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76
« on: September 18, 2016, 04:34:50 pm »
We are actually planning go to Lubeck for the day from Hamburg and I was going to get the Schleswig-Holstein Ticket you recommend on your web site. I assume I can buy it on the day from Hamburg Hbf or can I get it from the local Hamburg train station (four stops I think) and use it domestically to and from the main station? Or should I buy in advance online? You can get German LanderTickets from any ticket machine in the region. Possible to buy it at the ticket counter, but then you'll be charged extra 2 euro. Absolutely no need to buy in advance, since those tickets can't get sold out and the price is always the same. Does this ticket differ from the nah.sh web site tickets? I'm a little confused I think.... Ha... in Germany there is a bit tricky situation, since besides big statewide rail company there is also dozens smaller regional transport associations. These associations not only respect DB tickets, but might have there own local integrated tariffs (meaning ones that include all types of transport in the region of this or that association). Schleswig-Holstein's story is exactly like this and the website you've mentioned indeed help passengers navigate local tariffs (but DB as well mentions it - https://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/offers/national/regional/sh-tarif.shtml ). But the best part is that ticket machines (or ticket cashiers), depending on your route will sell you cheapest option (it can be under SH tariff, or DB, or whatever else), so in fact you don't need to worry about overpaying - system will offer you best option depending on route/number of people/day of the week, etc. We are travelling on from Hamburg to Amsterdam for three days then staying one night in Rotterdam before taking the night ferry from Hoek van Holland to Harwich for a new experience! Any tips and tricks along the way please? Story with Hamburg to Amsterdam is rather banal, you should probably just go with DB discounted ticket (so-called Sparpreis Europa) bought in advance using DB website. In Netherlands (e.g. Amsterdam to Rotterdam) you kind of need to be a local to enjoy cheaper travels by train, while for foreigner on short trip it's more or less about straight forward one-way ticket with standard tariff.
77
« on: September 18, 2016, 04:04:12 pm »
I can't believe the difference in price splitting the Gdansk route to the border. Well, ticket "break" via the border is one of the oldest tricks to save money, since when we speak about standard full-fare tariffs, then domestic rail tariffs in that part of Europe is much cheaper than international cross-border tariffs. So I'll get two domestic tickets (PKP) and the one through ticket from Frankfurt (O) to Hamburg (DB). Gdansk-Poznan is domestic PKP (you buy it from PKP), Poznan-Frankfurt (Oder) is international, since Fra. is already in Germany (you can buy either from DB or PKP, online or ticket counter before departure... doesn't matter, since in this case price will be the same) and finally Fra.(O)-Hamburg is domestic DB. Ideally ticket "break" in this case should probably look like Gdansk-Rzepin (last Polish station), then cheap local train/bus to Slubice (polish town across the river from Frankfurt), walk from Poland to Germany over the bridge and then domestic German train to a place you need. However doing it around noon mean losing couple hours (=later arrival to Hamburg), so that is why paying those 10+ euro for Poznan (or Rzepin)-Frankfurt (O) leg is inescapable. I've just realised that I can't stay on the EC54 at Frankfurt (O). Well not according to DB. So I may still have the problem of connecting, but this time at Frankfurt (O) where we'd arrive at 12:15. DB show 12:57 RE18122 dep Frankfurt (O) arr Berlin 14:09 following on with ICE800 dep 14:23 for Hamburg. That is already tricks DB website plays with you. The thing is that it searches fastest possible connection, thus offers you 12:57 departure, since, as search engine thinks, it saves you long change in Berlin. In case you want to use EC54, then you need a minor manipulation - in "More means of transport" section simply uncheck all the transport types beside EC/IC & ICE -  and then you'll get what you want - 
78
« on: September 18, 2016, 12:15:25 pm »
And yes, depart early morning to arr in afternoon. One interesting and very cheap, especially for more than one traveler, option I can think off is to avoid Berlin at all. Instead go more direct (geographically) route: Gdansk to Szczecin, then Szczecin-Bützow railway to Lubeck and finally to Hamburg with arrival more or less the same time as via Berlin. Gdansk to Szczecin ticket for the morning TLK cost 45,5 PLN (with discount for early purchase) or 91 for two. While leg from Szczecin to Hamburg you can cover with German regional (lander) ticket, thus, in case it's two passengers, making it <30 euro person for the entire trip + flexibility on German part (=no need to purchase anything in advance and possibility to make stops somewhere in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). If it's more then two passengers, then per passenger price will be even lower Another option, which will "secure" your change in Berlin is to go with combination of tickets, thus not Gdansk-Berlin (bought form PKP) & Berlin-Hamburg (bought from DB), but slightly more nuanced version: first you buy Polish domestic Gdansk-Poznan for the very same EC54 (now with superpromo in advance discount it's 49 PLN or 11,3 euro), then Poznan-Frankfurt (Oder) for 52 PLN (12 euro) for the same EC54 and finally Frankfurt (O) to Hamburg with change to Berlin with arrival to Hamburg with ICE 800 at 16:21 (29 euro per person or 48 for two), which is DB domestic, thus print-at-home e-ticket. This way it will be DB responsible for the change in Berlin, and in case train from Frank.(O) will be late, then you can always catch next ICE to Hamburg with a DB stamp on your ticket.
