UK citizens do not need a visa to visit the Czech Republic.
Page last
updated:
6 February 2010. Train times valid from 13 December
2009 to 12 June 2010.
Travel to Prague by train...
Prague's historic old town square is just 15 minutes walk
from Prague Hlavni station where you arrive by train
from London.
A few more photos...
It's easy to
travel from the UK to Prague
by train, and it's both affordable & time-effective when
compared to an afternoon of airport buses, airports,
flights, taxis and then a hotel. Take an afternoon Eurostar
from London to Brussels
and a connecting high-speed train to Cologne, then the excellent
'Phoenix' City Night Line sleeper train to Prague,
arriving right in the city centre just after breakfast next
morning. Some sleepers on
this train even have a private shower & toilet, with
breakfast included, served in your compartment. Or
take an afternoon Eurostar from London to Paris, the
overnight sleeper to Berlin, then a scenic EuroCity journey
from Berlin to Prague with lunch in the restaurant car.
Or use daytime trains with an overnight stop. The
choice is yours...
On this page...
You'll find a
step-by-step guide to planning, booking & making a UK to
Prague train journey:
Option 1: London to Prague
using the
Cologne-Prague City Night Line sleeper...
This is probably the cheapest &
most time-effective option, with a arrival in Prague just
after breakfast and a departure back to London in early
evening. It may even save you a hotel bill or two
compared to flying.
Train times London ► Prague
Travel
from London to Brussels by
Eurostar.
On Mondays-Thursdays & Saturdays, leave London St Pancras at 12:57 arriving
Brussels
Midi at 16:03. On Fridays & Sundays leave
London St Pancras at 14:34 arriving at
Brussels
Midi at 17:33.
Travel from Brussels to
Cologne by high-speed train. On Mondays to
Thursdays & Saturdays, leave
Brussels
Midi at
16:28 by Thalys
train arriving in Cologne at 18:15. On
Fridays & Sundays leave
Brussels
Midi by ICE
train at 18:25, arriving Cologne at 20:15.
You've
time for a meal in Cologne.
Travel from Cologne to Prague by City Night Line sleeper train, leaving
Cologne daily at 22:28 and arriving in Prague's central Hlavni station at
09:27 next
morning. This train is the excellent City Night
Line 'Phoenix' with modern sleeping-car, couchettes & seats,
see the photos & information below.
There's no restaurant car, so feel free to
take you own picnic and bottle of wine aboard. Next
morning south of Dresden (around 07:07) the train starts
winding along the scenic Elbe river valley, worth putting
the blind up for! The train arrives at Prague Hlavni
station, just 15 minutes walk from Prague's historic old
town.
Map of Prague showing Holesovice station,
Map of Prague showing Hlavni station.
Prague Hlavni station
information.
Train times Prague ► London
Travel from Prague to Cologne
by City Night Line sleeper train, leaving
Prague Hlavni station at 18:31 or Prague Holesovice station
at 18:40 and arriving in Cologne at 06:14 next
morning. This train is the 'Phoenix', with
sleeping-car, couchettes & seats,
see the photos &
information below. In summer when it's light, sit
back in your compartment with a glass of red and enjoy the
scenic trip along the Elbe river valley towards Dresden.
Travel from
Cologne to Brussels by high-speed
Thalys
train, leaving Cologne daily at 07:45, arriving
Brussels Midi at
09:32. Alternatively, you can use the 08:43
ICE train
from Cologne arriving
Brussels
Midi at 10:35, if this has
cheaper fares available or you'd like to have breakfast
in Cologne.
The City Night Line sleeper train 'Phoenix' has a
modern air-conditioned Czech sleeping-car (1, 2 & 3-berth
deluxe rooms with private shower & toilet, 1, 2 & 3-berth
standard rooms with washbasin, there is a shower at the end
of the corridor for passengers in standard rooms, all rooms
have vingcard locks and power sockets for
laptop computers & mobiles, a sleeper is the recommended
option if your budget allows), air-conditioned German couchette cars
(simple but comfortable berths in 4- or 6-berth compartments), and
ordinary seats in 6-seat compartments (not recommended). The
sleeping-car fare includes a light breakfast.
More pictures &
information about this train.
The Phoenix actually starts its journey in Amsterdam, so
if you're coming from the north of England or Scotland, you
can take the overnight ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam or
Hull to Rotterdam, spend a day in Amsterdam, then travel
overnight to Prague from there.
1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper: The most comfortable &
civilised option, standard with washbasin or deluxe with
shower & toilet.
4-berth couchettes: Ideal for families,
much more space per person than 6-berth couchettes.
6-berth couchettes: A very economical
option, far better than a seat for just a few euros
more...
Above: Evening falls at Prague's Hlavni station,
& the sleeping-car attendant
on the 'Phoenix' greets passengers for
Cologne & Amsterdam. Change at Cologne for
Brussels & London.
