Train Travel

"Please suggest another option." Don't take the night train. OR any train if you're in a hurry. Air Berlin flies between Berlin and Krakow. Will you also be in Belgium at some point during your stay? Ryanair flies cheaply from Charleroi airport to Krakow. Maybe you can re-order your destinations. Find your train connections here: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

While I agree with the suggestion to fly rather than take the long-distance train, I no longer consider flying to be a "cheap" alternative. I have booked two easyjet flights for later this year, London to Venice and Pisa to Paris. With luggage fees, each flight cost about $120. Saving time is my motive for flying rather than training. When considering the time involved in flying it is important to include time and expense of getting to/from airports, and the need to be at the airport an hour or so before the flight.

You'll just have to check airfares on your own for the dates in question. I'm looking at flights between 20€ and 30€ total Charleroi to Krakow in March. Pretty cheap. Ryanair does charge for checked luggage - so check their fees. I don't pack more than Ryanair's carry-on allowance when I travel, myself. Rick's packing tips would be good to look into in this regard.

Thanks everyone for the very quick responses. I guess I will have to look at the option of taking a flight between Berlin and Krakow. Can anyone give me a helpful tip for a train between Ostrava (Czech Republic) and Baden Baden (Germany) ?

I just checked Deutsche Bahn site. Train from Ostrava to Baden-Baden takes 11 and half to 13 and half hour, depending which train. You will have to change trains twice to three times. There are plenty of options. Check Deutsche Bahn site. Rick made it easy to find it. Once you are on Travelers helpline, click on Favorite links, then scroll to Rail and click on Deutsche Bahn.

Thanks again. Is there a possibility of minimising the number of train changes (since I am traveling with children - so transiting from one train to the other will be a little cumbersome). There seems to be an option of changing at Vienna and then moving onto Baden Baden. Does someone know about this ?

According to the timetables on the Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) site, the fastest daytime route requires connections in Prague, Nuernberg, and Karlsruhe with the Prague-Nuernberg leg being an express bus operated by German Rail. You also can go via Prague and Munich (one less connection but two hours longer). The Prague-Munich leg is an express bus. The timetables show an Ostrava to Baden-Baden overnight route with connections in Prague and Karlsruhe. The Prague-Karlsruhe leg is on a CNL night train. This appears to be your fastest route that includes a night train. The site also shows several routes via Vienna that include a leg on a night train, but there are long connection times.

For Krakow to Berlin, there is one direct train per day, a Eurocity train leaving Krakow at 7:08 AM. It takes just under 10 hours with no changes. The best advance fare is a Europa-Spezial Polen ticket from German Rail starting at €29 for an adult. Children 14 and younger will be free is shown on the same ticket.

Thanks very much everyone. I am actually traveling between Berlin and Krakow. Is there a direct train as well ?