I am visiting some Eastern European countries in October and I need to take 2 nights trains, Berlin-Krakow & Krakow-Budapest. I am not buying a rail pass and I was hoping to purchase the night trains before I leave so I am guaranteed a private compartment. I have been looking at the DeutschBahn website but it is not very user friendly when you are traveling outside of Germany. There are no prices. Does anyone have any tips for purchasing train tickets before I go?
Posted by
Florida
65 posts
I had the same concerns. On past trips, we either do a pass or purhase as needed point-to-point. Because we were doing night trains (and flights) it seemed more complicated. Rick recommended using www.euraide.com so I thought I would try it. They booked 3 trips for two people for $50, including shipping. Herman, the contact in Florida, was very helpful. He works with staff in Munich and Berlin. They order the tickets and charge $50 for all the tickets/shipping. I would recommend using euraide.com, It was worth the $50 to know that my transportation is all taken care of.
Posted by
Foley, MN, USA
26 posts
I had the same problem with Deutsche Bahn when I was trying to book an overnight train from Prague to Vienna. I ended up calling RailEurope's 1-800 number and got everything sqared away including the reservation for a sleeping compartment. It was more expensive but I was happy to pay the price just to know I wouldn't have any problems.
BTW, I work in Minneapolis - small world!
Posted by
Gretna, LA, USA
9 posts
Rail Europe is an excellent company and know all there is to know and offer suggestions. Also, there is a company called DER/Avanti Destinations which specialize in rails throughout Europe. Well worth any small extra expense.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
8 posts
Hey Kirk.
I took a train from Kracow to Berlin-the other way-I purchased the tickets via rail europe and had no problems. It was a German train and very nice, a sharp contrast to the polish trains. These were very messy. It was New Years but... Here is an image of the train:
http://www.earthblip.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=385&g2_serialNumber
One problem I ran into was that I had to switch trains in Warsaw and the ticket I purchased from rail europe only allowed for a 5 minute switch. So I hopped on an earlier train out of Kracow. Tough to find english speakers at the Kracow railstation...
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
8 posts
I forgot to mention that the Galleria Kracow mall (super modern) is right there connected to the train station in Kracow. I found some english speaking Polish college students there who gave me the low down on the trains.