jbrownst88
Traveller
4 comments
Posted 13 years ago
Hi,
I will be flying into Copenhagen in late December and spending a couple of days there before catching a (preferably) night train to Stockholm.
From there, we are flying to Prague, and aiming to utilise night trains wherever possible to go from Prague-Krakow-Budapest-Vienna-Venice. From Venice we'll use day trains to travel to Florence and then Rome.
I'm having trouble working out what Eurail pass, if any, would benefit us. Because Scandinavia is somewhat isolated form the rest of our destinations I figured it would be cheapest to buy a point-to-point ticket for the Copenhagen-Stockholm journey, and then find a pass covering Eastern Europe and Italy. However, this is proving difficult because Poland can't be chosen as part of a 5-country Eurail Select Pass. Furthermore, from what I've read on this forum, some of the trains on our route also go through Slovakia, which isn't covered by Eurail either?
Are we better off just buying point-to-point tickets the whole way through? Or would a Eurail pass covering Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Italy, supplemented by point-to-point tickets for Poland and the journey that passes through Slovakia, be cheaper?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
Before I can give an answer whether it would make sense to get an EuRail pass or not, I'd have to know your age (above or under 26) and the number of people travelling. ;)
In general, it will be a good idea to get seperate tickets for the Kobenhavn - Stockholm leg as you said. However, in mid december the Malmö Stockholm train will cease operation.
On your way from Krakow to Budapest you can easily avoid Slovakia (in case you go with EuRail) by travelling via Wien. BTW, you'll have to go with a 4 countries select pass anyway, since Poland is not included in EuRail Global/Select passes.
Itinerary could then be:
Kobenhavn - Malmö - Stockholm: With the night train gone, best option is with one of the two hourly X2000 direct trains.
Praha - Krakow: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/prague-krakow-en443/tlk403/148[/u]
You can use night trains on all other routes as well, select the country in the menu on the railcc site, then night trains.
I can help you with more detailed planning if you want to; if you want to support our work here, please buy your EuRail passes (if it turns out you'll benefit from them) at our partner :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-train-route[/u] No hidden costs plus personal support here at the forum! :)
Flo 8)
jbrownst88
Traveller
4 comments
Thanks for your help!
There will be two of us, and we're both 23.
Another option I've read about is the East European Railpass sold by xxxxx - sorry, had to delete this link as the railccs don't like this company (which includes Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) which might suit us, though from what I can tell it is not a proper Eurail pass. Are there any disadvantages to using this pass?
I think I'm OK with navigating the schedules, but what I can't seem to work out is how much extra we would have to pay for not having a pass covering Poland, and Slovakia for that portion of the journey. For example, if we get the Eurail Select pass, would we still need to pay full price for the train from Prague to Krakow given the pass doesn't cover Poland?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Well, the EEP is similar to EuRail or InterRail - reservation fees and other conditions of use are about the same.
If your pass does not cover a certain country you will need a ticket from the border to your destination. This would be roughly:
Praha - Krakow 14,20€
Krakow - Wien 14,20€
or
Krakow - Budapest 14,20€+28,80€
Flo 8)
jbrownst88
Traveller
4 comments
Now that the post-Sep 2014 timetable appears to have been released (at least on [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] ) I have a couple of new questions:
- previously, there was a night train direct from Krakow - Budapest, however it appears is now requires two changes, in Zebrzydowice and then Breclav. That said, on the current timetable the direct train past through those cities and seems to change train numbers there, so I'm wondering if it is actually a mistake on the new timetable?
- similarly, there used to be a direct night train from Vienna-Venice, but this train appears not to be running - now, my options are either a EuroNight train arriving in Venice at 2:30am, or train arriving at 8:30am but requiring two changes in Salzburg and Spittal. Again, is this correct that there are no longer direct night trains from Vienna-Venice, other than the one leaving at 7:30pm and arriving at 2:30am?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
Both cases are just problems with the correct display of the trains. Both trains are formed of several portions for different destinations or get attached to other trains during the journey and this apparently has not been implemented in the new database.
Both trains should run as usual after the timetable change - I did not hear about any alterations. Maybe check again in one or two weeks.
Flo 8)
jbrownst88
Traveller
4 comments
Thanks again for your help Flow!
