Need help planning train travel?
 

I have been a member of Fodors for some years and have received invaluable help in planning my trips and would like to share a website which has been invaluable to me in planning train travel throughout Central Europe and going by the amount of users it is not all that well known.

The link is - http://europetrainsguide.com/forum/index.php - and anything you ask is answered promptly by extremely knowledgeable people. I'm not sure where I first discovered the website link but it has helped me enormously regarding availability, timetables, how and when to buy tickets as well as ways and means of getting the best value fare.

I must stress that I have nothing to do with the owners of this website (I am in Australia) but would like to recommend them highly. I have tagged the countries I am about to visit but there are many more that they can help you with, you just need to ask the question.

joode. I know that I would be able to purchase tickets from Krakow to Budapest when I arrive in Krakow but I also think that there may be a disount ticket available if I can purchase in advance.
I think the sleeper ticket is standard but my understanding is that the regular 2nd class ticket is what is discounted.
Thanks.

joode. I want to thank you for posting the link. A moderator was kind enough to answer all of my questions and I finally think I understand.
This is my first trip to Central Europe and my first long distance train trip anywhere in Europe.
This site is a keeper.
Sherry

Hi Sher, great aren't they? I'm glad they were able to assist you and I'm surprised that there hasn't been more interest shown on this site other than yourself.

I have written several times and they have always answered. They are very knowledgeable.
They even gave me some posts outside that forum for a company that actually advertised by responding to your post but has since been deleted. There really is no advertising and this was a blatant advert.
Anyway. Now I know that I will not be able to buy international train tickets for Poland on line.
And I wouldn't have known that without your post.
So the question is do I take a chance and save about half per ticket by purchasing through a Polish company?
We shall see.

Sher, where else are you going? I'm just interested as this is our first time in Central Europe and we are actually leaving on Monday (from Australia) yeh!!! We're flying into Vienna for 4 days then flying down to Dubrovnik, picking up a car there and dropping it back to Zagreb. From then on it's train and bus where necessary. I have had fun planning & researching everything and now will be the test for it all to fall into place!
Re car rental, I ended up renting thru a broker in the UK called economycarhire.com who use local agents and got a very good price with no excess and also cheap extra insurance for glass, undercarriage etc. which a lot of companies don't cover. The local agency in Dub & Zagreb is HM Rentacar.
We will be returning home at the end of May so will post a trip report to share our experiences.