getting off at 6am) on leg Poprad-Zilina (or maybe some earlier station like Ruzomberok?) you can just go with Slovak domestic tickets or perhaps even rely on buses (depends on where exactly in Little Fatra you need) one of us might come back separately before the others. Not a problem, just purchase a separate ticket and that's all
108
« on: December 29, 2015, 12:06:41 am »
I guess it's fine to show return leg tickets BG - BP and the second ticket of BP - Bratislava? No, Russian Railways (RZD) became big fans of global price tickets, so ordinary SCIC-NRT tickets won't work. As far as I know, special tariff for Bratislava-Belgrade is 43,3 euro (2nd class) or 64,8 euro (1st class) + sleeper reservation (see below) Do you know how much the sleeper is for 2 people (sharing a 4 berth is OK if it's a lot cheaper) 2 bed sleeper (double) costs 26 euro and requires 1st class ticket, 2/3 or 2/4 (tourist) costs 17 euro and requires 2nd class ticket. --> it meas that in case you want to travel using RZD carriages, then it will cost you minimum 60,3 euro (43,3+17)
109
« on: November 01, 2015, 11:15:20 pm »
Direct or change over with a short sightseeing? Would prefer the second option Well, easiest destination for a stopover probably Ostrava, you can google and see yourself whether it can be of interest to you, also an interesting experience might be going from Prague to Cesky Tesin and then walking to Polish part of the town (it's split between two countries). In both cases, imho, it's possible to manage in the format "early morning dep. from Prague-stopover-late evening arr. to Krakow". Or, you can even travel something like Prague-Brno-Krakow, but Brno deserves more than a couple hours. Anyhow, suggestion for you would be just take a look at attractions of your interest in eastern part of Czech Republic, it's more or less easy to make a stop anywhere in the region. If I buy from www.cd.cz/eshop should I buy early for cheaper tickets (how many days in advance) or should I buy when in Prague? Ticket purchase in advance will allow you to get relatively cheap (20 euro) discounted ticket Prague-Krakow (although it won't be a direct train), while standard fare here is 43,4 euro. In case of stopover ticketing options will depend on where you want to make it, but in general in advance ticket purchase can get you cheaper domestic Czech ticket as well. Also take into consideration that besides CD (Czech Railways) route from Prague to Krakow (with change to bus closer to the border) served by private rail company - Leo Express 2. Krakow - Budapest: Sleeper train
This seems to be the difficult one. Some sugest to start with a bus to Kosice and the sleeper trasin to Budapest. There are no sleeper train from Kosice to Budapest (only daytime) Are there any direct trains without change over? Yes, direct overnight carriages Krakow-Budapest run everyday. And also there is a bus option: "new" player ( Lux Express) on the market and "old" one - EuroLines Buying from Polish railways. Would it be cheaper to buy 60 days before? Can I get the ticket delivered to my hotel (airbnb) long before? Should I just buy in Krakow 3days before? Unlike bus tickets on this route (which can be easily bought via bus companies websites), buying train tickets for the overnight Krakow-Budapest is tricky, since Polish Railways (PKP) still don't sell such tickets online, thus you can purchase discounted ones (couchettes from 39 euro, sleeper from 54 euro) only in Poland via PKP ticket counters. 3 days in advance all the discounted tickets will be sold out, while full standard fare one-way ticket here is enormously expensive (85 euro + another 10/16 for couchette/sleeper reservation). Thus perhaps here it makes sense simply use cheap afternoon bus (e.g. 15:00-22:00) and spend a night already in Budapest 3. Budapest - Bratislava
Buying Hungarian MAV, shoul I buy before for cheaper or buy in Budapest?
