Prague to Budapest: logistics & costs
 

Hi expert travellers:

1. What are the typical train costs going from Prague to Budapest? What is the cost difference between the 7hr day train and 9hr overnight train?

2. Is the overnight couchette coach comfortable or safe?

3. Short of buying the tickets at train station further away like Holesovice, are there agents that sell tickets within the city? Is buying online possible?

sorry for the loaded questions but I appreciate everyone's expert advice.

thanks in advance!

I don't remember how much it costs, but I didn't find it very expensive. I stayed in a couchette with my travel mates, and you can lock the door when you're sleeping. I was konked out and slept right away and felt fine in the morning, but I'm sure others can comment on comfort :)

The overnight train should cost more because you pay for train fare as on the day train and sleeping accommodations - you could sleep in a regular seat without paying extra but this is not recommended due to security problems IME

Couchettes are the cheapest usually and whether they are safe or not depends on whether folks in the couchette compartment lock the door or not when they go out at night and return - often IME not locking it - then theft can be a problem

Couchettes now all seem to have a lock or two or three that lock on the inside, including bolt locks - if they use them they should be safe.

Pay a bit more for a private compartment and all should be very secure as you control the lock and no strangers are in the compartment.

The day train is long and the scenery, including a lot of industrial detritus from East Bloc days is not all that scintillating

Though the night train may cost more you also save on a hotel cost for that night.

Not sure if you can easily book online this type of night train - just don't know but to guarantee places you should book as soon as you get to prague - yes travel agents there are easier than going to the station and waiting in an oft long line and then having a language barrier perhaps at the window. In the U.S. raileurope.com pretty much has a lock on these tickets and though you may pay a bit more than in Prague IME for some having a ticket and sleeper reservation (or seat reservation on day train) is priceless - you just need to board the train. How long will you be in Prague before the train? If several days you should be able to book there IME - if interested in booking thru RailEurope i always recommend www.budgeteuropetravel.com, a RE agent but who gives great personal service by phone IME and may have lower mailing fees for this type of order. Maybe someone will know if it is possible to book this ticket online thru the Czech Railways web site.

pinkaurora & PalenQ: many thanks for your suggestions. Not having taken a night train before- is the couchette a sleeper beds w/o the privacy? Since there are 3 of us traveling, I think a private compartment may be more prudent.

I will be in Prague 5-6 days before heading to Budapest but with business meetings, I thought there must be travel agencies who can book the tix easily on my behalf.

PalenQ, I gather the scenary during the train ride is not much to write home about?

Many thanks again!

Well the scenery may be such that you would write home about it - not for bucolic dreamy landscapes but rotting detritus of disused factories - at least that's what i remember in these countries. You won't miss that much at night IMO

A couchette usually has six berths and thus not private unless you have six people to book it all up - rarely there are 4-person couchettes. Couchettes have tiers of bunks on each side of an aisle. Not private

There are couchette wagons on trains and Sleeper Cars - and regular seats usually as well.

In the Sleeper Car are private singles, doubles and triples that typically must be booked whole - no strangers involved though at times that could be.

But if you have three i would strongly suggest a T-3 or second class triple (rarely are there any such first class triples IME) - this is private as you have a lock (or two or three) on the inside including a bolt lock usually so as long as you lock the door on your return there should be no worries about theft as there could be in couchettes, which also have locks on the doors but IME folks often go out and do not lock them when they come back at night even though conductors often exhort folks to do so. So if booking ask for a triple, which in these countries may not be that much more per person than a couchette and less than a hotel costs for mosts.

I just returned from a trip to Budapest, then Vienna, then Prague. We took the 3 hour day trip by train from Budapest to Vienna, it cost $121 for second class tickets for 3 of us. It would have been $210 for the same tickets had I bought them through RailEurope ahead of time. Second class was fine, except the air conditioning was a little weak. So for the next leg of the trip, Vienna to Prague, 4 hours, we bought first class tickets at a cost of $364 (would have been $429 on RailEurope). I don't think you can just divide those fares by 3, I think on one set of tickets I got a cheaper fare for my teenage daughter and senior father, the other one I think I got a half price companion fare. First class was almost empty, air conditioning was fine, but we didn't meet the nice Austrian mother and daughter that we met in second class. I thought the scenery was very nice on both trips, had the camera out several times. However, it does take a big chunk out of your touring time, I might do a sleeper if I was doing it all in one trip. Last piece of advice, while it was cheaper to wait and buy the tickets at the train station, in Budapest it took us an hour of waiting to do that, Vienna was only about 10 minutes. You have to weigh price over the cost of your time.

There is bus service between Prague and Busapest - may be cheaper than the train. My friends in Budapest said the train was safer.

http://www.studentagencybus.com/

http://www.orangeways.com/en

Our family took the bus from Prague to Budapest in June 2008 using the Student Agency Bus. The tickets cost 18 Euros per person (less for children and students). Our hotel in Prague booked everything for us though you can pre-order your tickets online.

The bus was very comfortable and had air conditioning, reclining seats and coffee/tea served by a hostess on board. My 15-year old son was kept busy watching English movies and TV show reruns all throughout the trip. The 7-hour ride to Budapest was not bad at all.

We just got back from Prague > Vienna > Budapest and we went to the main train station and purchased our exit train ticket that departed from the Holesvice (sp?) train station. One word of warning...you can't easily cross the street in front of the main train station. You have to go underground across the street. You buy your ticket down there anyway, but it was just a little confusing for us at first. We walked down that main thoroughfare and the traffic was buzzing by very close to us as the sidewalk was right on the street. There may have been a bus or something that would have dropped us off, but we didn't realize the problem we would face when we got there. It wasn't a long walk, just difficult to cross the street.

We slept on the train from Prague to Vienna by just laying over in the seat since no one else was there. We had the compartment to ourselves, but the conductors come in to check your ticket at the borders. I don't know what they do on the night train. I don't know if they wake you up or not.