Train Help. Krakow-Budapest-Vienna&Bratislava-Prague-Munich-Zurick

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I need some help to book overnight sleepers for some of my schedule, and I have read some info about the trouble booking from Krakow to Budapest, but wanted to double check if anything has changed and any advice you may have. Ideally we would do Krakow to budapest sleeper train and Vienna to Prague sleeper train and possible another sleeper train if cities are far enough. We have a very tight schedule (a city per day) and would like to book things in advance.

And yes I know is crazy a city per day, but I have not been able to convince my boyfriend to desist from such an overpacked schedule. Please help in booking these!!

Thank you!

...I have read some info about the trouble booking from Krakow to Budapest, but wanted to double check if anything has changed and any advice you may have.

Yep, it is still an issue since PKP doesn't sell international tickets (including offers) online, thus with Krakow-Budapest carriages (and relatively cheap travel with them) it's either agency (=risky+you pay commission) or 'tricks'

Ideally we would do Krakow to budapest sleeper train and Vienna to Prague sleeper train and possible another sleeper train if cities are far enough.

Well, from Krakow till Budapest and then from Vienna/Bratislava to Prague basically your only potential overnight segments. Both Prague-Munich and Munich-Zurich aren't very well suited for overnight, at least in terms of price.

Saying generally, our suggestion regarding your itinerary (if simply forget about SparNight Krakow-Budapest) would be something like Krakow-Bratislava by direct carriage (with simple 'break' of tickets via Bohumin), then side trips (meaning 'there and back') to both Vienna and Budapest (easy, cheap and no need to buy anything in advance), then purchased in advance SparNight to Prague (for ZSSK-CD there are plenty of options like cheap SparNights for sleeper carriages, which will cost much less then Vienna-Prague discounted for a seating carriage). After obviously discounted Prague-Munich and Munich-Zurich.
If to stick to your plan stricly, then obviously you'll have necessity to purchase in advance discounted Budapest-Vienna, Vienna-Prague and again Prague-Munich and Munich-Zurich.

Thank you so much for the info. One more question, I have spent so much time researching and looking for the ways to buy the tickets and apparently at least from Krakow to budapest, or Prague or Bratislava, there's no way to buy online. is advance purchase possible if so where? or do I just have to buy at the train station? Thank you again!

... apparently at least from Krakow to budapest, or Prague or Bratislava, there's no way to buy online.

Yes, as we mentioned above, Polish Railways (PKP) doesn't sell international tickets online.

...is advance purchase possible if so where?

Officially only at the station at the ticket desk. Some travel/ticket agencies also sell them and in some you can even order via their website, but that's a bit risky and obviously more expensive due to commission.

In regards to the particular ways passengers can avoid the issue, can be named 'trick' with purchasing standard international ticket Krakow-Bohumin (16 EUR), then, in case of continuing to Prague, you can make use of domestic ticket Bohumin-Prague (can be purchased online from CD website) bought in advance for the same train, thus you won't even need to get off in Bohumin, but just have two separate tickets (Krakow-Bohumin and home printed Bohumin-Prague). While with Bratislava it's a bit more complicated since you will need to get off in Bohumin (can't buy such ticket online) and visit ticket counter, where to purchase Bohumin-Bratislava ticket (19 EUR).
With Krakow-Prague you can also do another trick: buy in advance discounted ticket Cesky Tesin-Prague or even Zilina-Prague (depending on timing of purchase it makes sense either go with SparNight ZSSK-CD or domestic CD), then just take last bus Krakow to Cieszyn, walk from to the Czech part of the town and board overnight train to Prague. In this case you won't get a long sleep, but it will be cheap and you can purchase your rail ticket online in advance.

Thank you again!!
1. So if I want to buy the international ticket from Krakow to Bohumin, I would buy that one at the station in Poland? What if I wanted to go to Budapest instead? are there any tricks to go that route?
2. Is it possible to just buy most tickets at the station or is that a big risk for us to end up paying a lot of money? 

Thank you so much, this is extremely helpful!

So if I want to buy the international ticket from Krakow to Bohumin, I would buy that one at the station in Poland?

Yep, anyway it's full fare, thus no need to buy it in advance since the price is always the same anyway.

What if I wanted to go to Budapest instead? are there any tricks to go that route?

There are, but it will be a bit more complicated to get a good total price. Easiest will be same Krakow-Bohumin (16 EUR), then bought in Bohumin ticket till Budapest, which won't be cheap (50 EUR). That way you save around 15 EUR comparing to the direct Krakow-Budapest full fare one-way ticket (81 EUR). More complicated (and time consuming) way is go with combination of tickets Krakow-Bohumin (16 EUR), after buy Bohumin-Sturovo (app. 27 EUR), then get off train there, cross the Danube and board domestic Hungarian train Ezstergom-Budapest (app. 3.5 EUR). As you can see it might not seem like a great option, that is why in the first post we suggested to stop in Bratislava first (thus to do Krakow-Bratislava) and only afterward do a side trip to Budapest.
Also some days of the week there are overnight bus from Krakow to Budapest, it isn't a train, but no hassle and relatively cheap comparing to rail tickets.

Is it possible to just buy most tickets at the station or is that a big risk for us to end up paying a lot of money?

We don't really know what you mean by "a lot of money", but let's just list it (all of the below are fares you'll pay if purchasing before departure at the station): Krakow-Budapest cost 81 EUR (+reservation), Budapest-Vienna (25 EUR), Vienna-Bratislava return (14 EUR), Vienna-Prague (60.4 EUR + reservation), Prague-Munich (57 EUR) and Munich-Zurich (75.2 EUR). While purchased in advance discounted tickets can roughly save you more than half of the total.

p.s. regarding Krakow-Budapest we also advise you just to search our forum. Questions about this route arise pretty often, so maybe you can read some old suggestions and it can help you think of a best option for you