Eastern europe travel - Train tickets/Pass
 

I have planned a trip to eastern Europe (Austria, Czech and Hungary) in the the month of september and i need help figuring out my transportation between these countries. I will be there for a total of 8 days and will need to commute atleast 5 days out of the 8 days...
My first question would be...Is it cheaper to buy a train pass for 3 countries or it will be cheaper to buy point-to point tickets??
Is it necessary to buy the train tickets with reservation in advance... Is it easier that way??
Since, september is not a busy month can i puchase the tickets once i get there??

Please help....
Thank You!!

Hi Pi,

3 countries in 8 days?????

I very much doubt that you will want a railpass. Enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and click "only if it saves money". If it says "no railpass" you can believe it.

www.bahn.de will give you all schedules and some prices.
The Austrian train site is http://www.oebb.at.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))
BTW, You will be in Central (formerly Middle), not Eastern Europe.

Thank you Ira...I am going to 3 countries but only 4 cities...Salzburg, Vienna, Prague and Budapest..
These countries are part of eastern europe trips on all travel website..as well as Rail Europe...

point-to-point will be cheaper.

check oebb.at for train ticket prices for Austria.

Most travel websites and rail europe are not considering the history of europe.

Eastern europe is Russia and Ukraine et al.

Austria has always been part of central europe - as have Czech Republic and HUngary - except for the few years under Russian rule form 1945 to 1989.

As for seeing those 4 cities in 8 days it's simply ridiculous. Have you looked at the train schedules to see how much time will be spent on them versus in actually seeing anything? (Check the bahn.de site for best schedule info). September is not low season- but still very busy. But- you should be able to get tickets on the spot - as long s there isn't just one good train a day between the cities.

(Our last trip was 16 days in Vienna, Prague, Budapest and Berlin - but only because we've been to all of them at least once - sometimes 2 or 3 times before.)

Check out https://eshop.cd.cz/ (the Czech railways e-shop) for cheap tickets in either direction between Prague & Budapest, Prague & Vienna. They start at just 497 Koruna (19 euro or $26) if you pre-book. Can any pass beat that? And a seat reservation is included! You print out your own ticket, easy. Though it won't book overnight trains, and you may need these to save time even compared to flying if you've only 8 days for 4 cities.

www.oebb.at will sell cheap 19 euro tickets from Vienna to Budapest if you pre-book, the normal fare (online or at the station on the day) is more like 35 euro, but even that is less than the pass cost per day.

2 days each is OK to see the main sights in all these cities, but remember travelling time between them, a half day in most cases. Overnight trains between Prague & Budapest or Vienna & Prague will save time. If you cut out a city (or reduce it to 1 day) my personal choice would be Vienna, Salzburg is much nicer, Prague & Budapest have more to see. But others may disagree!

Thankyou so much for all the info!!!

I am flying into Salzburg and out of Budapest...Can you please advise if i should go to Vienna first from Salzburg or go to prague and then come back to Vienna and finally got to Budapest from Vienna....

I think it's a very long ride from Salzburg to Prague.

I'd go the route with the best train times/connections.

I just found out that Rail Europe offers a pass called European East Pass for $209 valid for 5 days in 1 month..and covers 5 countries (Austria, Czech, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Anybody purchased this pass?? Any restrictions?? Wouldn't this be cheaper then buying point-to-point tickets..even if they are 29 euros..if i make below listed journeys..
Salsburg-Innsbruck (round trip)
Salzburg-Vienna
Vienna-Prague
Prague-Vienna
Vienna-Budapest

Perhaps so because many of your trips are in Austria where tickets are much more dear than in the old East Bloc countries and you can just show up and hop on any train anytime in Austria - no trains there i know of require reservations. Depending on how many passes you buy RailEurope may also charge a $18 mailing fee (for orders i think under $450) but many other agents do not. For lots of great info on train travel in this area as well as the European East pass i always point to these fine sites that are loaded with tons of objective info: www.ricksteves.com; http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id33.html and www.seat61.com

From the Austrian Rail website:
Salzburg-Innsbruck 37.80 EUR each way
Salzburg-Vienna 47.50
Vienna-Prague 59 each way full fare or 29 discounted
Vienna-Budapest 35 full fare or 19 discounted

It seems like the pass would be cheaper if you don't have to pay large shipping charges. But you don't have to go back through Vienna to get from Prague to Budapest.

about 180 euros full fare

or about 140 with some discounted

140 euro is about $210-220; 180 euro is about $270-280 for all full fare

and the pass is $209 and gives you full fare and can hop on any train anytime in Austria at least where most of your train trips are located.

Even i, not the sharpest knife in the drawer can easily see what to do here.

