UK citizens don't need a visa to visit Romania
for up to 90 days.
Page last
updated:
10 January 2012. Train times valid from 11
December 2011 to 9 June 2012.
London to Braşov & Bucharest
by train
Above: Bran Castle, Brasov, Transylvania.
Built in 1212, it was used by Vlad Tepes (Vlad the
Impaler), the inspiration for Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'...
Photo courtesy of Bryan Dawe.
In Bram Stokers Dracula, young lawyer Jonathan Harker
travels from London to Transylvania by train. You too
can travel by train from London to Draculas castle at
Brasov and across the scenic Carpathian mountains to
Bucharest ('Bucureşti' in Romanian). This section explains train times, fares &
how to buy tickets.
Day 1, travel from Paris to Munich
overnight by the City Night Line sleeper train
'Cassiopeia', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est daily at 20:05 (20:20 at weekends) and arriving in
Munich at 07:10 next morning. It has sleeping-cars (1, 2 & 3 bed compartments,
standard with washbasin or deluxe with shower),
4 & 6-berth couchettes & ordinary seats, see the photos & information
below or
click for
more pictures & information about this City Night
Line train.
Day 2, travel from Budapest to Bucharest overnight on
the EuroNight sleeper train 'Ister',
leaving Budapest at
19:10 and arriving Sighişoara
at 06:07, Braşov at 08:19, Ploeşti 10:18 and
Bucharest at 11:00 next morning (day 3). The 'Ister'
has a modern air-conditioned sleeping car (1, 2
or 3-bed standard sleepers with washbasin, 1, 2 or 3 bed
deluxe sleepers with toilet & shower) and
4 & 6-berth couchettes. A bed in the sleeper is
the recommended option, see the photos below. The Ister should have a restaurant car for dinner & breakfast (euros,
lei & forints accepted), but the
restaurant isn't always attached, so take some
provisions yourself. Enjoy the
descent through the wonderful Alpine scenery of the
Carpathian mountains between Brasov and Bucharest.
'Ister' is the ancient name for the River Danube.
Bucharest & Braşov
► London
Day 1, travel from Bucharest to
Budapest
overnight on the EuroNight sleeper train 'Ister', leaving
Bucharest at 19:00, Ploeşti at 19:41, Braşov at
21:41
& Sighişoara at 23:59,
arriving Budapest Keleti station at 08:50 next morning.
The 'Ister' has a modern air-conditioned Romanian
sleeping-car (1, 2
or 3-bed standard sleepers with washbasin, 1, 2 or 3 bed
deluxe sleepers with toilet & shower) and couchettes (4 &
6-berth). A bed in the sleeper is the
recommended option, see the photos below. A
brand-new design of sleeping-car, also offering some
deluxe compartments with private toilet & shower may now
operate some or all departures. The Ister should
have a restaurant car for dinner & breakfast (euros, lei
& forints accepted), but the restaurant isn't always
attached, so take some provisions yourself. Spend the morning in Budapest.
Day 2, travel from Budapest to Munich by
air-conditioned 'RailJet' train, leaving Budapest Keleti
station at 13:10
and arriving in Munich Hauptbahnhof at 20:34. A
bar-bistro car is
available, so treat yourself to lunch!
More pictures &
information about this RailJet train.
Day 2, travel from Munich to Paris overnight by
the City Night Line sleeper train 'Cassiopeia', leaving
Munich Hauptbahnhof daily at 22:47 and arriving at Paris
Gare de l'Est 09:24 next morning. The train has ordinary seats, couchettes (6-berth
& 4-berth) and
sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-bed rooms, deluxe with shower or standard
with washbasin).
More
pictures & information about this City Night Line train.
Walk from the Gare de l'Est to the Gare du Nord.
Day 3, travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord at
11:13 and arriving London St Pancras at 12:30.
From Paris
to Munich by City Night Line sleeper train...
