Night vs day train Prague to Krakow question

Tom, when posting a question, try and be specific in the title so people don't waste time if they can't help. Saying "Night vs. day train Prague to Krakow Question" would be a lot more informative to the reader.

Hey Tom. You absolutely will need reservations for night trains, and I would encourage you to reserve in advance as night trains can be popular and may sell-out.

Although I have not travelled on the routes that you have indicated, I find night trains to be very valuable if you want to save time on your trips. Sleeping is wasted time when travelling (in my opinion) so it sure does not hurt to spend that time in travel, where you would just be sitting around anyways. That being said, I do not know those trains routes and there might be something spectacular that you miss during the night.

I go with the night trains, but that is my personal preference.

I've riden the Krakow to Prague route during the day. You can see the Carpathian and Tatras mountains in the distance on a clear day. The Czech countryside is pleasant enough (can't always say the same for Poland). Overall, though, there's nothing really spectacular along the way. For daytime travel, you do not need a reservation.

A night train can be a time-saver, but a word of caution. Many travelers on this forum (myself included) report getting very little sleep on night trains. If you are on a busy itinerary, you might find yourself too tired to do much when you reach your destination. But if you're generally a sound sleeper, this may not be a problem.

I have taken the Prague to Krakow overnight and it was quite fightening, and I don't scare easily. We were in a triple and you need to be agile to get up to that top bunk. Both front and back doors of the train car were chained and padlocked, no one could get in, or out. The conductor took our passports and I wondered if we'd get them back in the morning, he was scary. There were three locks on our door itself. At 3 am there was pounding at the door; I opened to find one official with our passports and 2 police types with automatic weapons held in view. They had to compare our passports with our faces. We spent an extra night in Krakow to avoid having to repeat the trip in reverse, even though we lost what we paid for the tickets and compartment reservations. Perhaps it has improved, but I won't be finding out.....day trips for me! Good luck!

No more passport checks on that route. Schengen zone.