Budapest to Krakow/Warsaw
Trains from Budapest to Warsaw & Krakow (2018 timetable):
| EC 130 | EN 476 | |
407 | EC 131 |
| Varsovia |
Metropol |
|
Chopin |
Varsovia |
| 8:41 (dep. Nyugati station) |
20:25 | Budapest-Keleti | 8:35 | 19:19 (arr. Nyugati station) |
| 11:07 | 23:01 | Bratislava hl.st. (Pozsony) |
5:51 | 16:50 |
| 15:48 | ≀ | Katowice | ≀ | 12:22 |
| 18:26 | 8:54 | Warszawa Zachodnia | 19:55 | 9:55 |
| 18:31 | 9:01 | Warszawa Centralna | 19:50 | 9:50 |
| 18:42 | 9:16 | Warszawa Wschodnia | 19:39 | 9:39 |
| EN 476 / EN 406 | EN 407 / EN 477 | |
| Metropol / Chopin | Chopin / Metropol | |
| 20:25 | Budapest-Keleti |
8:35 |
| 23:01 | Bratislava hl.st. (Pozsony) |
5:51 |
| 4:56 | Oświęcim (Auschwitz) | 23:56 |
| 6:12 | Kraków Gł. |
22:41 |
Trains Tickets from Budapest to Krakow & Warsaw? When traveling between Hungary & Poland potential passengers can purchase different kinds of train tickets, choosing the right type of ticket can save a good sum of money:
- cheapest rail ticket option for the connection is the Hungarian discounted ticket called SparDay (daytime journeys) or SparNight (overnight journeys). One-way fare for trips from Budapest to Warsaw or Krakow start from only 19 euro (2nd class seat), 39 euro (6 berth couchette), 44 euro (4 berth couchette), 49 euro (3 bed sleeper). SparDay/SparNight tickets offered for both daytime EuroCity (EC) & overnight trains, however you should keep in mind that number of such discounted tickets is limited per each train departure, thus, it means that there is certain quota of cheap Spar tickets per each train, once this quota is sold out next price level kicks in. So earlier you buy your ticket the better chances you have to catch cheapest offer on the market. SparDay/SparNight tickets Budapest-Warsaw/Krakow can be purchased as early as 60 days before the actual journey (we have a step by step guide on how to do it) and issued for the specific train & date (exchange or refund is not allowed)
- passengers who are not yet sure about their travel plans or simply missed an opportunity to buy SparDay/SparNight discounted ticket can look into another available ticket option - special return ticket [Poland Special]. It's a return ticket designed for those who want to visit Katowice/Krakow/Warsaw, it is valid for 1 month and cost 39 euro for Budapest-Katowice-Budapest & Budapest-Krakow-Budapest connection or 49 euro for Budapest-Warsaw-Budapest. This type of ticket can be purchased even before departure, thus there is basically no need to buy anything in advance.
- standard international one-way ticket (SCIC-NRT tariff) Budapest-Warsaw cost 112,40 euro, while Budapest to Krakow - 89,80 euro (which is way too much, so we strongly advise to think about other options (e.g. see next point)
- besides the above mentioned tickets there are also couple totally legal ticket tricks, which might help those who plan to travel between Budapest & Poland, especially in case you had no chance to catch cheap SparDay/SparNight: a) when traveling from Budapest to Poland (especially Krakow or Katowice regions) during the day it is possible to cut your expanses by making a couple train changes along the way (--> buying separate tickets for each leg instead of the expensive international ticket for the entire journey). With this trick you can travel by train from Budapest to southern Poland for less than 25 euro in total and the best part here is that you won't need to purchase any tickets in advance; b) sometimes it makes financial sense to 'break' your ticket even when traveling by direct train. In situations when discounted SparDay/SparNight tickets Budapest-Warsaw & Budapest-Krakow already sold out, you can go for the combination of tickets - e.g. first ticket Budapest-Czech Republic and then another one from Czech Republic to Poland for the same train.
Alternatives? Perhaps you aren't in the mood to travel from Budapest to Warsaw using direct train, then you have a couple other options to consider: a) you can always travel by bus (major bus companies operating on Budapest Krakow-Warsaw route are EuroLines & FlixBus), in fact journey by bus from Budapest to Krakow is much faster and almost always cheaper than by train; b) travel with stopover in some interesting place (e.g. Slovak capital - Bratislava); c) in case you in a hurry, then it's possible to fly from Budapest to Warsaw either with LOT or WizzAir airlines, while between Budapest and Krakow currently it's only LOT.