Some suggest that Return would be cheaper ticket than one way? Everything is very easy here - no need to purchase anything in advance, since ticket fare is the same no matter when you buy. And yes, return ticket here is indeed cheaper than one-way, but ticket cashiers in Budapest know it, so they usually by default sell you return. Also, in case you have time, you might think about traveling with few hours stopover (e.g. Budapest to Esztergom (nice town to spend couple hours), then cross the Danube bridge and catch a Slovak train from Sturovo to Bratislava) 4. Bratislava - Cesky Krumlov
Should I buy www.slovakrail.sk/ ? How long before or buy in Bratislava Well, here you have number of options in regards to route you can to take. Simply one will be Bratislava-Prague and then Prague-Cesky Krumlov, in this case in advance purchase assures cheaper tickets, since discounted tickets Bratislava-Prague start from only 15 euro, while Prague to Cesky Krumlov bought via CD (Czech Railways) website start from 189 CZK (or, as faster alternative, you can also take a direct bus, e.g. Student Agency). At the same time you can also travel omitting Prague (either through southern Czech Republic or even via Austria) 5. Cesky Krumlov - Prague
If I buy from www.cd.cz/eshop should I buy early for cheaper tickets (how many days in advance) or should I buy when in Cesky Krumlov / Prague? As was noted above, your options here is either direct bus or train with change in Ceske Budejovice. Standard train ticket for Cesky Krumlov-Prague costs 275 CZK, but even for tomorrow you can get online tickets as cheap as 199 CZK
110
« on: October 27, 2015, 08:27:02 pm »
My question is, have they discontinued the night trains? And how can I purchase the overnight trains? No, overnight train (Budapest-Prague-Berlin, "Metropol") is still running (and will be running next year). This problem with ticket purchase is old - Hungarian Railways (MAV) somehow don't won't to fix their module, so it will be possible to enter "Budapest" & "Prague" and get what you want. Solution might be simply purchase ticket not to Prague, but one of the next stations on trains route (e.g. Usti nad Labem, Decin, Dresden) something like this -->  and then either get off earlier (in Prague) or indeed travel till the next station (Usti or Decin) & then come back to Prague (might make sense in case you don't want to get off in Prague at 4am)
111
« on: October 23, 2015, 02:10:38 pm »
Just one correction to the above calculations: 49 euro return "Ljubljana Spezial" for leg from Budapest to Murska Sobota & back apparently doesn't make sense, since standard return ticket Budapest-Mur.Sobota-Budapest bought in Hungary (or Slovenia) will be cheaper. Sorry for this error, somehow thought that Murska Sobota is a bit farther from the border, thus standard return ticket will be more expensive than "Ljubljana Spezial"
112
« on: October 23, 2015, 12:54:08 am »
Then let's count:
Balkan Flexi Pass (5 days): 53 euro (youth) or 88 euro (adults, thus >26). It will cover your legs Thessaloniki (or other destination in Greece) to Serbia/Hungary border (Subotica) on the way there & back. For the part Subotica-Budapest-Subotica ticket will cost you 17,4 euro per person. And finally for leg Budapest-Slovenia-Budapest either go with two separate one-way discounted tickets (19 euro each) or don't bother with in advance purchase of discounted tickets and use "ordinary" 49 euro return "Ljubljana Spezial". In total "Balkan Pass" option adds up to 108,4 euro (or 143,4 with adult pass) minimum for the entire trip Greece-Hungary-Slovenia-Hungary-Greece
CityStar OSE-MAV: here the best part is that you can purchase it not only till Budapest, but all the way to HU/SLO border (meaning for route Thess.-Belgrade-Budapest-Hodos (gr) & back). However the total price for such citystar for 4 passengers these days would be more than 400 euro + another five or so euro for the part from the border to Murska Sobota
Finally "point-to-point" tickets option: 54,1 euro (Thess.-Belgrade-Thess.) + 26 euro (Belgrade-Budapest-Belgrade) + 38 (19+19) or 49 euro (Ljubljana Spezial return), thus making it in total 118,1 (129,1) euro
Resume: you might come by OSE ticket counter and ask about precise fare for 4 passenger OSE-MAV citystar, but otherwise it looks like youth Balkan Flexi Pass option beats the rest, but in case you >26, then "point-to-point" tickets
113
« on: October 22, 2015, 05:46:02 pm »
what about Balkan FlexiPass and CityStar? Are residents of Greece eligible to use them? Well, you didn't specify whether you need to make a return trip (and if yes, how soon) or not. In case you need to travel only one-way, then hardly Balkan Flexi Pass or CityStar OSE-MAV (Greece-Hungary) makes sense, since the cheapest youth (<26 years old) 5 day Balkan pass costs 53 euro and it will get you only as far as Serbia-Hungary border after Subotica (while Thessalonki-Belgrade + Belgrade-Budapest tickets will cost you 48,8 euro in total). CityStar used to cost 150 euro per person (or 375 per 4 passengers), but it's a bit outdated price, probably these days it's slightly more expensive. A different story is in case you do need to travel back, then Balkan Pass/CityStar might be handy. So please let me know whether you plan to travel back, and if so, then how soon after the trip there and using which route (perhaps you would like to travel back via Croatia?)
