Reserved seats for Munich PRague train

When I was researching trains from Prague to Munich, I came up with two options:

1. High-speed ICE train & express bus combo. Bus from Prague to Nürnberg, and then ICE train from there to Munich. Reservations are required for both.

2. Regional trains from Prague to Munich. I don't think reservations are even possible on regional trains, but I'll wait for Lee to chime in and confirm that.

Like I said, this is from Prague to Munich, but I'm sure that routes in the opposite direction are similar if not identical. And like Steve said, try looking it up on bahn.de. It will definitely tell you which trains do/require reservations and which do not.

Boy, I hardly know where to start.

First, the fastest way from Munich to Prague (about 5 hrs) is the ICE from Munich to Nürnberg and a special non-stop (except for signals, presumably) bus from Nürnberg to Prague. The train is just an ordinary ICE from Munich to Nürnberg. You could get pass holder reservations (per seat, 2nd cl €4,50, 1st cl €5,50) for the train, but it would not be required. The pass holder reservation is required for the bus, per seat it's €10 2nd cl, €15 1st cl. I think that is the price if you buy it on the bus; I'm not sure if it is less if you buy it at a counter.

There are also 3 fast train connections (6 hrs) from Munich to Prague. These trains cross the border at Furth im Wald. The trains at 9:01 and 17:02 are direct, no changes. The train originates in Munich, so if you get there early enough, you can certainly get a seat without a reservation. If you purchase full fare online tickets for these trains, you can get them with reservations. These are about the only regional trains I have ever seen that can have reserved seats. Maybe that's because they run beyond Germany. However, you can't get just a reservation online (like for a pass holder). I would assume that you can get a reservation at a ticket counter.

There is also a train via Furth im Wald that leaves Munich at 12:44. It has one change, Schwandorf, to a train coming from Nürnberg, so reservations might be more necessary.

I went through the booking process for the 9:01 train (up to giving it my CC#) and it let me pick seat reservations, so I doubt that that train is booked. Is the TA who said it was expecting you to book reservations for the Munich-Vienna-Prague route through her?

Thanks so much for all your answers!

Lee, appreciate what you did. Yes, the agent is the same one proposing the munich-vienna-prague with guaranteed seat reservation.

I would probably just go with the direct train in the afternoon from Munich to Prague and just be early to ensure I get a seat.

I am looking at my itinerary and saw that the agent again booked me a Munich-Zurich-Milan seat on 1class. I understand that switzerland does not honor yet a shengen visa, right? Would the routing pose any problem if the train would pass by zurich?

Thanks much, your all a big help!!!

"direct train in the afternoon from Munich to Prague"

That's the 17:02 (5:02 PM) train. The 12:44 train has a change of trains in Schwandorf.

And, for anyone else thinking of using one of those Munich-Prague trains without a rail pass, a Bayern-Böhmen-Ticket (€33 for up to 5 people) will cover you to Pilsen. From there you will need local Czech tickets (about €5-€6 pP) to Prague. I think once in the CR, you can buy the Pilsen-Prague tickets from the conductor on the train. If not you can get them in Pilsen.

I think Switzerland has been part of the Schengen treaty zone for about a year now. However, Switzerland is not a member of the EU, so you could be subject to customs.

Maybe I should clarify "passholder" reservations. National rail companies, like German Rail, sell seat reservations to a variety of people who already have a full fare ticket, annual pass, Eurail pass, etc. These are a nominal price (€4,50 for 2nd cl in Germany). These are for trains up to a certain type (Intercity, IC, trains in most countries, most ICEs in Germany). I don't know of any case where pure seat reservations are limited in quantity to rail pass holders.

There are also what are referred to as premium trains, such as Thalys, TGV (I think), Italian EuroStar, and ICE Sprinters. Many of these train lines are not even a product of an individual rail company. Thalys, for instance, is jointly owned French, Belgian, Dutch, and German Rails. Tickets for these trains cost more than the "regular" express trains and pass holders must pay a supplement over and above having a pass. Since all seats on these trains are reserved, paying the supplement gets you a reservation, hence the misnomer pass holder "reservation". The rail companies often limit the number of these "reservations" available to pass holders.

So, if you want to take a Thalys train from Brussels to Paris with a rail pass, you had better make your reservation well in advance. I've heard of people "stranded" in Brussels for days because pass holder tickets on Thalys were sold out for days in advance. Of course, they always could have bought a full fare ticket on Thalys, or taken a slower IC with their rail pass.

In the case of the non-stop bus from Nürnberg to Prague, it must be considered a premium "train", because "reservations" are included with full fare and savings fare tickets, and they actually refer to non-ticketed reservations as "passholder" reservation.

When I was looking at reservations for Munich to Prague trains, I was looking at the first train in the morning, at 9:01 and the first train in the afternoon, at 12:44. Both of those trains show the possibility of a ticket with reservation online from the Bahn. The 17:02 train does not show that possibility for any date I checked. I don't think reservations are possible on that train, but check at the DB Reisezentrum in the Munich Bahnhof when you get there.

We took the early morning train from Munich to Prague. Did not have to change cars and it took 6 hours. Had a cabin all to ourselves. Oh and used a Bayern ticket to border. Bought ticket from border to Prague in Munich at the time we bought the Bayern ticket.