79
« on: September 18, 2016, 10:56:46 am »
Hi, Dee. Welcome to the forum! ...but even then it gave me no option but to choose seat. only then on the 2rd step it let me choose sleeper. As a guess, they simply struggled with correct translations to eng, thus you first choose seat (as place on a particular train) and only then seat (as seat in seating carriage) or sleeper as a type of this place. now i have chosen seat 51 as that is what was available. can somone please help me, will this definatley be a sleeper or not? Yep, definitely. It's a lower bed in 3 bed compartment. First digit signifies compartment number within the carriage (thus you have compartment #5), while second number - particular bed in this compartment (in your case 1 means lower berth) is it better to book online like this? or is it better to do it at the station? Well, Bulgarian Railways (BDZ) started online ticket sale very recently, it's still a pilot project with limited number of trains for which you can purchase your ticket online. Also it seems that there is only certain quota of seats/beds for sale online (hence they warn you what "Contingent of seats" is available), while the rest you can buy more usual way - at the ticket counter. As far as we know, during off-peak season it's not a problem to purchase ticket even on the day of the journey (thus you can wait and buy your ticket already in Bulgaria via ticket counter), but for the summer season online in advance purchase might come very handy and if i do book online how am i able to collect my ticket? will it be from the station? It's a e-ticket, thus you print it yourself. BDZ even on the website states that after you pay, "print the electronic tickets and have them with you when traveling", so you won't need to worry about collecting/printing them elsewhere
80
« on: September 17, 2016, 02:51:54 pm »
I tried to book tickets online from Gdansk to Hamburg via the De Bahn web site but found that they can only post out international tickets. Yep, there is this issue with certain journeys starting abroad. It usually has to do with verification of tickets bought online by conductors from a different country I can buy separate tickets online ie Gdansk to Berlin (PKP) EIC54 07:28 arr 13:43, and Berlin to Hamburg (DB) ICE 14:23 arr 16:21 (as shown on the DB website) for the same total price. If I'm booking tickets with different companies and there is a holdup on the first leg of the journey, can I assume that our tickets for the second section won't be valid if we miss our connection? Well, it depends on the ticket type. If, as I assume, it's a discounted ticket with fixed train (so-called zugbindung), then yes, DB won't recognize delay on your previous leg in case you have separate ticket from PKP for that first leg Do you think that I should book a later Berlin-Hamburg train ie leaving at 15:06 giving me a connection time of 1hr 23min (rather than 40mins) or am I being overly cautious? Difficult to say, since it can be not only rail company matters, but weather, border checks, etc. But in general I would say that >40 min. delay of the "flagship" train like EIC54 is highly unlikely. Btw, you can check current delays of the same train and at least have some statistics on the matter I understand that I could buy the second tickets when I get to Berlin but at an extra cost. The extra cost can be more than twice (if compared 29 euro discounted ticket bought in advance to 78 euro one flexpreis bought before departure), so ouch... I've tried other ticketing arrangements, to the border etc, but I still end up with the connection in Berlin. Hmm, maybe you can give us the date, so that we can take a fresh look? Time interval is morning departure and afternoon arrival, right?
