Night train Prague - Karkow: Best site to purchase?

Unfortunately, I do not believe you can book these tickets online directly with the national rail company, which means if you wanted advance tickets you would have to go through a third party reseller. As you see, the third party reseller will generally put a mark-up on the tickets. A couple weeks ago, one of our resident train experts (Tim in Minneapolis) noted that you could purchase advance tickets from the German Rail call centre if going from Krakow to Prague. I am not sure if it works for the reverse? Here is that post for more information: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/68398/night-train-from-krakow-to-prague.html Otherwise, if you didn't want to pay Rail Europe's (or any other re-seller's) fees, you could wait until you arrived in Prague to purchase the tickets (which I would advise you to do as soon as you arrived in Prague). Good luck!

Dave, my husband and I are traveling that same route, also in mid-September. In my research and questions on here, it has been said repeatedly not to purchase ahead of time here in the states, but to wait and buy the ticket at the station in Prague. Although I am type A, and prefer to have everything arranged ahead of time, I'm taking their advice. The price will be much cheaper and it will have been bought direct... But let's see what other advice gets posted on here...

Dave, I searched for info on this subject on this site. One of the answers contained this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g274707-i96-k4488717-Prague_to_Krakow_via_overnight_train-Prague_Bohemia.html
I can't find where people stated to wait until the train station. BUT, no one recommends a website to buy it ahead of time... I'll keep looking...

I'm leaning toward purchasing the ticket at the Prague train station. We're also planning to take the night train from Karkow to Budapest and prefer a double compartment. I suppose the same logic applies to this route? I did look at the man in seat 61 website, but didn't find any guidance/advice on my questions. Many thanks for your comments.

BTW Dave, I found a private message someone had sent me a few weeks ago (I'd forgotten about it!) who had just gone a few months ago and she said for two people in their own 2nd class compartment, it was $150 and they got a light breakfast. Sounds good to me!

dave, you are correct that you can't purchase tickets directly from the national rail sites online in advance for the Krakow to Budapest leg of your trip. However, I have seen the website below mentioned on TripAdvisor.com often (and even on this website a few times), and people seem to be pleased with the services and fact you can have tickets in hand prior to leaving. I believe they only book tickets for travel including Poland: www.PolRail.com As an aside, Orangeways bus also makes the journey and you can purchase tickets in advance and generally for much less money than the train would cost. A disadvantage here is the trip takes 8 hours and I wouldn't recommend it if you or your wife are tall (well, or averse to bus travel). But I've traveled with Orangeways before and found it to be a very pleasant experience and I'd patronize them again. www.orangeways.com