Train Travel Between Hungary, Germany, and Switzerland: Types of Tickets? When? Where?

Our first main train trip will be from Budapest to Munich – a night
train. I would like my family to experience a Night Train journey.

Thats a 10 hour trip that leaves about 8:30pm and arrives in Munich about 6:30pm. You said family, but not how many so I just looked at a two people in a double compartment on the MAV rail site and thats 198 euro without a cancelation option or 292 euro with a cancelation option. That one comes with the "reservation". It leaves from Keleti which is nice. You can check those prices against DB, but MAV is usually less expensive. https://jegy.mav.hu/jegy/

EDIT:

Okay was I blind or did you add the quantitiy and ages? My apologies. So for the sleeper maybe you will be happy with a double and a triple? and that works out to:

• Double, including tickets and the compartment: 198 or 292 euro with cancelation option
• Triple, including tickets and the compartment: 243 or 381 euro with canclation option (I looked at DB, they want 567 euro for this).
  

Then there is the transfer. Heck, I dont know how to go from a sleeper to a regular train without two tickets, maybe one of our train experts knows. Then there is the issue of do you buy full cost tickets for the second leg just to cover you if the one from Budapest is late? Interesting. We have some train experts here and I will learn with you.

For the night train, I would buy them as soon as they go on sale as I dont know how popular the route is and this is an exception to trains never sell out. I think sales cut off about 7 December right now so keep checking back.

I have never played the game with all of the discount pases so I cant answer if there is a cheaper way than just buying tickets from the originating or terminating national train company.

Hi, tammy, first of all, with regards to getting a train on Christmas day, yes, German trains do run on Christmas day, although they are much fewer than on a normal non-holiday, so you will have to be aware of that.

It would help to know how many people are in your party and their ages. Regardless, I would suggest that for most of your train tickets, you go to the Deutsche Bahn website at https://int.bahn.de/en

Even the Budapest train to Munich can be purchased on DB (although see my edit below). It's pretty easy to use. If you're confused, I would first go to an incredible website called The Man in Seat 61, who knows everything about trains and has lots of very clear instructions on how to book and ride trains in Europe. And a lot of the instructions are country-specific. Here is his page that tells you how to take the train from Budapest to Munich: https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Budapest.htm#Budapest-Munich.

Edit:. If you scroll down that page, it shows you the option to take the sleeper train, which I think is what you are looking for. Keep in mind that The Man in Seat 61 gives a number of websites you can use to book it. Trainline is actually not a bad choice as it's a bit easier than others, although there is a small fee. He says that if you use the Hungarian Railways website www.mavcsoport.hu to read his warnings about some glitches in the system. Personally, I would just go with Trainline or the DB site as they will be fairly easy to use.

You can purchase the Bayern ticket on the DB website as well. https://int.bahn.de/en/offers/regional/regional-day-ticket-bavaria there are restrictions to using the Bayern ticket, in that you can't begin until after early morning rush hour, and you cannot use it on the high-speed train; only on the regional.

Yes, I just checked the DB site for the sleeper, and they sell the MAV 292 euro ticket for 322 euro. Trainline doesn’t do business with MAV (they don’t tell you that). But doesn’t matter because they dont even show the sleeper (I checked the second Monday in November which is what I used for all the other prices) --- but maybe i missed it somehow, so check me. Still going to be the DB price plus about 3 euro in booking fees.

If you buy from trainline and you have problems with your connection train in Munich you cant go to the Trainline window and get help. DB wont help because you didn’t buy from them.

The Man in Seat61 (he never says the carriage number - suspicious) is the best source on the internet (other than this forum). But, the creator of the The Man in Seat 61 website, Mark Smith, makes money from Trainline through standard affiliate links when users click and book tickets via his recommendations.

The MAV site could be better. But I manage to use it without problems a few times a year.

tammynelsonchs, you said "family", if it is 4 of you DB could cost you an extra 100 to 400 euro - but you can cancel the ticket - and I don’t think DB is any easier to use. If TheTainline did have the train it would be at DB prices as the company has no deal with MAV and doesn’t sell their tickets.

But wait, I am no expert on this stuff. They will come along very soon. (we do have a few).

For a night train to day train through booking from Budapest to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (if that is where you mean) you book that as a through ticket with DB (it is a Euro night, as opposed to a Night Jet train, which is useful).
If it's a different Rothenburg/Rothenberg then the same principle of through booking being possible applies.

If it was a night jet you probably wouldn't be able to make a through booking, due to NJ using what are called global fares.

It seems you can also book a through ticket with MAV start (Hungarian Railways)- compare the fares as they may well be cheaper. As it's a EN train it will be operated by MAV, not DB, so booking with MAV should give you better information if there is disruption. The disbenefit is MAV only offer the 30 minute transfer at Augsburg.