The easiest way to book train tickets from London to Prague
is at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
because all three trains can be booked as a single
transaction on one UK-based website. If you live
outside the UK, or want to book 4-berth couchettes (which
for some reason raileurope.co.uk currently won't do) use
www.eurostar.com &
www.bahn.de
instead (see the next section). It's a good idea to
compare prices for the Cologne-Prague train between
www.raileurope.co.uk
&
www.bahn.de
as they can differ.
Step 1, go to
www.raileurope.co.uk,
but resist the temptation to enter 'London' & 'Prague' all
in one go as this won't find the cheapest fares.
Remember that booking opens 90 days before departure for
most of these trains, but only
60 days for the inward Prague to Cologne sleeper, you can't
book before reservations open.
First, enter 'Cologne' &
'Prague' and book the overnight train from Cologne to Prague
and back. Obviously, in the search results simply look for
the direct train with no changes. For some reason it
won't book 4-berth couchettes, and may struggle with 2-berth
sleepers with shower, but if you have any difficulties like
this simply book using
www.bahn.de
instead, as described in the next section. Add this
ticket to your basket and click 'continue shopping'.
Step 2, still at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
now book the Thalys or ICE train from Brussels to Cologne & back, using
the train times above as your guide. Add this ticket
to your basket and click 'continue shopping'.
Step 3, still at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
now book the Eurostar from London to Brussels & back, using
the train times above as a guide. By all means take an
earlier Eurostar outwards, or a later one back, if it has
cheaper seats available or if you'd like to stop off in
Brussels. Add this to your basket and proceed to the
payment stage.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address and normally arrive
within a couple of days. Only UK credit cards are
accepted.
Booking tip: It's worth comparing prices for the Cologne-Vienna
train on both
www.raileurope.co.uk
&
www.bahn.de
as they can differ. Also try booking from London to
Cologne (shown as Koln) at
www.eurostar.com, as sometimes this is cheaper
than
www.raileurope.co.uk,
though it won't book ICE trains.
Booking tip: You can also try the German
Railways website
www.bahn.de for booking your London-Cologne tickets, as they
offers 'London Spezial' fares from London to Cologne from
just 49 euros each way. However, you'll only
find these fares on journeys which involve the two or three
German ICE trains between Brussels & Cologne, not on
those involving Thalys. If you want to give this a go,
I recommend booking as two one-ways, not a return. In
the outward direction on Fridays & Sundays, look for the
14:34 departure from London connecting with the 18:15 ICE
from Brussels to Cologne and see if cheap fares are
available. In the outward direction on Mondays to
Thursdays & Saturdays, look for the 12:57 departure from
London, but you will probably need to put 'Brussels South
Stn' in the 'via' box and '02:00' (2 hours) in the
'stopover' box to force it to find the 12:57 Eurostar then a
2.5 hour wait at Brussels then the 18:15 Brussels-Cologne
ICE (and so get the cheap London Spezial fares), as if you
don't do this it only finds the 12:57 Eurostar from London
with a much shorter wait in Brussels then a Thalys
connection to Cologne, with no cheap London Spezial fares
available (simple, isn't it, this booking train travel
malarkey?!). In the return direction, getting one of
these cheap London Spezial fares means spending the morning
in Cologne and catching the 14:43 ICE from Cologne to
Brussels and its Eurostar connection to London arriving
19:03, rather than the much earlier Thalys+Eurostar
connection shown above, but Cologne is a nice town and it's
your choice!
This method involves two websites, so do a dry run on both
sites to check prices and availability before booking for
real.
Step
1, go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website, and
book a sleeper or couchette from Cologne (Köln Hbf)
to Prague (Praha Hl) and back, looking for the cheap
'Savings' fares. You pay online and print out your own
ticket. Easy!
Bookings for Cologne-Prague open 90 days before departure,
inward Prague-Cologne bookings open 60 days before
departure. I recommend registering when it asks you
before completing the purchase, so you can easily retrieve
any bookings.
Step 2,
now go to either
www.eurostar.com or
www.raileurope.co.uk
and using the train times on this page as your guide, book a ticket from London to Cologne
& back (Cologne is listed as Koln on the Eurostar website).
It's a good idea to try both of these websites, as sometimes
one is cheaper than the other. Bookings
for Eurostar+Thalys open 90 days (3 months) before
departure, and the further ahead you book, the more likely
you are to see the cheapest fares. Tickets can be
posted to any UK address or collected at St Pancras on
departure. Make sure you allow plenty of
time for the connection in Cologne, preferably at least an hour when connecting with a sleeper train.
It's obvious, but remember that your return departure date from Cologne will
be the day after your departure date from Prague!
Booking tip: If you don't see any sensibly-priced
London-Cologne through fares, try using
www.raileurope.co.uk
to book in two stages, first London-Brussels & back,
then Brussels-Cologne & back, using the train times above as
your guide. This if often cheaper!
