I am confused and hope someone can advise me regarding train travel between Prague and Budapest and visa versa. I was planning to take the fastest train during daylight hours. What is all this talk about visa shakedowns? What should I do to avoid this problem?

I am not sure what you are referring to. The fastest route from one city to the other usually takes you through Slovakia...are you traveling on a pass? If not the point-to-point ticket will cover that part without problem.
The Hungarian immigration folks usually check your passport as the train is moving..as do the Czech republic officials. I do not know of any special visa requirements if you are from the US, that is...give us more info if you can.

In my last trip to Budapest, the Slovakian immigration folk stopped the train to check passports. . .

Otherwise business as usual . . .

r

My experience was different...I have never been on a train that was "stopped" for Immigration officials other than those trains that were stopping at a particular place anyway.

Thanks for all your responses. I will be travelling on an American Passport. I want to take the EC train? (which is supposed to be the fastest.) Is the railroad station the only place to buy a ticket upon arrival in Prague for a trip four or five days later? I want to book my hotel reservations in Budapest and arrival dates are contingent upon getting the train reservation for the date and time I want.

nyteach: We visited Prague in May. We bought our train tickets from Prague to Vienna and Vienna to Budapest at Cedok Travel Agency, Na Prikope 18, 111 35 Praha 1 ([email protected]) a few days after we arrived. We were waited on immediately after entering by a pleasant, English speaking agent. I had chosen which trains we wanted on the net before we left, printed up the schedules and took them with us. I showed her what we had in mind and she agreed they were the best for the departure times we wanted. We were not charged for their service. We used EC trains, second class and got along fine.

After we bought our tickets we walked to the Mucha Museum which is very close by and thoroughly enjoyed our visit. From there we walked to Wenceslas Square, had lunch at a sidewalk cafe and did some window shopping.

We have gone to train stations for tickets in both Italy and France, and this was without doubt the easiest time we've ever had, both in terms of not standing in long lines and securing our tickets without a big hassle.

Forgot to mention that we did not travel through Slovakia so cannot speak to that. However, our passports and tickets were checked when we left one country and entered another. No special stops for checks, just when the train had routinely stopped at a station.

tt for NYTeach