Budapest - Vienna - Krakow - Prague

1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

Hi all,

I'm hoping you can help! We are currently in Budapest and need to be in Prague on the 14th Nov. We definitely want to visit Krakow and were thinking of also visiting Vienna or Bratislava to break-up the long distance journeys.

The problem is we want the cheapest option and havent had any luck working out what this is (I.e. visit Krakow then Vienna, or vice versa).

We can skip Vienna and/or Bratislava if it is going to add considerable cost to our journey.

Thanks for your help!

Nicky

Though usually it's slightly difficult to count on cheap discounted tickets when traveling on such short notice, but you actually might get lucky, especially in case you are a bit flexible. Let's look at each leg separately:
Budapest-Vienna: just checked and there is still quite a number of 13 euro tickets left for Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 departures (obviously not all the connections, but still you have a choice), so in case you visit like right now MAV website, you can easily buy discounted 13 euro tickets Budapest-Vienna. We also have a special guide on how to handle MAV website eShop - http://europetrainsguide.com/Advice/How-to-Buy-Train-Tickets/Hungary-MAV.html
Vienna-Krakow: this one is more complicated, but if you willing to spend afternoon on the train, then you can still get discounted 39 euro tickets from OeBB website for Nov.10 And again we have a small guide to help you with the purchase - http://europetrainsguide.com/Advice/How-to-Buy-Train-Tickets/Austria-OeBB.html In case you up for an overnight train, then it will be more tricky to travel cheaply, but still we can give a few tips, so let us know whether you've interested
Krakow-Prague: here you have a few options on how to travel for less money than full fare standard ticket price. Easier option is simply to "break" your ticket via border, idea is simple - instead of paying for the whole route Krakow-Prague under international tariff you first buy international ticket Krakow- first Czech station (Bohumin), while then you use cheaper Czech national ticket (in this case it will be Bohumin-Prague). Second ticket can be bought for the same train, so you won't even need to get off in Bohumin, but simply have two separate tickets for one journey - international Krakow-Bohumin (17 euro) and national Bohumin-Prague (330 CZK, this one can be bought online from Czech Railways eShop and you print it yourself). More complicated, but cheaper option, which as well as the previous one works both for the overnight or daytime journeys, is to catch first bus Krakow-Cieszyn (roughly 3 hours and 20 PLN), Cieszyn is a small town on the border of Poland and Czech Republic (see google maps), from there you can simply walk to Czech side by foot (<2 km). From Czech side (Cesky Tesin) you can catch train to Prague (from 400 CZK)

Also you can skip Vienna at all, then just visit MAV website and purchase discounted tickets (from 39 euro) for the direct overnight connection Budapest-Krakow, journey is a bit long (11 hours), but 39 euro for couchette carriage is good price here

p.s. there is also a few options involving buses (like Eurolines for Budapest-Vienna or PolskiBus for Vienna/Bratislava-Poland), but buses are buses, so we advice you first to look at train options and only then, if those somehow not for you, check out bus options

Krakow-Prague: here you have a few options on how to travel for less money than full fare standard ticket price. Easier option is simply to "break" your ticket via border, idea is simple - instead of paying for the whole route Krakow-Prague under international tariff you first buy international ticket Krakow- first Czech station (Bohumin), while then you use cheaper Czech national ticket (in this case it will be Bohumin-Prague). Second ticket can be bought for the same train, so you won't even need to get off in Bohumin, but simply have two separate tickets for one journey - international Krakow-Bohumin (17 euro) and national Bohumin-Prague (330 CZK, this one can be bought online from Czech Railways eShop and you print it yourself).

Hi,

I'm also interested in a train travel between Krakow and Prague and I've been trying to find the cheapest way to get railway tickets for the trip.
It's interesting option to have two separate tickets for the route Krakow-Prague. For sure it's cheaper.
But is your suggestion for a train with a reservation ticket needed or a standard train? I think it makes big difference in this case.

I tried to buy a ticket in Poland (from Intercity) only for Krakow-Bohumin part and a reservation ticket for the whole route Krakow-Prague. Fot the part Bohumin-Prague I intended to buy my ticket online from Czech railways. I was refused to do so by Polish railways and heard that according to their regulations I have to buy the travel ticket plus the reservation one for the whole route from them.
I've asked Czech railways if I could travel with the 'Polish' ticket for Krakow-Bohumin part and the 'Polish' reservation for Krakow-Prague plus a Czech e-ticket Bohumin-Prague. They confirmed the travel is possible and there should be no problem with their conductors controlling such a ticket combination.
So the question is if it is possible to buy in Poland the ticket only for a part and the reservation for the whole route to Prague?
Of course there is no question if you intend to travel with a standard trains (without obligation to have a reservation ticket). But I guess this is not what we're talking about here.

I'm hoping you share your experience with us if you have one in this case.

Best regards,
Jarek

So the question is if it is possible to buy in Poland the ticket only for a part and the reservation for the whole route to Prague?

It is 100% possible and allowed, so Czech Railways official were right to confirm it. Our guess, Polish cashier who told you that it's not possible whether didn't know well or understood your trick and simply decided that you are "too smart", so s/he just refused. To avoid it you can do an easy and totally working thing: buy separately reservation (whether seat or bed/couchette) and then in other window/from other cashier ticket over the border (-->Krakow-Bohumin), then nobody will know what trick (which btw totally legal) you are playing
Another solution, which also should work fine is to purchase first Czech ticket Bohumin-Praha (from CD eShop), print it and take it with you when going to international ticket window in Poland, then, if cashier refuses to sell need combination (reservation Krakow-Prague and Krakow-Bohumin ticket), you simply show already existing ticket Bohumin-Prague and say that you have part from Bohumin covered, it will prove that you need only Krakow-Bohumin ticket

Of course there is no question if you intend to travel with a standard trains (without obligation to have a reservation ticket).

Well, with local cross-border trains without reservation needed you can simply buy special cross-border tickets (like Chalupki-Bohumin) for really small sum (4 PLN), thus making it three tickets in total (national Polish till the border, short cross-border for special fare and national Czech from border), it's cheaper than to pay SCIC-NRT