It looks as if you transfer at Augsburg, as opposed to Munich. DB gives you the option of a 30 minute or a 90 minute transfer- 3 trains or 2 trains respectively between Augsburg and Rothenburg, all regional so it doesn't much matter if you miss a connection.

My personal gut instinct would be to go with the 90 minute transfer, but that is my personal preference.

I would be considerably surprised if a Eurail ticket paid for itself on this itinerary, but you need to price that out on DB.

isn31c, this is beyond my expertise beyond demonstrating that tickets are generally cheaper on MAV, but, yes often less flexible too.

But booking the overnight portion on DB if the flexibility is not an issue could add many hundreds of dollars to the cost for the family.

Could one make out pretty good by buying the sleeper tickets well in advance for the discounts and for the availability of the right cabins; but buy the connection at the station in Munich?

Sure, a bit of a premium on that connection ticket maybe (check that by pricing in tomorrow morning for that day and compare it to an advance purchase cost). Cause DB is not well known for being timely on long haul trains and it's better than missing a prepaid connection.

Tammy,
Am I reading this correctly? You will arrive about mid-day in Rothenburg on the 22ndand have only a half-day there. Then arrive about mid-day Nuremburg on the 23rd and have 1 1/2 days there. If I read the online info correctly, the 25th from Nuremburg to Lucerne is a 5-8 hour train journey, with 1 or 2 changes, on a regular day. Christmas scheduling will likely be reduced. It sounds like you will be spending all of Christmas day on the train, as well as a lot of your time in Germany in transit. Perhaps the train journeys are your goal. If not, you may want to rethink your itinerary.
Best of luck to you!

There are two problems with staying on the night train to Munich. Firstly Munich is beyond Augsburg, so you are covering Augsburg to Munich twice, which seems a touch pointless.
Secondly and more seriously the night train only serves Munich Ost station.
To get the train back to Rothenburg o d Trauber you would have to take the U or S Bahn (or taxi/walk/probably bus) from Munich Ost to Munich Hbf, which just feels complicated for the sake of it.

So prices in a 6 berth couchette for 25 Nov (sample date)- DB Budapest to Rothenburg 476.50 Euro + 115 Euro couchette supplements= 591.50 Euro (for all 5 people) on an inflexible spar scheine ticket.
On MAV the same ticket is 425 Euro for all 5 people.

So if you buy separate tickets re booking at Munich-
MAV Budapest to Munich 500 Euro
DB Munich to Rothenburg 124.25 Euro Spar Scheine (fixed train) using ICE part of the way, or 294 Euro fully flexible on the regional trains.

Given that the through ticket is fully flexible on the regional trains from Augsburg (it is only binding on the night train as far as Augsburg), that is some premium to pay for essentially no benefit, not to mention the time loss of the trip to Munich and back again.

Thus the night train can be as late as it wants at Augsburg, it makes no difference if on the through fare.

Mr É 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇭🇺
You are not blind. I edited my post and added ages for my family.

I am still trying to figure out how to do a direct reply to individual people on the thread. All I see is the Reply button at the bottom left.

I hope this works.

I did check MAV, but I think the ticket purchase is too far out to buy. I hope that's the case, or I really don't know what I'm doing.

And I don't have to go to Munich. Months ago when I first tried to put my itinerary together, someone told me to held to Munich and then Rothenburg ob der Tauber. I want a night train that will get us close to Rothenburg ob der Tauber since, of course, there are no direct routes from Budapest to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

I am sure that people think I'm nuts for wanting to take a night train, but I have told my family so many fun and slightly scary stories about my night train adventures when I went to school and lived in Europe. They all want to have their own experience too.

But I'm drawing the line at sleeping in dirty Italian train stations during strikes. I don't really care to relive those adventures! And I'm far too old.
Thanks for your help.

Mardee,

Thanks for taking the time to reply and then even coming back with more information. I will definitely look at The Man in Seat 61 and the DB website for the Bayern ticket.

It's been a long time since I had to make travel plans in Europe. Thirty years ago, we had no internet, and where I lived in Hungary, I had no phone. I asked friends and neighbors who had traveled, and then I would show up at the train station to buy a ticket and hope for the best. :)

Thanks again.

isn31c,
I am traveling to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

And I don't have to go to Munich. I was told by someone or AI (ugh!) months ago that the easiest way to travel by night train to Rothenburg ob der Tauber was to go to Munich and then take a train to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

I am open to other German towns close to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

I know the route is crazy.

As I stated in an earlier post: I am sure that people think I'm nuts for wanting to take a night train, but I have told my family so many fun and slightly scary stories about my night train adventures when I went to school and lived in Europe. They all want to have their own experience too.

