Budapest to Zagreb?

First, forget the words "Rail Europe" and stop using them immediately. They are a reseller, they do not list all trains, and they mark up the prices of the trains they do sell (sometimes substantially). Instead, find rail schedules on the Bahn (German rail) website, using Rick's directions: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/db_tips.htm. However, I just looked for you, and it seems the 13:25 departure is the only one that is 6 hours instead of 12 or more hours (unfortunately, not a joke). It's also the only one that is direct; the others involve 2 to 6 train changes (unfortunately, also not a joke). Remember that in the past, places behind the (former) Iron Curtain did NOT want people crossing borders easily, and in the present, these countries often lack money to put in high speed rail domestically, much less internationally.

Hi, Going from Budapest to Zagreb can be done (day) easily, just transfer once in Munich. I would do the ride this way: Budapest to Munich direct on the Railjet train, (that's the east to west length of the RJ train), change to Munich-Zagreb direct.

Thanks Harold, That's what I thought about "raileurope", but I wasn't sure what other "names" to look under! I appreciate it. Besides the German line Bahn.de, are there any others? Thanks, San Francisco. I'll look into doing that. Would it be faster than the six hour trip Harold mentioned? Jessica

Hi, Going the entire distance with one change in Munich does take much longer, ca. 15+ hrs, not 12, assumming you are doing both legs by day and staying a night in Munich. Or, you could do the second leg by night train from Munich. I prefer that day option over multiple transfers. I agree with not relying on RailEurope, you can tailor your own route here.

Jessica, Bahn operates the trains in Germany, but their website has schedules for almost all the trains throughout Europe. So, unfortunately, there's no other trains on this route. The trains in Europe are operated by a variety of companies. Most are by national companies like Bahn in Germany and Trenitalia in Italy. There are also competitors, like Italo in Italy. And certain premium routes that cross countries are operated by multinational consortia, like Thalys. Rail Europe does not operate any trains at all. It is merely a marketing entity.

Thanks Harold for clarifying all of that!

Jessica, if you are leaving out of Budapest you might want to look at the Hungarian train website, although the info is the same. http://www.mav.hu/english/ If you are going to be in Budapest a few days prior to departure I would just buy the ticket in Budapest. We rarely do it any other way when in Budapest. James

Take a look at the bus. A quick check of Eurolines shows a bus that takes 4 hrs and 45 mins. Not sure it runs everyday but you can investigate. Also, check out the Hungarian bus company too - I believe it is called Orangeways or something like that. Others on this board can point you in the right direction or just use google.