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Eurolines Coach Bus from Budapest to Prague

Eurolines Coach Bus from Budapest to Prague

Old Aug 4th, 2010, 08:55 PM
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Eurolines Coach Bus from Budapest to Prague

I am planning a trip to Hungary and Czech btw Xmas and NYE and wanted to check on transportation options from Budapest to Prague.

I know there is a 6+ hours train with base price of 55 EURO. Not sure if I can get a cheaper deal in person as there seems to be no way to purchase advance online. The train will pretty much take up a whole day (seemed a waste of time riding trains).

Alternatively, Eurolines offer a 7 hour night bus departing at 10:15PM, arriving in Prague at 6AM. Their online one-way cost was around 22 USD after conversion. This plus savings from a night of hotel stay seems to be a much cheaper option (of course I'd have to put up w/ the night bus). Plus I don't waste day-time on transportation.

Seeking review/advice from anyone who has done the Eurolines night bus route from Budapest to Prague. Is it a safe, tolerable option?

My other question is should I be worried about train/bus schedules during the holiday season btw Xmas and the New Years. Is it a typical busy travel season for the locals?

Thanks much!
liablo is offline  
Old Dec 4th, 2010, 01:22 PM
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Eurolines are the worst company I have ever dealt with. Their customer service is dire and extremely unprofessional and rude to say the least.

This is one company I would strongly urge anyone to steer well clear of.
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Old Dec 4th, 2010, 01:34 PM
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We have done a different route with Eurolines. While we didn't need to call customer service, we had no problems on two routes in the Baltics and would use them again. Richard
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Old Dec 4th, 2010, 02:23 PM
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We travelled from Budapest to Prague last August. I looked into both the train and bus options. In the end we took the train rather than the bus because the comfort of the train seemed to be much better. As far as I could tell from the bus website the bus has very limited toilet facilities and makes one very short stop in the course of the six to seven hour journey. Seats seem to be similar to an aircraft – somewhat cramped!

Tickets for the daytime train, which we bought two days before in Budapest at Keleti Station, were €29 per person. We had a very comfortable journey and felt it was excellent value for money!
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Old Dec 5th, 2010, 07:41 AM
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Ditto iris1745. I used Eurolines for Tallinn to Riga to Vilnius to Warsaw. It is an ordeal on the night buses. But it is cheap and I had no complaints about the service.
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Old Dec 5th, 2010, 09:12 AM
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spaarne; We did that same route with Eurolines. Only we did rent a car to drive to Warsaw and tour Poland. No drop off fee at the time.
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Old Dec 6th, 2010, 01:15 AM
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"Eurolines are the worst company I have ever dealt with."

Quite an achievement, given that there's no such company.

'Eurolines' is a marketing device for 32 independent companies, with completely different approaches to just about everything.

The company the complainant dealt with may or may not be rude, though why anyone cares about the interpersonal skills of a bus driver is hard to grasp.

But one person's complaints about "poor customer service" (on a bus? They want customer service on a bus?) somewhere in the Eurolines system tells you nothing at all about whether the bus between Budapest and Prague is "safe and tolerable" - which is what the questioner asked about.

Though it's impossible to generalise, Europe's long-distance buses don't have the reputation for occasional crime that some trains do, and traffic accidents seem rarer among scheduled international long-distance buses than among chartered buses. Hardly any journeys last longer than a transatlantic flight, and comfort is generally at least on a par with airline cattle class - but without the appalling airport experience and with a much more interesting view out of the window.
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Old Dec 6th, 2010, 02:36 AM
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flanneruk,
Amen. And with a much more interesting cast of characters sitting around you.
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Old Dec 9th, 2010, 09:34 AM
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someone said previously the train tix are 19 or 29 euros for a day train, why don't you just take that!
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Old Dec 9th, 2010, 10:17 AM
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....because the OP doesn't want to waste the day traveling. By now I would think we all have an idea whether or not we have a prayer of a chance sleeping on a bus. Some people can, some can't and some can't and don't care.
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Old Dec 9th, 2010, 12:34 PM
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One other note about the bus. It probably has a toilet but at this time of the year it may be frozen up and there may be no pit stops. That happened on one of my rides in the Baltics. So drain your bladder before getting on board and don't drink until your destination.

Also, the Prague train station is one of the worst in Europe for panhandlers and con artists of both sexes. Don't respond to anyone.
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Old Dec 10th, 2010, 01:35 PM
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Rubbish...because the Op does not want to waste the day///not so,just tries to save some cash...the train is always the best you can piss anytime you want. rs899 try to concentrate and read!
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Old Dec 10th, 2010, 02:40 PM
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Would you consider leaving at 3pm and arriving at 11pm? or leaving at 5:30am and arriving at noon?

These are by train, which, I'll agree, is a more comfortable way to travel long distance.
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Old Dec 10th, 2010, 03:11 PM
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the train is always the best you can piss anytime you want
wobbers, you are wrong again. In most trains you can never piss when it is a station because the piss goes right down onto the tracks. If it wasn't for this rule stations would smell like your urinal. You should know this if you have ever been on a train.
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Old Dec 28th, 2010, 06:32 AM
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To save you from enduring a nasty long distance bus journey, try for a really cheap deal for the far more civilised EuroCity train as follows:

You can buy tickets from Budapest to neighbouring countries from as little as 13 or 19 euros (no refunds, no changes at these prices) at the Hungarian Railways site, www.mav-start.hu.

Click 'English' top right. Bookings open 60 days ahead.

Remember that Vienna is listed in German as 'Wien' and Prague in Czech as 'Praha'.

To see prices after doing a basic timetable enquiry, click 'international', look for the box marked '1. utas szuletesi datuma' and enter your date of birth, in the format 'yyyy.mm.dd'. Then click 'Jegyinformaciok'.

Click on the orange arrow next to a price, then on the next orange arrow that appears. Then select a train and click 'Jegy a kosarba' (add to basket).

You'll need to quickly register, click the link in the confirmation email you will then receive, then log in and pay for your ticket online.

You collect the ticket from the self-service kiosk at main Hungarian stations including Budapest.

You may find it helpful to use Google language tools, or the translate facility in the Chrome browser, as parts of the process end up in Hungarian!

It cannot currently sell tickets for sleepers or couchettes, only seats.

But worth a try! Let me know if you succeed inbagging a good deal!
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