Isabel5

Hello everyone. I'm very glad I found this website ... I saw lots of great posts about women traveling alone. This will be my first time traveling alone. I am 26. I've been to Mexico, Germany, China and Ireland but always with a group or a friend (all of them got on my nerves after awhile). For this trip I will start off in Germany (where I'll see a family member) then I'll go on to Prague and finally to Krakow (I'll be staying in Krakow for 4 weeks taking a summer course for school). I have no set plans or agenda between July 12th and July 28th. How is the travel(by train) between Prague and Krakow? Are there any places between where I should definitely stop? Is it easy to find your way around,is English spoken widely? Is it hard to find places to stay? Finally I can't help but ask ... is it a safe place for a young woman on her own? I really appreciate any advice or comments you have to offer.

jor

I have been to Eastern Europe and have seen many women who travel alone. I have not heard of any bad experiences. Try to hang with other travelers in your same position. More fun and more secure.

Christina

lucky you -- I loved Krakow (and Prague, of course). I took the train between Prague and Krakow and had no problems, it was a very normal train. YOu have to change, I think I did twice. Last train came from Vienna (I think I picked it up at Prerov CR) so was pretty nice. I booked first class because tickets were so cheap, anyway.

I don't know if there's any place on that route I'd say you HAVE to stop. I didn't want to travel overnight on a train, so stopped over one day in Olomouc. I do recommend that if you want -- it's right on the line, convenient, and a fun small town for a day or so.

English is spoken widely in Prague and Krakow. Somewhat in Olomouc and elsewhere. I know a little Czech and Polish, though, which came in very handy (I knew the words for ticket, platform, departure, how to order and buy things, etc). I studied it for some months before going, but I knew some Czech from a prior trip there. If you are going there for that long, I would have recommended you study the language for a while, but I guess it's too late now. I hope you have a phrasebook or something.

I booked my hotel from the internet before I went, but it wouldn't be too hard to find a place in Olomouc as they have a good tourist office at the train station. Very nice folks -- good maps, etc. I imagine they had a hotel booking service, but I like making my own decisions.

doctor_lorenzo

I am curious as to what it means to say that English is "widely" spoken in Krakow. Perhaps among the tourist industry, but certainly not in restaurants and by ordinary people. When I was in Wroclaw and Krakow in 1996, it was very difficult to find English-speakers. It wasn't a problem, since I know a little Polish, and much Russian. The Poles are not happy to hear Russian spoken, but the languages have many similarities. I threw in just enough Polish words to prove that I was not Russian German is sometimes spoken, particularly among cab drivers.

Unlike Holland and Belgium, where you can order train tickets in English, you are very unlikely to be able to order tickets in anything other than Polish (in Poland). I had the same experience In Budapest - I had to copy the Hungarian phrase out of a phrase book and hand it to the ticket-seller.

That said, both Krakow and Prague are very beautiful places to visit, and the people are friendly and helpful.

MaryZ

Prague and Krakow are wonderful, and I was pleased to see a recommendation for Olomouc. It's a college town on a much smaller scale than Prague, of course, but really lovely. The people of the area don't seem to suffer from the same tourist overload as Prague residents.
We traveled only by train and found it inexpensive, efficient, and easy. As a woman alone, I'd pay attention to where you sit.
I didn't find English to be widely spoken outside of Prague. I used a phrase book extensively in Poland and Hungary, often writing down or pointing to the words I needed when I knew there was no hope of anything approaching correct pronunciation.
Have you considered a visit to Budapest during those couple of weeks you'll have free?

Isabel5

Thank you everyone for responding. In reply to Dr. Lorenzo ... I didn't mean anything by asking if English is spoken widely. I certainly don't expect to go to another country and have people speak my language. I just wondered if I can hope to find some people who speak English in case I get lost. Perhaps you took the word "widely" to mean more. I have a Czech phrase book and I'm going to get a Polish language book as well but I'm also hoping to find a language school in Prague and take a few classes. Thank you again for the travel advice.

LindaW

I traveled from Vienna to Krakow, took the bus from Krakow to Zakopane, took a tour to Auschwitz/Birkenau and was alone during my 4 days in Krakow--all with no problems. My recommendations are to find a train car with compartments that have other females and to stay at B%B's or small hotels/pensions so someone will miss you if you don't come back. Do watch your luggage and purse as the summer means a number of unsavory people in and near the train stations. I was in Prague in November, Krakow in December and apparently they head south for the winter; so I had no problems but everyone warned me. Just be alert. I made friends with a Polish school teacher on the train and we still correspond so being alone has its rewards. However, when you have to go the facilities, it helps to have someone watch your things.