Hi, I'm going by train from Prague to Berlin and read somewhere that you could make up to a 48 hour stop for the same price with a suggested stop in Dresden. I'd like to stop in Dresden for 6-8 hours then continue on to Gorlitz for an overnight then a late afternoon train onto Berlin via Cottbus. I have seen a fare for 49euro and know the point to point is much more (19euro Prague to Dresden, 20,40euro to Gorlitz, 40,80 to Berlin) and most of the routes I see go from Gorlitz back through Dresden adding 1.5hours of unnecessary time to the trip. If I'm going to buy this online I want to make sure I get the right routing and best fare... help! Should I wait til I'm in Munich to book it (with 10 day advance) or should I attempt to do this online in advance? Is this ambitious? Is Gorlitz worth the extra trouble? Is Dresden worth a stop or an overnight? Thanks for your input,
Grace
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19109 posts
According to the Bahn website, the maximum duration of "stopovers" is 48 hours, but that appears to be each stopover. I put in a route to Berlin with an 8 hour stopover in Bad Schandau and a 44 hour stopover in Dresden, and it took it. Your problem will be that your trip starts outside of Germany (Prag), then goes to Germany (Dresden), then out of Germany again (Görlitz), then back to Germany (Berlin). (OK, Görlitz isn't outside of Germany, but the Bahn doesn't seem to recognise that.) You can't make a sidetrip to the Polish border on a Europa-Spezial fare. However, the route from Dresden to Görlitz goes through Bischofswerda on it's way to Görlitz. You could start with a stopover (6 hours) in Dresden, then go to Bischofswerda for, say 24 hours, during which time you go to Görlitz on a separate ticket (9,40/adult, B'werda-Görlitz), come back to Bischofswerda, then go on to Berlin. You'd still be going through Dresden twice, but at least you'd get your 39€ advance purchase fare.
Posted by
OP
Austin, TX, United States
56 posts
Hi Lee,
It gave you a price? I'm having trouble with the routing and don't know how to control going from Gorlitz to Berlin through Cottbus to save time.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19109 posts
There just seems to be something about that Görlitz to Berlin route that the Bahn doesn't like for discount fare tickets. Of course, Görlitz to Berlin itself doesn't qualify for the fares because it doesn't use a train of the Bahn (ICE/IC/EC), but that shouldn't matter when combined with a leg that does use one of those trains. The best I can see is Prag to Görlitz for 29€/P, then a QdL (50€/2 workdays) or SW (42€ weekend days) ticket from there to Berlin. Or, take the longer route through Dresden-Neustadt and keep the Europa-Zpezial fare.