The Paris-Munich overnight train is one of the German Railway's excellent
City Night Line sleeper trains. Called the
'Cassiopeia', it has modern 'Comfortline' sleeping-cars
with 1, 2 & 3-berth deluxe rooms with private shower and
toilet, 1, 2 &
3-berth standard rooms with washbasin. There is a shower at
the end of the corridor for passengers in standard rooms,
and all rooms have power-points for laptop computers.
The train has
modern air-conditioned couchette cars, choose between a berth in a 4 or 6-berth compartment.
There are also ordinary seats (not recommended).
Inclusive fares are charged covering travel plus
sleeping accommodation. The sleeping-car fare includes
a light breakfast. More
pictures & information about this train.
Travel tip: For a good meal in a classic
Parisian brasserie before boarding the sleeper train in
Paris, catch the earlier 14:04 Eurostar & dine at the
Brasserie Terminus Nord directly across the road
from the Gare du Nord. For a cooked breakfast in
Munich or evening meal before boarding the Paris-bound
sleeper on your return, try the typically Bavarian
Mongdratzerl restaurant, located in the hauptbahnhof
itself.
1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper:
The most comfortable & civilised option, with proper
beds & washbasin.
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...
"Night train to Munich": The
'Comfortline' sleeping-car of the Paris to Munich
sleeper train boarding at Paris Gare de l'Est...
RailJet is
Austria's brand-new high-speed train, linking Munich, Vienna
& Budapest. It will soon also link Zurich, Innsbruck &
Vienna. Designed to run at up to 230km/h (143 mph) on
sections of upgraded track, it currently reaches 200km/h on part of
the route, but in other parts snakes around beautiful
scenery at a more sedate pace. Look out for great
views of Salzburg citadel & castle on the right as you cross
the river Salzach approaching Salzburg. RailJet has
three classes, Economy (2nd class), First (1st class), and
Premium (25 euro supplement over normal first class).
It has a bistro car providing drinks, snacks and hot dishes,
which are served on proper china at your seat in first and
premium classes. TV screens in each car tell you the
train's speed & location, with a list of next station stops
and times. A great way to travel.
More pictures &
information about this RailJet train.
"The RailJet has landed..."
The morning RailJet train from Munich has arrived spot
on time at Budapest's historic Keleti station...
Premium class costs
25 euros more than normal 1st class...
Economy class on
RailJet, comfortable open saloons with large picture
windows. Some seats are arranged around tables,
some are unidirectional.
From
Budapest to Bucharest on the EuroNight sleeper train Ister...
The 'Ister'
from Budapest to Brasov & Bucharest has a smart
modern air-conditioned
Romanian sleeping-car with carpeted 1, 2 or 3-berth
compartments
with proper beds & washbasin, plus several
'deluxe' 1, 2 or 3 bed compartments with private toilet
& shower, see the photos below.
Travelling in the sleeping-car is safe, comfortable &
civilised. The Ister also has a Romanian
couchette car with 6-berth & 4-berth compartments, providing
seats by day which convert to bunks for night time use
with rug, sheet & pillow. Couchettes are fairly basic, and a
proper bed in the sleeper is much more comfortable
and secure yet costs very little extra, so is the
recommended option. The Ister also has several
air-conditioned seats cars, but an ordinary seat is not recommended.
There's a modern Romanian restaurant car on most
departures, serving dinner and a cooked breakfast, but
taking some supplies of your own is always a good idea.
Deluxe sleeper... The en suite toilet &
shower in a deluxe sleeper from Budapest to
Bucharest. Photo courtesy of Andy Brabin.
A sleeper set up as a
single-berth
compartment with the middle & top berths folded away against the
wall. Photo courtesy of Andy
Brabin.
The Budapest-Bucharest 'Ister': This is the
train's modern air-conditioned Romanian sleeping-car.
The letters above the windows say 'Voiture-Lits -
Sleeping-car - Carrozza Letti - Vagon de Dormit'...