Booking tip: You can also try the German
Railways website
www.bahn.de for booking your London-Cologne tickets, as they
offers 'London Spezial' fares from London to Cologne from
just 49 euros each way. However, you'll only
find these fares on journeys which involve the two or three
German ICE trains between Brussels & Cologne, not on
those involving Thalys. If you want to give this a go,
I recommend booking as two one-ways, not a return. In
the outward direction on Fridays & Sundays, look for the
14:34 departure from London connecting with the 18:15 ICE
from Brussels to Cologne and see if cheap fares are
available. In the outward direction on Mondays to
Thursdays & Saturdays, look for the 12:57 departure from
London, but you will probably need to put 'Brussels South
Stn' in the 'via' box and '02:00' (2 hours) in the
'stopover' box to force it to find the 12:57 Eurostar then a
2.5 hour wait at Brussels then the 18:15 Brussels-Cologne
ICE (and so get the cheap London Spezial fares), as if you
don't do this it only finds the 12:57 Eurostar from London
with a much shorter wait in Brussels then a Thalys
connection to Cologne, with no cheap London Spezial fares
available (simple, isn't it, this booking train travel
malarkey?!). In the return direction, getting one of
these cheap London Spezial fares means spending the morning
in Cologne and catching the 14:43 ICE from Cologne to
Brussels and its Eurostar connection to London arriving
19:03, rather than the much earlier Thalys+Eurostar
connection shown above, but Cologne is a nice town and it's
your choice!
If you'd like someone book it all for you,
just click here and a booking form will appear which lists
all the
trains you
need to book for any of the options on this page. Fill
it in & email it to
sales@europeanrail.com. European Rail will make
the reservations and call you back to confirm the cost.
If you're okay with the price you can give them your credit card details and
they will send you
the tickets. European Rail is an experienced agency
equipped with the German Railways reservation & ticketing
system, so they have access to all the cheap fares for travel via
Germany. They charge a £35 booking fee which includes
postage to any UK address, or they can send to any address
worldwide if you pay the courier fee. Seat61 gets some
commission if you buy tickets using this form.
How to buy tickets by phone...
If you prefer to book by phone, call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66
(lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no booking fee, 2% credit card
charge, no charge for debit cards) or www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee but may have more time to
help). Click
here for a list of
agencies and other useful information on how to buy tickets
to Europe.
Option 2: London to Prague
using the Paris-Berlin City Night Line sleeper...
This is also a good option,
though a bit slower, with a mid-afternoon departure from London and an arrival
in Prague after lunch next day, after a pleasant ride along
the river Elbe between Berlin and Prague. It runs
daily in summer but only 4 times a week in winter.
London ► Prague
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 16:02 (15:32 at weekends), arriving Paris Gare du Nord at
19:17 (18:47 at weekends).
It's then a
10 minute walk
from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de l'Est. By
all means take an earlier Eurostar if you'd like to spend
some time in Paris, or if it has cheaper seats available.
Travel from Paris to Berlin by the City Night Line sleeper
train 'Perseus', leaving Paris Gare de l'Est at 20:20 and
arriving at
Berlin
Hauptbahnhof at 08:59 next morning.
This train runs on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays
until 18 March 2010, then daily until 8 November 2010, then
on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays again until March
2011. The 'Perseus' has sleepers, couchettes, seats
and a bistro car,
see the photos & information below. More pictures
& information about this train.
Travel
from Berlin to Prague
leaving
Berlin
Hauptbahnhof at 10:36 and arriving Prague
Hlavni station at 15:27. The is the EuroCity
train 'Jan Jesenius' with modern air-conditioned
coaches and a restaurant car selling drinks, snacks and
affordable full meals - treat yourself to a sit-down lunch! It's a scenic journey, too, all
along the Elbe river valley between Dresden and Prague.
Map of Prague showing Hlavni station. By
all means take a later train if you'd like to spend some
time in Berlin.
Prague ► London
Travel from Prague to
Berlin, leaving Prague Hlavni station at 12:31 and
arriving in
Berlin
Hauptbahnhof at 17:20. This is
the EuroCity service 'Jan Jesenius' with modern
air-conditioned coaches & restaurant car. Treat
yourself to lunch!
Travel from Berlin to Paris by City Night Line sleeper
train 'Perseus', leaving
Berlin
Hauptbahnhof at 19:57 and
arriving Paris Gare de l'Est at 09:23 next morning.
This train runs on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays &
Sundays until 17 March 2010, then daily until 7 November
2010, then on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays
again until March 2011. The
'Perseus' has ordinary seats, couchettes (4-bunk or
6-bunk) and modern sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-berth standard
rooms with washbasin or
deluxe rooms with private shower & toilet, highly
recommended), plus a bistro-restaurant car,
see the photos & information below.
