thursdaysd

Oh, and WRT sleepers - I buy a berth in a 4-berth couchette, as I travel alone, but with two of you it might be worth buying a two-berth sleeper for the privacy. I've been to both Krakow and Budapest twice, so I envy you this trip!

Sher

I will let you know how I make out.

Sher

thursdaysd. I called Continental ans I was able to get a reward ticket going into Krakow and out of Zagreb.

I found because of my friend's schedule that we could not change the dates. So because of Will saying the weather might not be optimal and suggesting that there might be too much driving I decided to use the open jaw.

The open jaw gives us a lot more time since we do not need to use a day to get from Budapest to Krakow and another day to get to Zagreb from Krakow. And if we do a night train from krakow to Budapest, it really gives us more time in Krakow and more time in Budapest during day time.

I need to ask you how difficult it is to schedule the night train and be understood that we get in the right car because I seem to be reading that schedule changes have limited direct service Krakow to Budapest during this time of year and only a certain number of cars are switched to the direct route during the journey.

I know about Rail Europe and will not use them. But can I buy the ticket when I arrive in Krakow. Will they have difficulty understanding what I want?

thursdaysd

Last time I was in Krakow ('06) I bought a bus ticket to Zakopane not a train ticket, and had no difficulty. As best I can tell from my notes from '04 I bought my ticket for a day train from Krakow to Prague at the station in Brno along with Brno to Krakow and a local ticket the day I got there - I think I just wrote down the date and time and stations I wanted and showed it to the guy at the window. I'd suggest posting a separate thread asking seat61 for an answer - he posts here on occasion. If the trains are limited it might be worth buying ahead of time.

Sher

Thanks. It is a good thing I have time to learn these things

Barblab

I did not read through this whole thread so don't know when you are going but my husband and I went in April two years ago and bought our night train tickets for Budapest when we arrived in Krakow three days earlier. We too wrote the train number, date, time and destination on a paper. Allow extra time for buying tickets as the lines seem to go slow.

Having a car in Budapest and Krakow would be awful in my opinion. Great and easy to drive in the countryside (we did in CZ) but not fun even driving out of Prague.

I too suggest if you haven't already checked out Rick Steves Eastern Europe book as well as his DVD (check your library) do so as he has a trip that includes where you are going.

Have fun!

Sher

Barblab. I think you mentioned that you had rented an apartment from bvr, Max. We too are considering renting an apartment of theirs but not the same one.

Please tell me how you liked or didn't the night train. I wanted to know if you remember any restaurants in Budapest but I would be interested in ones in Krakow also.

Where did you stay in Krakow? We will only be there for two nights. I tried to find a trip report of yours but missed one if you did.

If you feel so inclined you can email me personally.
[email protected]

Thanks

Barblab

I did not do a trip report because it would rehash other simiar ones as we based our trip on info from this sight as well as Rick Steves Eastern Europe book. Occasionally I visit this board and comment on things. I am no expert on eastern or if you prefer central, europe but I diffently am an experienced world traveler and know how much info you can gain from this and similar sights.

Food is not a priority with us so I don't remember resturant names nor do I write them down. We have found that a lot of times once a resturant makes a travel book it losses some of its local flavor.

As for the night train it was fine. My husband who falls asleep anywhere slept like a baby, I on the other hand didn't sleep well but I expected that going in. There are usually really cheap airfares between the two cities but not when we were going which is why we chose the train.

In Krakow we stayed at the Globetrotter, nothing fancy, clean great location. You can do Auschwitz easily on your own by taking the bus and then going on the english tour once there. We also really enjoyed going on walking tours of Krakow and Budapest the first days we arrived to give us an overview of the cities.

We were originally suppose to stay in another one of John's apartments but there was some sort of problem and we ended up in Max which as I said turned out to be our favorite accomodation on the trip. It was perfect for us as we were at a point in our trip when we needed to do a load of wash, use a computer and call home, all ammenities available in the apartment. John also called from the states to check in on us a couple times to see how we were doing and offer additional advice. We have been to dozens of countries and seriously the personel service received when staying at Max rates at the top.

I did just remember one tip that will help you. If you are looking for someone who speaks english turn to the young people. English has been a required subject in shcool since the end of the cold war. Have fun planning.

Sher

WT. I really liked the look of the Tango and am leaning so far towards staying there.

thursdaysd. We did some rearranging and we are flying into Krakow, taking the night train to Budapest and flying to Zagreb for a week to tour the area with a car and then flying home.

Barb. I don't do trip reports either. But I usually read all pertinent ones before I plan if I cannot Google the answers that I want like for the Polish trains.

Thanks a lot all of you. The new itinerary has a lot less driving and easier connections. I can save the country driving for another trip.

I still must go in Ocotber so lets hope the weather holds. October in Poland is still considered high season according to the hotel websites.

Sherry