Rail Question

We have booked a trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest this November. We have not yet purchased train tickets to and from each destination. We%26#39;re looking into buying train tickets in advance. Is this a good idea? On RailEurope.com, the tickets from Prague to Vienna are $202 for 2 people. From Vienna to Budapest they are $128 for 2 people. After reading the forums for each city we are visiting, it sounds like tickets can be purchased a lot cheaper in person the day of train travel. Is this true? Do trains ever sell out?

What do you recommend I do?

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There are many experts on this board that will give you more information. I have recently researched Prague to Vienna and if you book at :

https:/…search_cd-obb.aspx

you can get a ticket for under 500 CZK (about 25 USD) and can select your seat online.

You can also find a Special Price at:

http://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp

but it%26#39;s 29 Euro (about $42)

I think you will need to use OEBB for your Vienna to Budapest ticket.

I would stay away from the Rail Europe site for these trips because they are just third parties and will charge you a lot more.

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From Prague to Vienna it is €19 each https:/…

From Vienna to Budapest it is also from €19 oebb.at/pv/…index.jsp

These special prices are only available on-line from the above sites, but you can always pay more and buy them on the day. Trains do not sell out, just the special offers, so buy them now to ensure that you have the best price. Even if you buy on the day it will be way cheaper than Rail Europe which you should stay WELL clear of, for obvious reasons. The full price for both tickets on the day would cost about €35 each - no need to reserve.

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Excellent. I had seen these sites before but did not know how to find them again! Thank you!

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Put this in your bookmarks http://europetrainsguide.com/ :)

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There is no need to buy train tickets ahead of time. If you are the nervous type buy the tickles for the next leg of your trip as soon as you arrive at your first destination. One ticket Vienna-Budapest cost 29euros on the RailJet which is an awesome train. No need to pay extra for 1st class or reserve seats; just show up 20min before the departure time and look for a seat that is not reserved. Above the seat there is a small LCD screen that displays if the seat is reserved or not.

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This is a discussion %26quot;flexibility versus low fares%26quot;. Basically, it is not necessary to purchase tickets in advance as it would be against the meaning of public transportation in Europe. You can always buy your ticket 10 minutes prior to departure (with a very few exceptions) and the regular fare then applied should be still cheaper than the one displayed by one of the resellers like raileurope.com. If you want a bargain and accept %26quot;restrictions%26quot;, then you should become active in advance in order to get one of the highly discounted tickets.