My husband and I will be taking a trip this June traveling on the overnight train from Kraków to Budapest. Suggestions are to go through a local agency www.polrail.com if you want the ticket in advance. Reports are that you could wait until you get there and buy it locally for slightly cheaper, but there is no guaranteeing that there will be availability on the train that you want. They say you can't book departures from Krakow online, but can arrange tickets in this direction through this reliable local ticketing agency. Thoughts or experiences?
Posted by
San Diego
552 posts
I'm under the impression that they have flexibility of adding and subtracting passenger cars, especially the sleepers, as ticket sales dictate. So there would have to be a seriously unusual circumstance for a complete sell-out, especially if you buy your tickets while leaving the station upon arrival.
We did the opposite direction in mid-Sept a few years back and the sleeper car we were in seemed nearly empty.
Posted by
Poland
44 posts
Carriages are never added to the international trains to/from Poland. When the sleeping car sells out, it sells out. There are 10 compartments in the sleeping car, total.
The sleeping car can and does sell out on multiple days in the summer season.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
It can sell out, but there is otherwise no deadline to buy the ticket. Booking a few days ahead in Europe often works, especially if you don't care which type of sleeper compartment you get (private or shared), but booking further ahead (up to 2 months) could be worth the peace of mind if you want specific options on a known date.
Posted by
Tucson, AZ, United States
23 posts
We are in the same dilemma wanting to get the night train in June. There are four of us and it looks like
there is about a $20 fee per ticket. I think I would rather have the peace of mind.
Posted by
San Diego
552 posts
Podroznik says "When the sleeping car sells out..." and to me that implies there is only 'the one'. This is good to know, because I've been remembering it as though we were next to another sleeper, maybe couchettes. That carriage seemed full because of the commotion on the platform.
I'm sorry to create confusion, it was a while ago I must be creating a mash-up with another leg of another trip. There must be some routes that can add an extra car, right??
Posted by
Poland
44 posts
There is one sleeping car, and one couchette car, on the Krakow-Budapest train. (There are other sleeper cars on the train leaving Krakow, but they will split off later to Prague and Vienna).
In Europe, most train consists are fixed. It would be very rare for a carriage to be added just because the train is filling up. Not that it doesn't happen, but it would be the exception, rather than the rule, for night trains.