Prague - Poland Travel Help
Jun 27th, 2004, 04:31 AM
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Prague - Poland Travel Help
Hello 
I am flying to Prague in the summer, and need to get the Jelenia Gora from there. I am having trouble trying to find train journeys from Prague to Jelenia Gora and wondered if anyone new of a website OR a journey themselves that took me to Jelenia Gora OR somewhere very near.
Thank you =)
I am flying to Prague in the summer, and need to get the Jelenia Gora from there. I am having trouble trying to find train journeys from Prague to Jelenia Gora and wondered if anyone new of a website OR a journey themselves that took me to Jelenia Gora OR somewhere very near.
Thank you =)
Jun 27th, 2004, 05:49 AM
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Step one: bookmark this website - - every Europe rail travel website you could ever ask for - - http://mercurio.iet.unipi.it/misc/timetabl.html including timetable and map pages for the Polish rail system.
Then, the hard part begins - - largely because it is an arduous 8-14 hour trip by train (as opposed to a fairly easy 3-4 hour drive by car).
To look at the rail map on RailEurope.com you might think you should go via Wroclaw; there is a main trunk line from Prague to Wroclaw (Glowny) that takes six hours. The Polish rail website shows a total of four departures per day (rather than the one shown on RailEurope), though the others are slower or don't get you there any earlier than the 21:50 arrival shown on RailEurope. Regardless, any routing via Wroclaw will either require 14+ hours or an overnight stay there.
Since you will need to use the Polish rail timetable website anyhow, it makes more sense to simply enter Praha to Jelenia Gora, and you will see that there is a two-stop connection, via Dresden and Wegliniec, departing 7:24 and arriving 15:11
Quite a compelling case for going by rented car, in my opinion. I've done that. Pleasant, scenic and easy.
Best wishes,
Rex
Then, the hard part begins - - largely because it is an arduous 8-14 hour trip by train (as opposed to a fairly easy 3-4 hour drive by car).
To look at the rail map on RailEurope.com you might think you should go via Wroclaw; there is a main trunk line from Prague to Wroclaw (Glowny) that takes six hours. The Polish rail website shows a total of four departures per day (rather than the one shown on RailEurope), though the others are slower or don't get you there any earlier than the 21:50 arrival shown on RailEurope. Regardless, any routing via Wroclaw will either require 14+ hours or an overnight stay there.
Since you will need to use the Polish rail timetable website anyhow, it makes more sense to simply enter Praha to Jelenia Gora, and you will see that there is a two-stop connection, via Dresden and Wegliniec, departing 7:24 and arriving 15:11
Quite a compelling case for going by rented car, in my opinion. I've done that. Pleasant, scenic and easy.
Best wishes,
Rex
Jun 27th, 2004, 06:28 AM
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Thanks for the help. It is a very compelling case for hire car - unfortunately neither me or my boyfriend drive, haha!
We only want to visit Auschwitz/Birkenau and only plan on being in Poland for 3-4 days. Jelenia Gora is where my brother and sister-in-law live so we were hoping a cheap flight to prague and a stay in JG would keep the costs down, rather than flying to Krakow and booking a hotel.
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated and thank you for your help so far!
We only want to visit Auschwitz/Birkenau and only plan on being in Poland for 3-4 days. Jelenia Gora is where my brother and sister-in-law live so we were hoping a cheap flight to prague and a stay in JG would keep the costs down, rather than flying to Krakow and booking a hotel.
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated and thank you for your help so far!
Jun 27th, 2004, 09:13 AM
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Hmmm... well, then it is probably worth your while to find someone who can help you with bus info. Do you read Polish?
Maybe you can find some help among these:
www.affordablepoland.com (give the owner a call; nice guy)
www.staypoland.com/time_bus.asp
Maybe others will have additional ideas?
Maybe you can find some help among these:
www.affordablepoland.com (give the owner a call; nice guy)
www.staypoland.com/time_bus.asp
Maybe others will have additional ideas?
Jun 27th, 2004, 09:50 AM
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Does your brother or S-i-l drive? Could they pick you up?
I also have a question. You posted that the main objective is to visit Auschwitz and you don't want to pay for a hotel in the Krakow area. I hope you realize that Jelenia Gora is about 200 miles away from Oswiecim. That makes it about 5 hour drive in that part of Poland. It will be a long day if you are hoping to get there do the visit and return to Jelenia Gora all on the same day.
So maybe your best bet is to fly to Krakow, visit Auschwitz, stay 1 night and then take a train to Jelenia Gora.
Jelenia Gora is not on any major train/bus route so it is going to be difficult to get there without few changes. There is a bus that runs nightly from Prague to Warszawa with stops in Wroclaw and Lodz. It leaves Prague around 9pm and gets to Wroclaw at around 1:30am, but you would need to connect to another train/bus there and at that time I doubt very much anything is available. Just in case you are interested it's around $25 per person one-way.
Good luck! but you are looking a a long traveling day(s) if you want to avoid a hotel stay in Krakow area, unless your family picks you up or you hire a private driver.
I also have a question. You posted that the main objective is to visit Auschwitz and you don't want to pay for a hotel in the Krakow area. I hope you realize that Jelenia Gora is about 200 miles away from Oswiecim. That makes it about 5 hour drive in that part of Poland. It will be a long day if you are hoping to get there do the visit and return to Jelenia Gora all on the same day.
So maybe your best bet is to fly to Krakow, visit Auschwitz, stay 1 night and then take a train to Jelenia Gora.
Jelenia Gora is not on any major train/bus route so it is going to be difficult to get there without few changes. There is a bus that runs nightly from Prague to Warszawa with stops in Wroclaw and Lodz. It leaves Prague around 9pm and gets to Wroclaw at around 1:30am, but you would need to connect to another train/bus there and at that time I doubt very much anything is available. Just in case you are interested it's around $25 per person one-way.
Good luck! but you are looking a a long traveling day(s) if you want to avoid a hotel stay in Krakow area, unless your family picks you up or you hire a private driver.
Jun 28th, 2004, 09:55 PM
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Cris i grew up in Poland and travel there often.Iwould like to help with your travel to Oswiecim.It is close to Krakow.There are few bus trip to Oswiecim from Krakow every week.Polish airline are not more expensive .There are direct flights from Chicago and New York.Traveling by train is not a good idea.Train tickets cabs it will all add up.If you land in Krakow city bus will take you to yhe hotel from where there are tour buses to Oswiecim.Polish is my primary language If you need cheap hotel in Krakow.When do you want to travel.I will be in Krakow in July and some august.Polish air line www.lot.com