81
« on: July 21, 2016, 04:54:23 pm »
Just one followup question - if I buy a round ticket for 28,50 euro (or 36,5 euro), can I catch the 6:30am train for Budapest - Kosice, and catch ANY later train to Poprad? Yep, as far as it's Slovak railways (ZSSK) train and not one of the private rail companies (e.g. RegioJet or LeoExpress) Also, any idea about the Kosice-Poprad (2,6-5,30 euro) ticket if I buy one online on the Slovak Rail website? Would I be tied to the train I buy it for, or can I use it on any train too? Well, here the answer depends on the rail company. Originally when online ticket sales were introduced by Slovak Railways (ZSSK) tickets were bound to the specific train, but already for quite some time this limitation was lifted, thus nowadays you can use tickets bought online on ZSSK website on any train during ticket validity period (=entire day). Official wording is "your ticket is valid on the selected train, but you can use it also on any next train on the same route within the time of validity". Story with private companies - RegioJet & LeoExpress - is different, here tickets are tied to specific train & date, but at the same time those companies offer cheaper fares (e.g. RegioJet selling tickets for as low as 2,6 euro for adult passengers) which aren't regulated by ZSSK ticket fare scale
82
« on: July 21, 2016, 12:43:29 pm »
However, when I search one-way on www.mavcsoport.hu/en I don't find a train. Interestingly, if I try to book a return ticket, it shows a train for Eu20! Yep, selling return (but not one-way) is in fact a feature of Hungarian Railways (MAV) website with certain type of tickets. One of the reasons here is that due to agreement between Hungarian and Slovak railway companies return tickets between the countries are sold with 60% discount, thus although it might sound weird, buying return ticket de-facto cheaper than purchasing one way ticket. (a) Does Eu20 sound reasonable for a one-way journey? Well, first of all return Budapest-Poprad via Kosice is 28,50 euro (or 36,5 euro if you want to be valid on local trips around Poprad). You probably got 20 euro per person when you entered all the passengers, right? Children <12 pay only 50%. But in general "reasonability" depends on what you compare it to  If with Western Europe, then paying 20 euro for >370km trip is very good offer, especially taking into consideration conditions on which this type of tickets are sold (see below), but if you compare it to Eastern Europe (e.g. Ukraine or Belarus) buying 20 euro ticket for 370km journey is kind of expensive. Slovak domestic tariff for the similar distance is about 16 euro per adult passenger, Hungarian - from 6000 to 7000 HUF (depending on whether you use Intercity trains or not) (b) Are these discounted fares, or can I buy a one-way ticket (for approximately this price) in person after I reach Budapest? It is a kind of special offer, however best thing about it is that price is always the same no matter when you buy it or whether online or MAV ticket counter, so one can purchase such ticket even before departure. So probably makes sense to buy it already when you in Hungary, no need to bother with somewhat tricky Hungarian Railways website (c) If it is better to book ahead, is it safe to book a round ticket though I plan to travel only one way? Or will there be a problem? As was mentioned earlier, in this particular case buying return is actually cheaper than buying one-way. And there is absolutely no reason why you can't do it. You don't break any rules or anything, it's your choice not to use part of the ticket. (d) The train shown is Budapest - Kosice - Poprad with an 8min connection time. Since I am traveling with children and luggage, I am not sure if this will suffice. Is there any way I can search with a longer connection time? OR should I book two tickets, one Budapest - Kosice on www.mavcsoport.hu/en and a later train for Kosice - Poprad on the Slovak Train site? Well, you certainly can purchase tickets separately (Budapest-Kosice is 20 euro per adult or cheaper if you count children, while Kosice-Poprad is 2,6-5,30 euro per adult passenger or, again, cheaper if you count children). However train ticket you would buy in Hungary won't be bound to any specific train, thus you can even spend couple days in Kosice and only then travel to Poprad, ticket validity period here is 1 months
83
« on: July 02, 2016, 09:37:48 pm »