Breakfast is included in the fare for sleeper passengers.
More pictures
& information about this train.
Travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord
daily at
11:13 and arriving London St Pancras at 12:29.
The Paris-Berlin
overnight train is one of the
German Railway's excellent 'City Night Line' sleeper trains.
Called the 'Perseus', it
has modern 'Comfortline' sleeping-cars
(1, 2 & 3-berth deluxe rooms with private shower &
toilet, 1, 2 &
3-berth standard rooms with washbasin, shower at
the end of the corridor, all rooms with power points for
mobiles & laptop computers),
modern air-conditioned couchettes (choose between a berth in
a 4 or 6-berth compartment), ordinary seats (not
recommended, as a couchette is far better) and a bistro-restaurant
car. Inclusive fares are charged covering
travel plus sleeping accommodation. The
sleeping-car fare includes a light breakfast in the
restaurant car.
More pictures
& information about this train.
1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper: The most comfortable &
civilised option, standard with washbasin or deluxe with
shower & toilet..
4-berth couchettes: Ideal for families.
Much more space per person than 6-berth couchettes.
6-berth couchettes: A very economical
option, far better than a seat for just a few euros
more...
Bistro-bar car:
The bistro
car serves meals, snacks & drinks in the evening,
breakfast in the morning.
This is
probably the easiest way to book. Booking this way
involves two websites, so do a 'dry run'
first on both sites to check prices and availability before
booking for real.
Step 1, go to
www.raileurope.co.uk
and book the sleeper from Paris to Berlin.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address or can be collected at
the station. Only UK credit cards are accepted. It's best to book the Paris-Berlin sleeper
train first and double-check arrival and departure times before
booking the Eurostar connection, in case times vary from the
ones shown above. For some reason, it won't book
4-berth couchettes.
Step 2, after booking
the Paris-Berlin train, add it to your basket & click 'continue shopping'.
Now book
the Eurostar from London to Paris and back, using the recommended Eurostar times above as a guide.
By
all means book an earlier Eurostar outward or a later
Eurostar on the way back if these have cheaper seats
available or if you'd like to stop off in Paris.
Step 3, now go to the German
Railways website
www.bahn.de, and use the journey planner to
bring up the Berlin-Prague trains shown in the
train times above, and buy the ticket. It will show if
any cheap special fares are available. Tickets can be sent to any address,
or in some cases printed out yourself. In fact,
www.raileurope.co.uk
can also book the Berlin-Prague train, but only at full-fare
prices with no special deals available, that's why it's
better to use
www.bahn.de for this bit.
Sometimes
www.raileurope.co.uk
has the cheapest fares for the
Paris-Berlin sleeper, sometimes
www.bahn.de
is cheaper, so it's worth checking both sites.
Bahn.de can book all accommodation, including 4-berth
couchettes. If you book using the bahn.de site,
children under 6 go free, children under 14 can get the
child rate.
However, if you book the Paris-Berlin sleeper using
www.bahn.de you'll need to book the
Eurostar separately at
www.eurostar.com, so do a 'dry run'
first on both sites to check prices and availability before
booking for real.
Step 1, go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website, and book from Paris to
Berlin and back on the direct overnight sleeper train.
Availability of cheap 'savings' fares and
fully-flexible fares will be shown, for each type of
seat, couchette & sleeper. You pay by credit card and print out
your own tickets in .pdf format. Easy! Note that
the prices shown on
www.bahn.de are in euros, and are the
total cost for all passengers selected, not per person. Always book the
sleeper first and check its actual arrival & departure
before booking the Eurostar connection, as times
occasionally
vary. I recommend registering when it asks you before
completing the purchase, so you can easily make the next
booking and retrieve any bookings later.
Step 2, still on
www.bahn.de,
use the journey planner to bring
up the connecting Berlin-Prague trains shown in the train
times above, and buy the ticket. It will show if any
cheap special fares are available. Tickets can be sent
to any address, or in some cases printed out yourself.
You can also book this bit online at the Czech Railways
shop,
www.eshop.cd.cz, and
print out your own ticket
Step
3, go to
www.eurostar.com to book your connecting Eurostar
tickets between London and Paris, using the Eurostar times
above as a guide. By all means book an earlier
Eurostar outwards, or a later Eurostar on the way back, if
this has cheaper seats available of if you'd like to stop
off in Paris for a while. Eurostar tickets can be sent to any UK
address, self-printed or picked up at the station.
How to buy tickets
by email...
If you'd prefer to have someone book it for you,
just click here and a booking form will appear which lists
all the
trains you
need to book for any of the options on this page. Fill
it in & email it to
sales@europeanrail.com. European Rail will make
the reservations and call you back to confirm the cost.
