jngrant28

I am struggling to find the best rate & time to travel between Paris and Munich on Monday, September 29, and between Munich & Prague on Friday, October 3. I have checked out Bahn.de and AirBerlin, but am unsure what is the best way to go. I would aim to ride 1st class in the trains if possible. My goal is to not spend too much more than $250ea for each trip. By the way, I am traveling with my husband.

Thanks for the help.

TimS

At bahn.de there still are Europa-Spezial Frankreich 1st class fares of €69/person available for Paris-Munich on 29 September. And for 3 October you can get regular 1st class tickets for Munich-Prague for €84.80/person.

jngrant28

Can you help explain the specific train options? I have never traveled by train, so I have no idea what each of these mean:
Centre aisle coach
Open saloon coach
Compartment
Do we need to book seats "around a table"?
What's a "Silent Zone"?

Thank you!!

jngrant28

One more quick question - on an attempt to book the Munich to Prague part of the trip I cannot seem to get a seat reserved. How does this work if I choose 1st class? Maybe from Munich to Prague there is no 1st class?

Kyliebaby3

Germanwings is another low-cost carrier with a route between Munich and Prague. You might want to check them out to see if the prices are any better. Here is their website: http://www.germanwings.com/index.en.shtml

jngrant28

I guess I'm looking at the website incorrectly, but for a 4 hour flight it would cost us 458 Euros and I would only be spending 170 Euros if I take the 6 hour train trip. Not a better deal for me, may be due to it being Oktoberfest and us planning to leave on a Friday, not sure.

logos999

Reason for the 4 hours is that they don't serve Munich from Prague, but will take you to Cologne!! first.

And the reason for the high price is to make it easier to offer 29€ flights for me, when Oktoberfest has finished.

jngrant28

Ha!

Logos999- What do you think about the train travel from Munich to Prague?

logos999

It will get you to Munich. Last time I was travelling with a 20 something student from Budweis. She was studying german at college, had a beautiful!! czech accent and was well educated.

We left the train after the border to get a Bayern-Ticket from the machine. It was below 10€ from Prague to the border and 27€ for the two of us from there to Munich.

The train is o.k. If you've been on Amtrak from the falls to NYC, it's about what you can expect. In CZ usually someone will come to your compartment and offer a beer. ;-)

logos999

If you want to go to Prague from Munich, take a Bayern Ticket to the border and once you crossed the border, pay the conductor in crowns. It'll be cheap.

jngrant28

Yep, the goal is to get to Prague from Munich. So, should I just wait until we are in Munich to buy the Bayern Ticket to Prague. I was looking at Bahn.de to get a ticket booked, but maybe I should wait?

Does it make much of a difference whether I choose 1st or 2nd class? I do like the idea of being offered a beer in my compartment

Thank you!

logos999

Yes, do buy a Bayern Ticket and take one of the local trains. 2nd class will do, 1st class eihter doesn't exist or is not worth the money. (All the interesting folks are riding in 2nd class anway!)

It's slow, well not much slower than the other trains and you'll have to change trains, but it's nice!

TimS

Just for the sake of clarity, the Bayern-Ticket is good after 09:00 on weekdays (anytime on Saturdays and Sundays) and only on local and regional trains. Also it will get you from Munich to the last stop on the German side of the border; but as logos999 said in slightly different words, you'll need to buy a separate ticket from the border to Prague.