I will try in Bratislava for a reservation but I don't think it will be possible. If there is no extra hassle or much lost time, then why not to ask I have a feeling they don't even sell only tickets in Serbia anyway for the Belgrade - Bar line and it must be ticket and compulsory reservation together. It's 100% that you can purchase only ticket, since it's not global price tariff. Even if cashier asks you can always show already bought reservation. Problems usually happen other way around, because in some countries it's tricky/impossible to purchase sleeper reservation without buying (or showing already bought) ticket
84
« on: July 01, 2016, 09:48:50 pm »
Sorry for late reply, kind of on the road right now I will be in Budapest about 2 weeks before I take the train - can I buy a single ticket there do you think? Any idea of price for sleeper of couchette? Yes, however ticket fare when bought in Hungary will be couple times higher compared to the same Podgorica-Subotica ticket bought in Serbia or Montenegro (should be about 25 euro there). Perhaps makes sense to ask for couchette/sleeper reservation only (9,40 euro for 6 bed couchette, 15,40 euro for 3 bed sleeper or 23,10 euro for double sleeper) and then just purchase ticket part when you already in Montenegro Can I buy single ticket Podgorica - Novi Sad from the station in Belgrade? Or do I need to wait and buy it in Montenegro (risky, I think) Sure, in Belgrade (or any other Serbian station) you would easily buy such ticket. Sleeper reservations in Serbian carriages cost 6 euro (6 bed couchette), 15 euro (3 bed sleeper) or 20 euro (double sleeper) In not then plan C is... well that's something to think about Well, as was said above, might make sense to ensure purchase of reservation and don't worry about ticket part until you get to SRB/MNT. Or, if those Hungarian carriages are in EPA system, then you don't even need to hunt for it in Hungary, but try buying it elsewhere with access (e.g. Slovakia), no guarantees here, but worth a try
85
« on: May 31, 2016, 10:12:49 pm »
Do you have any idea where/how to book a ticket? About ticket purchase for the Russian carriages MAV on their website says: "Hálókocsi-foglalások mind odaútra, mind visszaútra kiadhatók az EPA-rendszerből!", however recently it was reported that there had been some troublesMaybe also special codes for issuing such tickets will help (took it from MAV itself)  Is it possible to buy a ticket from the provodnik on board? Many years ago I travelled from Budapest to Venice in the RZD sleeper paying the provodnik on board. I did have a ticket though because that time it was not a global fare yet Hmm...good question. Trouble with Russians is that even if it might not be possible de-jure, it can still be possible de-facto (=paying provodnik "unofficially"). Just searched for the docs regulating it, but no success. Anyhow, if we would try to guess, chances of buying it officially are slim
86
« on: May 05, 2016, 08:57:47 pm »
- possible in a Budapest train station to buy a sparnight ticket Budapest-Sofia (via Vidin) eg. 12 hours before train departure? No, even for two different reasons: a) sparnight tickets from Budapest to Sofia (unlike other spar spar ticket from Budapest) can be sold at least 3 days before departure & b) since there is limited number of tickets per each departure, almost definitely cheap sparnights will be sold out earlier The Wasteels in Prague is not an solution, because according to czech train web forum it ceases its operations in CZ . Maybe Wasteels in Hungary, I will try it. Yep, meant Hungarian Wasteels, at least it make sense to try emailing them about it. Czech Wasteels, even if it was working, wouldn't help with HU-BG sparnight - or better solution: use a Balkan Pass for just a 5 days, as you mentioned? I thought that this pass validity expires given count of days from the first day of use (and I must be in Varna for given 4 nights), is this wrong? No, no, it is not continuous, but X number of travel days during one month validity period. And even 7pm rule works If is, where is the best point to buy this pass? In Romania, or using Wasteels in Hungary? Hungarian Wasteels won't be able to sell it, you can purchase real Balkan flexi pass only in participating countries (i.e. Romania, Bulgaria, etc.). If you are going with Budapest-Craivoa-Sofia route, then most logical place to purchase it probably would be Timisoara. With such plan you can purchase discounted ticket Budapest-Timisoara via MAV website (15 euro) for the 'Traianus' train dep. 7:10 (those couple Sofia carriages are traveling with this train), then, when you already in Budapest, at the ticket counter purchase couchette/sleeper reservation all the way to Sofia, while during the stop in Timisoara buy your Balkan pass and come back to the train with which you came.