If you're okay with the price you can give them your credit card details and
they will send you
the tickets. European Rail is an experienced agency
equipped with the German Railways reservation & ticketing
system, so they have access to all the cheap fares for travel via
Germany. They charge a £35 booking fee which includes
postage to any UK address, or they can send to any address
worldwide if you pay the courier fee. Seat61 gets some
commission if you buy tickets using this form.
How to buy
tickets by phone...
If you'd prefer
to book all these trains by phone, simply call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge, no charge for debit
cards), or a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee).
If you prefer
daytime travel, no problem. Thanks to high-speed
trains, it's now possible to get from London to Prague in a
day, although it's a long day! If you prefer, you can
break the journey overnight, staying in Cologne or Berlin en
route.
London ► Prague in a day...
Travel from
London to Brussels by
Eurostar,
leaving London at 08:27 on Mondays-Fridays or 08:57 at
weekends, arriving Brussels at 11:33 on Mondays-Fridays or
12:03 at weekends.
Travel from
Brussels to Cologne by high-speed
ICE train, leaving
Brussels at 12:25 arriving Cologne at 14:15. Bistro
car available, treat yourself to lunch!
Travel from
Cologne to Berlin by high-speed
ICE train, leaving
Cologne at 14:48 and arriving Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 19:08.
Restaurant & bar car available.
Travel from
Berlin to Prague by EuroNight train, leaving Berlin
Hauptbahnhof at 19:25 and arriving Prague Hlavni at 00:27.
No catering, so bring your own drinks & snacks.
Prague ► London in a day...
Travel from
Prague to Berlin by EuroCity train, leaving
Prague Hlavni at 06:31 and arriving Berlin Hauptbahnhof at
11:17. Prague to Berlin is a very scenic ride, as the
train snakes down the beautiful Elbe river gorge between
Prague & Dresden. Take a good book, put your feet up and
enjoy the ride.
Travel from
Berlin to Cologne by ICE
train, leaving Berlin at 11:48 and arriving
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 16:09. Restaurant car
available, treat yourself to lunch.
Travel from
Cologne to Brussels by
Thalys high-speed train, leaving Cologne at 17:44
arriving Brussels at 19:32. Café-bar available.
Travel from
Brussels to London by
Eurostar, leaving Brussels at 20:17
Mondays to Thursdays or 20:29 on Fridays & Sundays, arriving
London at 21:33. No connection Saturdays.
London-Cologne
starts at £97 return. Book this part of the journey
online at either
www.eurostar.com or
www.raileurope.co.uk
using the train times above as your guide. Check both
sites as prices can vary between the two.
Booking tip:
If you see no affordable fares, go to
www.raileurope.co.uk
and try splitting the journey into two sections, first
booking London-Brussels & back, then Brussels-Cologne and
back, as occasionally this produces a cheaper fare.
Cologne to
Prague starts at just 39 euros (£35) each way. Book this
part of the journey online at
www.bahn.de, again using the train times above as your
guide.
Booking tips: I recommend putting 'Berlin' in the 'Via' box
to make sure you find the recommended journey via Berlin.
Remember that Prague in Czech is 'Praha', of course.
Cologne Hbf (Hauptbahnhof) is the station you want in
Cologne.
You can also
book by phone. Call call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge, no charge for debit
cards), or a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee).
You may prefer
to break the journey up, stopping overnight in either
Cologne or Berlin. By all means go one way direct, the
other with a stopover. Or one way with stopover in
Cologne, the other with stopover in Berlin.
Step 1,
London to Cologne or Berlin: See the
Germany page for train times
between London & Cologne or
between London & Berlin. London to Cologne takes
as little as 4 hours 16 minutes, centre to centre with one
change in Brussels.
London-Berlin takes a day. Take any service you like.
Stay overnight in a hotel in Cologne or Berlin.
Step 2,
Cologne or Berlin to Prague: Now use
the German Railways website
www.bahn.de
to find train times between Cologne or Berlin & Prague &
back. Cologne-Prague is an 8 or 9 hour journey on
superb German
ICE train (InterCityExpress) & EuroCity trains with
bistro or even a proper restaurant car (treat yourself!),
but feel free to take
your own food and even a bottle of wine.
Top tip:
If you're going from Cologne to Prague, make sure you put
'Berlin' in the 'via' box on
www.bahn.de to force it to find train services via
Berlin, as the best Cologne-Prague services involve just one change of
train in Berlin and involve trains all the way. If you
don't do this the system has an annoying habit of only
suggesting that awful railway-run bus connection from
Nuremberg to Prague, and you don't want a bus!
Fares & how to
buy tickets...
London-Cologne
starts at £97 return, Cologne-Berlin-Prague starts at 39
euros (£35) each way.