Welcome to your hotel on rails: Some compartments have an en suite toilet &
shower! Photo courtesy of Andy Brabin.
How much does it cost?
Each train is ticketed separately, so just add up the
price for each leg of the journey...
* If you have children aged 4- 5 or 12-14,
please read this note
before booking the City Night Line sleeper train.
Savings fare =
cheap fare, price varies, limited availability, no refunds
or changes to travel plans.
Full price =
fully flexible, refundable, buy any time.
Youth fares:
25% off full price (not Savings
fares) using
www.raileurope.co.uk
if you're under 26, but Savings fares usually cheaper!
Senior fares:
20% off full price (not Savings
fares) using
www.raileurope.co.uk
if you're over 60, but Savings fares usually cheaper!
3. Munich to Budapest
by RailJet
Economy class special fare from 39 euro (£33) one-way or
78 euro (£66) return
Economy class full price 105 euro (£91) one-way, 210
euro (£182) return.
First class special fare from 69 euro (£60) one-way or
138 euro (£120) return
If you want to stop off in Vienna, you'll need to buy
separate Munich-Vienna & Vienna-Budapest tickets.
Munich-Vienna special fares start at 29 euro (£25) each
way, Vienna to Budapest is around £25 each way.
4. Budapest to Bucharest
Booked in the UK:
£87
each way in 6-berth couchettes, £95 each way in 4-berth
couchettes.
£99
each way in 3-bed sleeper, £112 in 2-bed sleeper, £198
in single sleeper.
£162 each way in
2-bed deluxe sleeper with shower, £209 in single-bed
deluxe.
All per person, berths sold individually, you don't need
to fill the whole compartment.
Bought at the
station in Budapest, Budapest-Bucharest is about 65
euros
one-way, 130 euros return. For a
couchette, add 12 euros per night, or for a
more comfortable and secure sleeper, add about 30 euros
for a bed in a 3-bed sleeper, 45 euros for a bed in a
2-bed.
You can book
from London as far as Budapest online, although
Budapest-Bucharest needs to be booked by phone.
You may of course prefer to book all your tickets together
by phone, but at least you can go online and see what fares
area available for your dates of travel for the
London-Budapest part of the journey!
Step 1,
go to
www.raileurope.co.uk
, and book the sleeper from Paris
to Munich.
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-Munich sleeper
train first and double-check arrival and departure times before
booking the Eurostar connection, in case times vary from the
ones shown above.
Step 2, after booking
the Paris-Munich sleeper train, add it to your basket & click 'continue shopping'.
Now book
the Eurostar from London to Paris and back. Use the recommended Eurostar times above as a guide,
but 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, you can
also book the train from Budapest to Bucharest & back online
at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
if you're happy with a mere couchette eastbound and a bed in
a 3-bed sleeper westbound, as it only seems to offer 6-berth
couchettes or 2-bed sleepers eastbound, 3-berth & 2 berth
sleepers westbound, not the full range of accommodation.
In 6-berth couchettes or 3-berth sleepers, Rail Europe's
prices are similar to or slightly lower than the prices
charged by German Railways' UK office, making online booking
a good option. However, for 2-bed sleepers the French
system still assumes you need a 1st class ticket even though
that's no longer the case on this route, so charges £142
instead of the correct £118. So the best way to book
this train if you want a sleeper (the recommended option) is
to book by phone, calling
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open
09:00-20:00 Mon-Fri, 09:00-13:00 Sat & Sun).
Step 4, now go to the German
Railways website
www.bahn.de, use the journey planner to bring
up the connecting Munich-Budapest Railjet train 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. I recommend
registering when it asks you before completing the purchase,
so you can easily make the next booking.
