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301
« on: May 27, 2013, 02:13:58 pm »
Is it possible to buy the Balkan Pass out of the Balkan countries? (2nd class) No, at least as far as we know. Outside of participating countries only 1st class Balkan pass is sold by Rail Europe and it's obviously rather useless thing I think there is a Wasteels office at the Budapest Keleti station. Can they sell it there? Really doubt that they can, since they have nothing to do with agreement between Balkan countries railway companies There is usually not enough time in Subotica to get out of the train and buy it there so I'd have to buy the ticket all the way to Belgrade (whereas I could use the Pass already on Subotica-Belgrade) Well, you are not the first one to have this problem  Had similar problem few years ago and the solution found was simply to enter Serbia from Szeged, thus either by train (via Röszke) or by multiple direct buses Szeged-Subotica, that way it's possible to be in Subotica earlier and have time before "Avala" or seasonal overnighter Subotica-Bar. If not via Szeged, then same idea can be realized with train Budapest-Kelebia and then on foot border crossing (Tompa), while local buses (to Subotica) from the Serbian side depart almost from the border check point, so at least on the Serbian side there will be no need to walk far
302
« on: May 27, 2013, 02:02:17 pm »
Well, you have a variety of options here, so it's even difficult to list all of them, but we can try:
a) bus/train from Athens to Patras, then ferry to Italy (Bari) and another ferry from there to Dubrovnik, same idea can be realized with Split as well. The whole journey will be a bit slow, but pretty nice due to ferry rides in Ionian & Adriatic seas
b) shortest route by land will be to go via Albania. There is plenty of buses from Athens to almost any town in Albania (also flights Athen-Tirana being available), so it's not a problem to catch one of them, for instance to Shkoder or Tirana (if you want to stop & see the capital), while then just get one of the buses from Shkoder to Montenegro (Ulcinj) and then another bus along the cost to Kotor/Herceg Novi and from there you can already catch direct buses to Dubrovnik
c) longer route, but avoiding Albania, would be to take a train from Athen to Thessaloniki, then bus to Skopje and then either direct bus to Montenegro or go by rail via Serbia
d) as well it is possible to travel by air, either directly to Dubrovnik or at least to get a flight from Athens to some place relatively close to Dubrovnik/Split. This way journey won't be cheap, but much faster than going just by land or sea
So we suggest you to take a look at all these different options, see what might be interesting for you and then we can expand & give more details for the option you prefer
303
« on: May 27, 2013, 01:32:40 pm »
So if I have it correct we can get the 7h28 IDTVG2967 or 7h28 TVG8531 departing same place going to same place but different trains or theTVG8533 at 1028 then get off at Bayonne & having brought travel onto Lourdes. Well, at the moment & judging from SNCF website your choices are  As you can see only 6:28 train is the direct one, while all other options require one or two changes How do you know what time the train gets into Bayonne to buy the leg to Lourdes and how much time would you need to transfer. If you scroll down on the same page you would be able to see the exact schedule for all the connections. In this particular case Paris-Bayonne is 10:28-15:32, while Bayonne-Lourdes is 16:03-17:40, totally enough time to change trains. And no need to buy ticket for the second leg from Bayonne to Lourdes, since you can simply buy one through ticket Paris-Bayonne-Lourdes with the predefined train change One last question is there any way to change your seats I not sure I got it right when I brought another ticket As far as we know, you can't change seats on your booked tickets, especially when it's discounted tickets. However nobody forbids you simply take any free seat once you already on the train. If the train isn't full, then conductor won't mind that you've taken different seats from the ones listed in your ticket 
304
« on: May 26, 2013, 07:03:30 pm »
Previously when I've check there was a train departing at 1028 (TGV8573). Apparently French Railways decided to make some changes, so now at 10:28 departs TGV 8533 to Hendaye (via Bayonne), while for passengers traveling to Lourdes company proposes to use this train until Bayonne and make a change there for the local train Bayonne-Lourdes-Toulouse. Obviously it's not very convenient, but waiting time in Bayonne is just half and hour, plus discounted Prem's tickets are still offered for the whole route Paris-Lourdes (although for direct TGV trains Prem's tickets are cheaper and start from only 25 euro) Also www.tgv-europe.com takes you to en.voyages-snfc or am I doing that wrong. That is ok, it's just French Railways (SNCF) finally managed to introduce fully working English version of their official website
305
« on: May 22, 2013, 12:24:32 pm »
I got this one late in the evening: 22:57 (departure) 08:50 (arrival) Budapest-Keleti 1 10:53
Am I doing a wrong research on MAV website? There are plenty of trains Budapest-Cluj-Budapest (and inverse) if you search from Budapest to Cluj Napoca. Ok, now it's clear what you meant. The problem here is that MAV website (elvira) shows not only direct connections (like the one that were mentioned above - 15:01 & 2:21am), but also ones with changes and this particular one that you mention 22:57-8:50 is among those. Number 1 in column Changes (Chg.) points that you need to make a change in Alba Iulia, thus Cluj-Napoca to Alba Iulia (22:57-1:10am) and then Alba Iulia to Budapest (1:17am-8:50). First reason against it is that change time in Alba Iulia is only 7 minutes, which is quite risky in terms of Central/Southern Europe, any short delay and you will miss your next train. And second, even more important reason, is that such option via Alba Iulia presupposes totally different route to Budapest, so your "excursion ticket" will not be valid, it works only for most direct route Cluj-Alesd-Oradea-Biharkeresztes, but not longer route Alba Iulia-Deva-Arad