Thanks for all the information. My family and I will try to read through everyone's remarks to figure out what is the best direction to head.
-- Tammy

I understand the attraction of the night train. Any possibility you could change your plans after Budapest? The night train from Belgrade to Bar is supposed to be interesting and the views in the morning beautiful. Im doing the morning portion in a few days. Then there is the Budapest to Kyiv night train. That one is a lot of fun. I did it 2 years ago and Im not ruling it out for Christmas. Then there are plenty of ho-hum night trains in Western Europe.

Otherwise, maybe fly to Basel on Wizz and drive around Switzerland with the time you have. Or rent a car in Budapest and visit the castles and mountains of Slovakia.

Sorry. Just random thoughts. For the Munich night train, I would buy MAV tickets a double and a triple then buy the continuation once you reach Munich. Maybe spend a night in Munich and then head direct for Switzerland. Okay, more random thoughts.

Judy,

You are indeed reading my crazy itinerary correctly. Though I used to live in Hungary, most of my family has seen only Great Britain and France. And my new son-in-law has never been to Europe. They all had different places they wanted to see in 17 days. So... we are bouncing around eight cities. Oh my! I used to take students to Europe years ago and do something this crazy with them, but we had a tour guide. This time, it's just me.

And we are indeed traveling a great deal on Christmas Day. I had to really think through this idea. It is after all Christmas, but... most places are closed on Christmas Day, so I thought I would make this a big travel day for us since we would be in the hotel with little sightseeing opportunities.

I have my fingers crossed about trains on Christmas Day. This is the trickiest day for us. We are actually traveling from Nuremberg to the Basel airport to rent a car and then driving to Lucerne. The hotel and restaurant are booked in Lucerne and we have booked for the next day as well as several places are closed on the 26th.

And I have told my family FAR too many train adventures in my past. Part of the adventure is the train. As most people know, most Americans have never traveled by train, and if they have, it was likely in Europe.

I will gladly take your good luck blessing! Thanks

I just looked and you are going to the Slovak border. Rent the car and do Slovakia. Get some value out of your time by staying close. One of the most beautiful countries in Europe. You will also be very close to Uzhhorod. Go! Its a wonderful place to be, and Christmas must be better.

I asked friends and neighbors who had traveled, and then I would show up at the train station to buy a ticket and hope for the best.

Ha ha! 30 years ago, that's what we all did! I didn't book any hotels until I was actually in the town or a few hours away and would just show up at the tourist information center and look for rooms on the board. But sadly, those times are long gone.

I would definitely look through the man in seat 61 because there is a lot of good information there. And just keep it easy on yourself. Don't get too bogged down in the whole picture when you're booking train tickets. Just look at one destination to the next and figure out what you need to do to get there, then look at the next destination and so on.

I will say Nuremberg is a little bit of an issue because it's not the easiest to get to from Rothenburg, but you shouldn't have any real problems. I'm actually doing the opposite in December when I'm here with my sister for the Christmas markets. We're going from Munich to Nuremberg to Rothenburg (but no Lucerne). 😊

Keep in mind that you will probably have 2-3 transfers going from Nuremberg to Lucerne, but 1-2 of those are ICE trains, so they're pretty fast.

Also, you may not be able to buy that Nürnberg/Luzern ticket yet. Deutsche Bahn tickets from mid-December on and are released a bit later, so it looks like you may not be able to book it until October. I just checked on both DB and Trainline, and none of them have tickets to show for that period of time. I would start looking around early October, and by mid-October I would expect them to be released. Also, it helps if you use the German words for the places you are traveling to and from. For example, Nuremberg would be under Nürnberg Hbf, and Lucerne is under Luzern Bahnhof. Technically, you should be able to find them using the English spelling, but it's faster and more accurate if you use the German (imo).

EDIT: One more thing: you don't need to add a separate post for each person's reply unless you want to. Usually, what we do is just address each person by name individually in the same post. Sometimes people will bold the name so it pops out, but you don't have to. If you want to write a separate post for each person, you are more than welcome to do that. Whatever works best for you.

Ian31c, that's a lot to wrap my mind around. You did a lot of work.

tammynelsonchs, when i lived in the US I would always travel home from Europe on Christmas day. Less crowded and less expensive.

Mardee those times arent gone, internet makes those tactics unnecessary as 30 years ago booking a room while in the US took a $5 phone call to each hotel.

Still, if you show up here (or most anyplace) you can walk into a few hotels and get a 3 ot 4 star hotel at a good price, then a few days later you could walk to the train station and buy a ticket for that day to any city.

But why would you as you can sit down a few nights prior and book your next destination on your phone.

The destinations didn't change, the tourists did.