Top tip:
If you wanted to stop off in Vienna for (say) a day, when
booking the Munich to Budapest train at bahn.de simply look
for the 'Via (1)' box and enter 'Vienna', then enter '24:00'
in the 'hh:mm stopover' box. It'll then book you a 24
hour stopover in Vienna, but still let you buy a cheap 39
euro fare from Munich to Budapest (if it's available,
obviously). You can even spend a few hours in Salzburg
on the way as well, by entering 'Salzburg' in the via box
and (say) '04:00' in the stopover box, then clicking 'add
another stopover' and entering 'Vienna' & '24:00'. All
still for 39 euro!
Sometimes
www.raileurope.co.uk
has the cheapest fares for the
Paris-Munich sleeper, sometimes
www.bahn.de
is cheaper, so it's worth checking both sites.
If you book the Paris-Munich 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
Munich 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 euro, 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,
now use the journey planner to bring
up the connecting Munich-Budapest Railjet train shown in the train
times above, and buy the ticket. It will show if any
cheap special fares are available. You simply print
out your own Online Ticket.
Top tip:
If you want to stop off in Vienna for (say) a day, when
booking the Munich to Budapest train at bahn.de simply look
for the 'Via (1)' box and enter 'Vienna', then enter '24:00'
in the 'hh:mm stopover' box. It'll then book you a 24
hour stopover in Vienna, but still let you buy a cheap 39
euro fare from Munich to Budapest (if it's available,
obviously). You can even spend a few hours in Salzburg
on the way as well, by entering 'Salzburg' in the via box
and (say) '04:00' in the stopover box, then clicking 'add
another stopover' and entering 'Vienna' & '24:00'. All
still for 39 euros!
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 collected at the station.
Step 4, if you're happy with a mere couchette eastbound and
a bed in a 3-bed sleeper westbound, you can book the
Budapest to Bucharest train online at
www.raileurope.co.uk.
However it only seems to offer 6-berth couchettes or 2-bed
sleepers eastbound, 3-berth & 2 berth sleepers westbound,
not the full range of accommodation. In 6-berth
couchettes or 3-berth sleepers, Rail Europe's prices are
similar to or slightly lower than those charged by German
Railways' UK office, making online booking a good option.
However, for 2-bed sleepers the French system still assumes
you need a 1st class ticket even though that's no longer the
case on this route, so it charges £142 instead of the
correct £118. So the best way to book this train if
you want a sleeper is to book by phone by calling
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open
09:00-20:00 Mon-Fri, 09:00-13:00 Sat & Sun).
New! Buy tickets the easy way from europeanrail.com...
Open this special booking form, edit it to your own
specific requirements, save it to your PC then email it to
European Rail in London. They will call you back with
a confirmed price which you can then accept or decline,
paying over the phone by credit card if you accept.
European Rail staff are familiar with making bookings like
this, and use the German Railways reservation & ticketing
system, the same as DB's UK office. A £35 booking fee
applies.
How to buy tickets by phone...
If
you'd prefer to book by phone, just 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 Mon-Fri,
09:00-13:00 Saturdays, £35 booking fee).
Tailor-made train travel + hotel arrangements...
If you want a compete tailor-made
trip with all your rail travel expertly booked for you and
good quality hotels arranged, UK residents can call
www.railbookers.com on 020 3327 0761. US
residents can call them on (646) 770 2894 (please
quote seat61) and Canadian residents on (416) 800 0732
(please quote 'seat61'). Australian residents can call
their Australian office,
www.railbookers.com.au on 02 8096 0550.
Just tell them what you want, and they'll advise you on the
best trains, routes & hotels and sort it all out for you,
hassle-free. They get very positive reviews and take
good care of their guests.
Option 2, London - Romania via
Brussels & Vienna...
London ► Bucharest
Day 1: Travel
from London to Brussels by
Eurostar,
leaving London St Pancras at 12:57, arriving in
Brussels Midi at 16:05.
Day 1: Travel from Brussels to Cologne by high-speed
Thalys
train, leaving Brussels
Midi at 17:28 and arriving in
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 19:15.