114
« on: October 21, 2015, 09:28:17 pm »
... but I can tell I got a bit confused..  It's OK, we are here to help  So, me and 3friends(under 30years old) want to travell from Greece to Slovenia by train through Thessaloniki to Belgrade(3/11) then Budapest(4/11) and then Murska Sobota(Slovenia)(6/11). But I m confused because i read that we cant pre-book so how can we get any discount as said to this sait? Well, the only journey that you can actually book in advance in this case is Budapest-Slovenia, while with Thessaloniki-Belgrade or Belgrade-Budapest Greek and Serbian railways simply doesn't offer a chance to do so. But in essence it's not that big of a problem, because with Thessaloniki to Belgrade it's just one ticket price (33,8 euro for one-way ticket) no matter when you buy it, while for Belgrade to Budapest it's a special offer (15 euro one-way) with unlimited number of tickets sold. Thus it means that in advance purchase in both case aren't necessary and won't save you any money Can you please help, how to book tickets for this itinenary and save some money? As was mentioned above, the only ticket you can purchase right now (and save money) is from Budapest onwards. You can do it with a help of Hungarian Railways (MAV) website (step-by-step guide on how to use MAV website - http://europetrainsguide.com/Advice/How-to-Buy-Train-Tickets/Hungary-MAV.html ). The only minor nuance with such purchase is that MAV sells discounted 19 euro tickets only to Ljubljana, so in your case you should buy 19 euro ticket Budapest-Ljubljana, while get off in Murska Sobota few hours earlier 
115
« on: September 23, 2015, 11:19:02 pm »
I just didn't want to miss the train ride by going on a bus Well, scenery from a bus window ain't that bad there, but obviously going by train should be option #1, at least for those who travel from Serbia to Montenegro for the first time. At least I know that there is a possibility and good connection. Serbian railways timetable page should give you everything you need in terms of both potential trips
116
« on: September 23, 2015, 01:45:09 pm »
Buses seem to be about 9 hours and the train seems to be around 12-14 hours (Belgrade to Podgorica). Now I've heard the train between those two cities has supposedly one of the nicest views so taking a night train would kind of defeat the purpose... Yes, Belgrade-Bar railway line is one of the most scenic train lines in Europe, so it definitely makes sense to use a train here. With an overnight train you will get a glimpse of the scenery early in the morning, but obviously daytime travel will be way more interesting. In terms of travel time, these days official schedule gives us 10 hours to Podgorica and 11 hours to Bar, however on this line trains are very often late, so indeed situation when you will spend 12-13 hours is not an exception. So was trying to see if there are any towns along the way I could break up the trip with at all? Unfortunately choice here is very limited. Valjevo is kind of nice, but it's only 2 hours away from Belgrade. Next at least somewhat interesting place is Požega (couple churches, railway museum), plus you have a chance to make a side trip to Kraljevo (Žiča monastery). After Požega there is bigger town - Užice (few churches, Yugoslavian architecture), but again hardly it's a place to spend there more than few hours. For a railway fan a definite attraction to visit would be so-called Šargan Eight (Šarganska osmica), narrow-gauge railway located not far from Užice. So perhaps your choice here might be either start from Belgrade in the morning, then make a stop in Valjevo and/or Požega and by evening get to Užice for a night stay. Or, in case you interested in Šargan Eight experience, then just avoid earlier stops and from Belgrade go to the narrow-gauge line. Was also thinking if I did the other trip to Zagreb, if there was anything near 1/2 way between Belgrade and Zagreb that would be worthwhile to stop for a night or so? Choice of the potential stop between Belgrade and Zagreb is much easier. Town of Osijek is basically must-see place. And although it's slight detour to the north from the Belgrade-Zagreb line, but it's not that big of a deal, since you can get off train in Vinkovci (roughly 3:30 hours from Belgrade) and then it's just 40 min. journey to Osijek by local Croatian train. While next morning you can get a direct train from Osijek to Zagreb
117
« on: August 25, 2015, 09:52:26 am »
during last years in Ukraine it's allowed to combine domestic ticket with internatinal reservation for travelling domestic leg using international ticket. Travel in domestic train combining with international reservation for domestic leg and domestic ticket is allowed as well. Good to know, thanks. But how easy in practice is to actually purchase such "unusual" combinations? If you really on tight budget and seriously need spend less money for this travel - you should better refund your reservation Lviv - Bratislava back if it's possible, and travel using domestic ticket to Chop and travel in seating cars from Chop to Kosice and Bratislava. Sleeping car Kyiv - Bratislava between Chop and Bratislava travel with trains which contains seating cars, so it's possible to cross border here without purchasing international sleeping bed reservation. Also in this case it's worth to think about re-planning your travel using RegioJet train between Kosice and Bratislava if 9 EUR ticket is available on your date. Judging by pv's ip Bratislava might not be the direction of further travels. Nevertheless just in case it indeed makes sense to remind about RegioJet and LeoExpress and probably you have less chances to be waken in Chop in domestic car Kyiv - Uzhhorod than in internatonal car Kyiv - Bratislava) The only disadvantage of using Kyiv-Uzhgorod carriages is that there is a good chance to end up in very old one. Carriages belonging to Uzghorod division are known for being one of the worst on UZ. With Kyiv-Bratislava it's not the case, here all of them are renovated (probably it's the same ones which used to run in Kyiv-Berlin train) but only the only your preference is not no be waken (but not come to Bratislava faster). Perhaps it makes sense to mention that by "faster" you mean getting off in Uzghorod and taking a bus to Slovakia, right?
