Seat Selection on Train

Thank you for all the great information you have provided on booking train travel. I have not been able to find anything related to seating so hopefully I%26#39;m not repeating a post.

I will be booking a ticket from the Cd website this week for early December and have a question on seating. I will be traveling alone from Prague to Vienna on either the 8:30 Franz Schubert train or 10:57 Antonín Dvořák train.

I%26#39;m flexible on arrival time so is there any benefit to one of these trains vs. the other.

Also, I will have luggage and travel alone. Is there a particular car or seat that I should try to reserve?

Thanks for your advice.

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The 0830 is a normal express and takes 4.5 hours, and the 1057 is an express %26#39;Pendolino%26#39; train that takes 4 hours. If you want to have a couple more hours in Vienna I would get the early one.

As for reserving a seat it doesn%26#39;t really matter on the Pendolino as they are all the same. On the early one you can reserve where you like and if you don%26#39;t like the one that you have chosen, just sit somewhere else - you will find that very few people reserve on the train, it just happens that a reservation is thrown in on the on-line booking option.

If you are in a compartment (my particular preference, and only available on the early train), your luggage goes above your head in the rack. Otherwise in a coach car it goes in the luggage rack at the end of the carriage or in between the seats. There are also overhead racks.

One tip is not to take too much luggage with you on European trains as getting up on board can mean that you rely on others to help you as there are two or three steep steps up to the carriage - in 90% of cases this is not a problem, though. The other thing is that many of the older stations do not have lifts or escalators up to the platform so you have to lug your stuff around.

Travelling on your own can only be a positive thing - you have the chance to meet other travellers and exchange stories. I have made some very good and interesting acquaintances over the years travelling this way.

NB in early December they are due to start re-modelling the Vienna railway stations which may mean that you will have to get off at Wien-Meidling (which is sometimes better and quicker anyway if you want to get to the centre). They will let you know at the time, though - no need to worry about that.

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GCEC - Thank you for the information! I love traveling alone.

I try to pack light but in the winter I need a slightly larger bag.

I bought a new piece of mid-sized luggage last year and would recommend to anyone. It%26#39;s called a Spinner. It has 4 small wheels and you can roll it in any directions and roll flat. Works great on trains. You can roll flat with the skinny side facing you so you fit easy down the aisle. Also, we you roll flat on all 4 wheels you don%26#39;t have to support as much weight as when you tilt it on 2.

Thanks again for the information.

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Hi AnnedinVirginia, can I ask what website you booked this train. I am trying to orgainise my trip at the moment but cant find any websites that will allow me to book anything past the 12th December

Thanks

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https:/…

but give it a few more weeks - the timetables aren%26#39;t out yet, and work is going to start in Vienna on the new rail hub.

Don%26#39;t worry - seats are always available on these trains and you can book them up to three days before travel at the lower prices. Otherwise on the day they cost more.

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Thanks so much GCEK...

I have another question that you may be able to help me with. We need to make our way from Krakow to Kranjska Gora or a town /rail station close to it in Slovenia via a sleeper train, preferably a 2 bed sleeper. Do you know if this is possible and what the best route and is to take. How would the the best way to book this trip as well (internet, raileurope, at the station in Krakow)?

Also, Is the work being carried out in Vienna likely to disrupt these travel plans?

Thanks a lot, look forward to hearing back from you

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I don%26#39;t think Kranjska Gora has a rail link - from looking at a map Villach in Austria appears to be closest, but I don%26#39;t know what the links are like between the two places. There is an overnight train from Krakow to Vienna, which you will have to buy in Krakow as it is not available on-line, or contact www.polrail.com which will charge you a small commission, but is not nearly the massive rip-off which is Rail Europe - stay well clear of them. I had a look at the Australian RE website recently and it is a disgrace - full of untruths and misleading information (plus the hugely over-inflated prices).

From Vienna to Villach you can buy a ticket here www.oebb.at but you can just as easily buy this ticket on the day as it would cost the same and seats do not sell out.

As for the disruption in Vienna - I have no idea how it will affect things, but ask Mikey in the Vienna forum.