Questions about Trains Poland & Hungary
 

We will need to take a train from Warsaw to Krakow and also a sleeper train from Krakow to Budapest in late November/early December. I dislike buying tickets far in advance and would rather buy once we're there on the ground. Does anyone know if this is safe or if these trains could sell out? Also, what is the difference between 1st & 2nd class in a double sleeper car?

I can't inform you on the sleeper. As for the tickets from Warsaw to Krakow: just getthem when you're in Poland. I had the routine to buy them the evening before, not to run the risk of standing in the line after someone with a complicated question, when your intended train is leaving in 9 minutes.

You can book Warsaw-Krakow online with cheaper prices in advance at www.intercity.pl

The trains on this route are 'reservation obligatory' so in theory could sell out but in practice there's almost always places available even at departure, unless we're talking a major popular train at a holiday period.

Krakow to Budapest cannot be booked online so either buy at a station when you're in Poland or use reliable agency www.polrail.com

The sleeping-car (there's just one!) has 10 or 11 compartments, each of which is physically fitted with 3 fold-out beds, so that each compartment can be sold flexibly as a 1-bed, 2-bed or 3-bed compartment depending on demand.

Only a 2nd class ticket is now necessary on this route for a bed in a 2 or 3 berth compartment, a 1st class ticket is only necessary for single occupancy of a 1-berth.

So, 2nd class ticket and around €20 supplement, you get one bed in a 3-berth.

2nd class ticket and around €28 supplement and you can get a bed in a 2-berth double sleeper.

1st class ticket and around €60 supplement and you get a one-bed compartment all to yourself.

Warsaw to Krakow runs all the time - no less than hourly and the trains were very nice 9 years ago, especially in comparison with an intercity train we took from Gdansk to Malbork.

We purchased our tickets for the night train from Krakow > Budapest on Polrail.com as @Man_in_seat_61 suggests. I would recommend booking ahead of time via the website and have them mail you your tickets.

We had our window open for the trip because the room was stuffy (hubby & I traveled together in our own compartment). We got very little actual sleep. The train is noisy & the train stations are even noisier when you're stopped.

We traveled this route recently: Sept 2015.

Thank you, all very helpful.