Cheapest way: Milan to Berlin, Prague, Budapest (order doesn't matter)

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I will be starting off in Milan next month, and renting a car and touring the Italian Alps and also Southern France, and coming back to Milan to drop the car off. Some buddies of mine were wanting to go from Milan into Central Europe!

All that matters is that we start anywhere between Marseilles and Milan (although Milan is probably best for connections) and we want to be able to hit up all three of these cities: Berlin, Prague, Budapest. The order doesn't matter.

What would be the best, and cheapest way to do this? We would be talking about between June 14th and the end of June.

Also, two things that might either complicate things or be a benefit is that currently we are in Estonia, and our classes don't end here until June 8th, so we can't go in person to Germany and buy the cheap tickets although Eastern Euro fares might apply for us then, right? Also, we're all dumb North Americans--the terms like "international tariff" and "SparSchiene" were all very confusing--although the website was very helpful. Hopefully it could be broken down into dumb American terms!

Was kind of wanting to go to Poland afterward. There is a music festival in Gdansk that I'm really wanting to visit, sometime between June 31st and July 4th.

Thanks for your help!

In case you want to go to Northern Poland afterward, then probably Berlin should be left as your final destination, while heading to Budapest first, Prague will be roughly in the middle between Budapest and Berlin.
Milan-Budapest: here you have two major possibilities, one is use air connection (for instance, rather cheap low-cost WizzAir company, offer on the route starts from 19 EUR or more standard Lufthansa for app. 60 EUR one way). The other possibility is just by land using train. Here the closest destination with direct train to Budapest is Venice. Full fare ticket Venice-Budapest cost only 55 EUR (can be purchased any time, even before departure), while also there is a limited number of discounted tickets for as low as 29 EUR, those can be bought online from TrenItalia website - www.trenitalia.com . Ticket Milan-Venice cost as low as 14.65 EUR, can be bought any time.
Budapest-Prague: here your best choice is to buy discounted tickets, they start from only 19 EUR per person and also can be bought from Hungarian Railways website (http://elvira.mav-start.hu/elvira.dll/xslms/), so you can buy it in advance easily.
Prague-Berlin: same story here, Czech Railways sell discounted tickets online - https://www.cd.cz/eshop/ (from 29 EUR)
As result you can travel between all your destinations for as low as 100 EUR in total. And you don't need to go anywhere in order to buy tickets - you need just computer, internet and bank card
The only inconvenience is the above mentioned discounted tickets are issued for specific date and train, thus you kind of bounded to use only those.

In case of Berlin-Gdansk everything can be rather easy and cheap, since ticket from Berlin to first Polish stations nearby - Szczecin or Kostrzyn cost only 10 EUR (purchased any time) or if there are more than 2 passengers you can use Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket, which is basically regional pass allowing to travel up to 5 passenger from Berlin till first Polish stations, it cost 28 EUR. From either Szczecin or Kostrzyn you can use domestic Polish trains (http://rozklad-pkp.pl/?q=en/node/143) or even buses.

Ah, thanks so much. I did have a few dumb questions though.. what is the different between getting the ticket and a seat reservation? Do you have to check both?

Also, how do we pursue various discounts while we purchase these tickets online? For instance, how could someone actually get the Milan-Venice ticket for 14.65?

Ah, and I think that's it. Thanks again for all your help!

...what is the different between getting the ticket and a seat reservation? Do you have to check both?

Ticket (Fahrkarte in German) it is document allowing you to travel certain route, thus distance in km, while reservation (Reservierung) is travel document allowing you to take specific seat/bed on specific train. Ticket is always necessary element, but seat reservation isn't, because most of the trains in Central and Eastern Europe have so called free seating, thus no need to reserve any specific seat, just board a train and take any free seat. As result reservation here is optional, thus if you afraid not to get any seat, you can always buy additionally seat reservation, but nobody forces you to do it. A bit different thing with couchettes and sleeping berth/beds reservations, those are always a must for reservation.
In your case, neither Budapest-Prague or Prague-Berlin trains require compulsory reservation. The only case when reservation is compulsory (within your itinerary) is high-speed EuroStar/InterCity trains from Milan to Venice, train Venice-Budapest and InterCity trains in Poland.

Also, how do we pursue various discounts while we purchase these tickets online? For instance, how could someone actually get the Milan-Venice ticket for 14.65?

Well, in case of Budapest-Prague and Prague-Berlin, those websites we quoted already offer discounted tickets to you, so you can buy only those for fares listed. In case of Milan-Venice and Venice-Budapest, then on TrenItalia website while purchasing ticket you need specifically choose discounted tariff (during process there is a box "Select a price" and "more fares"), in first case (Italian domestic) it will be called "Mini", in second (international) - "Smart".
When we noted 14,65 EUR for Milan-Venice we meant using a bit slower regional trains instead of high-speed EuroStar. For regional trains 14,65 is standard full fare for this route (comparing to 32,5 EUR with EuroStar trains). So in this case by wise choice of trains you can save up to almost 50% out of nothing and even without purchasing ticket in advance. Regional trains in this case are app.30min-1 hour slower.

Ahh, okay I see. So, if a reservation is required for some routes, you're required to get both? That seems kind of odd, but that will be very helpful to know. Thanks again!

By the way, we made some alterations in our route to include Croatia (which should be great getting in right before the heavy tourist months).. I think we kinda know what to do for most of it, but we will need some help with Slovenia-to-Croatia and Croatia-to-Hungary... and I'll bold questions just because I know it's a lot of text to read.

Revised route


The red portion of the route we'll be using a car to get around.