Day 1: Travel
from Cologne to Vienna by EuroNight sleeper train, leaving
Cologne Hauptbahnhof at 20:05 and arriving in Vienna
Westbahnhof at 08:52 next morning. This Austrian
Railways sleeper train has
sleeping-cars (1, 2 & 3-berth deluxe sleepers with shower, 1
& 2-berth standard sleepers with washbasin), couchettes
(4 & 6 berth compartments) & ordinary seats. The train travels along the famous Rhine
Valley between Koblenz and Frankfurt, so if you are in
a sleeper and your compartment happens to be on the
left-hand side of the train, switch off the lights and
watch the Rhine pass by, mountains and castles lit by
moonlight, while sipping a glass of Riesling.
Wonderful!
More pictures & information about this EuroNight train.
You then have
a choice:
Option 1, runs 12 December to 11 January & 17 June
to 1 October only: Spend the day in
Vienna and travel direct from Vienna to Bucharest on the
'Dacia Express'. The Dacia Express runs daily from
12 December 2011 to 11 January 2012 and from 17 June to
1 October 2012, leaving Vienna at
19:54 and arriving next morning in Simeria 07:09, Alba Iulia
08:12, Sighişoara
10:12, Braşov 12:26, Ploeşti 14:23 and
Bucharest ('Bucureşti' in Romanian) at 15:05 (all day
3 from London). The Dacia
Express has an Austrian or Romanian sleeping car with
1, 2 & 3-berth
rooms (the recommended option), 6-berth couchettes and ordinary seats. A restaurant car is available for breakfast
and lunch, so treat yourself! The Dacia Express will give you excellent
daytime views of
the scenery through Transylvania
and across the Carpathian mountains between Braşov and
Ploeşti.
Option
2, daily all year round: You can
get to Bucharest sooner by
changing in Budapest. Take a
Railjet train from
Vienna to Budapest, leaving Vienna at 09:54 and
arriving in Budapest at 12:49. Change at Budapest
onto the EuroNight train 'Ister' leaving Budapest at
19:10 and arriving Sighişoara
at 06:07, Braşov at 08:19, Ploeşti 10:18 and
Bucharest at 11:00 next morning. The 'Ister' has
a modernised
air-conditioned sleeping car with 1, 2 or 3-bed
compartments (the recommended option) and 4 & 6-bunk
couchettes. It normally has a Romanian restaurant car,
but not always.
Bucharest ► London
You
also have a choice for the return journey:
Option 1, runs 11 December to 10 January & 16 June
to 30 September only: Travel
direct from Bucharest to Vienna on the 'Dacia Express',
leaving Bucharest Nord at 14:30, Ploeşti 15:11, Braşov
17:10, Sighişoara 19:28, Alba Iulia
21:21, Simeria 22:28 and arriving Vienna at 08:14 the
following morning. An Austrian or Romanian
sleeping-car (1, 2 & 3-bed rooms, recommended) and
couchettes (6-bunk) area available. A restaurant
car is available for dinner and breakfast.
Option
2, daily all year round: Leave Bucharest Nord
at 19:00, Ploeşti at 19:41, Braşov at
21:41
& Sighişoara at 23:59 on the EuroNight train 'Ister',
with modernised air-conditioned Romanian sleeping-cars (1, 2
& 3-bed rooms) and couchettes
(6-berth) available, arriving Budapest at 08:50 next
morning. Change trains in Budapest, leaving
Budapest at 11:10 by
Railjet train arriving in Vienna at
14:00.
Travel from
Vienna to Cologne by daily EuroNight sleeper train, leaving Vienna
Westbahnhof at 19:48 and arriving at Cologne at 08:42 next morning.
This modern Austrian sleeper train has a sleeping-car (1
& 2 berth sleepers with washbasin plus two 1, 2 or 3
berth deluxe sleepers with private shower & toilet), couchettes
(4-berth & 6-berth) & ordinary seats.
The sleeper & couchette fares include a light
breakfast with tea or coffee in the morning, served as
the
train runs along the Rhine Valley in the morning, past
castles and the legendary Lorelei Rock.
