That daytime Krakow to Budapest train via Bohumin is pretty expensive!

LOT is introducing direct flights beginning in April - that's the easiest route for going such a long distance. The Polski bus is really cheap. Are the prices you listed in zloty? PolRail is a reseller, not the official rail site. I would look on the official rail site 60 days prior to travel.

Pricing was 450 and 650 Zloty. I converted it to dollars. I just tried again to find a different website to price it. DB Bahn has always shown it but never priced it. Do you see a different site than this: https://www.polrail.com/en

As to flights, I'm pretty phobic about flying and will always opt for ground transfers for 7 hours and under.

This is the official site ( http://rozklad-pkp.pl/en/), for some reason, I can't get the pricing to show up (very likely because you have to buy the ticket at the station). However, the only direct train is an overnight train and it's much longer than 7 hours (more like 9:54). I would suck it up and take an easy 1 hour or so flight - that's just me. Or take the cheapest Polski bus option - it won't take much longer than a private transfer (about 7 hours) and will cost a fraction of the price.

Hmmm....thanks. Now I see it on that site. I see the June 29th train I need too - note below says it runs from 11 March to December. No pricing though. I've read, in other places, about buying at the station when you're in the city - like we could buy it during our four days in Krakow. But I'd want some walk-up pricing info before I punt the private transfer idea. And my partner is a little wary of the 18 minute transfer time....I assume that's plenty but I've never taken a train in Poland before.

I know you don't like flying and not sure what time of year you are going, but LOT has a flight in the middle of July non-stop for $75.00 USD and it is 65 minutes long. A great deal of time saved. Never drove the route so can't say how scenic it is on the trip. Driving takes 6.5 hours according to Google maps.

They don't sell international tickets online but the ticket from KRAKOW to the border station at ZEBRZYDOWICE on the same train costs 32 zl per person in 2nd class or 42 per person in 1st class. You may have been confused by the European notation, which uses a comma instead of a decimal point: 32,00 zl (=$10).

No, Laura, the prices on the polrail site are as the OP posted.

I took Flixbus - it wasn't great but it was cheap. If you want to save money, it's a simple solution. My choices were Flixbus or Polski bus. I chose Flixbus because you can reserve seats. I reserved a double seat (there's not much leg room) it was still very cheap. Both bus lines start in Warsaw, so if you choose Polski (whose buses look more comfortable) you won't have a choice of seats. If you decide to consider the bus, PM me for details - you should know what you're getting before you buy.

@Chani - I sent you a PM about this as I just got a price for a private transfer and now it's up to $426. Would appreciate your info on your bus ride:)