We will be in Prague in July and would like to take a day train to Budapest. Any tips/advice?? <BR>Thanks

This is definitely a "Ben Haines" question... but I'll weigh in as a placeholder. The best place to get the schdule online is the Deutschebahn site at: http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/db.s98/dete...8/query.exe/e? <BR> <BR>The trip is about 7 hours on the Intercity trains. Either first or second class will be fine. Just be sure to get a seat reservation a day or so ahead. There are signs that will show you where your specific car is. <BR> <BR>It is showing an intercity train at 5:40am and 8:39am from Prague Hl.n. and one from Prague Holesovice at 12:39pm. Both take you to Budapest-Keleti. I've only been to Prague Hl.n. and I can tell you it's a pit with rather unclear information and little help for an English speaker. [This was 1997 so things hopefully have changed for the better there.] Watch out for pickpockets. And NEVER try to take a taxi FROM Hl.n. Those taxi drivers are rapacious in what they try to charge. <BR> <BR>The trip is a very pleasant one, if longish.

I was in Budapest last fall and met someone that had taken the train from Prague to Budapest. She had a not great experiance. The train was held up at the border for about 3 hours and several people with questionable papers were taken off of the train. (My only experiance)

Which border? My bet would be with Slovakia. But it doesn't happen ALL the time. If you want to avoid Slovakia you can go via Vienna where you have to change trains and change stations. {I KNOW I had gone directly from Brno to Budapest before, but I can't find that train now.]

We went from Prague to Budapest and had no delays. It was a very pleasant trip. My recommendations are to buy some of the great bakery food in Prague & take it with you to eat. (We got great & cheap food at a bakery on Wenceslas Sqaure about 3 stores down from the Statue on the right if facing the street from the Statue). It takes about 8 hours but didn't seem that long.

Hi, what kind of passport you have? <BR> <BR>Beware that for some nationalities a transit visa is required to cross <BR>Slovaquia, that is why they make people come down from the train: to PAY a fine. <BR>So be careful I assume that a transit visa is not needed for US citizens, but I am not sure since I have done the drip stopping for a few days in Viena.

RE: Prague to Budapest train <BR> <BR>There were messages on this topic a few months ago under the heading "Prague and Budapest." I just saw them - they're about 55 messages back now. We rode the day train (IC or EC) and had a good experience. Details are in that previous post. <BR> <BR>-Nancy