i would like to combine our summer visit to prague with a few days in berlin.i will be flying open jaw.one detail which is worrying me is the train trip between prague and berlin.

i dont know much about the prague Main Station (hlavní nádraž&iacute.i am imagining that the train schedules will be in czech,trains possibly late, and that the ticket booth staff might not be too fluent in english.

besides england, i used the train once before in italy,to get from rome to naples.we didnt understand the schedule.the only reason we caught the train we intended was that it left 90min late.

can someone who has been there share their experience of finding/reading the schedule, getting the ticket,validating it and finding the platform?do you need to get tickets from a specific train company in the station?are the announcments in english? thanks.

You have NOTHING TO FEAR with this trip...I've done it many times.

The train could possibly leave from one of two stations: Hlavni Nadrazi (the "main" station) or from Holesovice.

There are train boards in both stations and they will be marked "Berlin" for your train, in English. You do NOT need to understand either Czech or German to make this trip.

Your assumption that the "trains may be late" is based on what???? You can avoid the ticket booth staff if you feel the need to by going to a local travel agency for the tickets or checking with the hotel (Concierge).

When you do go, sit on the RIGHT side of the train (facing forward) for the best river views as far as Dresden.

On the subject of train travel out of Prague, I can hardly think of anyone who is a "regular" on this forum with more experience and advice to share... than Ben Haines. Dozens of posts on using Prague Hlavni station - - and on virtually everyone, he posts this sentence:

"Prague Hlavni has pickpockets who work in gangs of three, so you should pass through the station carrying only a little cash and your railway ticket: all else should be in a packet inside your biggest bag."

Now, having said all that... you would have a bigger problem than potential pickpockets at Hlavni, if you are headed for Berlin! The website www.raileurope.com (don't buy your tickets there at their very marked up prices!) shows that the 5 hr direct train for Berlin leaves from Prague <b>Holesovice</b> every two hours, from 11:31 to 17:31.

While I generally agree with the assessments offered by intrepid1 (and I have never personally traveled by train in or out of Prague), I urge you to take a second look at the &quot;attitude&quot; expressed (perhaps unintentionally) in your remarks...

&lt;&lt;i am imagining that the train schedules will be in czech,trains possibly late, and that the ticket booth staff might not be too fluent in english&gt;&gt;

...sounding rather like your difficulties would all be due to THEIR deficiencies!

Anyhow, you can prepare minimally, and still have it all go fine.

Best wishes,

Rex

Of course the staff won't be too fluent in English, but I'm sure their English is a lot better than your Czech (or mine). If you are in another country, always bear in mind that you are a foreigner and that your language is a foreign language. If you want other people to speak English, ask politely; remember that if they don't speak English, then it's your fault for not speaking the local language. You do not need to &quot;understand the schedule&quot;: the train departures will be clearly indicated. The trains from Praha to Berlin are international Eurocity trains so are of a high standard and are intended for international passengers (they also have restaurant cars). You can check the schedule in advance. I don't believe seat reservations are compulsory, but may be a good idea.

I have bought train tickets at
Cedok travel agency near metro Mustek.
Staff were friendly and helpful, office was clean, which relaxed me.
They spoke very good English and accepted credit cards.

The trains I took left from Holesovice, too.
Trains were on time. Though no announcement in English
finding the right trains was not at all difficult
cause it was not a large station at all, only a few trains in an hour on international platforms.

I checked the schedule via DB, or OEBB.
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
http://www.oebb.at/

As I have already stated...there will be the usual train BOARD with the destination &quot;Berlin&quot; very clearly marked.
If you can read you won't have to worry about any &quot;announcements.&quot;

i based my comments on my previous experience in rome.

thanks for all replies and am sorry for the poor choice of words.i didnt mean that schedules shouldnt be in czech ,more that it would be more simpler to me if they had english translations.it is not to much for me to learn arrive(p&oslash;&iacute;jezdy) and depart(odjezdy) but most schedules have little asterisks and fine print at the bottom which leave you wondering what they mean.

some stations are very large with dozens of platforms others have strange shapes and passages, whilst others are small or open plan.

i looked up some phrases in my phrase book and will have a try saying these:

Pros&iacute;m jednoduch&yacute; l&iacute;stek do Berlin, druh&aacute; t&oslash;&eacute;da
A oneway ticket to Berlin please, 2nd class?

