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rollulus
Traveller
5 comments

Posted 5 years ago

Hello,

Three weeks from now we’ll go interrailing for the first time. This will be our route. Do you have any tips for us: should we reserve some of these trains, are there recommended night trains for this route, or any other recommendations maybe? It will make me feel more secure if you pros can check our plans :)

Thanks in advance, and thanks for this super website!

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Peter
Traveller
9330 comments

replied 5 years ago

Hi and welcome.
What Interrail pass do you have? If not already bought, use our partner link [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] at no extra costs for you, but support of all the free content on rail.cc - thank you! :)
As soon as we know how much time you have for your travels, it\'s easier to plan. :)
Pete

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Flo
Traveller
10723 comments

replied 5 years ago

Hi and welcome to railcc!

Amsterdam - Berlin: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/amsterdam-berlin/[/ux] - I wouldnt reserve seats
Berlin - Krakow: Depending on how much time you have I could think of travelling to Prague: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/berlin-prague-train/[/ux] spend the day there, then take the night train to Krakow: [ux]https://rail.cc/de/interrail-nachtzug/prag-warschau-en-443-406/126[/ux]
Alternatively, you could take the IC Bus of DB (reservation required) which would take you to Krakow directly: [ux]https://rail.cc/en/train-type/ic-intercity-bus/260[/ux] but I would prefer going by EC train to Warsaw (reservation required), then take another EIC train to Krakow (reservation required).

Ohh...I see you plan on going to Prague anyway... :D

So just travel Berlin - Krakow as I suggested via Warsaw. You could also travel by local train to Szczecin, spend the day there and then take a night train to Krakow from there.

Krakow - Vienna is possible during the day with a change of trains in Ostrava (reservation required for Krakow - Ostrava) or overnight by direct night train.

Vienna - Prague is possible by two hourly direct Railjet services: [ux]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/railjet-oebb/54[/ux]

Prague - Amsterdam during the day via Berlin (see blog linnks I posted above).

If you have questions just ask.

Flo

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rollulus
Traveller
5 comments

replied 5 years ago

Thanks for the help so far! Pete, we have a 5 days within 15 days pass. We didn’t order via rail.cc, we learned about rail.cc after we ordered, next time we will do!

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Peter
Traveller
9330 comments

replied 5 years ago

No worries... enjoy your trip. I think Flo answered already everything. :)
I definitely recommend the "ferries in Prague" (see blog post above).
Pete :)

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Flo
Traveller
10723 comments

replied 5 years ago

Feedback from your trip is always welcome too! ;)

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rollulus
Traveller
5 comments

replied 5 years ago

I\'ll do the feedback, it\'s the least I can do to contribute a bit back here.

For the reservations, do you recommend doing that online or at the stations? I noticed for instance that I cannot reserve the night train to Vienna via bahn.de / ÖBB.at without buying a full ticket online. And I\'d love to go by night train, just for the experience already!

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Flo
Traveller
10723 comments

replied 5 years ago

"It depends". ;)

Only a small (but increasing) number of trains is available for reservation online.
Regarding the ÖBB nightjet trains you can make the reservation via phone from DB via +49 180 6 99 66 33

Another option via phone is to contact ÖBB via +43 5 1717 (but since you want to travel Germany > Austria it is easier to contact DB since you could then collect the reservation at a station in Germany and dont have to pay for shipping of a paper reservation).

Anyway, with what night train do you want to travel from Germany to Austria? Doesnt really suit your plan from above?

Another option would be to travel Berlin > Prague > night train to Krakow > (night train to) Vienna; that way you could buy the reservation for the Prague - Krakow night train online at [ux]https://rail.shop/cd/[/ux]
If you do that, I would personally book all the way from Prague to Warsaw (to be able to sleep longer), spend the day in Warsaw and travel back to Krakow in the evening.

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rollulus
Traveller
5 comments

replied 5 years ago

Apologies for my poor wording. What I tried to say was: the direct night train from Kraków to Vienna, the one that was among the options you gave earlier if I understood you correctly. I tried to reserve that one online via öbb and bahn with succes.

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Flo
Traveller
10723 comments

replied 5 years ago

With no success right? ;)

Yeah - like I said, there is only a limited number of trains available for making reservations online.

Best chances are in France via [ux]https://rail.shop/sncf/reservation/[/ux], Italy via [ux]https://rail.shop/trenitalia/[/ux], Sweden via [ux]https://rail.shop/sj/[/ux], Benelux via [ux]https://rail.shop/beurope/reservation/[/ux], Slovakia via [ux]https://rail.shop/zssk/[/ux] and Czech Republic via [ux]https://rail.shop/cd/[/ux].
ACP Rail at [ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/reservation/[/ux] is also a good source for reservations in various countries (like Spain).

It has to be said that with these sites most countries are covered where reservations for day trains are actually an issue - being able to make reservations for trains like TGV, Frecciarossa, Thalys, Eurostar,... online is really convenient, especially if you are already travelling.

In most other countries (in middle and eastern Europe, as well as in UK), reservations are not that big an issue - most day trains can be used without a reservation or you can simply get your reservation locally at the station (as in Poland).

The biggest problem at the moment probably are night trains and international high speed trains which often are not available online; in these cases the hotlines of ÖBB or DB (mentioned above) are a good solution.

For the Krakow - Vienna night train the only option I see are these hotlines or buying the reservation during your travels at a station.
You could also look into travelling Krakow - Budapest overnight (and sleep a little longer), then visit Budapest during the day and travel to Vienna in the afternoon/evening).

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Peter
Traveller
9330 comments

replied 5 years ago

Hi.
I would also travel Krakow-Budapest and in the evening back then to Vienna. Even Budapest is worth staying one more night at least. :)
If you want to book online, Krakow-Budapest is possible via the agency [ux]https://rail.shop/polrail[/ux] . Select "international trains" and then check the box "reservation only". They deliver the reservation to your hotel/hostel in Poland.
Don\'t miss the current 15% discount on all Interrail passes, available here: [ux]https://rail.shop/interraileu[/ux]
Enjoy your trip, Pete :)

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rollulus
Traveller
5 comments

replied 5 years ago

Thanks for the help!

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rollulus
Traveller
5 comments

replied 5 years ago

So, the feedback: we ended up doing the original plan, which was Amsterdam, Berlin, Krakow, Vienna, Prague and back to Amsterdam. It was awesome and a smooth ride. One thing that we learned the hard way was that the Polish EIP requires a supplement - when the conductor asked us for it. The weird thing is that we had reservations for it which we got on Berlin Hbf but the clerk didn\'t tell us. Anyway, we paid the supplement in the train, which wasn\'t a big deal, but I\'m that kind of guy that just wants to have these things arranged upfront, but it was only a minor annoyance.

We also used Wouter\'s Berlin guide (the Berlin Unterwelten was awesome) that was posted above and wanted to do Flo\'s ferries thing in Prague but ran out of time.

So, thanks a lot for your help and advice and see you maybe another time!