306
« on: May 22, 2013, 12:03:35 am »
I am not sure I understand this. As I understand it, the train from Figueres at that time must be an AVE100 given that it takes only an hour to get to Barcelona? In which case, why are they only selling tickets for a single class? Well, weird thing here is that Renfe website lists two trains with similar departure (and travel) time, one is AVE, while the other one is Avant (for this one you can see the price), it's different train types and obviously can't run both. So maybe that's the problem in this case, including issue of preferente/turista classes. Who knows might be that Renfe doesn't yet not which train type exactly will run? Or it's some strange ticket sale differentiation, for instance locals buy tickets for Avant, while for transit passengers from France further service goes as AVE etc., it can be literally any explanation here. Anyway, in your position we wouldn't worry much yet (especially about ticket purchase like right now), it's still plenty of time and pretty sure eventually Renfe (or Renfe & SNCF) will figure out the whole thing and it will be possible to get necessary ticket for that small leg from Figueres to Barcelona
307
« on: May 21, 2013, 12:21:44 am »
I'm willing to go during the day and comeback to Budapest on the 22h47 train, which means a long night journey. Is it possible to buy a normal excursion ticket and ask for a couchette or a sleeping carriage for the back trip, paying a fee for it? How much would it cost? Yes, as far as we know, it's not a problem to use "Excursion" ticket for the overnight trains (obviously as far as it's still 2nd class trip, thus in 6 or 4 berth couchette, 3 or 2 bed sleeper, but not single sleeper for which 1st. class ticket is required). However maybe we misunderstood you, but there is no decent overnight train from Cluj-Napoca to Budapest, among the direct trains there is one in the evening (15:01-21:20) and then in the middle of the night (2:21am-9:05am), what did you mean by 22h47 train?
308
« on: May 19, 2013, 02:04:54 pm »
Do I understand you correctly that a physical adult may buy two berths in his name, but that a physical child may not? Yes, at least we read about problems with buying two tickets in the name of one child (at the ticket counter it's simply impossible, since there you'll have to present documents for all the children, while online at RZD website this possibility apparently blocked (though we didn't check it ourselves)). Guess the point behind all these is that RZD doesn't care as far as someone pays full fare for a the "unused" ticket, but at the same time they don't want to loose profit with "smarty pants" passengers buying multiple child tickets instead of full fare ones. "Inventing" a child with fictional name option also doesn't really make sense, since then you have even less "rights" compared to the case with potential two tickets on one name of the reall passenger, and again only hope with such option is that there will be no need to present such ticket to anybody, thus relying on the premise that Russian conductor won't try to accommodate anybody in your compartment Do you see any difference in booking the fourth berth in the same booking as the other three or make a separate booking? Nope, doesn't really change anything One idea is to save some costs by just buying the fourth berth for some overnight parts. Well, this trick works on some shorter routes where you can simply buy short distance ticket for some overnight part and basically have good chances that nobody will bother you for the rest of the journey. But with really long journeys it's simply impossible to know what's the "weak" portion are, thus ones for which it's better to play it safe and buy a ticket, you won't buy six different tickets for all six overnight legs, won't you?
309
« on: May 19, 2013, 01:05:51 pm »
Well, first of all it is better to book additional ticket on the name of the passenger who is actually traveling, so in your case you (or your child*). That way if some issue would arise you would have a solid position, because even in the RZD rules (it's question-answer, but in the answer RZD official gives a reference to the particular article regulating the issue) it's officially written that passengers can buy out the whole compartment on the bases of full ticket issued on the name of the one of the passengers traveling, no problem that two tickets will be issued on the name of the same passenger. *Regarding child ticket it's a bit more tricky. Obviously buying child ticket is cheaper, however than you basically don't follow the rules, thus if for some reason carriage conductor will decide to accommodate some outsider in your compartment (usually passenger without a ticket who "bribes" the conductor for a short ride, in Russia it still happens sometimes), then you will end up in a rather delicate situation - from one side conductor in such cases operates on illegal grounds, but on the other side you can't really present your additional child ticket (in order to prove that the bed in your compartment can't be taken by anybody) because you also in a way bypass the rules and purchased cheaper child ticket instead of full fare adult one. Although you also might get lucky and travel the whole route without a need to show anybody your fourth "child" ticket. So at the end child ticket is a bit of a risk, justified or not - it's already your choice. Besides the above issue with child tickets we also heard that some passengers had trouble booking two child tickets on one name/document, RZD website simply didn't allow that. Not sure if it's still an issue, but it might be and then you basically left with the only choice of getting full fare ticket.
