My husband and I are planning a trip to Europe this fall and are looking into using the rail system, something we have not done before on previous trips. Looking at the Bahn.de website I'm getting confused on how to use it. We will be traveling from Krakow to Salzburg to Florence to Rome. I thought I had figured out that I needed to purchase a Global Interail Pass before I could purchase tickets, but couldn't figure out how to enter that I had done so on the website.
Anyone with any help or tips would be most appreciated! Thank you!
Posted by
Minneapolis
1231 posts
Hi Lin. The bahn website has a lot of good info, but not the easiest / best place to buy tickets that don't involve Germany. Firstly, no, you do not need to buy an Interrail Pass or any other pass for these trips; just buy tickets for each trip. For your first trip Krakow to Salzburg, it will be a long trip - 8 to 10 hours. One good website for train tickets throughout Europe is Trainline.com. For a random date of Sep 11, I see a train leaving Krakow at 6:33am with 1 easy change in Vienna, arriving in Salzburg at 2:53 pm for $118. (fyi - 6:33 am in an unfamiliar city might seem daunting, but the train station is right on the edge of old town, and there are a few hotels within a 10 minute walk of the station.) For Salzburg to Florence (station Firenze S M N), another long trip, use a date in May to get an idea; most trains in Italy for fall are not yet shown in the schedule. Your final leg Firenze SMN to Roma Termini will be a high speed train; less than 2 hours. Again use a date in May to see the schedule for those; there is huge capacity on that route; often trains every half hour or so.
Have a great trip!
Posted by
OP
St. Louis, MO, USA
23 posts
Thanks so much for this great info!
Posted by
Sweden
6470 posts
Avoid Trainline and use the companies that actually runs the trains instead. DB's website is a great source of information where you can search for trains in almost all of Europe. But if your trip doesn't involve Germany, it's not the best place to actually buy tickets. And for this trip, just buy regular tickets. I don't think that a pass will be worth it.
Krakow to Salzburg is a long trip, but apart from the option mentioned there is also a night train, it leaves Krakow in the evening and arrives in Salzburg next morning, buy the tickets at www.oebb.at
From Salzburg to Florence there is also a night train that is a good option. But if you have time I can recommend the day train, it is a very scenic route through the Alps.
Posted by
Alsenborn, Germany
992 posts
I like the train, but I'd fly from Krakow to Salzburg. 3.5 hours vs. 10? Why waste a day of your limited time?
Posted by
San Francisco
14580 posts
I believe you mean Global Eurail Pass. Interrail is not available to those with a residence address in the US.
Posted by
Freedonia
15328 posts
Use the DB website to find out which rail companies operate on the routes you want to travel.
Then go to those company's websites or apps to buy your tickets direct. Sometime, the train websites are glitchy and uncooperative. When that happens, come back and ask for help. Someone here has figured out a way to get it to work.
If you've never traveled on a train, 8-10 hours is a long time. As an example, tomorrow, I'm traveling between two cities. My choices were an 8.5 hour train ride that is on a regional train and leaves at 6:30 in the morning.....or....a 50 minute flight. As much as I love looking at scenery from the window of a train, I've opted for the flight.
The other website you need to know that will tell you just about everything you need to know about trail travel is The Man in Seat 61
Posted by
San Francisco
14580 posts
Going from Krakow to Salzburg is almost a straight shot if you want to consider the night train option, depending on the travel style of both of you. No trouble at all riding the night train for me.
I myself use Global Senior Pass for such long rides and would take the night train Krakow to Linz Hbf, a very nice and major train station aside from being a province capital. Then change to Salzburg.