First decide what trains you want on what
dates. Then use either
www.eurostar.com or
www.raileurope.co.uk
to book from London to Cologne & back on your chosen trains
on your chosen dates. Check both websites as prices
can vary between the two. Also try
www.bahn.de to book London-Cologne or London-Berlin, as
this sometimes has fares from Just 49 euros from London to
anywhere in Germany, if you use the 08:27 (Mon-Fri) or 08:57
(Sat, Sun) or 12:57 (Mon-Thurs, Sat) or14:34 (Fri, Sun)
Eurostar from London connecting with the German ICE from
Brussels to Cologne. Booking tip: If you
want the 12:57 on a Monday-Thursday or Saturday, put
'Brussels' in the 'via' box and '02:00' in the 'stopover'
box when using
www.bahn.de as otherwise it won't offer the Eurostar+ICE
combo with the special fares because there's a faster Thalys
connection which it finds first.
Now use
www.bahn.de to book from Cologne to Prague & back on
your chosen train & dates (Booking tip: Put
'Berlin' in the 'via' box to force it to find train services
via Berlin, not that annoying railway-run bus connection
from Nuremberg! If you want to stop off in Cologne one
way, Berlin the other, just book this as two one-way trips
not a 'return').
To stop off for up to 24 hours in Berlin, type 'Berlin' in the
'via' box and put (say) 10:00 (= 10 hours stopover, adjust
this figure as you like) in the 'hh:mm' stopover box.
That way, it'll still give you a cheap fare from Cologne to
Prague from just 39 euros each way, but with a 10-hour
stopover in Berlin. It's not rocket science, just keep
your wits about you to book the right trains on the right
dates. Easy when you know how!
You can also
book by phone. Call call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge, no charge for debit
cards), or a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee).
Prague's old town
square with the old town hall & cathedral...
The old town hall
clock...
Crossing the King
Charles Bridge...
No
flights were involved in the taking of these pictures -
Prague is just a train ride away from the UK!
DFDS Seaways 'Princess of Norway' about to sail
overnight from Newcastle to Amsterdam...
A Commodore deluxe cabin with minibar, satellite TV,
shower & toilet.
See the video...
A standard 'Seaways' class cabin with shower & toilet on
DFDS 'Princess of Norway' from Newcastle to Amsterdam.
Naturally, you can take a train
up to London and travel from London to Prague
as described above. If you
choose this option,
here's some advice on buying
connecting train tickets to London. But the
'Phoenix' sleeper train from Cologne to Prague actually starts in
Amsterdam. And
DFDS Seaways run an excellent daily overnight
cruise ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam. There's an
overnight cruise ferry from Hull to Holland too, run by
P&O Ferries, and one from Harwich in Essex run by
Stena Line. You see
where I'm going with this?
Scotland, north of
England, East Anglia ► Prague
Day 1, Take an afternoon train from your local station
to either Harwich, Hull or Newcastle, whichever is most
convenient for where you live. Transfer to the ferry
terminal.
Sail
overnight by cruise ferry to Holland, with bars, restaurants
& comfortable en suite cabins, arriving next morning.
DFDS Seaways operate Newcastle-Amsterdam (the port is
actually IJmuiden), P&O operate Hull to Rotterdam
Europoort, and Stena Line operate Harwich-Hoek van Holland
with train connections to Amsterdam. For details of
ferry timetables, station-port transfers, fares & how to buy tickets for
travel via each of these ferry routes,
see the UK-Netherlands page.
Day 2, spend
some time
in Amsterdam, all the sights are easy walking distance from
Centraal station. Left luggage lockers are available
at Centraal station, 4-6 euros for 24 hours, paid for with
Maestro or Visa cards.
Day 2 evening, take
the daily City Night Line sleeper train 'Phoenix' from Amsterdam
to Prague, leaving Amsterdam at 19:01 and arriving at Prague
Hlavni station at 09:27 next morning (day 3), just 15 minutes walk
from the historic old town. Sleeping-car, couchettes
and seats are available, for details
of what this train is like see here.
Prague ►
Scotland, north of England, East Anglia
Day 1 evening: The City Night Line sleeper
train 'Phoenix' leaves Prague Hlavni daily at 18:31,
arriving at Amsterdam Centraal at 10:29 next morning.
Sleeping-car, couchettes & seats available,
see above.
Day 2: Spend the day in Amsterdam.
Left luggage lockers are available.
Day 2, evening: Travel overnight by cruise ferry from
Holland to either Harwich, Hull or Newcastle, whichever is
most convenient for where you live, arriving next morning (day
4). Transfer to the station and take a train home.
For full details of train & ferry times and how to buy tickets
for each of these routes, see the UK-Netherlands page.
To check
Amsterdam-Prague sleeper train fares & book online, go to
either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(easy to use and can be cheapest way to book, but won't book 4 berth couchettes) or
www.bahn.de
(look for the direct train with 0 changes).
Above: Czech Railways (CD) link all main
towns & cities in the Czech republic...
