I would like to buy tickets on the night train that runs from Cologne to Prague. My travel date is December 16, 2015. However when I go to the DB Bahn website, the calendar for selecting the departure date (outbound journey) does not permit selection beyond December 12. This limitation has been in place for several weeks. Does anyone know what is going on here?
Thanks!
There will be a new timetable which starts always in December. I am not sure exactly which date.
Eurowings has a 7:00 a.m. flight from Cologne-Bonn Airport to Prague on 12/16/2015 for 70 Euros. It's a 1 hour flight '
You'd arrive refreshed, vs. spending the night on a train. I've been on some European night trains, and I've found sleeping to be difficult at best. Seems like many night trains are endangered species with other faster sources of travel out there.
Our intent is to ride in a "sleeper". If I can't make that work flying is plan B. Thanks for the input!
Mike T.
I've spent 10 nights on night trains and never had trouble sleeping. It depends on you.
David finds a flight leaving Köln airport at 7 AM, meaning you have to leave for the airport airport around 4 AM. How much sleep are you going to get that way? In addition to 70 euro for the flight, you'll have to spend for a short overnight in Köln.
With the train, you get into downtown Prague at 9:25.. With the plane you have to find transportation in the morning from the airport into town.
I'm with Lee on this one. I love night trains! I sleep great and have a wonderful time. I'll even pay more for a sleeper than a flight. Yes, it is true, I have. But, you need to take a sleeper to decide what you think of it. I've never taken this particular night train though, so I'm putting it on my list.
Ilja, as of today, you can book trains on the German Rail website through Dec 2016. I saw it today.
Hi Lee, thanks for the note! I have made my reservation. There was a bit of problem when the DB Bahn website did not work with Edge, the new Microsoft browser. But I was successful with Chrome. Those rooms certainly go fast!
Thanks!!
Some night train lines were taken out, such as to Paris, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam. Certainly not a "vanishing breed" or a disappearing act. Definitely that applies to Central Europe when you check for the hubs of night trains...Munich, Krakow, Budapest. Some of the stations in a city as a night train destination have changed such as Wien Hbf when prior to that it was Wien Westbahnof. Still, several German cities are night train Endstationen/termini....Munich, Köln, Duisburg, Offenburg, Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig. You can still do Munich-Amsterdam or to make it longer beyond 10 hours then Vienna-Amsterdam by night train. There are plenty of night train routes to choose from, just a matter of planning to hit the right one.
Normally, on a route like this one, I would gladly take the night train option, makes no difference to me whether the duration is 10-13 hrs, but the CNL night ride Köln-Prague doesn't offer what I want, not the sleeper nor couchette but the Ruhesessel. Plus, I would tailor the two legs. In that case, I heartily suggest doing this route by day given the varied route choices. Skip the night train this time, ie, take the early ICE Köln Hbf to Berlin Hbf, then Berlin Hbf to Prague on the EC train, two direct legs.