87
« on: May 05, 2016, 05:13:33 pm »
As I found, there is direct RZD sleeper between CZ (Ostrava, Breclav) to Varna via Beograd for a reasonable price. Well, with RZD Ostrava-Varna will be at least 128 euro - possibility to book this sleeper in advance without going to Russia or Bulgaria or paying huge extra fees. Did you try regular CD ticket counter? Since it's "global price" ticket should be relatively easy to purchase, no need to calculate anything, CD definitely have the whole fare table. There might be snag with BG-CZ, but with CZ-BG everything should be fine. Then you just reverse the sequence - travel to Bulgaria using RZD carriage, while get back via Vidin-Romania using sparnight Sofia-Budapest (bought on the way there either in Hungary or Sofia). If I were you I would even ask CD counter for HU-BG for RZD carriage, this way you can make a stop in Budapest already on the way there + pay a little less (Budapest-Varna with RZD is 85 euro) What I found, is, that i'm able to buy spare ticket to Budapest from CZ, than, using elvira, online spare ticket to Romania. True, you can get online via MAV website fortuna ticket Budapest-Craiova for only 19 euro, however MAV also offers discounted sparnights Budapest-Sofia (seats 29 euro, couchette 39 euro & 54 euro sleeper), which is definitely a better deal than fortuna Bud.-Craiova + full fare Craiova-Sofia. The only nuance is that sparnights Budapest-Sofia can't be purchase online via MAV website, but you can probably try buying such ticket for instance from Wasteels while staying in CZ or maybe you have some friends who can visit MAV counter and purchase sparnight Bud.-Sofia for you Using my calculations, Balkan Pass is not an option, especially if using RZD sleeper, where it not applies. Even if I not use the RZD coach, but standard coaches of given railways, the Balkan Pass (for 10 days) is, according what I found, not the cheapest option, because it not applies in Hungary. Do you really need 10 travel days? HU/RO border-Sofia-Varna it's 2 travel days (in case you don't stop in Sofia) or 3 days (in case you stop in Sofia), same for Varna-Sofia-SRB/HU border, so you can manage with 5 or max. 7 travel days
88
« on: May 05, 2016, 02:14:37 pm »
Is there a possibility to buy RZD sleeper place & ticket from Bulgaria to Czech Republic (the coach goes, according to rzd website, through Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia) on Bulgarian railway station? Yep, don't see why not. However it will be rather pricey, since it's "global price" fare (e.g. Sofia to Ostrava should be 101,60 euro), much cheaper will be to travel with ZS/BDZ/MAV carriages in trains to which those RZD carriages are attached
89
« on: May 05, 2016, 01:50:40 pm »
So it is possible without problems to get out from the train in Craiova or Timisoara Nord, buy the next ticket (together with couchette or sleeper reservation) and get in the same train before it departures? Yes, but are you sure you need this type of ticket combination? If you are coming from Hungary or north-west Romania perhaps there is more reasonable ticket option (e.g. sparnight all the way to Sofia or Balkan flexi pass).
90
« on: May 04, 2016, 07:32:36 pm »
I found a train between Budapest and Sofia via Craiova: Int 481. It's not really an entire train, but just couple (2-3) so-called through carriages which get reattached from one train to another couple times along the way. For example reattachment is the reason why it shows 25 min. stop in Craiova - Budapest-Sofia carriages get "unhooked" from Budapest-Bucharest train Is there a possibility to buy a ticket in Craiova for a way Craiova -> Sofia? The train stops here for 25 minutes (or in Timisoara Nord for another 30 minutes)?
Somewhere I read that tickets for international trains in Romania must be issued at least 2 hours before train departure. Is it true? No, usual time limit is something like 5-10 min. before departure (depending on station), but 2 hours it's a fantasy. Maybe on some minor stations where ticket desk working hours are only couple hours during the day you can encounter a situation when before certain departure ticket desk will be simply closed, but it's a different issue which shouldn't really concern you (Craiova is a major station and ticket desk will be surely open around 7pm) If is, is there some way how to buy a ticket in advance from abroad (without huge extra pays)? No, Romanian Railways (CFR) still doesn't offer a possibility to purchase international tickets online via cfr website, but in case of Craiova-Sofia that big of a problem, since route is not very popular, thus hardly there will be a situation when all the tickets are sold out. Ticket fare is also the same no matter when you buy (as far as you do it in Romania/Bulgaria) - about 20 euro for the ticket + couchette (from 9,40 euro) or during the summer sleeper (from 16,50 euro) reservation
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