But starting in Italy...is it advantageous to board a train in Milan or could we do it from Bergamo, just right up the highway from Milan? And then taking the regional train from Milan to Venice. Is the train connection in Venice convenient for stopping for lunch and seeing some of town?

Then from Venice to Ljubljana we can just take metropolitan commuter trains (crossing over at the border) since it seems that the public transit systems meet each-other.

From Ljubljana to Croatia? No ideas here. I'm sure the rail connections are great, but is it better to go from Ljubljana to Zagreb or Split? We want to just hit up Split, Zagreb, and Dubrovnik and spend equal time in all of these. I see that getting to Dubrovnik must be done on bus. And then leaving, is it best to get to Budapest from Zagreb or Split? I saw where a return ticket from Budapest to Split is 68 euros, but I didn't see what one-way is...

Then Budapest-Prague for 19.

I am sure there is a good connection from Prague-Krakow, but I couldn't see what it was. Is it better to book it with the Czech or Polish rail company?

Then Poland will be pretty easy since it's all just one county. But in Poland, is it better to get discounts by booking trains in advance or in person at the vokzal/train station?

Then I think after Gdansk we will probably extend our trip to Berlin--you mentioned there is a good connection there, so not worried about that. I guess it looks like the map sort of skirts everywhere that speaks German, which may look odd, I just figured that I've been to Germany enough before and haven't spent nearly enough time in Central Europe which seems like an awesome place for backpacking.

Thanks again for your help!

...if a reservation is required for some routes, you're required to get both?

Reservation required not for some routes, but for some trains Thus it is totally possible situation when on the same route you'll find trains with compulsory reservation and without. For instance, already mentioned Milan-Venice. In case you use regional trains=no reservation needed, but if you intend to use InterCity or EuroStar, then you must have seat reservation.

...or could we do it from Bergamo, just right up the highway from Milan?

No problem in catching train towards Venice in Bergamo. Anyway Bergamo is located to the east from Milano, thus geographically almost on the way to Venice. But in case you want to catch train there, you won't need to go Begramo-Milan-Venice, but directly Bergamo-Brescia-Venice. For instance in the evening there is nice connection: R 4925 Bergamo-Brescia (17:07-18:06), then R 2107 Brescia-Venice St.Lucia 18:35-20:51.

Is the train connection in Venice convenient for stopping for lunch and seeing some of town?

Venice is a nice place, thus hardly anybody would say that you shouldn't stop there But actually it is totally your choice and depends on your timing and itinerary.

Then from Venice to Ljubljana we can just take metropolitan commuter trains (crossing over at the border) since it seems that the public transit systems meet each-other.

Well, actually there is only one direct train between Venice and Slovenia, it's EuroNight Venice-Ljubljana-Zagreb-Budapest. Dep.Venice St.L. 21:20, arr. to Ljubljana 1:41am, arr. to Zagreb 4:20am (discounted ticket for both destination cost from 15 EUR and can be purchased on TrenItalia website. Regular fare is 25 EUR)

From Ljubljana to Croatia? No ideas here. I'm sure the rail connections are great, but is it better to go from Ljubljana to Zagreb or Split?

There are 7 direct trains per day from Ljubljana to Zagreb (+ multiple buses), so it's not a problem at all. Standard one-way fare for train is 13.4 EUR, can purchase ticket any time. No connection directly from Ljubljana to Split, thus you will have to go via Zagreb or catch direct train Ljubljana-Rijeka (twice a day, 13.8 EUR one way ticket fare), while from Rijeka to Split either by bus or ferry.
Domestic train timetable and fare for Zagreb-Split can be found here - http://www.hznet.hr/timetable

I see that getting to Dubrovnik must be done on bus. And then leaving, is it best to get to Budapest from Zagreb or Split? I saw where a return ticket from Budapest to Split is 68 euros, but I didn't see what one-way is...

Yes, Dubrovnik can be reached only by bus or ferry, thus for Split-Dubrovnik it's the only options available. And yes, Budapest-Split is 66 EUR return ticket, while one way due to certain specificity is actually more expensive, thus not worthy to buy. During summer there are direct carriages Split-Budapest twice a week, so if you really want you can try to catch those. But generally Budapest is easily reachable from Zagreb, few train per day, 30 EUR is the standard fare for the ticket (again it will be return instead of more expensive one-way)

I am sure there is a good connection from Prague-Krakow, but I couldn't see what it was. Is it better to book it with the Czech or Polish rail company?

Actually there is only one direct overnight train (21:17-6:56) and tickets for it can't be booked online. Standard fare for this route is 39 EUR (+ seat/sleeper reservation fare), but you can travel for less in case you are ok with early morning change and a bit of walking.
During the daytime you can actually catch discounted 19 EUR ticket for Prague-Katowice-Warsawa train, then just will need to get domestic ticket Katowice-Krakow.

Then Poland will be pretty easy since it's all just one county. But in Poland, is it better to get discounts by booking trains in advance or in person at the vokzal/train station?

When and where to purchase tickets actually depends on type of trains you want to use. In case of EIC and TLK trains, then you can buy online (https://bilet.intercity.pl/irez and there you can find discounted tickets as well), while with cheaper Regio, InterRegio and Osobowy trains you can't purchase online and it's not even necessary since fare is always the same. 

Then I think after Gdansk we will probably extend our trip to Berlin--you mentioned there is a good connection there, so not worried about that. 

We would probably say relatively easy and cheap. Basically your main task here is to catch domestic train from Gdansk to either Szczecin or Kostrzyn, while from there is already 10 EUR to get to Berlin. Other option is to hunt for 19 EUR discounted ticket for Poznan-Berlin route (can be bought on DB website), but this will require purchase of those in advance.