prague,krakov,bratislva,Budapest

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Hi,
Really a great website.Congrats.I m planning a 2 weeks vacation in Czech,Slovakia,Poland and Hungary.My travel may start either in Vienna or Frankfurt, depending on better access.must sees are prague,krakov,bratislva,Budapest. Could you suggest me an itinerary?Kindly advise whether I should go for a East Europe Rail pass or independent tickets are cheaper?I love to travel in day trains.
Thanks a million in advance.
Cheers
Raj
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It is quite important whether starting point will be Vienna or Frankfurt(M), as well as the info about preferred final destination.
As of now, we can see a number of options:
1) Frankfurt-Prague starts from 29 euro (purchased in advance on DB website), Prague-Vienna (from 19 euro - https://eshop.cd.cz/search.aspx?lang=E), Vienna-Budapest (from 19 euro, purchased in advance from OEBB website), Budapest-Bratislava - 12 euro (purchased any time). Bratislava-Krakow (app.40-45 euro, depending on route you take, purchased any time). Final destination Krakow. Total=from 120-125euro per person
2) Vienna-Budapest (from 19 euro, purchased in advance from OEBB website), Budapest-Bratislava - 12 euro (purchased any time); Bratislava-Praha (23 euro one way, purchased any time), Praha-Katowice (from 19 euro, Czech railways eShop), Katowice-Krakow domestic Polish ticket (from 15 PLN). Final destination Krakow. Total=from 77euro per person
3) Frankfurt-Krakow starts from 39 euro (purchased in advance on DB website), Krakow-Budapest (starts from 25 euro, purchased in advance at the station), Budapest-Bratislava - 12 euro (purchased any time); Bratislava-Vienna-Bratislava (11 euro, return ticket purchased any time), Bratislava-Praha (23 euro one way, purchased any time). Final destination Prague. Total=from 110 euro per person
etc.
There are many other variants (including "less tickets purchased in advance" etc.), so you will probably need to state your exact preferences here.
The only thing it is possible to say is that start from Vienna will be cheaper than from Frankfurt, but here we do not take into consideration your flight options - maybe it is cheaper for you to fly into Frankfurt instead of Vienna thus the difference will be eliminated etc.

Hi,
Thanks so much for he reply.If I fly to Frankfurt it will be 100 euro cheaper than flying to Vienna.But wherever I fly to ,my exit route is the same as entry point.That means I cant have an open jaw ticket.
I have to take a circular route like Frankfurt-prague-krakov-Budapest-Bratislava-Vienna and back to Frankurt.  Or Vienna -Bratislava-Budapest-Krakov -pague-vienna.
Which is a cheaper route eliminating the Airfare advantage and easier to do according to you? Is taking a Rail pass a good option?
Thanks again
Cheer
Raj

1) We don't think that pass will be good deal in this case - Eastern European rail travel is rather cheap and in most cases do not require a lot of must purchase in advance tickets, so it's not worth it to be strained by exact number of pass days. Pass (like East European Pass) is Ok only if you plan to do the trip fast and don't bother with purchasing tickets.
2) Concerning the route: probably 100 euro difference seems rather big, so lets look at Frankfurt...-Frankfurt route.   
Krakow in your case is the most problematic destination in terms of logistics, so it's better either to start with Krakow and go Frankfurt-Krakow or to finish with Krakow and go Krakow-Frankfurt
 a) Frankfurt-Krakow (from 39 euro, daytime travel, purchased online and in advance from DB website), Krakow-Prague - regular tariff is only 36 euro (+sleeper if you want), Prague-Budapest (daytime from 19 euro, https://eshop.cd.cz/search.aspx?lang=E), Budapest-Bratislava (12 euro, purchased any time); Bratislava-Vienna (11 euro, purchased any time); Vienna-Frankfurt (daytime or overnight from 29 euro, purchased in advance from DB website)= app.150 euro for the whole trip.
 b) Frankfurt-Prague (from 29 euro, in advance from DB website); Prague-Budapest (daytime from 19 euro, https://eshop.cd.cz/search.aspx?lang=E), then the route depends on the fact either you can purchase in advance discounted ticket Budapest-Krakow (from 25 euro, needs to be purchased at least 3 days in advance at the station) or Vienna-Krakow (from 29 euro, same story - in advance). If first option, then go Prague-Vienna (from 19 euro, https://eshop.cd.cz/search.aspx?lang=E), Vienna-Bratislava (14 euro, any time or cheaper bus), Bratislava-Budapest (12 euro). If second: Prague-Budapest (19 euro), Budapest-Bratislava (12 euro, purchased any time); Bratislava-Vienna (11 euro, purchased any time).
In case you don't want to "hunt" for discounted tickets from Budapest/Vienna to Krakow, then go Prague-Budapest (19 euro); Budapest-Vienna (from 13 euro, purchase at least 3 days in advance or 23 euro - any time), then Vienna-Bratislava (14 euro, any time or cheaper bus) and Bratislava-Krakow (app.45 euro, any time). Or you can win app. 12-13 euro if you break your ticket and purchase Bratislava-Bohumin (17euro) and Bohumin-Krakow (15 euro)
Krakow-Frankfurt starts from 50 euro on DB website (daytime option).
It's a lot of info and options, so feel free to ask further questions

Hi,
I am very much obliged for your detailed and very very informative reply.My heartfelt thanks.I think option 'A' is the only one worth considering in my case. Going to local station an purchasing a ticket 3 day advance may not work out,I presume.I have gone to DB website and had a detailed look.Could you suggest a site where I can have a look at the Railway map of Europe and also to see the routing of each trip?
Thanks again
Cheers
Raj

Could you suggest a site where I can have a look at the Railway map of Europe and also to see the routing of each trip?

On our website's specific country pages there are links to railway maps or http://www.bueker.net/trainspotting/maps.php
Route of the specific train can be seen when you click in the timetable on the number of the train you want to take.