Rail Tips

Special passes available in Central Europe offer rail travelers cost savings and additional ease of travel:

Rail Europe’s European East Pass combines travel in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, all at your own pace and with special travel bonuses such as Danube River trips. The newest two-country pass available joins Austria and the Czech Republic with four days of rail travel over a two-month period.

Eurail has 17 European country members. Those for Central Europe include Austria, Germany and Hungary, adjoining countries that may be combined into a Eurail Selectpass permitting 5- to 15-travel days by train. (This multi-country ticket must include a minimum of three countries)

As in other parts of Europe, using public transport within cities and taking trains between them is a good travel rule of thumb.

Central European countries operate extensive domestic networks of buses, and where trains don’t go, buses do.

Austria

InterCity and EuroCity trains provide fast and comfortable travel throughout Austria, as well as punctual service available on express trains, semi-fast trains and rapid-transit suburban trains. Consider purchasing an Austrian Rail Pass offering four days of unlimited travel in a 10-day period; it includes discounts on Danube River steamers and bicycle rentals.

The Czech Republic

Folded into the Czech Railway system cdrail.cz is the SuperCity service between Prague and Ostrava and the fast (100 mph) train between Prague and Brno. The Czech Flexipass valid for three days of unlimited travel in a 15-day period, is one rail ticket option. Another is the Prague Excursion Pass, valid for seven days, which allows roundtrip travel to Prague from the borders with Germany, Austria, Poland and Slovakia. (Travelers do not have to enter and leave via the same border with this pass.)

Germany

Comfortable low-cost regional and local service is available to nearly any town or village. A GermanRail Pass permits travelers four to 10 days of travel during a four-week period; the pass is also valid for lower fares on Europabus lines and day trips aboard ships on KD German Line steamers on the Rhine and Moselle Rivers.

Many airports are very well connected with the German Rail, at some, such as Duesseldorf or Frankfurt, the train stops directly in the airport building. Rapid transit trains also take visitors to the city center.  You can plan your journey online at reiseauskunft.bahn.de (German only).

Hungary

Hungarian State Railways provides long distance travel aboard InterCity trains, with other service available countrywide from Budapest, which has three main train stations. (Most international and InterCity trains use Keleti Station.) Hungary offers a five-day Hungarian Flexipass ticket, as well as Rail Europe’s European East Pass. Seasonally, special “Nostalgia Train” excursions are available to the Danube Bend and along the shores of Lake Balaton.

Poland

Polish Railways operates about 15,000 miles of rail line, connecting almost every town by rail and all services radiating from Warsaw; express trains with seat reservations are the fastest way to travel, and InterCity trains run on major routes. EuroCity train connections between Krakow, Warszawa, Katowice, Wroclaw and Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Prague and Budapest are also available.

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic Railroads is responsible for trains running on the country’s 2,000-mile plus network. The Express trains (painted red) are faster and make fewer stops; the slower trains with open seating are painted green.