Budapest-Lvov ticket bought in Slovakia? Possible? Cheaper?

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Hi everyone!

I've been reading the blog of Helmut Uttenthaler (the guy who went from Vienna to Pyongyang by train)

http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.hu

and he wrote that for example tickets bought in Slovakia for domestic trips inside Russia are even cheaper than in Russia itself.

I'm planning a trip from Budapest to Lvov on the "Tisza-Express" night train. If I try buying tickets for this trip in Slovakia instead of Budapest, can I expect a significantly lower price?

Is it even possible to buy a Budapest-Lvov ticket+place reservation from inside Slovakia?


The ideal place for me to buy it would be the railway station of Sturovo, as it's less than 90 minutes away by train from Budapest and a return ticket costs only 6 Euros.

...and he wrote that for example tickets bought in Slovakia for domestic trips inside Russia are even cheaper than in Russia itself.

Well, with some limitations it was the case some years ago, but once more and more people started to use such tricky international tickets in order to travel within Russia, RZD (Russian Railways) increased bed reservation prices, thus neutralizing profitable effect from buying East-West tariff tickets. And apparently situation gets even worth - http://europetrainsguide.com/forum/index.php/topic,448.msg2179.html#msg2179

I'm planning a trip from Budapest to Lvov on the "Tisza-Express" night train. If I try buying tickets for this trip in Slovakia instead of Budapest, can I expect a significantly lower price?

No, in Slovakia ticket cashier will be able to sell you for Budapest-Lviv connection only standard East-West tariff international ticket with some minor discount, which is very far from the best option for you. Especially since same ticket bought from MAV international ticket counter will be with much greater 50% discount (special MAV-UZ discount, applied only when ticket is purchased either in Hungary or Ukraine). So if we talking about "Tisza" and direct journey there is no cheaper option than simply visit MAV ticket counter and buy straight forward Budapest-Lviv ticket for 33,5 euro (or 67 euro return) and bed reservation (from 15 euro for UZ 2/2 or slightly cheaper for RZD 2/3)
If you really want to pay less for journey Budapest-Lviv, then you'll have to complicate it a bit. For instance buy ticket Budapest-Chop (18,4 euro) and use seating carriages of "Tisza" (first Budapest-Zahony and then the other one Zahony-Chop), while in Chop just buy Ukrainian domestic ticket Chop-Lviv for the same "Tisza" train (from 8 euro, bed reservation included), as result travel time Budapest-Lviv will be the same, but you'll pay roughly twice less compared to Budapest-Lviv international ticket + bed reservation described above. Or you can pay even less if you depart from Budapest earlier and catch cheaper UZ overnight trains from Chop to Lviv ("Tisza" is most expensive train there, since it is served by RZD). Plus by doing so you'll avoid waiting in Chop during the night.
UZ domestic tickets can be bought in advance online via UZ website (booking.uz.gov.ua/en)

Is it even possible to buy a Budapest-Lvov ticket+place reservation from inside Slovakia?

It is possible, but again doesn't really make sense, since you'll pay considerably more for the ticket, and only reservation will be the same price as if you bought it in Hungary

Thanks for the answer.

So it seems that this "Slovakia-trick" won't work anymore.

I have another plan to cut prices then: I book a platzkart Chop-Lviv ticket online for the domestic Ukrainian train that leaves Chop around 23:00 and arrives in Lviv the next morning. Earlier that day, I travel from Budapest to Chop though Záhony with regular Hungarian trains. Once I enter Ukraine, I get my pre-booked tickets from the Chop railway station counter, and board the train to Lviv.

I book a platzkart Chop-Lviv ticket online for the domestic Ukrainian train that leaves Chop around 23:00 and arrives in Lviv the next morning.

Well, there are two suitable overnight trains from Chop to Lviv, one is #601 (goes via Sianky-Sambir) 23:10-6:40 and other #14 (goes via Mukachevo) 00:10-5:57. Usually (unless it's holiday time) it won't be a problem to buy ticket for both even 10 min. before departure, so it's not "must book in advance" situation. Although if you can book (UZ website isn't the easiest one to handle), then book it, online purchase will even save you extra 2 UAH 
Also maybe better to go with "kupe" (T4) instead of "platkartnyj", it's less than 3 euro more expensive (7,5-8 euro vs. 5-5,5 euro, depends on day of the week), but much more comfortable to travel

Earlier that day, I travel from Budapest to Chop though Záhony with regular Hungarian trains.

Just a reminder: unless you have a discount for domestic trains in Hungary, make you sure you purchase international ticket Budapest-Chop (or Budapest-Chop-Budapest), it's cheaper than combination Budapest-Zahony domestic and Zahony-Chop international

p.s. traveling few time via Chop we can say that it's not the best place to spend time in that region of Ukraine, so if you arrive early, it might make sense to think about going to Uzghorod or Mukachevo right away, those places have much more things to see and it is convenient since you can as well catch your 601/14 trains there, thus without need to come back to Chop

p.s. traveling few time via Chop we can say that it's not the best place to spend time in that region of Ukraine, so if you arrive early, it might make sense to think about going to Uzghorod or Mukachevo right away, those places have much more things to see and it is convenient since you can as well catch your 601/14 trains there, thus without need to come back to Chop

Great idea! I've been to Mukachevo before and it's indeed a lovely town, but this would be the perfect oppurtunity to visit Uzhhorod aswell. The earliest train from Budapest arrives at 12:58 in Chop, perfect time to catch the 13:18 elektrichka to Uzhhorod, provided there are no serious hangups at border control.

...this would be the perfect oppurtunity to visit Uzhhorod aswell. The earliest train from Budapest arrives at 12:58 in Chop, perfect time to catch the 13:18 elektrichka to Uzhhorod, provided there are no serious hangups at border control.

Usually all the border checks doesn't take long (at least it used to be), but even if there will be any delays, then just in front of Chop railway station depart minibuses to Uzghorod like every 30 min. or something like that (ticket price more or less the same as for elektrichka ticket), so going by train isn't the only way to make it to Uzghorod

Also, if you already ok with leaving Budapest that early, we can suggest a different route avoiding Zahony at all. It involves purchase of 20 euro return ticket Budapest-Kosice(Kassa) and catching morning EC 532 (Rákóczi). You'll have a few hours for Kosice (also nice place to visit), then either catch local train to Michalovce (and afternoon bus from there directly to Uzghorod) or you can board the same bus already in Kosice (dep.12:40). In total, taking into consideration cheap rt ticket Budapest-Kosice, this way even cheaper than going via Zahony, although obviously a bit longer in travel time