Looking for help with train from Krakow to Prague

Try PKP Intercity, it's the national passenger rail operator in Poland, with service to neighboring countries. You can also just buy the tickets at the train station once in Krakow, I've never had an issue doing that in Poland.

Note that in Polish Prague is called Praga and in Czech it's Praha

Buy a First Class ticket, it is a 7 hour trip.

I looked at first vs second class. Is there really that much of a difference in experience? If there is, I will go for it!

I do not see any references yet for the Man in Seat 61, who offers stellar advice on rail travel within Europe (often recommended here). This link is a good article about how to purchase a train ticket from Krakow to Prague - https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Krakow.htm#Krakow_to_Prague

Emily, thank you. This is awesome information! There were so many options for buying tickets, I didn't know which was the actual railroad site.

I have been researching a company that includes sightseeing during the van transfer to other central European cities. It is called Sidetriptours. They told me that Krakow will be included in their destinations this spring. They plan on advertising it in March. I think this is a great way to travel between cities.

dgawell, this sounds like a great idea, but the trip is already 7 hours by train. I think sightseeing would make this a very long trip. But, I will look into it, Thanks!

We weren’t too keen on the long train ride from Krakow to Prague a few years ago and we broke our journey in Olomouc, arriving early afternoon and departing for Prague the next day. It was a beautiful town and getting from station to hotel and back the next day was a quick tram ride. We had the time and it was enjoyable and worthwhile for us. Safe travels.

IF it was me, I'd be booking Premium seats on the Leo Express. You'll have to parse your way through the reviews to garner your own opinion as to whether or not it's for you.

https://www.leoexpress.com/en

periscope, what is Leo express? Is it a ticketing agent? A different train?

If you read the article I shared above, the Leo express is explained.

Does anyone know if there is construction on the track between Krakow and Prague? I am not sure if I am reading the message correctly when I was looking at tickets, but it seemed like there might be buses between some cities?

Here is the response I got from Rail Europe:

Please also note that the journey from Krakow to Prague is not bookable on our website. I suggest splitting and booking the tickets for your journey. You need to book a ticket from Krakow to Berlin and Berlin to Prague. I suggest booking closer to your travel date for the segment Krakow to Berlin as tickets are not available for the date you wish to travel however, I tried checking with random closer dates and it allowed booking for closer dates.

Please do not ever ever seek advice or buy tickets from Rail Europe. They are a third party reseller of tickets and do not operate any trains in Europe.

Emily, thank you so much for this information! I appreciate all the advice you have given so far. Then, as far as you know the rail line is open between Krakow and Prague?

Have you checked on the links from the Man in Seat 61's website? Those are companies that you buy your tickets from...

Yes, I did, Emily. The Czech rail company link is difficult in that not every page I land on has an English option. There are "restrictions" on the route, but the page that describes the restrictions is not available in English. The restrictions may not be a big deal, but I will need to figure this out. I appreciate your reaching out from Austria to help this mid-western American girl plan a trip with her two children!

Hi - I'm doing the same thing in September. I'm ending a RS tour in Krakow and starting another in Prague 3 days later. I booked a Ryanair flight, including checking a small bag and pre selecting my seat for $85 (So it could be cheaper). Non stop flight lasting 1 hour and 5 mins. Both airports are convenient to town. Saves a lot of time without spending too much extra $$. Just another option.

@nursetraver - you can just use Google translate to read the website in English.

Hi MattAtlanta, I did consider Ryanair, but we wanted the experience of the trains and seeing the countryside. We also would need to pay for suitcases, so that would further increase the price.

nursetraveller,
My browser gives me an English translation of that page (in short as you are on IC114 you are on a slight reroute due to engineering work, which adds 5 minutes on to your journey, only local stopping trains have bus replacement)-
As far as I can see all the other pages are in English.
Track 010 | Kolín - Česká Třebová (PID S10)
In the section: Choceň – Ústí nad Orlicí
Planned lockout
Pardubice Region
Track modernization,Increasing railway safety,Increasing

