Zagreb-Hungary-Slovakia-Poland

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[Hi, We (a couple) are planning to travel from Zagreb on 14 Oct to Budapest then to Slovakia and then Poland. Please comment on the 2 routes below:
Option 1- Budapest-Bratislava-Budapest-Eger-Miskolc-Koslice-Poprad-then to cross border to Zakopane- Krakow- Warsaw
Option 2- Budapest-Eger- Miskolc- Budapest-Bratislava-Koslice- Poprad-Zakopane- Krakow- Warsaw
Please advise:
1. Which is better and cheaper or do you have recommended route in terms of comfort, cost and time.
2. What mode of transport to use to travel the places? Example, I should buy a return ticket for Budapest and bratislava on bus or train? What bus or train etc? Any discounted rate etc
3. Is it advisable to get European Eastern pass?
4. Also from zagreb to budapest, is it advisable to take local train or bus to croatian border and then walk over the border before boarding bus or train to Pecs and stay for a nite before continuing journey to Budapest? What is the best mode of transport?

Thanks.

1. Which is better and cheaper or do you have recommended route in terms of comfort, cost and time.

In terms of travel time legs Budapest-Bratislava and Bratislava-Poprad/Kosice have more frequent train connections, while between Budapest/Miskolc and Kosice run only two trains per day (in the morning and evening). So in case you choose option 1, then you might need to organize your sightseeing plan in a way to catch either of those trains.
While in terms of ticket fares, we have as follows:
Option 1 (all fares per person, rail tickets unless noted): 16 EUR (Budapest-Bratislava-Budapest)+from 2160 HUF or app.8 EUR (Budapest-Eger)+ 1470 HUF or app.5.4 EUR (Eger-Miskolc)+ 6 EUR (Miskolc-Kosice)+ 5.1 EUR (Kosice-Poprad). In total it sums up to app.40.5 EUR.
Option 2:  from 2160 HUF or app.8 EUR (Budapest-Eger)+ 1470 HUF or app.5.4 EUR (Eger-Miskolc)+ from 3360 HUF or app.12.4 EUR (Miskolc-Budapest)+ from 2300 HUF or app. 8.5 EUR (one way bus ticket is best offer if you don't plan to go there and back in case of Budapest-Bratislava)+ 17.2 EUR (Bratislava-Kosice)+ 5.1 EUR (Kosice-Poprad). In total around 57 EUR, which is rather essentially higher sum comparing to the total from the option 1.

2. What mode of transport to use to travel the places? Example, I should buy a return ticket for Budapest and bratislava on bus or train? What bus or train etc? Any discounted rate etc

In most cases trains either the only travel option or at least the most comfortable and cheap. The only segment where bus is preferable is the one way Budapest-Bratislava. Also possible to use bus connection inside Slovakia, but we find trains a better option there.
In case of non arbitrary segment Poprad-Zakopane bus is your only option, while already from Zakopane you can use train, connections to Krakow are rather frequent.

3. Is it advisable to get European Eastern pass?

No, definitely no. It is way to expensive in your case.

4. Also from zagreb to budapest, is it advisable to take local train or bus to croatian border and then walk over the border before boarding bus or train to Pecs and stay for a nite before continuing journey to Budapest? What is the best mode of transport?

Well, Pecs is actually quite far from the direct route from Zagreb to Budapest, thus makes sense to included it only in case you specifically want to visit it, in other cases you should count on standard route via Koprivnica-Nagykanizsa.-lake Balaton shore-Budapest.
Breaking ticket via the border won't win you a lot, since domestic Hungarian train tariff isn't that cheap in comparison with Croatia-Hungary rail tariff discount, plus you will have much more hassle with that. So probably it's just better to go with direct trains and 30 EUR ticket

Thanks tUt for your prompt reply. Will opt for option 1. Now, we will be flying in Vienna. Thus,  need to travel from Vienna to Zagreb. Also to travel from Krakow to Vienna to catch the flight home. Please advise what is the best mode and route and cost?

So it is advisable to take direct train from Zagreb to Budapest at 30euro and I can buy the ticket from Zagreb train station? Can I confirm that the prices quoted are all based on 2nd class ticket? Are they okay?

Thanks.