118
« on: August 23, 2015, 07:54:04 pm »
As far as we know, in Ukraine with international seat/bed reservation you simply can't get domestic ticket, it needs to be also international. If you want to save on leg from Lviv to the Chop, then easiest way to do so would be just go with standard UZ domestic ticket+reservation (which is printed on one ticket sheet) Lviv-Chop for the train №99 (Kyiv-Bratislava carriage goes with it). It will cost you 120-130 UAH depending on the day of departure. In case you want to get a bit more sleep and don't wonder around Chop station for 2+ hours, you can always travel pendulum style - meaning purchase ticket till Uzghorod, it will allow you to sleep through Chop and get off an hour later, while from Uzghorod you can back to Chop with local train/bus exactly on time for Chop-Cierna train. As I was searching through the Ukrainian Railways website, it seem I can buy only tickets with reservation to the Lviv-Chop train and I am not sure if this will be valid in combination with the sleeper reservation. All the Ukrainian domestic tickets for long-distance train (either sold at ticket counter or via booking.uz.gov.ua) are all with bed reservation, carriage attendant of the Kyiv-Bratislava carriage won't allow you to board his wagon if you give him the ticket for some other wagon in train №99 I can buy the international ticket only for Chop-Cierna nad Tisou (2 Eur) There is a minor ticket price disparity here, so buying Chop-Cierna ticket in Chop cost a bit more than Cierna-Chop in Cierna. It happens due to different price for Slovak leg & UZ commission
119
« on: August 20, 2015, 07:32:00 am »
In case you know where to go (meaning a bit familiar with the station where you make the change or at least checked station plan/photos), then probably yes. 8 min. change time is more or less usual thing. Plus in case earlier train is late and you can't catch the next train, then you can always get a stamp from conductor/station desk about delay with a train, which will allow you to take later trains. Btw, you didn't mention the date, but we might suggest you to check also German Railways (DB) website, London-Spezial offer from them might get you a better price, meaning you can get two discounted tickets - Austria-Germany & Germany-London. If not, then check DB website at least for the number of platforms (usually they list it in the schedule), this way you will have an idea where your next train will be in advance
120
« on: August 14, 2015, 09:31:44 pm »
Eurail Global pass would be a rip off in your case, because point-to-point tickets would be much cheaper. Just take a look at some fares: Istanbul to Bulgaria: Istanbul to Sofia ticket costs 20 euro, Istanbul to Plovdiv 16 euro. Train tickets within Bulgaria are also very cheap, so Eurail pass is useless there as well. Bulgaria to Romania: Sofia to Bucharest standard fare is about 30 euro. Bucharest to Brasov (?) is from 25 (app. 5,6 euro) to 50 RON (app. 11,2) depending on train. Brasov to Belgrade would cost you about 25 euro, while Belgrade to Budapest is just 15 euro. Budapest to Bratislava is 17,5 (or even cheaper in case you ok traveling with change), Bratislava to Vienna is 14 euro by train or half that by bus. Vienna to Liechtenstein is perhaps the first leg in your entire itinerary where you should think about buying you ticket in advance, that way you can count on very good price, because discounted tickets start from only 29 euro and can be easily bought via Austrian Railways (OeBB) website. From Liechtenstein to Switzerland you can actually just walk on foot, but if you mean journeys like Vaduz-Zurich/other destination in Switzerland, then it's also possible to do it rather cheaply by means of taking bus to Swiss stations (Buchs or Sargans and then using SBB SuperSaver ticket, e.g. Sargans to Zurich costs 16 CHF). For Switzerland to Slovenia you can get cheap spar ticket for the overnight train Zurich-Ljubljana (start from only 29 euro), although again makes sense to purchase this ticket in advance via Swiss Railways (SBB) website, because such tickets are sold in limited number per departure. Ljubljana to Zagreb is 16,4 euro and no need to buy in advance, it's standard price. Zagreb to Sarajevo is about 30 euro. From Bosnia to Serbia there are no trains currently, so you will have to use a bus or travel back to Eastern Croatia in order to catch train to Serbia (btw, you can also easily catch a bus from Sarajevo to Croatian/Montenegro seacoast, thus avoiding second journey to Serbia at all). Serbia to Kosovo: again no rail connection, only bus. Same goes for Kosovo to Montenegro and Montenegro to Albania. You can only count on trains within Albania. Albania to Istanbul is tricky, you can either travel via Macedonia & Bulgaria (with train on some parts in Macedonia & Bulgaria) or travel via Greece (with domestic train there, but no rail connection across the borders). So, as you can see yourself, most of the point-to-point tickets aren't very expensive and total sum would be far less than the one you would pay for 2 month global pass. And the best thing is that basically there is just 2-3 legs (unless you plan extensive travels within Switzerland) where you need to think about buying your train tickets, while in the rest of the cases you can simply buy your tickets before departure.
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