You can easily reach anywhere in
the Czech Republic by train, travelling from London to Prague
as shown above, then using domestic
Czech trains onwards from Prague.
www.bahn.de will give you train times within the
Czech Republic, and
www.cd.cz will also give you fares. On all these
routes, trains run regularly, at least every hour or two.
Don't worry about buying a ticket in advance, just book as far
as Prague then buy an onwards ticket at the station when you
get to Prague, this is easy. Or buy online at www.eshop.cd.cz. There are two main stations
in Prague, Praha Hlavni (= central) near the city centre and
Praha Holesovice which is a little further out. Some
trains leave from Prague Hlavni, others from Prague Holesovice,
some serve both, so check which your train leaves from.
The sleeper trains from Frankfurt and Cologne to Prague both
stop at Prague Holesovice ten minutes or so before arriving at
Prague Hlavni, so get off at the one that's best for your
onward connection.
Ostrava: Prague
to Ostrava by
train takes about 3 hours 20 minutes, the fare is about 500 Kc
(£12). The best services are the tilting pendolino 'SuperCity'
trains, which are air-conditioned with bar car, see the photos
below.
Plzen: Prague
to Plzen by
train takes about 1 hour 40 minutes, fare about 130 Kc (£3).
Brno: Prague-Brno
trains take about 2 hours 30 minutes, fare about 400 Kc (£9).
Cesky Krumlov:
Prague to Cesky Krumlov takes about 4 hours 30 minutes by train
with one change of train at Ceske Budejovice. The fare
is about 225Kc (£6). Alternatively, you can travel from London to Linz in Austria (see
the London to Austria page) then travel by local trains
from Linz to Cesky Krumlov (2 changes of train are normally necessary,
one at the frontier and the other at Ceske Budejovice. Use
http://bahn.hafas.de to find train times from Linz to Cesky Krumlov.
Karlovy Vary: Prague-Karlovy
Vary trains take about 3 hours 15 minutes, the fare is
about 275Kc (£7).
Buying tickets
for trains within the Czech Republic:
www.eshop.cd.cz...
You can buy
tickets for train journeys wholly within the Czech Republic
online at www.eshop.cd.cz,
complete with seat reservation, at cheap Czech prices with no
booking fees. You pay online and print out your own
ticket.
Feedback from anyone who uses this system would be
welcome.
www.eshop.cd.cz will also book daytime international
trains (but not overnight sleeper trains) from Prague to
neighbouring countries, including Krakow & Warsaw, Vienna,
Budapest, Bratislava, Dresden & Berlin, also at cheap prices.
Above:
The pride of the Czech Railways, these modern
'pendolino' units operate the premium 'SuperCity' trains
linking Prague & Ostrava (the Czech Republic's second
city), also two daily trains between Prague & Vienna and
one between Prague & Bratislava. Left-hand picture
= 2nd class, centre picture = 1st class, with similar
seating, but carpeted.
Prague has two main stations, Prague Hlavni Nadrazi (main
station) & Prague Holesovice.
Prague Hlavni station...
Above: Prague's main Hlavni station, just
15 minutes walk from the historic old town...
Prague's main
Hlavni station is in the city centre, just 15 minutes walk
from Prague's historic old town and 20 minutes walk from the
famous Kings Charles Bridge. It actually has a grand
old station building, sitting on a hill overlooking the
city, but you now head downstairs from the platforms to a
modern undercroft which exits at a lower level closer to the
city, so you hardly see the old building at all.
Left luggage lockers are
available in one size that will fit a backpack or small
case but not larger suitcases. Lockers cost 60
koruna (about £2) per 24 hours, maximum permitted time 72
hours.
There are national and
international ticket windows, and major credit cards
are accepted. There's also a Wasteels travel agency
(www.wasteels.cz)
with helpful English-speaking staff, open 09:00-17:00
Mon-Fri, 09:00-16:00 Saturdays, and this can be a better
place to arrange tickets, whether national or
international. It's 1 level down from the platforms.
Toilets (10 Kr charge)
and hot showers (40 Kr charge) are available, 1
level down from the platforms.
Prague Holesovice station...
Holesovice station is just outside
the city centre, about 2km away and 3km from Prague Hlavni.
It sits astride the Berlin-Prague-Bratislava-Budapest line,
so many through trains call there as it saves them having to
head into Hlavni and reverse. You can take the metro
from Holesovice to the city centre or Hlavni station, see
the Prague official public transport site
www.dpp.cz
or (probably more useful)
www.prague.net/metro.
If you want a holiday to Prague by
train not plane, but would like someone else to organise all
the train tickets and hotels for you, several specialist
companies do just that, for a holiday with no airport hassles
or whole days in cramped coach seats on motorways.
Railbookers offer tailor-made individual holidays with
departure on any date you like, Treyn Holidays & Great Rail
Journeys both offer escorted tours with specific departure
dates.