Click for
more pictures & information about this EuroNight train.
Travel from Cologne to Brussels by high speed
ICE
train, leaving Cologne at 11:43 and arriving
Brussels Midi
13:35.
Travel
from Brussels to London by
Eurostar,
leaving
Brussels
Midi at 14:56 (14:52 at weekends) arriving London St Pancras at
16:03.
Introducing the Austrian Railways EuroNight train from Cologne to
Vienna...
This was originally a City Night Line train, but
from 13 December 2009 it will become an
Austrian Railways (ΦBB) 'EuroNight' sleeper train,
with sleeping-car, couchettes & seats. The
sleeping-car has very compact 1 & 2 bed
compartments with washbasin, plus two deluxe
compartments (still very compact) with 1 or 2 beds
plus private shower & toilet. The
sleeper berths come fully made up with sheets and
duvets, and all sleeper passengers get mineral
water in the evening and a light breakfast served
in their compartment next morning. Towels & toiletries are
provided, including shampoo and shower gel in the
deluxe sleepers. In the more economical
couchettes, you can book a couchette in a cheaper
6-berth compartment or a less-crowded 4-berth
compartment. Couchette passengers get
a small bottle of mineral water, and each couchette is provided with sheet, blanket and pillow. When waiting for
the northbound sleeper train at Vienna
Westbahnhof, if you have a sleeper ticket (as
opposed to couchette or seat ticket), you can use
the first class ΦBB Club Lounge, with
complimentary drinks.
1 or 2 bed sleeper:
The most comfortable option. Standard
sleepers have a washbasin, deluxe sleepers a private shower & toilet.
4 & 6-berth couchettes:
The economy option, ideal for families. Couchettes are basic padded
bunks with rug & pillow. This is a 6-berth
couchette.
Above: The
Austrian sleeping-car or 'schlafwagen'.
Sleeper & couchette
passengers receive a complimentary light breakfast
with tea or coffee in the morning.
From
Vienna to Bucharest on the 'Dacia Express'...
The 'Dacia
Express'
from Vienna to Brasov & Bucharest has a comfortable
Romanian sleeping-car with carpeted 1, 2 or 3-bed
compartments
with proper beds & washbasin, see the photos below.
Bought second-hand from German Railways, these sleepers
are safe, comfortable & civilised. There's even a
shower at the end of the corridor, although water
pressure & temperature might not be brilliant,
assuming
it works! The Dacia Express also has one Romanian
couchette car with 4 & 6-bunk compartments. The couchettes have compartments with 6 seats by day which convert to bunks
for night time use with rug, sheet and pillow
supplied. Couchettes are fairly basic, and a
proper bed in the sleeper is much more comfortable
and secure yet costs very little extra, so is the
recommended option. The Dacia Express also has several
air-conditioned seats cars, but making this journey in
an ordinary seat is not recommended.
Above: The
Dacia Express about to leave Vienna for Bucharest.
the Romanian sleeping-car attendant greets
passengers at the door...
A 2-berth sleeper with
washbasin on the Vienna-Bucharest 'Dacia Express'...
A Romanian 4 or 6 berth couchette compartment on the
Dacia Express...
How much
does it cost?
1. London to
Cologne
by
Eurostar + Thalys:
Fares for Eurostar+ICE start at 49 euros (£43)
each way.
Fares
for Eurostar+Thalys start at £53 one-way (£39
London-Brussels + £14 Brussels-Cologne)
or £97 return (£69 London-Brussels +
£28 Brussels-Cologne).
Fares vary like
air fares, so book in advance to get the cheapest
prices.
Savings fares for children slightly lower than adult
Savings fares, child full fare 50-60% of adult
normal fare
Child
under 6 without own berth:
Child under 6 sharing a berth travels free...
* Savings fares =
Special cheap fares, book in advance, limited availability,
no refunds, no changes to travel plans.
Normal fare = fully flexible, refundable,
buy any time.