310
« on: May 16, 2013, 01:29:08 am »
Well, it's a difficult decision, especially when there is no clear or definite info from the railways... Probably safer will be to buy tickets till Figueres now, especially if the price is good enough for you (imho, 79 euro for the 1st class ticket for July 9 dep.14:07 is rather good offer), because waiting for something that might not happen... hmm... you can end up with more expensive tickets and still just Figueres, it's summer and peak season, thus taking risks might be not the best choice. However if you do decide to buy such 79 euro TGV Prem's offer tickets, then you should remember that you'll be basically "stuck" with only this particular train and date, because tickets under such offer cannot be exchanged and is non-refundable What will happen if they decide to introduce the straight through train to Barcelona in the time between now and when I make my journey, what would I do? Well, there is more or less the only solution - try to purchase tickets for the remaining part. Here even full fare standard tickets isn't that extremely expensive I had a look on the RENFE website. They don't have any tickets on sale for Figueres - Barcelona just yet Are you sure? Just checked it and for July 9 Renfe website does show Avant train #34212 dep. 19:55 (thus 15 min. after arrival of the train from Paris) & gives the price (20,2 euro) along with allowing to proceed with booking
312
« on: May 14, 2013, 09:16:50 pm »
So in consensus it sounds much cheaper to do point to point. Well, in Central Europe & Balkans you hardly can find any itinerary where pass will beat point-to-point tickets, obviously unless you plan to ride trains all the time I think we're just terrified we'll get there and every ticket will end up costing us 50 euros+ and we will get scammed because it's obvious we are tourists! In your case it will be good idea to get some tickets in advance (like Berlin to Prague and Prague to Krakow or Berlin to Krakow), that way you get to save quite a lot, but with all others price doesn't really change depending on time of purchase, so, as far as you purchase tickets from official tickets counter at train stations, you won't be scammed or pay more than 50 euro for anything We would be looking to go to Poprad in the Tatras if that makes it any easier and I think that's a fairly major station. I'm sure that'd be quite easy to get to? Poprad... then definitely would recommend to do Berlin-Prague-Krakow-Poprad-Budapest etc.. Krakow to Poprad is easy, cheap, quite scenic and required only one change - just take a train or bus from Krakow to Zakopane (also a famous resort), will cost you 20-30 PLN, while from Zakopane to Poprad there are a few direct buses, ticket is 5 euro. With Poprad to Budapest easiest option will be to catch train to Kosice (a nice town for half a day or a day) and then direct train from Kosice to Budapest (there is one in the morning and one in the evening), also can do the same trick by going Poprad-Bratislava & Bratislava-Budapest. And definitely you can do Poprad to Budapest with even more adventures and stops in Slovakia, but then you should be prepared to change trains/buses and spend a bit more time
313
« on: May 14, 2013, 08:53:22 pm »
1. Do I need to buy the excursion ticket in advance? No, Kirándulójegy (or so-called "Excursion") tickets aren't the type of tickets that get sold out, there is no limit per train or day, so you can easily buy it already in Budapest. However Hungarian Railways (MAV) also allows to purchase it via MAV Ticket Shop, so if you want, then you can buy it even right now (although remember that on MAV website such "Excursion" ticket will be with two additional seat reservations 3 euro each, meaning that total price will be 31+3+3 or 37 euro) 2. Does this ticket allow me to travel e.g. from Brasov-Sibiu or in other routes during my stay in Romania till I get back to Budapest? Or is it only a go-return ticket from Budapest-Cluj Napoca and from Cluj Napoca to Budapest? I'm asking this because I want to go to Oradea before returning to Budapest, which means I'm not doing a direct journey Cluj-Napoca/ Budapest. Well, first of all Brasov and Sibiu are much further inside Romania than Cluj, so there is no way how ticket till Cluj-Napoca can cover journeys there. Second, MAV "Excursion" tickets doesn't allow stopovers on the way, so when using it you won't be able to "break" your journeys. Although instead you can: a) simply buy "Excursion" ticket Budapest-Oradea (Nagyvard in Hungarian), it's also offered by Hungarian Railways and cost just 21 euro, while for all the trips inside Romania you can simply get domestic Romanian tickets; b) get Excursion ticket Budapest-Cluj-Budapest, but on the way back board the train in Oradea (again for all the trips in Romania including Cluj to Oradea you just buy domestic Romanian tickets); c) you can as well get full fare standard ticket Budapest-Cluj-Budapest, it cost 50 euro, but allows as many stopovers as you want (obviously as far as you don't travel any part more than twice) Or, as a totally different approach