My family of 5 (3 adults and 2 children 7 %26amp; 9 years old) are looking at taking the train from Prague to Krakow in late June. Is it worth paying the extra money to go first class? My husband is large so will the seats be bigger for him in 1st?
I was also thinking about taking the sleeper but wasn%26#39;t sure how much sleep I would actually get. I have read many posts regarding theft on the night train and was worried about that. Also the nonstop train during the day is 7.5 hrs while the sleeper is 9.5 hrs.
What option/class do you think is the better choice?
Thanks
|||
- If going on the day train then you can book on-line here: https:/… €19 each. You can book these max. 2 months prior to your journey
- The sleeper takes 9.5 hours but it doesn%26#39;t matter as you would be sleeping for most of it.
- If your husband is large (you don%26#39;t specify in which direction :) ), then he might not be comfortable in a sleeper or couchette. If he is tall, then no problem.
- The difference between 1st and 2nd is actually very small - it is more of a prestige thing. If anything, second class can be even more comfortable as on this train the first class seats are cramped %26#39;airline - style%26#39; and it is really not worth the huge extra outlay.
www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/CZ/CD_Bee246.php (2nd class)
www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/CZ/CD_Apee.php (1st class)
- If you book using the method above then you will get a reserved ticket and you will have a compartment to yourselves.
- Don%26#39;t worry about theft. It is largely scaremongering. If you get the night train just lock the door and you%26#39;ll be fine, and I find falling asleep on a train to be very easy. You will have to buy your ticket when you get to Prague, and it will cost more than €19 each - but you will save on a hotel fvor the night.
Good luck!
|||
Thank you for the train website. I noticed that it does not show an overnight train. Previously I used the DB-Bahn website to get prices and times for trains. Am I doing something wrong or is it correct that they do not offer overnight train?
Also.. don%26#39;t know if you can help but was looking at the Salzburg to Prague train using the same website you gave me and they said I had to buy a roundtrip ticket in order for it to be valid. Is it OK to buy a Salzburg Prague for a Saturday and then the Prague Salzburg for Sunday but never use the Prague Salzburg portion? It also looked like I did not have an option of buying a one way versus round trip. I just needed to buy them seperatly.
I am slowly figuring out the whole train thing and any help is greatly appreciated.
|||
A few things here:
that website only shows the Eurocity (day) trains, on which there are special offers. You will have to purchase a ticket for the night train when you get to Prague – or even on the day.
That website is only for trains originating and terminating in the Czech Republic – therefore you can buy a return ticket from Prague to Salzburg, but not Salzburg to Prague. To get your Salzburg to Prague ticket you will have to go to the Austrian Railways website www.oebb.at, select the English option and then go to the %26#39;Sparscheine%26#39; section where I think you can book Salzburg to Prague. If you buy a return section as well as you describe above, you will be paying twice as much, which you do not want to do.
You have to realise that buying tickets on-line in this part of the world is pretty unusual, and therefore only a very few tickets are available that way. The vast majority of people just turn up at the station and buy the ticket before getting on the train, like in the good old days :)
As a group you are entitled to further savings so ask for that when purchasing – it can make quite a difference to the final price. I believe this is also the case in Austria.
Hope this helps!
|||
If I wait to buy the tickets until I am in Prague, will I run the risk of the train being filled up? Can I get discounts if I purchase the ticket early? Can I buy tickets anywhere in London for this train?
|||
- No danger of it being filled up. That would be most unusual.
- No discounts for buying early on this train.
- You might be able to buy it in London, but you would pay a lot more. Honestly - it is very easy to buy them in Prague at the main rail station, which is just at the top of Wenceslas Square, and if you do it a couple of days before departure then all the better.
Maybe someone else has some input - surely someone else has done this journey recently!
|||
Sounds like waiting is the way to go. I guess I am a worrying for nothing. I just like to have things done, so I don%26#39;t have to think about them later. But waiting does provide us flexibility in our plans. So waiting is what I will do.
Thanks for all your help!
|||
Hello,
We are going to do this same trip in September and I%26#39;d love to hear your experiences. Did you buy the tickets at the Prague train station? What class did you go?
Thanks!
|||
We did buy the tickets at the train station. It was no problem at all. The line was kind of long but they were fairly helpful. We also reserved our seats. I would recommend doing this as the train was fairly full and people were doing alot of moving to get a seat. At the train station you will see many types of trains. Some in fairly poor condition. The good news is that the train you take is pretty nice. Ours had a cafeteria on board as well. We did not eat on the train but I did hear other passengers say that the food was fairly good. Anyway.... if you are like us you will LOVE Krakow! It is so much quieter and restful compared to Prague. We would go back there any chance we had.
|||
Oh yes... I forgot to mention that we went 2nd class. No need at all for first class.
|||
the only thing about 1st class is that is is fairly empty and no need for seats reservation, whether it is worth the extra money depends on your personal preferences.
No comments:
Post a Comment