Train Travel/Eastern Europe

Step One: Stop using Rail Europe immediately. They don't show all trains, and (as you've learned), they often mark up the tickets they do sell. Step Two: To find out how to book tickets, you can't beat The Man In Seat 61. Here's his page on how to start: http://tinyurl.com/bo8x6o6 Step Three: You usually want to book tickets from the website of the operating agency. Most of the time, that means the official website of the national rail company in the originating country of the train. Sometimes you can use the terminating country as well (handy if you can't get a ticket otherwise). So, for Vienna to Ljubljana, you would start with Austrian Rail: http://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp. For Budapest to Krakow, you'd start with Hungarian Rail: http://www.mav-start.hu/english/index.php Some trains, like Brussels to Paris, are operated by multi-national companies (in this case, Thalys, a consortium of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany). You book these from the operator (in this case, http://www.thalys.com. Before booking, you should call your credit card to let them know you will be making foreign charges; otherwise, your card may be blocked. If you have any trouble, post another note with specifics.

Thank you, Harold. I'll definitely try your suggestions. I feel better already, just having found this "Travelers Helpline"...don't know how I missed seeing it when on the website before.
Debbie

I wasn't aware of the Helpline for a long time too, so you're not alone in failing to see it. Good luck with the trains! I forgot to mention that for some trains, the cheapest tickets sell out rapidly (Thalys in particular). And, as you say, sleepers can sell out, period. So, you'll want to book these as soon as allowed. However, if you book the deeply discounted fares, these are non-changeable and non-refundable, so don't book until your sure of your dates and times. Conversely, for some of your trains there's no discount for advance booking, and according to the Man in Seat 61, some are not bookable in advance at all. So, these can be bought in country shortly before travel. If you're unsure, check the price for tomorrow and for your travel date; if there's a difference, strongly consider advance purchase, as long as you can live with the restrictions.

Use the below link to find tickets originating in Poland. Use the currency conversion to estimate cost from Zloty to USD. The prices should be reasonable, so don't worry too much about this leg from Krakow. http://polrail.com/

Big thanks to Harold and Agnes. I checked out "The Man in Sea 61" and it was an excellent site, which gave me much reassurance for some of the shorter train trips we'll be taking (in terms of buying tickets at the station just before departure). He gives superb step-by-step instructions for how to book night trains on the specific country rail site, and I already did a temporary run through, which was spot-on for what he described. I feel much more confident about booking those now. I will use pol.rail to book one of the night trains, and the the Hungarian site to book the other night train. I really appreciate your comment, Harold, that the lowest rates lock you in, so I will be sure about my dates, etc., before finalizing the booking. Your comments and help were greatly appreciated and put my mind at ease, so I can now look forward to the trip instead of being freaked out about it!!
Deborah

Just a couple of side comments. Trains in Europe, exception is night trains, rarely if ever sell out so the only reason for advances purchase is the discounts if available. Re think the need for night trains. Often times they are slower than the high speed trains, sleeping is so so and personal opinion - Night trains are not worth it. We prefer second class unless we get a very good deal for first class. bahn.de is a good site for schedule information but buy the tickets for the national rail site for each country.

I'm glad you're not freaked out anymore! Yes, there is definitely a learning curve to booking these trains, but once you've done a few, you'll start to feel like a pro. And good for you for doing a dummy booking now, so you're prepared when you go to book the actual tickets.

I remember some of the same frustration when I did a Stuttgart- Prague- krakow - Budapest - Zagreb train trip. What I ended up doing for the Prague-krakow and Krakow-Budapest night trains was reserved only the couchette. On arrival at the destination I would go to the train ticket sales window and buy the regular ticket portion (which was cheap). So if you can do that for those legs of the journey, you should be ok. Unfortunately I was living in Germany at the time so I was able to go to a dbahn office to reserve the sleepers. I did not do the regular ticket since either they could not do it, or it was very expensive. Side note - I recall the Budapest ticket office sold me a round trip ticket to Zagreb as it was cheaper than one way.

I am replying to Brian's last post. I, too, am planning on taking these night trains between these cities. So far, I am just working on Amsterdam to Prague. Brian, are you saying I need to buy TWO tickets/reservations? One for the sleeper and one regular seat?

Many thanks to all of you...each one had valuable/helpful information which has really been very useful for me. For Harold: The Man in Seat 61 is amazing!!! When I went to do the actual 'real' booking, I had some confusion regarding reading the train details page, so I sent him an e-mail to ask him how to proceed. Even though it must have been 3 in the morning his time in UK, he responded almost immediately, and I was able to continue with the booking for the night train Budapest to Krakow. Success!!! Based on his website and his comments + the info from others who responded to my question, I feel very comfortable now, waiting to purchase all the other tickets until I get to the station (with the exception of Thalys from Brugge to Paris, which I'll book online in advance). You were a lifesaver in suggesting his site. For Frank and Brian: thanks for your comments also. Reassured me that I'm on the right track (no pun intended!) For Nilda: we were going to do a train from Prague to Amsterdam, but were advised to fly instead. We got a great deal (cheaper than the train and much, much faster) with EasyJet online. You might want to check for flight deals online for that portion.
So glad to have found this site. I'm hooked!!!

Nilda: On a sleeper train, there are often two portions to your fare. First is the train passage itself, and second are any sleeping accommodations. Some sleeper trains allow you to go "coach" (just a seat, no sleeping accommodations at all). Others have couchettes (4 or 6 beds in a compartment) and/or sleepers (compartments with 1, 2, or 3 beds). Naturally, the fewer people sharing your sleeping space, the higher the price. The Man In Seat 61 is, by far, the best place to find out about what is available on each route and how to book it: http://www.seat61.com/