Europe Trains Guide Forum
General discussion => Travel plans, routes and timetables => Topic started by: Mafiafarm on January 16, 2013, 10:17:19 pm
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Good evening.
Me and my colleague are planning a return trip back home from studying in Budapest.Price-wise, we discovered that a night train from Budapest to Warsaw, then another to Vilnius is the best option.We have already covered how to get to Warsaw, but here a problem arose which I am not sure how to solve.
Our train comes to Warsaw Central station at 07:04, and the other leaves at 07:20.Furthermore, it is impossible to book an international ticket like this in advance, which leaves us two options- hope to buy the ticket in 16 minutes or try buying from the inspector, which causes further problems for me.
My questions- is it possible to manage to navigate the Warsaw central station in 16 minutes, buy the tickets and still make it on time?Also, can you pay by credit card in the international offices for tickets?
If i do decide to buy from the ticket inspector, apparently I can only buy the part to Sestokai, then i have to buy furher tickets in there.But are there ATM's in that small station, or some way i can manage?Because i will only have polish zloty's in cash, so if i were to pay in Lithuanian litas, there are further dilemmas, as i need the ticket to be the one with the 50% discount, as we do not have the money, being students.
Anything you might say in this subject would be a huge help. :)
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...is it possible to manage to navigate the Warsaw central station in 16 minutes, buy the tickets and still make it on time?
Well, it will be extremely difficult, first of all since international ticket counters located quite far from the platforms, plus there might be a queue (since it's unlikely that more than one international counter will work at this point of the day)
Also, can you pay by credit card in the international offices for tickets?
Yes, if the terminal is working and connection is fine, no problem
If i do decide to buy from the ticket inspector, apparently I can only buy the part to Sestokai
Sestokai it's already Lithuanian station, so probably when boarding in Warsaw you will be able to purchase tickets on board only till last polish station - Trakiszki, while Trakiszki-Sestokai ticket you can definitely purchase from the conductors serving the train over the cross-border leg (not sure, but probably they will enter in Augustow or even Suwalki). Also remember that when buying ticket on board (unless you enter on the station without ticket counter) you'll have to pay extra fee - 10 PLN. That is why it might be more reasonable (and apparently more convenient) to purchase Warsaw-Trakiszki ticket in advance via PKP IC website (http://intercity.pl/en/l/369/tickets-online.html), print it yourself and board the train already having your ticket in the pocket
But are there ATM's in that small station, or some way i can manage?
ATM might be a problem, can't remember any around station in Sestokai (though it's already many years gone since we've been there, so maybe try checking with Lithuanian banks). But isn't Lithuanian counters accepts cards? Seems like they do, so it might solve the problem of buying LG ticket from Sestokai
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Okay, i did as you suggested and bought the ticket to Trakiszki.I just wish to ask how much it costs from there to sestokai in polish Zlotys?
Also, i read that if you tell the inspectors from your starting point of the journey that you will buy extra tickets later, you get some paper and you do not have to pay for the fare of buying on the train itself.Is that true?
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I just wish to ask how much it costs from there to sestokai in polish Zlotys?
Well, official fare for Trakiszki-Sestokai is 3,1 EUR, which makes it a bit less than 13 PLN
Also, i read that if you tell the inspectors from your starting point of the journey that you will buy extra tickets later, you get some paper and you do not have to pay for the fare of buying on the train itself. Is that true?
Haven't heard about it, but don't think conductors will charge you any extra fee for buying Trakiszki-Sestokai ticket on board. They would have definitely do it if you've boarded in Warsaw without ticket, but for cross-border leg it shouldn't be the case. Anyway, nobody forbids you to ask conductors right away, then you'll know for sure
p.s. if it won't be a burden, after you do the trip, maybe you can come back on forum and leave a short report how it all went, it will be interesting to read, thanks in advance
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I promised so here it is.
The part from Budapest to Warsaw was decent.29 euros, you get into a second class seat.there are 6 seats in the car, sometimes people only go as far as Bratislava so it was empty half the time, you can just stretch and sleep it off.Would recommend this way of travelling in groups of 4-6, because it's easy to pass the time like that :)
the problem was that the train was one hour late.Snow problems or something, but we couldn't make it in time for the Warsaw-trazinski train..We had to go to the Warsaw bus station at Zachodnia and buy a ticket to Augustov from there, then we were picked up and i drove the rest by car.It was a cheaper way to the border for me than the train though, because i got a student discount and had to pay only 31 zloty instead of 55 to Trazinski.All in all, it was a hard trip, and i would only recommend travelling in my particular way on warmer days, when snow i not likely to ruin the trip.
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the problem was that the train was one hour late.Snow problems or something, but we couldn't make it in time for the Warsaw-trazinski train.
Sorry to hear about your missed connection, usually in that part of Europe delays aren't that essential (at least it was the thought when we discussed the original itinerary). Nevertheless glad that you came up with plan B and managed the trip after all.