Now, we will be flying in Vienna. Thus,  need to travel from Vienna to Zagreb. Also to travel from Krakow to Vienna to catch the flight home. Please advise what is the best mode and route and cost?

Hmm... in case you start in Vienna, then it seems that you might have two rather different options here. First (and apparently the simplest one) just to purchase in advance discounted 29 EUR (per person) ticket Vienna-Zagreb for the direct train. Or alternatively do a small trick and from Vienna go to Bratislava (14 EUR per person for the train ticket or <10 for the one way bus ticket), then just go to Budapest (either already mentioned one way bus ticket, 16 EUR by direct train or trick with Sturovo-Esztergom (more on the bottom of this post - http://europetrainsguide.com/forum/index.php/topic,154.msg689.html#msg689)). And afterward just buy 30 EUR return ticket Budapest-Zagreb and use it both ways. So at the end, when you will be back to Hungary you won't need to do a side trip to Bratislava anymore, since you've visited it on the way from Vienna. Such trick will save you time and money.
For the Krakow-Vienna segment there is also a limited number of discounted tickets available, but unfortunately you can purchase them only from the ticket counter in Poland (and will need to do it at least 3 days in advance and no guarantees that any still left at that time). While standard direct full fare ticket cost almost 64 EUR, which is a bit a lot for Central Europe, thus you might also do a small trick here as well. Trick with purchasing direct ticket Krakow-Breclav (28 EUR) + discounted ticket from there to Vienna for 9 EUR (here you will find more detailed description - http://europetrainsguide.com/forum/index.php/topic,67.msg261.html#msg261)

So it is advisable to take direct train from Zagreb to Budapest at 30euro and I can buy the ticket from Zagreb train station? 

Yes, in your case it seems to be the best compromise. No problem to buy it at Zagreb (or Budapest) train station, the only nuance is that the sum equivalent to 30 EUR you will have to pay in kuna (forint) and not euro.

Can I confirm that the prices quoted are all based on 2nd class ticket? Are they okay?

In the previous post we quoted fares based on 2nd class tickets. You can check most of them yourself on MAV (http://elvira.mav-start.hu/elvira.dll/xslms/) and ZSSK websites (http://www.zssk.sk/)

Thanks again.

Can I check how long is the train ride from Krakow to Breclav and Breclav to vienna? Is it worthwhile to stay 1 night in Breclav?

Thanks.

Can I check how long is the train ride from Krakow to Breclav and Breclav to vienna?

Krakow-Breclav takes app. 6-7 hours depending on train choice. While Breclav-Vienna is almost nothing - less than hour and a half, for most trains it's around 80 minutes.

Is it worthwhile to stay 1 night in Breclav?

Not really, nothing special there, but you can always enjoy a stay in the neighboring Brno, the town is much more interesting and ticket fare to Vienna still 9 EUR in case you purchase it in advance online.

Thanks for your reply.

Now, slight modification to plan.

Is it better and cheaper to go From Vienna to Krakow  and then from Krakow come down to Budapest or is it better from Budapest to Krakow? I checked the train from ebb from Vienna to Krakow and it is at 39 euro. is it just coach? Very confused on the way the schedule are shown.

thanks.

Is it better and cheaper to go From Vienna to Krakow  and then from Krakow come down to Budapest or is it better from Budapest to Krakow?

The answer here depends on your starting point. In case you start from Vienna, then obviously it makes sense to travel Vienna-Krakow-Budapest (especially since for both these segments you can purchase discounted fare tickets) and then continue to Zagreb instead of Vienna-Budapest-Krakow-Budapest-Zagreb etc.
And only in case you aren't able to buy cheap discounted tickets it makes sense to consider some tricks involving return tickets (but even here better probably to use ZSSK-PKP instead of MAV-PKP)

I checked the train from ebb from Vienna to Krakow and it is at 39 euro. is it just coach? Very confused on the way the schedule are shown.

Yes, it is discounted fare for the seat in seating carriage. What specifically seems confusing about schedule? OeBB in the second column precisely notes travel time and number of changes. For instance "Valid connection: from 22:23 to 07:17 (08:54) Changes 0" or "Valid connection : from 07:33 to 15:41   (08:08) Changes 1" etc. After you choose it, they will show precise itinerary and station to change trains.

