Berlin-Krakow-Prague-Tatras-Budapest-lake bled-Croatia

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Hi there,

I'm having real difficulty working out if buying an interrail ticket is worth it for this journey. Everyone says just work it out point to point but I can't find the same price for a journey twice! So it's difficult to tell. This route is subject to change but basically we're starting in Berlin and ending in Croatia by travelling down. Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Ok, so let's just take a look at each leg of your trip and see whether it will help you make your mind regarding dilemma pass vs. point-to-point

However before that it maybe seems to think about switching a bit sequence of destinations, thus make it Berlin to Prague, then to Krakow, then Tatras (do you have specific place in mind?) and Budapest - Slovenia - Croatia

Berlin to Prague: on this route German Railways (DB) offer discounted tickets starting from 29 euro per person, although such tickets need to be purchase in advance, since they are limited per each departure. Full standard fare for train ticket here is 66 euro. Also pretty good, at least in terms of money, options offered by bus companies, on certain occasions you can find promo offer bus tickets Berlin to Prague for like 9 euro
Prague to Krakow: two options here - you can either travel by direct overnight train or travel during the day with change. For the overnight train Czech Railways (CD) offer purchasable online discounted tickets for as low as 19 euro (while full standard fare when buying in Prague is 42 euro). With daytime options you can as well travel relatively cheap (here you can choose either EuroCity train from Prague to Katowice & then domestic Polish train to Krakow or domestic Czech train from Prague to Cesky Tesin, cross the border to Poland by foot and take bus to Krakow from Polish part (Cieszyn) of the town)

Regarding "Tatras" you have to be more specific, because it's difficult to say something without knowing what you mean However doubt that any journey to the mountains from Krakow (or Prague) will cost you let's say more than 20 euro

Budapest to Lake Bled: here you have three options: a) use direct everyday daytime through carriage Budapest-Zagreb-Ljubljana (39 euro for one-way ticket, no need to buy in advance), while Ljubljana to Lake Bled (again there are quite a few towns/villages there) is already easy and cheap; b) twice a week during summer there will be direct overnight train Budapest-Ljubljana-Koper (goes directly from Hungary to Slovenia avoiding Croatia), it's more expensive (standard full fare tickets is almost 53 euro), although conveniently arrives to Ljubljana in the morning; c) it is as well possible to travel to lake Bled region via Austria, meaning Budapest to Vienna (tickets from 13 euro when bought in advance), then Vienna to Villach (tickets from 19 euro when bought in advance) and another 10 euro for Villach to Bled (no need to buy ticket in advance)
Lake Bled to Croatia: again makes sense to be more specific regarding place/destination in Croatia, but saying in general the idea is to travel from Bled to Ljubljana and then take a train - either to Zagreb (16 euro), Rijeka (16,2 euro) or even Pula, also plenty of buses from Slovenia to Croatia, especially during summer

p.s. if you are not a fan of switching destinations sequence in the early part of your itinerary, then it's totally ok, everything can be done your way, however currently there is no direct train from Berlin to Krakow (instead there is bus connection, tickets start form 29 euro) and from Krakow it's a bit difficult to get cheap ticket to Prague since Polish Railways still doesn't sell discounted tickets Poland-Czech Republic online via website

Thank you so much! So in consensus it sounds much cheaper to do point to point. I think we're just terrified we'll get there and every ticket will end up costing us 50 euros+ and we will get scammed because it's obvious we are tourists!

Also where do we find tickets for 29 euros online?

We would be looking to go to Poprad in the Tatras if that makes it any easier and I think that's a fairly major station. I'm sure that'd be quite easy to get to?

So in consensus it sounds much cheaper to do point to point.

Well, in Central Europe & Balkans you hardly can find any itinerary where pass will beat point-to-point tickets, obviously unless you plan to ride trains all the time 

I think we're just terrified we'll get there and every ticket will end up costing us 50 euros+ and we will get scammed because it's obvious we are tourists!

In your case it will be good idea to get some tickets in advance (like Berlin to Prague and Prague to Krakow or Berlin to Krakow), that way you get to save quite a lot, but with all others price doesn't really change depending on time of purchase, so, as far as you purchase tickets from official tickets counter at train stations, you won't be scammed or pay more than 50 euro for anything

We would be looking to go to Poprad in the Tatras if that makes it any easier and I think that's a fairly major station. I'm sure that'd be quite easy to get to?

Poprad... then definitely would recommend to do Berlin-Prague-Krakow-Poprad-Budapest etc.. Krakow to Poprad is easy, cheap, quite scenic and required only one change - just take a train or bus from Krakow to Zakopane (also a famous resort), will cost you 20-30 PLN, while from Zakopane to Poprad there are a few direct buses, ticket is 5 euro. With Poprad to Budapest easiest option will be to catch train to Kosice (a nice town for half a day or a day) and then direct train from Kosice to Budapest (there is one in the morning and one in the evening), also can do the same trick by going Poprad-Bratislava & Bratislava-Budapest. And definitely you can do Poprad to Budapest with even more adventures and stops in Slovakia, but then you should be prepared to change trains/buses and spend a bit more time