JulietDuke
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 6 years ago
We are going from Prague to Poprad in Slovakia and the journey from Prague to our change over in Slovakia says compulsory reservation. Same for our journey from Poprad to Budapest. Can we take the risk and book whilst on our travels or do you recommend we book first. We are having problems with Interrail and getting one of the group onto the profile so we can all sit together. Plus I assume it\'s much cheaper to book en-route? Many thanks
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi and welcome to railcc!
Which connection are you looking at that requires a reservation from Prague to your changeover station in Slovakia? The only train with compulsory reservation on this route (which you can use with Interrail) is the SC Pendolino which runs directly from Prague to Poprad: [ux]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/supercity-cd/57[/ux]
Please note that you cannot travel with Regiojet [ux]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-company/regiojet/182[/ux] and Leo Express [ux]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-company/regiojet/182[/ux] services with Interrail.
From Poprad to Budapest you can travel without seat reservations via Kosice.
If you let me know which exact connections you are looking at I can help you with reservations and look for better options without compulsory reservation if necessary.
Booking reservations locally is no problem and indeed cheaper; you can also get seat reservations online at [ux]https://rail.shop/cd/[/ux] and/or [ux]https://rail.shop/zssk/[/ux]
Flo
JulietDuke
Traveller
1 comments
Thanks Flo that\'s really helpful
Ideally we\'d like the 12:24 from Prague to Zilina arriving at 17:33 and departing at 17:39 for Poprad. Alternatively the 11:24 from Prague to Puchov arriving at 15:46 and departing at 15:51 for Poprad. There are 5 of us and the cheapest seat booking I could find online was 975CZK which seems expensive. Do you know if both these trains are valid with Interrail as I\'m struggling to find which train companies they\'re with.
From Poprad we were looking at the 12:34 changing at Bratislava at 16:17 and arriving in Budapest at 19:19.
Any help would be appreciated
Many thanks
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
If you are looking on [ux]https://rail.shop/cd/[/ux] you will be only shown connections with CD (Czech Railways) and ZSSK (Slovak Railways), which you can both use with Interrail. The trains of private operators Regiojet and Leo Express which I mentioned above are not shown there.
The train at 1739 from Zilina is an IC train with compulsory reservation: [ux]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/intercity-zssk/281[/ux]
You can buy reservations online at [ux]https://rail.shop/zssk/[/ux] - select the connection and go to "buy ticket and reservation"; then select "type of passenger: intl TD" (international travel document). This should cost 4€ per reservation.
On [ux]https://rail.shop/cd/[/ux] this reservation is available for 117 CZK (4,50€). You have to select "buy reservation only".
Alternatively take a train earlier or later; that way your connecting train in Slovakia would be a "Rychlik" (R) with no compulsory reservation: [ux]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/rychlik-zssk/147[/ux]
The connection to Budapest again includes an IC, so you would again need to book a reservation. Since you would travel longer with this train (compared to Zilina - Poprad) the reservation should be more expensive, probably 7€.