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I have read some posts and are am impressed with the advice people have received. I am planning a trip in early May and would like travel advice. My destinations are Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Budapest and Prague. For flight from US, it is best to fly into Munich or Berlin and then take trains to the above places. There are two scenarios. I may arrive May 1 and leave May 16, or arrive May 4 and leave May 18. If I do May 4 to 18 I fear that I may not be able to visit all the above cities and may eliminate Prague. In any case, what is the best route for doing all the above? I was thinking of flying into Berlin, then trains to Prague, then to Budapest, then to Vienna, then to Munich. Whether I start in Berlin or Munich I would not need to return to the destination city to fly home. I would book one way flights from and back to Boston.

Here is what I have figured out. Let me know if this looks like a good plan. I tried to see fares for Prague to Budapest on www.eshop.cd.cz but the Purchase button didn't appear for my dates. I used dates in the more recent future just to see the process, and found that the fares were 35Kc which is $1.80. Is that correct? Also the website says that there is no way to guarantee seats together. Is that true? I will be with one other person. We are 27 and 28. The Prague to Budapest is the longest train ride. If I did an overnight, how much are sleeper cars? Can those be purchased online?
 
Date           Departure   Dep Time   Arrival   Arr Time   Fare            Via   
4/30/2010   Boston   8:05 PM   Berlin          12:15 PM   $927.36     Air   Lufthansa   
5/16/2010   Munich   3:50 PM   Boston   6:20 PM         
                           
5/4/2010   Berlin           8:36 AM   Prague   1:27 PM    € 29.00     Train    http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en   
                           
5/7/2010   Prague   12:37 AM   Budapest   8:32 AM   ?            Train           http://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp
5/7/2010   Prague   5:39 AM   Budapest   12:32 PM   ?            Train    www.eshop.cd.cz
5/7/2010   Prague   7:39 AM   Budapest   2:32 PM   ?            Train    www.eshop.cd.cz
                           
5/10/2010   Budapest   7:10 AM   Vienna   10:08 AM    € 19.00     Train    http://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp   
5/10/2010   Budapest   9:10 AM   Vienna   12:08 PM    € 19.00     Train    http://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp   
                           
5/13/2010   Vienna   8:40 AM   Munich   1:37 PM    € 29.00     Train    http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en

The choice of the cities sequence seems good enough, so you can definitely stick with Berlin-Prague-Budapest-Vienna-Munich option you described.
Berlin-Prague better to purchase some time in advance in order to get 29 euro tickets (DB starts selling Europa-Spezial tickets up to 92 days in advance)

I tried to see fares for Prague to Budapest on www.eshop.cd.cz but the Purchase button didn't appear for my dates.

Czech railways start to sell eTickets only 60 days in advance, so you'll need to wait a little bit.

I used dates in the more recent future just to see the process, and found that the fares were 35Kc which is $1.80. Is that correct?

No, the actual fare nowadays is 502 CZK (app. 19 euro), the same fare works for every connection eTicket offers. 35 CZK it is seat reservation price for Rail Plus card holders (definitely not you case). After you click "Purchase" you need to choose "ticket" from drop out menu, so it will look like this:

Also the website says that there is no way to guarantee seats together. Is that true?

Actually, you don't need seat reservations (those aren't compulsory) on Prague-Budapest route, so you can easily choose any free seats after you board the train. And it is doubtful that the train will be so full that you'll not be able to find two seats together.

If I did an overnight, how much are sleeper cars? Can those be purchased online?

No, you can't purchase online sleeper reservations. Since there are no discounted tickets for overnight train, then the full fare Prague-Budapest, as of now, app. 54 euro, sleeper costs from 14 euro per person. But you can save quite a lot if you do the "trick" with going to last Slovak station Sturovo, crossing the bridge over Danube on foot and catching Hungarian domestic train Esztergom-Budapest. Such "trick" will save you up to 20 euro (if you are interested, then we can explain it more thoroughly)
Budapest-Vienna better to purchase in Budapest couple days (or to be precise - 3 days in advance) before the journey, then you will pay only 13 euro for one way ticket to Vienna.
Vienna-Munich - the same as in case with Berlin-Prague - try to purchase some time in advance (either from DB or OEBB website)
 

Thanks a lot for your advice. We changed our date and are now leaving May 6 and returning May 22. We reversed the itinerary so we our route is Munich-Vienna-Budapest-Prague-Berlin. I assume this should be no different than what I was planning before?

For Budapest-Prague, we plan to take a 5:30 AM train and if it is only 19 euros, then the trick is not needed since the price is cheap. I am confused about the sleeper. If I want a sleeper, do I still purchase the 19 euro tickets now and upgrade when I am at the station? You said the fare is 54 euros and then the sleeper is 14 euros so it is 68 euros per person? What is a sleeper like? Two people can use it?

19 euro discounted tickets for Budapest-Prague route are available only for the day time trains and, since they are limited in number, strictly "tied" to specific train.
5:30 am train from Budapest to Prague doesn't have sleeper cars. While for the overnight train (Metropol/Amicus 19:58-3:22) your only option is regular fare ticket. Imho, the fare is rather high for Central and Eastern Europe, so here the trick with "breaking" ticket via Slovakia is a good option (going Sturovo-Prague overnight)
Some photos of the Czech sleeper car used in the overnight train from Budapest to Prague can be found here - http://www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/CZ/CD_WLABmz.php Two people can use it, then it will be "Double" compartment - sleeper costs 21 euro per person.

