London to Budapest by train: help for planning

replied 2 years ago

Hi Valika.
You still have to wait a little bit until you can book your tickets. Usually booking is possible 3 months in advance, sometimes even more.
Cheap and fast, lets try it like this...

London to Paris:
by train there is the Eurostar. Journey time is 2:15 hours and the ticket price starts from 50 EUR.
If you want to travel cheaper, from about 25 EUR, use a bus. But the journey time is much longer, about 7-8 hours. Overnight travel is possible.


Now you can continue from Paris via Vienna to Budapest or via Switzerland.

1) Paris to Vienna
Take the direct overnight train (runs three times per week). Tickets for seats are available from 29 EUR. But I recommend to take a shared sleeper compartment with 4 or 6 beds. More comfortable. The ticket price for these couchettes starts from 49 EUR. See here for details and photos:
https://rail.cc/night-train/paris-vienna-oebb-nightjet-nj/635
Book the ticket on https://rail.shop/nsinternational or https://rail.shop/oebb

Vienna to Budapest
Travel by the frequent and direct Railjet train. Or the cheaper Regiojet train. Tickets are available from 9/15 EUR. The journey time is 2:30 hours. Here is a good blog post of Alexander about this journey: https://rail.cc/blog/vienna-budapest-railjet
Book the ticket on https://rail.shop/omio or https://rail.shop/omio


2) Paris to Zurich by TGV Lyria.
The ticket price is 29 EUR. The journey time is 4 hours.
Book the ticket on https://rail.shop/omio or https://rail.shop/omio

Zurich by direct overnight train to Budapest (runs daily).
Read here for details and booking information: https://rail.cc/night-train/zurich-budapest-en-40467/177


Conclusion: I recommend the route "1" including the night train Paris to Vienna. Start after Lunch in London. Arrive in the afternoon in Paris. Walk the 10 to 15 minutes from "Paris Gare du Nord" (where you arrive from London) to "Paris Gare de l'Est" (departure of your night train). It is easy to walk and there is no need to take the subway (Metro). See here: https://rail.cc/paris/station/c
Wake up in Vienna and take the comfortable Railjet to Budapest where you will arrive for lunch at a good time to check-in in your hotel.

To get an impression of the night train Paris-Vienna, have a look on this video. It is the same type of train, only on a different route:
https://youtu.be/GTHRvENCd1o

If you have further questions, please let me know. Peter :)

replied 2 years ago

Thank you very much your precise and very detalied answer !
Sincerely, Valika