EllaViv

Our family of 2 adults and 2 teenagers would like to travel on an overnight train from Krakow to Prague on a Sunday night.

I can find details of a train that departs Krakow at approximately 10pm and arrives in Prague around 7am but I cant find any pricing for a sleeper for our family.

We would all like to stay together in a 4 person sleeper.

I am trying to budget for our trip before we leave but cant find pricing anywhere for this journey.

Is anybody aware of what sort of cost is involved with this journey or can you suggest where I can find the pricing before we depart on our trip?

Many thanks for your help!

Christina

did you try www.bahn.de? I wouldn't think they would include prices on foreign trains, but I'd check. At the worst, you can check www.raileurope.com and then assume it will be some fraction of that. I don't know what to guess, I checked and it seems to be $197 per adult for that train, which is a double sleeper car. It didn't even offer the option of a 4-car sleeper so I don't know if that is just them or it doesn't exist. Anyway, if they charge $197, I would guess it might be around $100. I know you don't want to pay $400, though, I can't really believe it would cost that much, but maybe for two double sleeper cars, that is a long trip, after all. I still doubt it as Polish trains are generally very cheap (in my experience).

The www.POlrail.com website says all you have to do is send them an email with your request and they'll quote you a price, it looks pretty simple (and can be done in English). I don't think that's the official Polish rail website, but looks helpful.

I did look at the official POlish rail (PKP) website and it doesn't have an English section. I know a few words in Polish and have a dictionary and while I could find a train as you wanted, it didn't seem to give any price, either, not that I could see. The train listed on PKP seems to be a different time than Raileurope, it is direct at 9:57 pm, whereas on Raileurope it was 9:45 pm and PKP says that goes through Dresden, I believe, and isn't direct. I don't know, I could be misunderstanding, my Polish isn't that great.

I'd try Polrail

adrienne

Join the forum on this web site and you will get some answers about ticket prices. A friend used this site and speaks highly about it.

She told me the polrail site is much more expensive than buying tickets in Krakow since it's an agency similar to RailEurope.

http://www.europetrainsguide.com/

Man_in_seat_61

The basic travel fare is around 40 to 60 euros per person, half this for a child under 12.

Then you add a supplement of about 10 euros for a bunk in a 6-berth couchette, if they have 4-berth couchettes on this route (they may well have) that'll be about 15 euros per bunk in a 4-berth couchette, 18 euros for a bed in a 3-bed sleeper, or 26 euros for a bed in a 2-bed sleeper. All per person.

Only a 2nd class travel ticket is required for any of these options (a 1st class ticket is now only required to travel in a single-bed sleeper).

I'd recommend sleeper, not couchette, as it's so much nicer, a big step up from couchette, yet not much more expensive.

Buy tickets for this train at the station, or through www.polrail.com (who come highly recommended), NOT Rail Europe.

Christina

Actually, when I thought about it, given the lowsy current exchange rate, $100 per person isn't really that much (around 70 euro) for a long-distance train with a sleeper car. And from what manintheseat says, that isn't that far off.

Sher

There are special prices on some trains. There is limited availibility, though just like the cheap tickets on planes.

The rail station in Krakow is so close to the historical center. There is one window where they speak pretty good English. We purchased our tickets two days before we departed and were lucky enough to snag a very good price of about $60.

The very cheapest tickets, if they are availble are non refundable and cannot be changed. I took the overnight train from Krakow to Budapest in October. I had a two bed sleeper and it was tiny but very nice with a comfortable bed and sink.
The four bunk sleeper was fine but not as nice.

Use the website that Adrienne gave. Those people answer immediately and know so much about train travel in Europe.

Do not purchase from RailEurope. Even Polrail was expensive.
Good luck.

wobbers

Adrienne is wrong - polrail is fine, although an agency, nothing LIKE raileurope. They charge a small fee but you can buy in advance and not have to go to the station to buy tix.

wobbers

and ask on Trip Advisor - you'll get a much better advice than here

ipod_robbie

and ask on Trip Advisor - you'll get a much better advice than here...

Which implies that the advice to us polrail offered here is poor advice, n'est-ce pas?

Susan7

Definitely contact Polrail. I've used them twice they will mail the tickets to you wherever you live or you can pick them up at the airport or train station.

EllaViv

Thanks everybody for your suggestions and advice. I think we will try our luck with buying the tickets at the train station on the day that we arrive in Krakow (which is only 3 days before we depart).

Cheers.

7thson

I would consider a flight. There are many discount airlines. Try Wizzair, they have a base in Krakow and to Prague daily for around 40 Euros.

Or bus...a little secret, bus travel in Europe in this region is often better and cheaper than the train.

Good luck!