I am going to need to go from Munich to Prague this September to join Rick's Eastern Europe tour and am debating between the bus or train. I have seen comments on the web that the train is the way to go but Rick's book says to take the bus. Does anyone have any experience on either one? Any comments would be very helpful.
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
It is actually bus operated by German railroad. Deutsche Bahn. You will find schedule on their website. I did not take the bus from Munich but from Nurnberg. It's a double decker bus with bathroom on board. You can buy beverage and snacks. Bus takes less time and is direct and nonstop and arrives to Main Train Station in Prague. The same is valid for bus from Munich.
Posted by
Bellevue, WA, USA
811 posts
they're about the same. the train is probably more comfortable and you can use the bathroom any time you want. the bus costs about the same as the train, takes about the same amount of time also. it makes a couple of stops along the way so you can use the bathroom or buy food/drinks, and at one of the stops sometimes German border police checks passport.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
"the bus costs about the same as the train"
Hardly!
If you buy a Bayern-Böhmen-Ticket in Munich from an automat, it costs 26€ for one person, and will cover your travel from Munich to Pilsen, where you can buy a Czech Rail ticket to Prague for the Czech Koruna equivalent of less than 4€. That is the maximum price you would have to pay, and you can buy those tickets at the time of travel. No advance purchase, non-refundable ticket required. If there are two of you, the Bayern-Böhmen-Ticket costs 30,50€ and the Czech ticket costs about 7€ for both of you.
On the other hand, the best you can do with the bus is 29€ each (58€ if there are two of you), and that is buying the tickets well in advance. The price goes up as you approach travel time and if you wait until three days before travel or later, the price is 66,20€ per person.
The bus takes an hour to an hour and a half less time than the train. The bus leaves from only one place in Munich; with the Bayern-Böhmen-Ticket, you can leave from anywhere in Bavaria.
The bus goes non-stop between the cities, except one bus a day each way that stops at the Munich airport. The bus does have a bathroom and a snack bar, so there is no need for stops on the way. The train has bathrooms but no snack bar.