indy_dad

Hello all. I'm coming up on my 90 day window for purchasing train fares. I assume I should simply use www.bahn.com but I wanted to check a few simple things before purchasing. Two adults and two children if that makes any difference.

1) Are there multiple train stations that I need to be concerned about or are "Berlin" and "Prague" sufficient?

2) There are "Savings Fares" available which I assume are the cheaper, advanced purchase, no refund fares. That's fine for us. However, the requirements/description are rather vague. There is a mention of a BahnCard 25 (perhaps only generically on the first screen). Do I need anything special to get these fares?

Thanks!

Aramis

Here is a sample schedule from www.Bahn.com for the most direct and fastest route;

Berlin Hbf (tief) dep 10:46 1 EC 175 Eurocity
Berlin Südkreuz dep 10:53 3
Dresden Hbf dep 13:08 1
Bad Schandau dep 13:38 3
Decin hl.n. dep 13:56
Usti nad Labem hl.n. dep 14:13
Praha-Holesovice dep 15:17
Praha hl.n. arr 15:26


As you can see, the train departs from the "Hbf" which stand for "Hauptbahnhof" and means the main railway station. It stops at the Sudkreuz meaning "South Cross" or "Interchange" station - essentially the Berlin South rail station - 7 minutes later before continuing to Prague.

So, you can either board the train at the Berlin Hbf, or Sudkreuz, whichever is most convenient for you.

Praha "hl.n", which stands for "Hlavi Nadrazi", is the main railway station in Prague, just minutes from the main square. Praha Holesovice is the second major train station in Prague and is just north of the city centre. It has good connections to the center but if you are staying centrally you probably want to continue to "hl.n".

There are others who know the pricing of Db better than I but I do know that the Bah card costs 60 Eruos and you have to reach a certain value of bookings before the discount pays off. It won't, for you, on this trip alone. Think of it as a club card purchased by frequent users. The various regional offers will also likely not be of benefit to you if this is one of only a few direct point to point trips you are taking and you don't want to take the regional trains after 9 a.m. or on weekends, for example. If you already had one of these regional offer tickets it might pay for you to use it and then only pay for a ticket to Prague form the last station included in the offer, but that is a lot of delicate schedule work and, again, will likely mean you are making connections on regional trains.

Generally, the sooner you book the better - the Savings Fares you point out. Then, print your tickets, bring the id you paid for the tickets with (credit card) and you're off.

Travelforbeer

Just to add a little to Arimis' response, I believe the chidren are free if they are under 14. And the given example is a train without changes, which is a big help with children. Also, there appears to be trains with the same itinerary 2 hours earlier and 2 hours later...

hkto

I've just checked price on Czech rail website cd.cz/en/ for a random departure (10:46 on Feb 22). They quote 746 CZK (around 30€); bahn.de is 39€ for the same trip. Later on I'll be buying this ticket for mid May.

annhig

Indy - dad - just spotted this.

looks like another great trip you're planning.

where else are you going to besides Berlin and Prague?

indy_dad

Thanks all. I booked the tickets for train Aramis mentioned above for 98€ total for all 4 in 1st class (vs 78€ standard-- why not?). There was an additional reservation fee of 8€ total as well.

@hkto -- thanks for the tip, but I was more comfortable with the bahn.com site.

Annhig -- just Berlin and Prague for 9 nights total over Easter. Dresden was tempting but I didn't want to try to squeeze too much in. [Sorry, I know you are a fan!] Potsdam might be an option as a day trip once I get to planning the details.

indy_dad

another (basic) follow up question:

I have assigned seats (53-56 in 1st class) but not sure of which carriage. Is it 262?? Or is there only one 1st class car??

Halt Datum Zeit Gleis Fahrt/Reservierung
Berlin Hbf (tief) 02.04. ab 10:46 1
Praha hl.n. 02.04. an 15:26
EC 175, 4 Sitzplätze, Wg. 262,
Pl. 53 54 55 56

adrienne

Yes - Wg stands for Wagon, meaning train car. You will see the numbers 1 or 2 on the outside of each car for the class. Then there will be a posting next to the door with the seat numbers so you can verify that you have the correct car. It's really easy.

indy_dad

Thanks!

Hans

At the platform you can find a plan of the train and in which section your wagon stops.

annhig

indy-dad - you have seats 53,54,55, and 56 in wagon [carriage] no. 262 which leaves from Berlin main station [lower floor] platform 1 at 10.46 arriving in Prague at 15.26.

indy_dad

Quite easy as all suggested. Thanks for the help.

Not sure we got much for 1st class, but I didn't pay much either. At any rate, it was a relaxing inter-city trip.

crazyfamilyof4

ok . .so we are planning on taking the train with our kids from Prague to Berlin . . fastest and easiest way. Do you suggest I do the same as above?

annhig

indy-dad - did you just get back?

how was the trip?

hope the weather was better than here!

indy_dad

annhig -- back yesterday. Working on the blog / trip report now . . .

Weather was cold with some snow early on but we were expecting it so no big deal. No rain so that's a plus.

annhig

Weather was cold with some snow early on but we were expecting it so no big deal. No rain so that's a plus.>>

lol, it sounds like here - apart from the lack of rain that is!

weather wise, you've missed nothing.

looking forward to reading the run down of your trip.