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Train tickets between Prague, Vienna and Budapest

Train tickets between Prague, Vienna and Budapest

Old Aug 5th, 2004, 10:35 PM
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Train tickets between Prague, Vienna and Budapest

Hi.

We are travelling to Prague, Vienna and Budapest at the end of the month.

We have not been able to find a website that will list ticket prices/offer purchasing options. We have checked www.cd.cz (english version) for times and also have checked previous posts but have found almost nothing. One post talked about purchasing train tickets at Cedok, is this a train ticket office? a travel agent?

We would like to purchase our train tickets before the trip, buying them through the internet to pick up at the train station would be ideal.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thank you.
globetraveller is offline  
Old Aug 6th, 2004, 05:45 AM
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I think the only choice is Raileurope.com.

Some countries, such as France and Germany, have internet sites for their routes, but I don't think this is possible with your routes.

You WILL pay quite a premium if you MUST have them before you leave, rather than buying them at the stations as you travel.
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Old Aug 6th, 2004, 09:37 AM
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We do not need the tickets in advance.

We can buy them in Prague/Vienna/Budapest at the station a few days before our intercity rail travels, but is this any better than just buying them on the days of travel?

Do we want the tix a few days in advance to guarantee a seat on our chosen train times?

(What is CEDOK?)
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Old Aug 6th, 2004, 10:03 AM
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You can also buy tickets on-line from Swiss Rail and have them delivered to your house. It was very efficient but I did pay extra for the service--$15 or so.
http://www.sbb.ch/index_e.htm

Cedok is a travel agency. I used them in Prague to buy a ticket to Krakow: English speaking and they made it easy. In Budapest, I went to an in-town rail ticket office (not at the station) to buy a ticket to Vienna. They had English speaking agents,too. Think I found about it in the Rick Steves' book on Eastern Europe. His books are good for that kind of information.
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Old Aug 6th, 2004, 09:50 PM
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Thanks for the swiss wesite, we will check it out.

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Old Aug 7th, 2004, 05:57 AM
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Go to Euraide.com. You can arrange these trips via e-mail, or you can call the phone number listed and deal directly with Alan or Herman Wissenberg. They get the same rates you'd pay at the train station, and you have the peace of mind of having your tickets ahead of time. They are very helpful, and charge only a one-time $45 service fee to book as many legs as you need.
We did Vienna to Budapest to Prague to Frankfurt through Euraide in June, and they did a great job for us, well worth the $45.
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Old Aug 7th, 2004, 07:29 AM
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Here are some replies, and some comments on replies you have had so far.

I know no web site for online booking of these trains, but there are useful agencies with whom you can book by e mail or phone. I think you should e mail Swiss Rail, Florida, Cedok and another, give your exact journey and class of travel, and choose the best offer.

You can book all the journeys through one agency or at one station: you need not book from different offices. Cedok are a large travel agency in the Czech Repubolic, who make international rail bookings, charge to credit card via internet, and send the tickets to your hotel before you arrive in Prague: http//www.cedok.cz/. Happily, you have a choice beyond Raileurope. As well as Cedok,you can e mail or phone these.

Americans can use Euraide in Florida, http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...e/homepage.htm, telephone 1 941-480-1555 fax 1 941-480-1522 [email protected]). Also, they can book through four firms in Britain:
Trainseurope Ltd, of Cambridgeshire and London, take credit card bookings by phone and mail tickets to any address. Have the widest access in Britain to rail systems and tickets. http://www.trainseurope.co.uk/ - E-mail [email protected]. Phone 00 44 900 195 0101. Phone Mon to Fri 10 to 5 British time

German Rail UK: www.deutsche-bahn.co.uk/ Phone : 00 44 870 243 53 63 then 6. Fax : 00 44 208 339 4700. E-mail : [email protected]

Ffestiniog Travel, site http://www.festtravel.co.uk, e-mail [email protected], phone 00 44 176 651 2400

Inside France (Canterbury). Phone 0044 1227 450088. 29/30 Palace Street, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2DZ. Booking form on site www.rail-canterbury.co.uk/. Or e-mail [email protected]/.

For international tickets, berths and seats Trainseurope are ten percent cheaper than German Rail UK or Ffestiniog Travel. For domestic Italian trains they are cheaper again. German Rail UK are cheaper than Trainseurope or Ffestiniog Travel for domestic trains within Germany and may be competitive with them for international trips with a big proportion of miles in Germany. Trainseurope take Visa and MasterCard, but not Amex or Diners.

In late August many Europeans are moving by rail. I book seats three days in advance, and sleepers two weeks in advance. In November, for example, nothing is full and I book nothing in advance.

A good agency in central Budapest is Carlson Wagons Lits, on Doroteer Ul, round the corner from Gerbaud s fine café. They speak English, take credit cards, have comfortable seats, and charge a small service fee above station prices. But if you are starting in Prague you will not need them

I don t know whether you have found your trains. I think you want second class, smoking or non smoking, on EuroCity and InterCity direct trains thus. I am using the Thomas Cook European Timetable.

Leave Prague 0626, 1020, or 1420: 5 ? hours to Vienna
Leave Vienna 0715, 0838, 1007, 1415, 1545 or 2001: three hours to Budapest.
You can even take a whole night from Prague, where you board about 2215 and leave at 2315 to Vienna where you arrive at 0703, comfortable in a sleeper. This saves a day s travel and a hotel bill, but frontier officers wake you briefly to inspect your passports at 0545. There is a note on getting the best from sleepers and couchettes at http://www.geocities.com/rexbickers/tipsnighttrains.htm

The departures from Prague at 0626 and 2315 are from Prague Hlavni station, where pickpockets work in gangs of three: two crowd you while one steals. What I do is put my tickets and a little money into a front pocket or even the top of a sock, and all other valuables, including passport, credit cards, spare tickets and spare money into a packet placed well down in my biggest piece of luggage. I pull the passport out only after the train has left the station, and a credit card if I am going to the restaurant car, or for use at an ATM in my arrival city

[email protected]

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Old Aug 7th, 2004, 10:02 PM
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Ben Haines, thanks a lot for all the info you provided. We will check out the websites.
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Old Aug 11th, 2004, 08:32 PM
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We used Euraide.com to purchase train tickets Vienna-Prague-Munich this past June. They are very helpful. They understand the passes and how to use them. The Prague excursion pass, for example, probably makes sense for you. They can easily work it out for you. I agree that the $45 flat fee is well worth it. You will get your tickets in advance (provided there's time to mail them before you go.) We bought first-class reserved seats through Euraide.com and saved $200 over buying second class seats on-line from another website, as I couldn't easily figure out how to use the pass in combination with point-to-point fares. They will make it simple for you.
 
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