That makes perfect sense with regard to the Krakow-Budapest train. Regarding the Vienna-Venice night train, I'm still a little confused:
A search from Wien-Venezia on a random date on the current timetable yields three results:
-19:29-02:56 no changes - I believe this is actually the Vienna-Rome night train, making a stop in Venice;
-20:40-08:34 no changes - this is the Vienna-Venezia Express night train
-22:26-08:34 1 stop in Salzburg - from what I can gather, this is actually the Vienna-Zurich night train, swapping onto the Zurich-Venice night train? Though I'm confused because they both arrive in Venice at the exact same time.
When I search for the same route on my desired travel date of 11 January 2012, I see the following:
-19:29-02:56, same as above
-nothing departing at 20:40
-22:26-08:34 2 stops, in Salzburg as above and an additional stop in Spittal.
So, it looks to me like the Vienna-Venezia express is not listed on this timetable, only the later train that requires a stop? Or does that later train someone connect to the earlier departure anyway and its not something I need to worry about?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Current timetable:
- 1929 - 0256: Correct, that is the Wien - Roma night train which stops in Venezia Mestre in the middle of the night :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/vienna-rome-en-235/92[/u]
- 2040 - 0834: Correct, that is the direct Wien - Venezia night train :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/vienna-venice-en-237/96[/u]
- 2246 - 0834: This is with the Wien - Zürich night train to Salzburg :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/vienna-zurich-en-466/64[/u] then changing to the Wien - Venezia night train - this train has a long stop in Salzburg since it is attached to the Munich - Zagreb night train there :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/munich-zagreb-en-499/151[/u] and they run together until Villach.
Future timetable:
1929 - 0256: Yup, again direct night train Wien - Roma
2226 - 0834: This is only a temporarily mistake as I said. The situation is like this (this might look a little complicated): ;)
The Wien - Venezia night train has several legs on its journey:
Wien - Salzburg it runs attached to a regular Wien - Salzburg InterCity train. In Salzburg it has a stop of ~1h45 and waits for the München - Zagreb night train.
Salzburg - Villach both night trains (Wien - Venezia and München - Zagreb) run together as one train. There both portions are deattached again.
Villach - Venezia the night train runs finally on his own.
So, why does it show you to change in Salzburg and Spittal? Next year, there are major construction works on a bridge leading from Villach to the south. This is why the attaching/deattaching of the Wien - Venezia and München - Zagreb train will take place in Spittal instead of Villach during the time of construction since the trains can then use another route in Villach which avoids the main station and the bridge.
I hope this was understandable... ;)
You do not have to worry about the direct train not running or having to change twice in the middle of the night.
Flo 8)
jbrownst88
Traveller
4 comments
Do you have any information as to when the Vienna-Venice night train for January 2012 will be open for online booking? I can see on oebb.at that tickets can currently be bought on the night train that arrives in Venice at 2.30am and continues through to Rome, but not on the direct train that gets into Venice at 8:30am.
Also, the information on this forum for the Prague-Krakow and Krakow-Budapest routes indicates that there are advance purchase Spar Night fares available. I was wondering how to go about booking these since they aren't available online. Can these tickets be booked over the phone? I would do it at the train station but I'm worried the fares will have run out, as we are only arriving in each city 2-3 days before departure.
EDIT: I contacted the Prague railway company by email who said that the Prague-Krakow route cannot be booked by email or phone, only at an international train station or travel agency. I assume the same would be the case for Krakow-Budapest. We will be arriving in Prague on January 1st, and need the night train on January 3rd - is this too late to get a cheap ticket? Likewise we will arrive in Krakow on the 4th and are leaving on the 6th (yes, its a very whirlwind trip!). We will be in Copenhagen from December 26th, can these tickets be bought at the railway station there for the same cheap price?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
- EN Wien - Venezia: Booking should be possible 180 days in advance (according to ÖBB) but it could be that it is not possible yet due to the timetable change or Trenitalia...you have to keep trying. This could also be due to the construction works in the Villach area.
- Praha - Krakow - Budapest: You wont get these tickets at Kobenhavn. But I dont think that it makes a big difference if you just get them when you arrive in Praha.