travel comfort
Rule: DelayRule: Closure timetableRule: Alternative transport according to the closure timetable
March 01, 2023
00:00
June 29, 2023
23:59
Description:
During the closure, trains Os line Č. Třebová - Choceň/Pardubice/Kolín (except Os 5050, Os 5053, Os 5085, Os 15019, Os 15022, Os 15024, Os 15057, Os 95475) and trains Sp 1752 and Sp 1759 will be replaced by replacement buses in the excluded section.
Replacement transport for trains Os 5000, Os 5001, Os 5002, Os 5003 (only in Sat, Sun, Sv) Os 5051, Os 5053 (only in Sat, Sun, Sv), Os 5071, Os 5072 (only in Sat, Sun, Sv), Os 5073, Os 5074, Os 5081 and Os 5058 are replaced by replacement buses in the section Choceň - Česká Třebová and vice versa.
Trains Os 5050, Os 5053 (only on weekdays), Os 5072 (only on working days), Os 5085, Os 15019, Os 15022, Os 15024, Os 15057, Os 95475 are run without restriction.

Trains passing through the excluded section may increase delays by up to 5 minutes. In connection stations, it is not necessary to transfer to connecting trains from delayed trains! Please contact the train staff for connections.

So if an advance fare is 460Kr, 2nd class and there are 27 Kr to the £1 that gives a fare of well under £20/$20 which sounds great value to me for a 7 hour ride.
At that price I would upgrade to 1st class.

Thanks isn31c! I was not able to figure out if we stay on the train or went by bus around the construction areas. But, based on the times, I think we stay on the train and it is just delayed around the construction. And, yes, we are going to get first class tickets!

The Czech railroad site on Seat61 is not working. When I google the railroad site, it's hard for me to tell which is the official Czech rail site. Can anyone help? I want to buy from the Czech site rather than the Polish rail site it is significantly cheaper.

I just purchased my tickets from Prague to Krakow. I printed them out and also see them on my app for cd.cz. It was relatively easy, but they wouldn't accept my VISA card, so I had to use my AMEX. We were able to order tickets for those over 65 and we are going first class. I like that we could see the seats. We chose the ones that faced one another with no one sitting next to us. So, both window seats in the cafe car. We are looking forward to the experience as we will be on the go in Prague and Krakow. Here is the site:

https://www.cd.cz/default.htm

I was trying to cut and paste results of my search for you but RS website wouldn't let me. The cost is higher going in reverse.

Did you figure it out? I’m trying to do it for April 29 and looks like a bus and train 🙅‍♀️

Yes, I was able to make the reservation from Krakow to Prague, no transfers for the end of May.

@nursetraveler - what date did you buy ticket for? I’ve been trying to buy from the cd.cz site (and app) for over 2 weeks (for May 30) and it’s still not working.

I have 4 first class seats for May 24. I used the cz website and had to use Google pay to pay for it as it wouldn't accept any of my credit cards.

Yes, the first 2 weeks I also encountered the problem at point when I entered my cc info (and that’s when the site acknowledged problems but said would be fixed by April 11 or so). But now both the site and app don’t even get to payment point — when clicking “select” for fare it generates an error.

You can also buy tickets on the Polish Rail site. Have you tried that? Maybe better luck?

Hey there, on the CZ site what time are you going and what was the cost? I couldn’t find anything for my date on 29 April so I’m taking Regio bus and train. It says it takes six hours so hopefully that is correct. Nursetraveler this is for you or anybody else who can help ;)

On 29 April when I look on cd.cz it gives 2 through trains- at 1045 and 1438, both of which are diverted from their normal route but run as through trains and both are 7 coaches long. It even tells me where The engineering work is.
The leading coach is 1st class and the diner, followed by 6 second class coaches. There are several other trains where there are 1 or 2 connections.
Also the overnight sleeper.
That's both looking in Czech and in English.
One of life's mysteries why the site seems to work in the UK, but not in the US.
I am impressed by the level of detail for each train.
It lets me click through to book, obviously I don't know if my card actually works at that last stage.
But if you are booked now on regio all that is academic, but still interesting.
The base fare is 699 CZK in the morning, 578 in the afternoon, with various upgrades possible.

On 30 May only the 1045 is showing, as a through train with 4 other trains which need connections.
The fare is 1060 CZK that day.
It is again diverted due to the same engineering work.

We made the trip from Krakow to Prague to join the RS Prague and Budapest tour. We chose to do an overnight train and found it very comfortable and we arrived well rested and ready to hit the ground running.