Ztket&eacute;rho n&aacute;stupišt&igrave; jede vlak do Berlin?
which platform for the train to berlin?

Je toto spr&aacute;vne n&aacute;supišt&igrave; vlaku do Berlin?
is this the right platform for berlin?

Jd&igrave;te pry&egrave;!
Go away (for the pickpockets)

I can join the many people who tell you that you have no problems. It is a good idea to buy your ticket at a Cedok office in advance, as nearly all staff there use English. It is also a good idea to leave from Holesovice, not Hlavni. Restaurant car trains leave at 0731 and each two hours until 1731, the station is on the metro, it is smaller and clearer to use than Hlavni, and I think it has few or no pickpockets. The last train of the day leaves from Hlavni at 1900, not Holesovice, reaches Berlin Lichtenberg at 2338, and carries on to the Ruhr. I think the point on which side to sit to enjoy views of the river is a good one, which I should make more often. You cross the frontier after 1 ½ hours, so it is handy to put your passport in an accessible pocket well after you leave the pickpocket areas of Prague. I have passed the frontier seated at lunch more than once: the officials just checked me as I ate. You cannot pass the frontier in the bathroom. You take five hours to Berlin. I have searched the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable page for fine print and asterisks, and find only that most trains carry on to Hamburg, so I think you will not be left wondering. The more so in that there are stations announce these trains in English, but it is true sometimes accented.

[email protected]

thanks once again for sharing your experience there.

Hi there,

I am sure you will have no problem. I took the train from Berlin to Praha (Holesovice) and it was a great ride. I had a harder time reserving my ticket in Berlin then in Praha, when I left to go to Vienna. There were more people able and willing to talk to me in English in Praha than in Berlin. Even the cab driver in Praha spoke fluent English. On learning that I was from Brazil, all he wanted to do was talk about our soccer team (he seemed to know the names of the players better than I did!).
Enjoy your trip: I loved both Praha and Berlin.

Can someone give me an idea of what we should pay for a train from Prague to Berlin? And can we stopov er in Dresden?

Rick Steves book tells us to use RailEurope for our Paris to London train...and that tickets are cheaper purchased ahead in the U.S.
but above I read that RailEurope has inflated ticket prices.

Yes, you can stopover in Dresden. Simply get off at the central railway station (Hauptbahnhof) and hop on a train 2 or 4 hours later.

Purchase your ticket in Prague - you pay about 50% of the fare you had to pay in Germany. RailEurope may be cheaper than the German Railways, but they cannot beat the Czech fares ...

I.

Thanks, just want to be clear that we can purchase ticket in Prague going to Berlin, but get off in Dresden and get back on with the same ticket? Can we do this if we overnight in Dresden, also? Get on the next day?

Looking for a similar midway stopping point for the train from Krakow to Vienna.

International train tickets are valid two months. So you can get off and on another train with the same ticket - also overnight is possible (recommended!).

The direct train between Krakow and Vienna stops in Ostrava and Prerov, but both are not even very interesting. Better use the time in Krakow and Vienna.

I.

INteresting comments. I had two important questions. I'm leaving from the US to Berlin on July 7th, and I need a round trip train (assuming it's cheaper than plane?) to prague for july 10th. my school would like me to have the reservation done ahead of the trip, so my question is there a cheaper site to buy the train ticket then www.raileurope.com?

second, is it correct to say based on the previous posts, that from berlin to prague i should sit on the LEFT for the best view, and on the RIGHT on my way back from prague to berlin?

THANK you very much for your suggestions.

At www.bahn.de, it is telling me that I can purchase a ticket from Prague to Berlin for 39 euros, but to get this fare I must travel only on the time schedule that I select. I can stop over in Dresden for the number of hours that I request, but then I must get aboard the correct train at pre-selected time leaving Dresden.

It seems that if I wish to visit Dresden at my leisure, then hop aboard the next train...I must pay double for this &quot;flexibility&quot;.

No need to buy tickets from www.bahn.de

The tickets you mentioned at 39 Euro are discounted and therefore with restrictions. The tickets which you buy in Prague at the desk are a) cheaper and b) flexible as I wrote above.

Believe me, I had a round trip ticket purchased in Decin (Czech Republic) from Dresden to Prague for 6 May, could not travel due to private reasons, and travelled on the same ticket last Thursday. No problem!

Do not buy from the Deutsche Bahn in this case!

Ingo