3. Vienna to
Budapest:
£24 one-way, £48 return 2nd class
£38
one-way, £76 return 1st class
4. Budapest
to Bucharest:
£69
each way in 6-bunk couchettes, £74 each way in 4-bunk
couchettes
£80
each way in 3-bed sleeper, £91 each way in 2-bed sleeper
(all per person)
Alternatively:
3. Vienna
to Bucharest
by Dacia Express:
At the station or through DB's UK office you may be able
to find fares from
£80 one-way, £160 return, including a comfortable
berth in a 3-bed sleeper. You can book online
at www.raileurope.co.uk
although here you'll pay the international tariff, £88
one-way, £176 return with a couchette, or £112 each way with a berth in a 3-bed sleeper,
£163 each way with a bed in a 2-bed sleeper.
Ask about reductions if you are over 60 or under 26. You might want to consider a Eurail,
InterRail, or selection of Eurodomino railpasses for this
journey, although sleeper or couchette supplements will need
to be paid in addition to buying the pass.
Braşov is 12km from
the skiing resort of Poiana Braşov, and starting point for
trips to Castle Bran - Dracula's castle..!
How to buy tickets online...
First, the easy bit from London to Vienna and back.
The best and cheapest way to book this part of this trip is online,
because there's no booking fee and all the special offers
are there for you to see.
It involves two websites, so do a dry run on both
sites to check prices and availability before booking
for real. Here's how:
Step 1,
go to
www.raileurope.co.uk
and using the train times on this page as a guide, buy a combined
Eurostar+Thalys ticket from London to Cologne. On the
Rail Europe home page,
simply enter 'London', 'Cologne' and your dates of travel.
The further ahead you book, the more likely you are to see
the cheapest fares. Tickets can be posted to any UK
address.
Obviously, remember that your return date of travel from
Cologne to London will be the day after your
departure date from Vienna.
Bookings for Eurostar+Thalys open 90 days (3 months) before
departure.
Step 2,
go to
www.bahn.de and buy a ticket from Cologne
(Kφln in German) to Vienna aboard the direct EuroNight train,
looking for the cheapest fares.
Your simply book online and print out your own ticket in
.PDF format using your PC printer. Easy! Make
sure you select the type of couchette or sleeper that you
want. Bookings open 90 days (3
months) before departure. I recommend registering when
it asks you before completing the purchase, so you can
easily retrieve any bookings.
Now the trickier bit, from Vienna on to Bucharest.
You can book the Dacia Express
from Vienna direct to Bucharest and back again, online at
www.raileurope.co.uk.
Enter 'Vienna' (select 'Vienna (AT) if prompted) and
'Bucharest' (select 'Bucharest (RO) if prompted)
. Enter
your dates of travel, remembering that your
departure date from Vienna will be the day after your
departure from London.
You may find cheaper fares
available if you book your Vienna-Bucharest ticket by phone
with
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open
09:00-17:00 Mon-Fri).
Unfortunately, you can't book tickets on the
Budapest-Bucharest 'Ister' online, so Vienna-Bucharest
journeys involving a change in Budapest must be booked by
phone, also with Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open
09:00-17:00 Mon-Fri).
New! Buy tickets the easy way from europeanrail.com...
Open this special booking form, edit it to your own
specific requirements, save it to your PC then email it to
European Rail in London. They will call you back with
a confirmed price which you can then accept or decline,
paying over the phone by credit card if you accept.
European Rail staff are familiar with making bookings like
this, and use the German Railways reservation & ticketing
system, the same as DB's UK office. A £35 booking fee
applies.
How to buy
tickets by phone...
You
may prefer to book the whole journey by phone. The
best agencies to call for this trip are either
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines
open 09:00-20:00 Mon-Fri, 09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no booking fee,
2% credit card charge, no charge for debit cards), www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00 Mon-Fri,
09:00-13:00 Saturdays, £35 booking fee), or Ffestiniog
Travel on 01766 772050 (8% booking fee). Click
here for a list of
agencies and other useful information on how to book.