Ok I see what you mean. Can you explain the trick to me more? What website should I use to book it?

Can you explain the trick to me more?

There are two major ways to do the trick with Slovakia:
a) simple: board Hungarian domestic train Budapest-Esztergom at 17:52 or 18:21 (arrival to Esztergom at 19:22 and 19:48), cost - 1100 HUF (app.4 euro) Overnight train to Prague departs Sturovo at 21:12 (it is same Budapest-Prague-Berlin overnight train, but you catch it in Slovakia). So you will have app. 1.5-2 hours to get from Esztergom train station to Sturovo train station. Actual distance between two are app. 7 km. You can either walk or catch Sturovo town bus (departs almost from the bridge over Danube). Check google maps. Then purchase direct ticket Sturovo-Prague (costs app.30-31 euro)+ sleeper reservation (there are special tariffs for Slovakia-Czech connection, so double sleeper should cost around 420 CZK or app.16 euro per person). Total for the whole trip =app. 50 euro.
b) same thing till Sturovo, but there you purchase only ticket Sturovo-Breclav (app. 12 euro)+ sleeper till Prague. Breclav is the first Czech station, from there you can purchase domestic Czech ticket online (https://eshop.cd.cz/search.aspx?lang=E), costs 375 CZK (app.14.5 euro). Total= app.42-43 euro.
NB. Be sure to get sleepers for so called "Amicus" carriages of the train - those arrive to Prague at 6:21am and not "Metropol" carriages - those arrive at 3:22 am.

Completely different option for you is to purchase discounted SparNight ticket Budapest-Dresden or Berlin (available only for "Metropol" carriages). Those cost from 39 euro for 6 berth couchette, 49 euro - 4 berth couchette, 59 - 3 bed sleeper and 69 - 2 bed sleeper. Then you simply get off the train earlier - in Prague.

p.s. remember that there are overnight buses from Budapest to Prague as well, fare starts from 4900 HUF - http://www.volanbusz.hu/en/

Thanks again for all your advice. We have booked our trip and very excited. We were able to get 29 euro fares for 3 out of 4 trips. The last is the Budapest-Prague route. We have decided to take the 5:28AM train and forget getting a sleeper room. The website you suggested www.eshop.cd.cz should have the May 16 departure available soon. Going through the process once more, I noticed this message on the site:

"The use of an eTiket document from Hungary to the Czech Republic is contingent on the purchase of an eTiket document from the Czech Republic to Hungary and both eTiket documents must be presented for inspection to Czech Railways train personnel on the journey from the Czech Republic. eTiket documents from Hungary to the Czech Republic purchased separately and eTiket documents not stamped by Czech Railways train personnel are invalid! If needed, it may be necessary to actively search for Czech Railways train personnel and have your eTiket document stamped."

So does this mean that we have to book a return trip as well. So it is 502 Kc per person per trip for a total of 2008 Kc for two people on two trips? What does it mean that you have "to actively search for Czech Railways train personnel and have your eTiket document stamped."? Sounds like a pain to me. Thanks

Well, you can't purchase ticket Budapest-Prague from eShop (in order to do so you have to travel Prague-Budapest and Budapest-Prague, stamping your return ticket Budapest-Prague on the way from Prague to Budapest. Not your case).
So the only chance to get 19 euro ticket for the route Budapest-Prague is to purchase the one in advance (3 days) at any station in Budapest. Hungarian railways don't sell international ticket online yet, so... only from MAV counters.
In case you not able to get the 19 euro ticket you can as well do a trick with Sturovo here too or go by day time bus

Are they only available 3 days in advance and only in Hungary? Can they be purchased earlier when I am in Munich? Or I have a brother in Germany now, can he purchase them there, or does he have to be in Hungary? Can these be purchased over the phone? In your opinion, would the discount tickets still be available 3 days prior? We could do the trick you described, but since it is our desire to leave early in the morning, I'm sure we will be very much tired (probably hungover) so I would like to avoid connections if possible.

We are traveling to Prague on a Sunday and I looked into a bus and they are not available on May 16.

Yes, only in Hungary. It is possible to get the ticket in Germany, but it will be full international fare (and not discounted interstate), what is rather expensive.
Probably the best way for you to proceed here is not to purchase anything yet, go to Budapest and try to purchase discounted 19 euro ticket from the MAV counter. If you aren't lucky you can always purchase regular ticket (no compulsory reservation on Budapest-Prague route, so it doesn't matter when you buy your ticket) or save by purchasing tickets with another small trick: Budapest-Kuty or Kuty(Gr). Those are last Slovak station/point on the route Budapest-Prague, right after Kuty comes Czech town - Breclav. From there you can buy domestic ticket for the very same train Budapest-Prague (online eShop). As a result you will travel non-stop Budapest-Prague with two different tickets Budapest-Kuty bought in Hungary plus domestic Breclav-Prague bought online before departing Budapest (total for two appl.40 euro)

p.s. day time buses go every day, even Sundays - http://www.studentagencybus.com/en/414_414/STUDENT%20AGENCY%20PRAGUE%20-%20BUDAPEST

How much are the full fares without discount? Basically, what is the worst case price we would have to pay for the Budapest-Prague train? If it is too much, we will do the bus or the "trick". Thanks.

Full fare Budapest-Prague purchased in Budapest is 75euro one way (and 90 euro return). For a group of people it is cheaper to purchased Citystar return ticket (150 euro for 2 passengers, 200euro for 3 etc. - every other person pays +50 euro)