and if your plans allow it, for the the trip there you can buy in advance via MAV website discounted (offer "Fortuna") ticket from Budapest to Brasov (start from only 19 euro), then gradually travel back west (via Sibiu-Cluj) using Romanian domestic tickets, while finally from Oradea just get standard full fare ticket to Budapest, it cost 19 euro 3. In which train station should I buy this ticket and leave to Cluj Napoca? Passengers can purchase tickets from Hungary to Romania at any MAV international ticket counters, those are located at all the major train station in Budapest (Keleti, Nyugati, Deli), also there is MAV ticket office at József Attila (it's near Dear Ference ter metro station) and again, as was said above, passengers can buy tickets online via MAV website (we even have a step by step guide for buying tickets via Hungarian Railways website - http://europetrainsguide.com/Advice/How-to-Buy-Train-Tickets/Hungary-MAV.html) Regarding train station for trains departing to Cluj - all the direct trains from Budapest to Cluj-Napoca depart from Budapest-Keleti station
314
« on: May 14, 2013, 08:18:08 pm »
Ok, so let's just take a look at each leg of your trip and see whether it will help you make your mind regarding dilemma pass vs. point-to-point However before that it maybe seems to think about switching a bit sequence of destinations, thus make it Berlin to Prague, then to Krakow, then Tatras (do you have specific place in mind?) and Budapest - Slovenia - Croatia Berlin to Prague: on this route German Railways (DB) offer discounted tickets starting from 29 euro per person, although such tickets need to be purchase in advance, since they are limited per each departure. Full standard fare for train ticket here is 66 euro. Also pretty good, at least in terms of money, options offered by bus companies, on certain occasions you can find promo offer bus tickets Berlin to Prague for like 9 euro Prague to Krakow: two options here - you can either travel by direct overnight train or travel during the day with change. For the overnight train Czech Railways (CD) offer purchasable online discounted tickets for as low as 19 euro (while full standard fare when buying in Prague is 42 euro). With daytime options you can as well travel relatively cheap (here you can choose either EuroCity train from Prague to Katowice & then domestic Polish train to Krakow or domestic Czech train from Prague to Cesky Tesin, cross the border to Poland by foot and take bus to Krakow from Polish part (Cieszyn) of the town) Regarding "Tatras" you have to be more specific, because it's difficult to say something without knowing what you mean  However doubt that any journey to the mountains from Krakow (or Prague) will cost you let's say more than 20 euro Budapest to Lake Bled: here you have three options: a) use direct everyday daytime through carriage Budapest-Zagreb-Ljubljana (39 euro for one-way ticket, no need to buy in advance), while Ljubljana to Lake Bled (again there are quite a few towns/villages there) is already easy and cheap; b) twice a week during summer there will be direct overnight train Budapest-Ljubljana-Koper (goes directly from Hungary to Slovenia avoiding Croatia), it's more expensive (standard full fare tickets is almost 53 euro), although conveniently arrives to Ljubljana in the morning; c) it is as well possible to travel to lake Bled region via Austria, meaning Budapest to Vienna (tickets from 13 euro when bought in advance), then Vienna to Villach (tickets from 19 euro when bought in advance) and another 10 euro for Villach to Bled (no need to buy ticket in advance) Lake Bled to Croatia: again makes sense to be more specific regarding place/destination in Croatia, but saying in general the idea is to travel from Bled to Ljubljana and then take a train - either to Zagreb (16 euro), Rijeka (16,2 euro) or even Pula, also plenty of buses from Slovenia to Croatia, especially during summer p.s. if you are not a fan of switching destinations sequence in the early part of your itinerary, then it's totally ok, everything can be done your way, however currently there is no direct train from Berlin to Krakow (instead there is bus connection, tickets start form 29 euro) and from Krakow it's a bit difficult to get cheap ticket to Prague since Polish Railways still doesn't sell discounted tickets Poland-Czech Republic online via website
315
« on: May 12, 2013, 03:46:49 pm »
Actually there is not just one Federal Rail company in BiH, but two: ZRS (serving Republika Srpska) and ŽFBH (serving rest of the country), both "comply" with all European railways schedule calendar, thus major timetable change occurs on second weekend of December. However obviously on spot some minor changes might occur at different times, thus better to recheck via official websites of ZRS & ŽFBH or at the stations already in BiH Also for links and some other info it might be helpful to check our Bosnia and Herzegovina page - http://europetrainsguide.com/Countries/Bosnia-Herzegovina/Bosnia-Herzegovina-ZFBH/ZRS.html
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