I will be travelling from Vienna to Prague on 31 August, but I wish to make a stop in Brno en-route.
My plan is to take an early morning train from Vienna to Brno, spend the day looking around the city, then continue on to Prague in the evening.
My query regards the best way to go about purchasing rail tickets for this itinerary. Is it best to purchase separate tickets, i.e. one for the Vienna %26gt; Brno leg, one for the Brno %26gt; Prague leg, or is it more cost effective to purchase one ticket from Vienna to Prague?
Also, does Brno station have luggage storage facilities? I don%26#39;t really want to have to drag my suitcase around all day!
|||
Over to our resident Brno expert, GCEK..........
|||
I am sure there are facilities in Brno station to store you luggage. The train station there is right next to the old center - very convenient.
When buying the ticket in Vienna, ask for the alternative Vienna to Prague via Brno. It might be cheaper, however to buy Vienna - Brno and then Brno - Prague (This one is 320CZK = 12E)...
Brno - Prague schedules with prices you can find here: http://jizdnirady.idnes.cz/vlaky/spojeni/
(switch to english in the right-bottom)
|||
Aha - so glad that TA have reverted to the old design. The new %26#39;improved%26#39; one was doing my head in :)
Also good to see that somebody is being sensible enough to stop off in the finest city in the Czech Republic, rather than just pass through on the mad rush to Prague - just have a look through my many posts in the Czech Republic forum to see me extolling its virtues :) As with most cities one day is not enough, but you could see a little bit of it in that time - you probably won%26#39;t have time to see things such as the Tugendhat Villa www.brno.cz/index.php… or the Špilberk castle - they need at least half a day each, but you can wander around the centre, go and look in some churches, have a beer in Pegas and a coffee in one of the many street cafes, go to the cathedral ...
It is also probably more suited to the Austrian forum as it has far more in common with Austria, and Vienna in particular, than the rest of the country, so I will put a short sight-seeing itinerary here, if the others don%26#39;t mind.
Yes, there are luggage storage facilities in the station - when you get off the train follow the others to the main hall of the station, turn left and around the corner there are a whole load of large lockers. I think it is about 40 Crowns for the day, but whatever, you will need some change so go into the station shop which is just opposite them and get some chewing gum or something. That is, assuming you have some Czech Crowns - if not, I%26#39;m not sure if there is a cashpoint in the station, but there is definitely one in the wall of the post office which is about 100 metres to the right as you exit (and is otherwise a fine example of 1920s functionalism by the world-famous architect Bohuslav Fuchs - I don%26#39;t know if they are still working, but you can have fun in the %26#39;paternoster%26#39; lifts in there :) ). Once you have locked up your luggage, cross over the tram lines diagonally to your left and follow the crowns up Masarykova street (equivalent of Graben in Vienna, but more ornate, and watch out for the trams). Take the first turn to your left at MacDonalds (used to be a great beer hall, but sadly no more) and you will see the cathedral looming up in front of you, then turn right into Zelny trh. Go up to the cathedral (can%26#39;t miss it) www.brno.cz/index.php… and walk around the little medieval street surrounding it. Come back down into the square, and go towards the Old Town Hall (with the green copper spire) www.brno.cz/index.php… and admire the dragon and the wheel, both of which have stories behind them, and go back down to Masarykova, turn left and keep going to the main square (namesti Svobody) where there is usually something going on - music or street theatre, and is always bustling with people. Then make for Koblizna street in the corner www.brno.cz/index.php… , go all the way to the bottom where you will see Centrum, the world%26#39;s first skyscraper (didn%26#39;t get past the fourth storey, but the intention was there - this is what it was supposed to look like asb-portal.cz/UserFiles/…co-big-image.jpg ), and in front of you is the magnificent Mahen theatre www.brno.cz/index.php… in the grand Austro-Hungarian style. Then just weave your way back in through the streets - just near the church of St. Jakub (with the long thin green spire) www.brno.cz/index.php… is the Pegas microbrewery hotelpegas.cz/hotel-pegas-brno-welcome-page/ , which is worth a stop, and try and look in as many churches as you can as there are hidden riches in most of them.
I always say that you need at least five days in Brno, ideally with someone to show you around, but the above should be a pleasant walk and you will get some idea about the city. There is so much more to see though - maybe you could save that until next time. http://www.brno.cz/index.php?lan=en (also look at the links on the left hand side) and get yourself a good guide book. I%26#39;ll leave it at that before I get too carried away... :)
From Vienna to Brno it should be €9 but it doesn%26#39;t seem to be possible on-line for some reason oebb.at/pv/…index.jsp - you might want to call the oebb hotline, or they should still have some at that price on the day at the station. Then to Prague just buy the ticket at the station (319 Crowns)
Enjoy!
|||
Isn%26#39;t 9€ for Vienna to Brno a little bit too cheap? When I traveled to Brno I definitely paid more (and I get 50% off in Austria because of my discount card).
|||
GCEK - I just knew you%26#39;d come up trumps. I really, really must come to Brno next time I%26#39;m in Vienna. Know a good personal guide?
Norman
|||
Mikey - I%26#39;m just going by what sparscheine says - I%26#39;m not sure why they advertise it at that price when it doesn%26#39;t appear to be available on-line. Certainly going the other way it is only 245 Crowns (c. €9) if you get it on-line (but €28 if you don%26#39;t, as I found out recently!) - Just a word of warning if anybody is buying a ticket on the day: the international ticket office is a funny little room staffed by the rudest woman who has been there for years and in any other organisation would have been thrown out years ago, but Czech Railways is a law unto itself. She is invariably eating or smoking or both when you dare to cross the threshold and she really makes you regret disturbing her day. I%26#39;m used to it now and think it is quite funny, but the first time I was a bit taken aback... but anyway...
It may be an idea to buy a ticket to Břeclav and then a separate ticket from there to Brno, but you will need some Czech Crowns for that - I have no idea how much that would cost on the Austrian side, but on the Czech side it is 81 Crowns (€3)
Norman - drop me a PM next time and I%26#39;ll tell you what my movements are! Otherwise I can find somebody for you.
|||
CD seems to be the cheapest operator in Europe. 3€ for 60km is a joke. ÖBB would charge around 11€ for such a distance. But what I don%26#39;t get is that even if I apply the relatively expensive (domestic!) fare basis of ÖBB for the entire distance, it would be still cheaper than what ÖBB actually charges when issuing an international ticket (27€).
|||
you are amazing GCEK - a one off - hope you got a thank you and a report back!! So I%26#39;m going to be struggling with 3 days %26amp; my other itinery stuff too.
No comments:
Post a Comment