THanks for your reply. What is ZSSK-PKP?

During purchasing of ticket in EBB website, they ask if I want saloon coach or compartment coach? WHich is more comfortable and better option for 2 pax?

Should I tick with reservation or without reservation? Is the cost inclusive?

Under 'free seat' column, it is written as 3 or 4. What does it mean?

By the way, is the coach comfortable for the journey? How far down can the seat be adjusted downwards to sleep comfortably?  Or is it better to opt for 1st class? what is the difference?

Do they have couchette for 2 pax on offer? How to find it?

Lastly, when there is change for the journey, do we actually have to change train middle of the night?

Thanks

What is ZSSK-PKP?

Slovak and Polish railway companies. Thus we meant to proceed Vienna-Bratislava and purchase there return ticket to Poland, then come back to Bratislava with the same ticket, and afterward travel to Budapest.

During purchasing of ticket in EBB website, they ask if I want saloon coach or compartment coach? WHich is more comfortable and better option for 2 pax?

Saloon it's like in the airplane, but just 2+2, usually you will face the back of the seat in front of view, but also can be face to face. While compartment is enclosed space for 6 people facing each other (3+3).

Should I tick with reservation or without reservation? Is the cost inclusive?

If you want a guaranteed seat then yes, with your seat reservation you will have specific seat assigned to you. While others just will enter the carriage and take any free seats left.

Under 'free seat' column, it is written as 3 or 4. What does it mean?

That is the number of seats left, which are sold under specific tariff plan. Thus in your case, that will be the number of discounted tickets left for the chosen connection.

By the way, is the coach comfortable for the journey? How far down can the seat be adjusted downwards to sleep comfortably?  Or is it better to opt for 1st class? what is the difference?

It's difficult to answer such questions since everything depends on type of carriage, but in most cases 1st class ain't that better since it also might have 2+2 composition, but just slightly more space.

Do they have couchette for 2 pax on offer? How to find it?

Actually for the direct overnight connection Vienna-Krakow there are only couchette and sleeper carriage available, thus no seating carriage

Lastly, when there is change for the journey, do we actually have to change train middle of the night?

Yep, when you choose such connection with change OeBB will show you exactly where and when you will need to make that change. For instance, most connection Vienna-Krakow require change in Katowice etc.

Thanks alot for your prompt reply and kind patience.

Thanks alot for your prompt reply and kind patience.

No problem
We are always happy to help fellow travelers. Good luck in your trip

Hi,

I need to take the train from Vienna to Budapest. As I want to go to Nyugati train station finally, should I stop at Deli or Keleti train station?

Secondly, I realised that for the OEBB, for the same route, those with 1 change has a shorter journey duration compared to those with 0 change. Why is that so? Do I actually have to vacate the train with those with 1 change and wait for another train on the way?

Regards,

Hi,

Further to my query above, I have have problem buying my ticket via mav website. After choosing the date and train, it proceed to another page which require registration which I am  not able to continue. Is there any email which I can buy my ticket via email instead?

I am trying to get my 1st class discounted ticket return ticket for Budapest and zagreb trip.

Regards,
Lynn

As I want to go to Nyugati train station finally, should I stop at Deli or Keleti train station?

All the direct trains go to Keleti, plus it's closer to Nyugati, you can even walk since it's a bit more than 2km, so probably this option tends to be better

I realised that for the OEBB, for the same route, those with 1 change has a shorter journey duration compared to those with 0 change. Why is that so?

Are you sure? Since we just checked and all the options with change is basically offer change within boundaries of Wien and doesn't win you any time. Maybe you can be more specific about your desired connection which is faster with a change?

Do I actually have to vacate the train with those with 1 change and wait for another train on the way?

Yes, if OeBB offers connection with change it means you need get off one train and wait for the other one. But usually it's not very complicated procedure, since in many cases it will even be the same platform.

I have have problem buying my ticket via mav website. After choosing the date and train, it proceed to another page which require registration which I am  not able to continue. Is there any email which I can buy my ticket via email instead?

No, MAV online ticket sale interface is the only option. But why you can't register, then simply login and buy your ticket? Or, as we already said, discount offered for Budapest-Zagreb connection is permanent, thus no need to buy anything in advance since the fare will stay the same no matter when your purchase your ticket.