Budapest - Zurich Night Train

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi!

As far as I know you still cant book the train online; however it might be able via the railcc shop :arr: [ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/reservation[/ux] but this would be more expensive than at a station due to handling fees etc. I would buy it at a station - this does not necessarily has to be at Budapest! How does your planned route look like?

Anyway, for 2nd class seats you do not need a reservation so if you are fine with seats you dont have to worry. Moreover, the Budapest - Zürich night train is attached to the Wien - Zürich night train in Wien; so in case the train would be fully booked you could use the regular daytime coaches that run Budapest - Wien only and change there to the Wien - Zürich coaches. :)
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/budapest-zurich-en-60466/178[/u]
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/vienna-zurich-en-466/64[/u]


Flo 8)


[b]Please support railcc:[/b]
- buy your rail passes and tickets here on the recommended website: [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]
- add locations of your home-town (bars, nice places, ...)
Thank you! :)

Sparmy
Traveller
3 comments

Hey,

Thanks so much for the response.

At present, I don't have a plan that's completely set in stone but was hoping to do a whistle stop tour that included Barcelona, Berlin and Interlaken. So, to get from Barcelona it seemed most practical to go via Paris which ticks another city off the list, though not one I have any great intention of visiting again as I've been there many times.

Budapest seemed like an interesting place to visit so I thought I'd try and squeeze it inbetween Berlin and Interlaken if I could! It may just be easier and leave more scope for exploration if I avoid it altogether though..

I'm currently living in Grenoble, France (studying for a year). So, once I have the interrail pass, would it be possible to purchase the Budapest-Zurich tickets from the local SNCF once I have the passes?

Thanks again.

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi!

Will you be a UK or French resident at the time of travel? :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/how-to-interrail[/u]

Regarding your route I think you will get in trouble a bit:
Grenoble - Barcelona: 1 travel day
Barcelona - Berlin: 2 travel days
Berlin - Budapest: 1 travel day (2 if you travel overnight)
Budapest - Interlaken: 1 travel day
Interlaken - Grenoble: 1 travel day

You could cut down Barcelona - Berlin to just one travel day if you get a regular ticket for Barcelona - Portbou/Cerbere and then go to Paris from there using the 1900 rule for night trains, then on to Berlin (maybe the night train to Luxembourg/Strasbourg also runs on that day which would be more practical for you).

I cant tell you for sure if SNCF can sell you the reservation. I think they should, but you should check yourself. If not, than you can do it in Berlin while you are travelling.


Flo 8)

Sparmy
Traveller
3 comments

Okay, great! Thanks so much for all of your advice!

I will be a UK resident. I have no French citizenship or permanent residency, I'm just here studying until the end of May/beginning of June after which I will be returning to the UK. I will then be travelling direct from the UK to Barcelona and it is from there that we will be commencing our tour by train. So, the Grenoble to Barcelona leg is actually one I don't need to worry about!! I will also be returning to the UK from Interlaken (probably from Geneva airport) unless I go rearranging my plans once more!!

As for all of the information you've provided me, it's been of great help and has given me a great deal to think about. I'll be sure to head to the local SNCF at some point to see what they have to say about trains I can book through them.

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Alright...well then I'd suggest the following route (x means travel day):

1x Barcelona - Latour de Carol - Villefranche - Perpignan and night train to Paris/Luxembourg/Strasbourg (the latter being the best option, it may not run daily but summer schedules are not out yet) :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/cerbere-strasbourg-icn-4850/195[/u]
2x Paris/Luxembourg/Strasbourg - Berlin
3 Berlin
4 Berlin
5x Berlin - Budapest
6 Budapest
7 Budapest and night train to Zürich
8x Zürich - Interlaken
9 Interlaken
10x Interlaken - Geneve

What are you going to do in Interlaken? You might think about going to the Aare Gorge, not far away.


Flo 8)

PS: Oh, and dont forget to purchase your IR passes on our partner, free delivery to the UK! Thank you. ;)

Sparmy
Traveller
3 comments

Thanks so much, that sounds like a great plan!

I'll be sure to book what I can through you guys, you've been a great help!!

As for my plans in Interlaken, I was planning on cycling the lake and maybe going canyoning. I'll look into the Aare Gorge now though. :D

[e] Having now looked into the Aare Gorge, it looks like somewhere we'll be able to slip into a cycling excursion (assuming we get a late night flight home from Geneva!)

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Glad we can help! Best thing to support us is to get the IR pass via our partner - reservations usually are cheapest directly at a station, if you buy online usually there are added handling fees.

Depending on how motivated you are, I would recommend the following route for day 8:
Zürich arrival at 0720, then either to Luzern, spend the day there, then in the afternoon to Interlaken via Brünig Pass :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/lucerne-to-interlaken[/u]
Another option would be to go straight to Interlaken (IC connection via Bern), check-in and then day trip to Bern (Luzern would be also possible). If you are interested in Alpine surroundings you could think about going to Andermatt/Oberalppass area, however this would require an additional ticket (50% discount with InterRail Youth Pass, 13,60€ return Göschenen - Andermatt - Oberalppass).
:arr: farm6.static.flickr.com/5144/5595500652_e6514ebde6_b.jpg (On the way from Göschenen to Andermatt through Schöllenen Gorge
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/disentis-muster-to-brig[/u] (pics 4, 5, 6, 14 are around Oberalppass)


Flo 8)