Definitely go for point to point tickets, pass in Eastern Europe is 100% useless.
Try checking out http://europetrainsguide.com/ for the recommendations on budget rail travel in the region

Daken - did you read the above price comparisons? If you did you would not have said what you just said!

Palenque, yes I've read all the posts above ;) But you need to understand that regular fares and route(s) suggested can be really "adjusted"
Here my suggestion and pricing:
Regular full fare Innsbruck-Prague costs 87.8 euro (or 29 euro on OEBB website if you purchase in advance, but those are limited and can be sold out), Prague-Vienna costs 19 euro (CD eshop), Vienna-BP same 19 euro (Spar ticket - online in advance) or 35 euro full ticket.
Calculations: best scenario - 29+19+19=67 euro, not so good - 87.8+19+19=125 euro.
So sorry, but I consider it stupid to purchase pass for such trip(s), especially if you can save a lot just spending couple minutes on purchasing you tickets in advance

P.S. And if you don't need to visit Vienna second time after Prague on your way to BP - minus 19 (35) euro from the sum

But for the routes musicteacher gives the pass would make dollars and $sen$e, right?

Yup you can change routings, etc. and you reach 125 euros or about $190 - about what $20 cheaper than the pass and again in Austria just hopping on any train anytime - no advance purchase for train specfic, etc

And i have talked to people who report standing in very long lines to buy tickets (not in Austria) in old East Bloc and language problems, etc.

Now for folks who know all about it and have no fear of buying tickets there yes but if you put yourself in the seat 62 that the average traveler is they will consider the pass - for what musicteacher outlines a great convenience IMO

For those who likes to hop on any train you can always use passes like Einfach-Raus-Ticket (28 euro) and and Bavaria-Bohemia (23 euro) ticket.
And, Palenque, I didn't whatsoever talked about standing in lines etc. You can do everything online, print your ticket and board the train. What's the point to stand in line if eTicket is cheaper ???
My previous post was an example of how you can beat any pass and you can find dozens of other ways. Another one, as I mentioned above, Einfach-Raus-Ticket till Salzburg, Bavaria-Bohemia from Salzburg to Plzen, domestic Czech ticket from Plzen to Prague (can be bought on board - 145 CZK), discounted Prague-Vienna (19 euro) and discounted Vienna-BP (both bought online)= less than 100 euro etc.
Cheaper alternative instead of pass always there and it is far no that complicated to use it - you don't need to be travel guru ;)

p.s. And I actually have doubts if you can manage all the cities with 5 day pass, unless you will just get from one train to another. So you might need more day added to your pass - means higher price

Palenque, I didn't whatsoever talked about standing in lines etc. You can do everything online, print your ticket and board the train. What's the point to stand in line if eTicket is cheaper ???
My previous post was an example of how you can beat any pass and you can find dozens of other ways.>

agreed you can find a way to beat any pass usually in Eastern Europe monetarily wise - by trying to get the online discounts for a specific non-changeable train.

I consider part of the pass's lure is that you decide once there when you want to go - yeh you can print off tickets once there but most will not - like in Austria show up at the station and waltz onto any of the zillions of daily trains.

And i have had many instances of experiencing long lines in old East Bloc countries only to be confronted by a ticket seller who is not fluent in English, etc.

I agree with your economy take but not throwing the railpass out with the bath water. Again i think if you put yourself into the shows of a novice traveler it is not always so easy to spot the discounts - you have tons on experience and provide an invaluable advice and knowledge so that folks can do the things you do to save a few bucks and avoid lines, etc. But do not judge a railpass only in dollar$ and $en$e IMO

And Musicteachers take:
From the Austrian Rail website:
Salzburg-Innsbruck 37.80 EUR each way
Salzburg-Vienna 47.50
Vienna-Prague 59 each way full fare or 29 discounted
Vienna-Budapest 35 full fare or 19 discounted

if this is how they want to do it then i think you pass is always worse scenario breaks down - or am i missing something?

"Salsburg-Innsbruck (round trip)
Salzburg-Vienna
Vienna-Prague
Prague-Vienna
Vienna-Budapest"

So now that's five cities in eight days? Have you tried planning this out on a blank calendar with actual travel times? You'd certainly better look into night trains. And why are you backtracking to Salzburg from Innsbruck instead of going on to Vienna, and from Prague to Vienna instead of going direct to Budapest?

This would work much better if you dropped Prague, which is way out of the way.

"These countries are part of eastern europe trips on all travel website" - travel websites do some odd things - Fodors has Turkey in Europe, not Asia, but Lonely Planet has all three countries in its Central Europe Travel Guide, and National Geographic's Atlas of the World also has them in Central Europe.