Tailor-made train travel + hotel arrangements...
If you want a compete tailor-made
trip with all your rail travel expertly booked for you and
good quality hotels arranged, UK residents can call
www.railbookers.com on 020 3327 0761. US
residents can call them on (646) 770 2894 (please
quote seat61) and Canadian residents on (416) 800 0732
(please quote 'seat61'). Australian residents can call
their Australian office,
www.railbookers.com.au on 02 8096 0550.
Just tell them what you want, and they'll advise you on the
best trains, routes & hotels and sort it all out for you,
hassle-free. They get very positive reviews and take
good care of their guests.
To
arrange train tickets & reservations on trains within Romania by e-mail, try
the Wasteels travel agency at Bucharest Nord station, who have been
reported as providing 'first class service' by seat61 correspondents. Their website
is now
www.triptkts.ro, you can contact them through their website.
They are located inside Bucharest Gara de Nord. Tel +40 21 300 2730
or +40 21 317 0370, open 10:00-18:00 Monday-Friday.
They also have an office at Brasov station, +40 368 22 80 01,
also open 10:00-18:00 Monday-Friday.
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/Spring 2011/12 edition (Dec 2011 to June 2012) or
(when available)
Summer/Autumn 2012 edition (June to Dec 2012)
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.
You
should take a good guidebook. For the independent traveller,
this means either the Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide. Both
series are excellent. The Lonely Planet range offers an in-depth
guide for Romania or a guide covering all the countries in Eastern
Europe. You won't regret buying one..!
www.hotelscombined.com
is probably the best hotel search system I've seen, a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites (Opodo, Expedia,
Booking.com, Hotels.com, AsiaRooms, Travelocity, LateRooms and
others) to find the cheapest hotel rates. Set up in
2005, it's probably the best place to start for booking any
hotel online in any country, worldwide.
Other hotel sites
worth trying...
www.tripadvisor.com
is a good place to find independent travellers' reviews of the
main hotels, and it has the low-down on destination sights &
attractions, too.
www.booking.com is my own preferred hotel booking system
(Hotels Combined being a search/comparison system). It
has a simple interface, a good selection in most countries
worldwide, useful online customer reviews of each hotel, and
decent prices, usually shown inclusive of unavoidable extras
such as taxes (a pet hate of mine is systems that show one
price, then charge you another!).
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 Copenhagen and most
other European cities at rock-bottom prices.
Travel insurance & health card...
Get travel insurance, it's essential...
Never travel without insurance from a
reliable travel 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).
Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed
connection, but European international rail conditions of
carriage (known as the 'CIV') contain consumer protection
provisions that entitle you to travel forward by the next
available train if you miss a connection because of a delay to
the first train, irrespective of who operates which train, and
even if your ticket is in theory train-specific and
non-changeable.
Feedback from using
insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome. 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 spare credit card, one designed for foreign travel with no currency
exchange loading & low or no ATM fees...
It costs nothing to take out an extra credit card.
If you keep it in a different part of your luggage so you're
not left stranded if
your wallet gets stolen, this is a form of extra travel insurance in itself. In addition,
some credit cards are significantly better for
overseas travel than others. Martin Lewis's
www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which
UK credit cards
have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something
overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when
you use an ATM abroad. Taking this advice
can save you quite a lot on each trip compared to using your
normal high-street bank credit card! You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a
Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or indeed the
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card,
find out about these cards & sign up here.
Get an international SIM card
to save on mobile data and phone calls...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're
not careful you can return home to find some huge bills
waiting for you. I've known people run up over £1,000 in
data charges just by leaving their iPhone connected during a
simple trip to Europe. However, 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% and
limit any damage to the amount you have pre-paid. Go-Sim
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.
Backpacker hostels...
In
the UK, try
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the
EU, try
If you live in the USA or Canada, try
