Travel Poland, Germany and Austria

Poland is not part of the Eurail Pass system so you will have to buy tickets for travel in Poland once you are on the ground. We found them to be reasonably priced. The international ticket counter in Krakow sold us a ticket from Krakow to Plzen in the Czech Republic. From there we bought a ticket to Linz, Austria, and from there to Ulm, Germany. We had used up our Eurail Pass ticket before we got this far. If you buy your ticket three days in advance there is about 2/3 discount. What we did was buy the ticket for the next leg of our trip as soon as we got off the train. This turned out to be a very economical way to travel. We have used rail passes in the past but I don't think we will do it again. If you buy point to point tickets be sure to pay a few Euros extra and get reservations. Some trains in western Europe can get crowded and if you don't have reservations you may end up standing. No fun there. Also, you can pay a few more Euros and get a first class reservation. Everyone deserves one of these periodically.

Alexis, I don't believe there are any railpasses that cover Poland. The best you could do would be to get a Germany / Austria 2nd class saver / youth pass, and pay cash for Poland. It really depends on the distances you plan to travel on your travel days which determines if a rail pass is worth it or not. If most of your travel days are covering a lot of ground then it might make sense, but I suspect you would be better off with regional passes or point to point tickets bought on the spot (since it sounds like you need flexibility and can't buy in advance). Have you read through the content under the railpass tab on this website? There is a map that can help you compare point to point cost against the cost of a railpass. Good luck and have an awesome trip with those little ones!

Thanks for the suggestions. I saw the global pass which i thought may be worth it. I am trying to figure out th most dependable way to go about the rail system with two young children. However purchasing a point to point pass sounds like it may be more economical and logical than the global pass seeing we are not going to hit more than 5 countries. I purchased a book and map and plan on planing everything out, and seeing we have time I am sure we can get on top of it. Is the global pass worth it?

Alexis, as of a year ago, there is/was a rail pass for Poland. My husband and I used trains extensively on that trip and the pass actually saved us a little money. HOWEVER, when we needed to reserve seats on a few trains, the ticket agents in several of the stations were unfamiliar with the pass. If we had it do over again, we'd skip the pass and just buy tickets as needed. Just a word of caution: You didn't specifiy when you are making your trip, but Poland is co-hosting the European Cup this summer and will be crowded. On a very positive note, we found the Polish people to be extremely friendly and helpful, and travel costs were much lower than in most of Europe. Our hotels and b&b's were very comfortable. Public transit is extensive and inexpensive in Poland. Feel free to write if you have any questions.

Alexis: DON"T buy a pass yet. WHEN is this trip? How long? You might do better or much better than the railpass with advance-sale tickets if it's several months out. We also need to know what cities are involved. Where in Poland and Germany will you travel?? The Germany-Poland pass might be worthwhile but if one child is 4, he'll need a pass too, and no comparison can be made without city names. Can you fly into Berlin with "Space A", whatever that is? If so, a ticket for your whole family from the German Railways site, www.bahn.de , from Berlin to Cracow for 2 adults and 2 kids is 58€ total each way. To Wroclaw it's 38€, to Warsaw, 78€. Prices from Frankfurt are between 144 and 198€ each way. That sounds like it would be much better than the $1,000 + you'll pay for minimal railpasses, but who can say without knowing all your destinations? You must pin down and keep your travel dates with these advance-sale discount tickets or there are penalties, so read the details.

Russ, Space A = Space available - usually on a cargo plane headed that direction so you don't know what flight you'll be on or when you will arrive, which means they need flexibility and won't be able to buy tickets in advance. Alexis - Have you looked at the European East Pass? If you really want railpasses instead of buying point to point tickets at the counter then you might check that out. It would cover almost all of your desired countries (including Czech Republic which you would have to go through to get from Poland to Austria). You could buy the European East Pass and a Germany pass, but be aware that on the days you were going into and out of Germany you would have to use a day on both passes - or pay a portion of the ticket in cash at the counter. I still believe you need to look at the point to point cost estimating map on this website to figure out if a rail pass would really be economical for you. It totally depends on your destinations.

We are going to be sapce A on a military flight. Our most porbably location will be Ramstein which is north of Frankfurt. We are at the mercy of the military with this one but with a free flight it doens't matter cause we are saving the money. We are planning this trip for next year during the winter (better chances to get our space A and less expensive than during peak months) which gives us the ability to plan and look over everything before we commit. Plus then our boys will be easeri to travel with as they will be older. We are going to be going to Vienna, Austria and the surrounding area (looking for family), then to Przemysl, Poland and a few other locations on the way. Germany is our easiest in and out and we are willing to go any where but need to be back in Ramstein area a day or two before we need to leave. Thank you all for your feedback and it is making loking into everything and planning better. I have looked at the cost and time map and I am still going through everything.

Have a look at your map. Ramstein is South of Frankfurt, by about 140 km. which puts you in southern Germany. In Germany, you can use Länder tickets for daily travel on the Regional trains, so you don't have to purchase a train ticket ahead of time. Flyng Space A, with no real idea of when you will get here, I really think I would avoid purchasing long distance train tickets for close to your time of travel. I have friends who have sat around waiting for flights to Germany and also to the US for days at a time. Hopefully some of the people on the Helpline who fly Space A often, will chime in. Have you been to the Space A travel boards to find out information about this trip? I would recommend doing that if you haven't already.

The trains in Poland are surprisingly cheap. A rail pass won't be necessary. I haven't bought a rail pass in more than ten years. Partly because they aren't cheap and partly because I've reduced my daily travel distance/time so passes don't make sense anymore. Passes only make sense on really long legs. Germany has great (and cheap) family day passes you can take advantage of. You can get either a weekend pass to take you anywhere (on the regional, not high-speed, trains) or the weekday passes (which are sold state by state, Lander, with an umlaut over the a, translates to state or province). You can hop-on hop-off with these passes and make multiple stops (or to and from with the same pass). Poland has three seperate systems all using the same track and stations. They aren't much different than Germany's types of trains except they each have their own brand and tickets. It's, by far, easiest to use the information window to help you pick the right ticket for your family, then buy point to point tickets.

Alexis, I'd like to add one more idea about train travel in Poland, or anywhere English isn't the primary language. When you purchase train tickets, you may have a choice of buying through a machine or at a ticket window. If the machines have instructions in English, that may be the easier option. If you are trying to communicate with a person behind a ticket window, it can be frustrating because of language difficulties and trouble just hearing one another. In that case, I look up the relevant words in the local language (first/second class, reserved seats, adults/children, etc.) and neatly print (not write) my ticket requests. Remember that in Europe dates are day/month/year. Ticket sellers often look relieved to see a simple written request and it seems to speed up the transaction.

If there is any problem with communication in the ticket window the best solution is to ask somebody who's young cause most of Poles speaks english and for sure they'll help you. It is better than the ticket machine, cause in the ticket window you have opportunity to choose better price offer. If you need any help with staying in WAW you can contact me: zaginiony@freemote.net
I am the owner of Warsaw tours company, but for sure I can give you more answers to your doubts.