Hello
We are spending 12/03-12/27 in Central Europe. Please recommend best train line/app to use for booking and how much in advance to book.
Thanks
KT
Hi Naryet, For your Prague to Budapest leg, you’ll find the best deal on the Czech National train company website www.cd.cz/en Tickets for that route can be as low as €23 or €18 for seniors when bought in advance. This is a great deal compared to OBB’s ticket price of $130. You should be able to buy those tix now.
The Austrian national train company, OBB, has a subsidiary operated in conjunction with the Czech national train company. Called “ Railjet” and “Railjet Express,” both offer low-cost train tix on most of the rest of your routes— Budapest to Vienna, Vienna to Salzburg, Salzburg to Zurich and Zurich to Lucerne.
Look for “Sparschiene” tickets. You can buy those tickets at www.oebb.at/en
Finally, the best deal on the Lucerne to Frankfurt leg likely can be found at Deutsche Bahn’s website:
www.bahn.de/en
You can see an overview to get the big picture of all the various train schedules and fares on the website of the ticket reseller called “The Trainline” at www.TheTrainline.com. The Trainline contracts with the various train companies to sell their tickets, but the best deals often are to be found direct from the source on the websites already listed.
Because the newly revised European train timetables will not be released until midnight on December 14. tickets for travel after December 14 may not be available to buy until then. The train schedules change very little, yet the various train companies often will not sell tickets until the new timetable is published. I have been able to buy train tix online through the Trainline site when they go on sale there before the national train companies have put them up for sale
Have a great Trip!
I used to be in the boat that said buy from the national company of the company where the journey begins. I still think that might be a tiny bit wiser, but if you are looking for "best" and if "best" means cost, then maybe thats not always true. Case in point:
I would choose either the departure country national site of the arrival country national site. I dont think you will find better prices with a re-seller or an international ticket company.
And there is a private rail company that can be cheaper: https://regiojet.com/ So far the reviews are good. But do check the stations they use as they are not always the main central stations and that can be a hassle .... or not.
20 September and the 13:44 direct train from Prague to Budapest, 2nd class.
- On the Czech site: $39.58
- On the Hungarian site: $27.48
- OBB wanted $131.41
- Trainline wanted $131.41
- RegioJet for a train on the same day, the least expensive was $39.16
to Budapest, Kelenföld Station (20 to 30 min on public transportation
out of the center of town)
.
The Austrian national train company, OBB, has a subsidiary operated in
conjunction with the Czech national train company. Called “ Railjet”
and “Railjet Express,” both offer low-cost train tix on most of the
rest of your routes—
That is wildly incorrect. Railjet is just a train type and category. Where these trains cross borders they are operated by the national railways of the country they are in. So the trains are operated by CD in the Czech republic, ÖBB in Austria, and MAV in Hungary for example.
A good rule of thumb is to buy with the national railway of the country where the trip starts. That way if there is an issue with your trip you can just go to the station and sort it out with a human. Occasionally you however may be able to secure a bigger discount buying from the "other end". Eg. Luzern to Frankfurt is usually cheaper when bought on bahn,com, rather then on sbb.ch
If you want maximum flexibility then this is a trip where an EurailPass would actually be useful.
I expect you will be doing Salzburg - Zurich and Zurich - Luzern back to back (as Zurich itself is not worth including in such a trip as yours) and in that case you buy a ticket Salzburg - Luzern. This is important to remember: Tickets are for a route. You buy one ticket end-to-end in this part of Europe, even if there are mutliple trains involved.
There are some great scenic rides in the world. Prague to Budapest and Budapest to Vienna are not amoung them. In the countryside as often as not the vegitation will be high and close to the train on both sides. This is to reduce the noise in the countryside. In the cities and villages count on tall walls to control sound.
So, for my unsolicited advice. Prague to Budapest ... fly in 1:10 hrs on Ryan for abut $85 including a checked bag vs 6:45 hrs on a train. Roughly speaking hotel door to hotel door by train is 8:5 hours. Hotel door to hotel door by plane is roughly 4:30 hours.
If not flying then I suggest you look at Prague to Vienna and then Vienna to Budapest and then Budapest to Salzburg. You also might want to look at the stop possibilities along the way and take advantage of the ability to visit places like Cesky Krumlov, Gyor, Pannonhalma and as many or more stops in Austria and Switzerland and Germany.
Regiojet, not to be confused with OeBB Railjet, is a private train operator running between Prague, Vienna, and Budapest.
https://regiojet.com/
WESTbahn is a private operator of trains between Vienna and Salzburg.
https://westbahn.at/en/
Because the newly revised European train timetables will not be released until midnight on December 14. tickets for travel after December 14 may not be available to buy until then.
That is also a seriously incorrect statement. The new timetables start at midnight on 14 December but they will be released some weeks prior- in most cases in mid to late October. And ticket sales will commence more or less as soon as the schedules are released. In any event weeks before the date of travel.
None of these journeys requires booking many weeks, let alone months, before the date of travel. That is simply not how train travel works in an of these countries.
“None of these journeys requires booking many weeks, let alone months, before the date of travel.” ———————— From Mark Smith, editor of the site “The Man in Seat 61”:
“The CD/OBB Railjets are more frequent…
Both operators offer CHEAP FARES IF YOU BOOK IN ADVANCE.”
Kenko, no not required. I know the guy in seat 62 has taken the train from here to Vienna a lot more than I have, but the last train I was on out of Budapest was actually almost full. You want a window seat or one at a table or anything special ..... sure, be "local" and wait till the day before for the benefit of .... well actually no benefit ... or just buy the dang thing when the probability that all options will be available to you still exists. The only caution is that if you buy too far in advance, before the new prices come out, they will jack the charge to cover themselves. So if the price seems high, wait and watch.
And there is no magic site for best prices. Check the national company at both ends of the trip. One of them will be the cheapest you will find anywhere. Then decide if you want to give up the local purchase advantage at the start of the trip to save what ever you save by purchasing from the destination national company. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
