It's going to take you forever to get from Krakow to Prague. Why don't you look at flying. I went from Krakow to Frankfurt and after looking at the train schedules I decided to spend the money and fly. The Krakow airport is 20 minutes from the market square and it's small and very easy to navigate.

The train with only 1 connection (in Katowice - large connection point for Poland) only has a 24 minute transfer. If your train is late, you'll wait a couple of hours for another train to Prague.

Night trains make about 16 to 18 stops and you're sure to wake up when the train motion stops.

I was one of the people who commented on Polish train toilets. I don't think it matters what route you take - most of them you wouldn't want to use. On one route (Wroclaw to Krakow the toilets were really bad). I had first class tickets but even if you had second class tickets you could always use a first class toilet. No one would stop you.

I'm a great fan of taking trains but not trains leaving from Krakow.

Thank you! I really didn't want to take this leg and you post confirmed it. We will look at flights

So would you say Warsaw to Krakow should be avoided?

No, Warsaw to Krakow by train is good - or it was when I went. That is the highest-traffic line and has the newest trains running basically on a constant round trip shuttle. Take the direct express even if there's extra cost.

Krakow to Prague sucks because of distance and routing - the way the tracks were laid and the convoluted path around the various mountains means that the trains have to go longer distances than just an as-the-crow-flies type path. If the amenities suck too, that means you need to fly. The Prague airport isn't that large or that far from Prague either.

Warsaw to Krakow is a fast train. Get reserved seats as there are a lot of business travelers and you might not easily find a seat when boarding, especially if you're travelling with luggage. I didn't explore the bathrooms on this route as I didn't expect much from my previous trips!

BTW - you might not know that Polish trains use compartments, not coach seating, so your luggage must be placed on the over head rack. I had to extend my arms about all the way to get my suitcase on the rack (I'm 5'6" so not short). Keep that in mind when packing. I brought a 21" plus small duffle.

You certainly don't need to fly! Flying is for 5,000 mile journeys, not short hops like this.

There is a direct sleeper train from Krakow to Prague, leaving Krakow at 21:54 daily and arriving at Prague's central Hlavni station at 07:50 next morning.

Speed is irrelevant, it's the convenient departure and arrival times that matter with sleeper trains, where you sleep the journey away in your own little room .

This is the traditional, civilised, safe and comfortable way to do it, avoidng the stress of airports and flights. Saves a hotel bill too!

In the sleeping-car, this train is a very comfortable, a bed in a 2-berth sleeper with washbasin costs in region of 50 euros plus 28 euros sleeper supplement.

You can easily book at the station when you're there, or pre-book through reliable Polish ticketing agency www.polrail.com

Easy!

My friend and I got robbed on the Prague-Krakow overnight train some 5 years ago, and I've since heard it's quite notorious for theft.

I think the woman who asked if she could travel in our compartment (or conveyed this somehow despite not being able to speak English, French, Czech or Russian, kind of suspiciously enough) waited for us to fall asleep and then went through our stuff before disappearing. Luckily enough, she only got the equivalent of about £20 and no cards or electronics or whatever, but it was really creepy to think that she managed to get my wallet out of my bag which I was sleeping on without waking either of us (I had most of my valuables elsewhere).

Anyway, "civilised and safe" wouldn't be my way of describing this particular experience, but if you do have a first-class lockable compartment to yourself I don't see why it shouldn't be fine. It hasn't entirely put me off - I've been on first and second class overnight journeys in Russia and Ukraine since without any issues.

Adrienne: the Krakow-Warsaw train I had was not a compartment, it was modified coach with front and back-facing seats.

To the OP: Man in Seat 61 and PalenQ are the two big train shills on this board. The Prague-Krakow trip is a long slog and different people sleep with different levels of effectiveness on overnight trains. If you're more like Adrienne and would wake up at each stop, you have your answer.

Interesting, Russ. The 5 Polish trains I was on were all compartments. I guess you were on one of the newer cars. I like compartments as long as the train is not full.

InterCity trains tend to have mdern cars, many open saloon seating. Older trains -eg the TLKs) have older compartments.

Krakow-Prague is hardly a 'long slog' as it's a sleeper train. You have a pleasant hour or two in the evening with a bottle of wine or what-have-you, then go to bed, slumber or sleep deeply, whichever, then a cup of coffee in the morning and you're there! Sleeper journeys generally feel really quick, that's why (like hotel nights) they shouldn't me measured in hours,but taken as '1 night'.

I travelled with a friend in a 2 berth sleeper from Krakow to Prague, and we enjoyed the experience. Our beds were so clean and quite comfortable and the toilet was very clean. Maybe we were just lucky. We got up at around 6h30 in the morning and the route was very scenic - beautiful trees and landsape with small villages every now and then.We had a good night's rest.

For what it's worth, in 2003 we took a sleeper train from Krakow to Prague; in fact,I think it's the one that Man in Seat 61 mentions; I remember it left Krakow around 10PM & we arrived in Prague early in the morning, around 7AM. There were 3 of us; we had our own compartment, & we slept soundly & didn't have any problems. We felt safe. I thought it was a convenient way to get to Prague without wasting a day.