We are scheduled for the P&B tour. We are flying in and out of Prague. What is the best way to return to Prague? Fly or train? Should we purchase train tickets online or go to the station a day ahead or just buy a ticket that morning? Thanks y'all!
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
You can 1) buy the ticket in Prague at a travel agency near the old town or 2) get an advance discount on the Hungarian web site, if it works for you. You can also buy on the day of travel; no deadline to do so and no seat assignments required. See http://seat61.com/websites/mav-start.htm#.V7JLA86cHcs for tips on using that web site. This assumes that you've already purchased the roundtrip flight to/from Prague.
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
17872 posts
I believe you can get better prices on train tickets if you purchase on line in advance. 19 euro last time I looked. I am not certain, but i think you will pay a lot more than that on the day of the train. Still, its a 7 hour train trip and that exceeds my tolerance for trains. On one day in September I checked Czech Airlines had a direct flight for 37,800 forints (about 125 euros). I think you might be able to do better depending on the date. Its a 1.5 hour flight.
Posted by
Birmingham, Alabama
61 posts
That's a great tour! I went last October. I flew into Vienna several days early and took the train from Vienna to Prague. I had ordered the ticket online a few weeks in advance and printed it. I did get a reserved seat, since, after crunching the exchange rate, it was only a couple dollars. Waiting at the train station in Vienna, a woman who had just purchased her ticket there/then paid two to three times as much as I had (~$23 US). I don't believe she had a higher class ticket. The second class was fine. I believe I ordered it from the Czech train site. After the Prague Budapest tour, I flew home from Budapest.