Railbookers can
tailor-make a flight-free holiday to Prague for you, with
train travel, transfers & hotels included, for however long
you like, leaving on any date you like. For example, a
6-night holiday to Prague, Vienna & Budapest starts at £669
per person with daytime train travel by Eurostar & TGV.
See their Prague page for details.
Treyn Holidays
offers a 10-day tour to Vienna, Prague and Berlin from £795
per person, with 3* hotels and overland travel
by Eurostar, sleeper train and EuroCity trains. Check
details at
www.treynholidays.co.uk,
then book online or call 0845 402 2069.
GRJ offers
a 13-day tour to Vienna, Budapest & Prague from £1,750 or a
12-day tour to Berlin, Dresden & Prague from £1,550, with 1st class train
travel and 5* or 4* hotels.
Great Rail Journeys also offer
holidays by train to other European countries. Check
the tour details online, then call 01904 527120 to
book or use their
online
booking form.
The Thomas Cook European Timetable
The
Thomas Cook European timetable
has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency
& climate
information. Published since 1873, it costs £13.99.
It's essential for any serious traveller
and an inspiration for armchair travellers. Still
not convinced you need one? More information
on what the Thomas Cook Timetable contains. You can
buy the latest monthly edition online at
www.thomascooktimetables.com with worldwide delivery or
buy it in person from any UK branch of Thomas Cook (ask at the
bureau de change), or from W H Smiths in Victoria or Kings
Cross stations in London.
Or
buy the twice-yearly independent traveller's edition with
laminated cover from Amazon.co.uk:
Winter 2009/10
edition (Dec 2009 to June 2010)
Summer 2010 edition (June to December 2010)
The Thomas Cook Rail Map of
Europe is the best and most comprehensive
map of train routes right across Europe, from Portugal in the
west to Istanbul, Moscow & Ukraine in the east, from Finland
in the north to Sicily & Crete in the south. High speed
&
scenic routes are highlighted. Highly recommended!
Buy online
at
www.amazon.co.uk
(worldwide delivery).
See an extract from
the map.
Paying
for a guidebook may seem an unnecessary expense, but it's
probably only a tiny fraction of what you're spending on
your whole trip. You will see so much more, and know
so much more about what you're looking at, if you have a
decent guidebook. The Lonely Planets and Rough Guides
are about the best out there for independent travellers.
Both have everything you need - lots of background
historical and cultural information, lots of practical
information. You won't regret buying one! My own
book, an essential handbook for train travel to Europe based
on this website called "The
Man in Seat 61", is due to be published in June 2008, and Amazon
will let you pre-order now.
It's
easy to book hotels online to go with your train tickets, just
use the form below. This links to
www.hotelscombined.com, which is a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites for you
(including Expedia, Travelocity, LateRooms, Opodo, Venere and many
others) to find the cheapest hotel rates. Set
up in 2005, it's an amazing system and probably the best place
to start for booking any hotel online in any country,
worldwide. It saves me hours going round in circles on
umpteen different hotel sites!
www.venere.com
is definitely worth trying, as it
has a wide selection of hotels and a well-presented website.
The price you see is the price you pay, no hidden extras, and
you simply pay the hotel when you get there.
www.laterooms.com negotiates discounts for hotel rooms
booked within 3 months of travel, which makes it ideal for
train travellers booking train travel within the normal 90
days advance booking period.
www.mrandmrssmith.com (no relation!) is the place to start
if you want something special for an anniversary, honeymoon,
romantic break or other special occasion.
www.mrandmrssmith.com lists a number of hand-picked
boutique hotels in Prague.
www.tripadvisor.com
is the place to find
independent travellers' reviews of all the main hotels, and it
has the low-down on Prague's sights & attractions, too.
Backpacker hostels...
www.hostelbookers.com: If you're on a tight budget,
don't forget about backpacker hostels. Hostelbookers
offers online booking of cheap private rooms or dorm beds in
backpacker hostels in Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck and most
other European cities at rock-bottom prices.
Travel insurance, health card, SIM card
Get travel insurance..
Never go abroad without travel insurance from a
reliable insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover loss of
cash (up to a limit) and belongings, and cancellation. An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year (I have an annual policy myself). Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
If you're a
UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free
European Health Insurance Card, which entitles you to free or
reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in
many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with
the NHS. This replaced the old E111 forms
as from January 2006. The EHIC card is available from
www.ehic.org.uk. It doesn't remove the need for
travel insurance, though.
Get a pre-paid euro currency MasterCard from Caxton FX...
You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a
Caxton FX euro currency MasterCard, or indeed the
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' MasterCard.
Find out about these cards & sign up here.
Get an international SIM card...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, but if you
buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company
such as
www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85%. It
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also allows cheap data access for laptops
& PDAs. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.
If you live in the UK, get quotes from
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the
EU, see
If you live in the USA or Canada, see
