Vienna Travel Answers

We wish you great travel Wien ---> Krakow :-) Matt + Urszula.

I'm definitely interested!! Thank you Matt for posting

Hi Matt + Urszula, I'm interested :) but need to be sure until April 5 because my friend is going to Wien and will buy me a ticket :)

well, just to tell you my experiences with "Sparschiene" Vienna-Krakow: The tickets for 29 euro were sold out immedialetely For the morningtrain at 07.33am I still got 4 tickets of 39 euros each, (and those tickets are sold already to some Vt-ers) + 3,50 euro per seat-reservation, that should be included according to the ÖBB-webpage but when I was there it was extra !;-(( What I could see at the computer at the station is that by march 10th there were only 4 tickets for 49 euro + 3,50 each left for that morning train at 07.33am on may 27th, they might be gone already now ! --- there is a nightrain as well that arrives next morning and an afternoon-train,that arrives after 10.00pm BUT I did not check any of them, maybe they still have some Sparschiene. --- In a way such a Taxi/bus might make sense for those of you who were not lucky to get a Sparschiene-ticket !

Thanks a lot, Michael. Isa and Yana and others, If I were you... I would like to stop for say 1.5 hour and visit/see one small place (a castle or a small town) in either Slovakia or Czech Republic on the way from Wien to Krakow (+ maybe taste some local food always less expensive than in Wien - you may use your credit card to pay for it). And I would be ready to pay a bit more for that (well, I mean cost of parking and additional time of the driver) and I would accept say 8-hour travel (with 1.5-2 hours break in the middle) instead of 6-hour. Believe me, it's worth your additional time and cost. If you departure at 9.30 a.m. from Wien you should be at your Krakow's hotel at about 5.30 p.m. It's enough time for preparing for Welcome to Krakow Evening (starts at 8:00 p.m.) and probably even for early registration (6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.) at Unikat Bed and Breakfast. What do you think? Let me add that I didn't ask whether the van goes through Czech Republic or through Slovakia (it maybe different in price as motorways in both countries are paid in different way and they for sure chose the less expensive option). If there are more people (at least 6-8 as you said) I will ask them. Matt.

It is nice option Matt, but my plan in the bus or train was sleeping :) As my plane will depart from Moscow at 5 am so due to trafic reasons I will need to leave my home at 3 am, but maybe I can sleep before stop and after stop :)))

I hate to be a killjoy but this isn't an appropriate posting for "Travel". I know you guys have put a lot of effort into planning the Krakow meet. BUT this looks like some of the spam stuff that we get annoyed with here on this forum. It belongs on the meet page or on Misc. So I'm reporting it as such. Let's not encourage spammers.

am interested in the return journey from krakow to vienna,so if anyone is interested in sharing a vehicle,please let me know.

Thanks Matt, I would be interested in the van from Vienna to Krakow. I am leaving my schedule flexible the few days in Vienna before heading up to Krakow. (John-how is this spam? - we are using this as a communications board, sharing information....) See you all in Krakow, Karl

@johngayton In my opinion this is definitely NO spam, it is about travel ! And all the answers we get here are about this travel as well. And in a certain way YOUR answer here is the only Non-travel-related answer so far ! Maybe it would have been more clever to ask with a silly question like: >>

Michael am I right that I cannot buy ticket in internet from Wien to Krakow? And I can do it only in railway station? It is very strange as even in Russia you can buy train tickets online :-O

For Italy and most other european destinations "Sparschiene-tickets" can be bought online, BUT not for Poland, you actually have to go to the station or maybe a travelagent !

I works similar in Poland. You can usually buy international train tickets to many EU countries online, but NEVER to Belarus, Ukraine or Russia :-(((. You have to use some Russian pages (travelagents) to buy online tickets inside Ukraine/Russia/Belarus as I know. Hugs, Matt.

No Matt, you can buy tickets on official Russian rail road site (but you should know Russian :))) to all local trains and all international trains starting in Russia... But it is not possible to buy ticket from Europe to Russia on their site

Thanks, Matt. I will be travelling from Bratislava to Krakow. I have heard there is a van/bus that leaves every day in the morning and will get me there by the afternoon. I will probably have to arrange this in advance.

Hi Ed I now remember you told this but I'm not sure I ever replied your email... sorry if I didn't. Your option sounds sensible if visiting Bratislava, but I could not find any info online about this van service. I may not go to Bratislava, it looks too far away for a daytrip. If going by private van from Vienna to Krakow I'd love to break the trip and have lunch somewhere nice in the middle of the trip as suggested by Matt

Ed I was looking for day bus from Bratislava to Krakow, but couldn't find any. I found only eurolines night bus which arrives to Krakow very early in the morning. If you will find any info please let me know :)

Forgive me for posting this link here, but: lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/t... Elite Tours--Bratislava bus station , 30 Euros, departs 10 AM, arrives 4:30 PM.

Ed thank you... but seems it is early for me, I wanted to see the town, so better I take night train

hi Ed, I had a look at this link and this lady gave that link in 2007, so maybe its all different today. www.elitetours.at they are a wellknown buscompany in Austria and on May 27th there is in fact a 4daytour starting from Vienna to Krakow, but includes 3 nights in a hotel and is about 210 euros. They have a regular bus to diff. spas in Hungary but not to Krakow, at least not in their austrian webpage ! regular bustrips are quite common in the former eastblock, BUT I doubt that they would use austrian buses then !

They answered my e-mail yesterday and said they no longer run from Bratislava to Krakow. I'm sure I'll be able to find other means of transportation though.

Who ever can arrange a small bus or shuttle from Vienna to Krakow gets a free beer from me. I won't have time to help in arranging this until after April 15, but I will be there in spirit. Best regards all, karl

There are scheduled day and night buses from Wien to Krakow (and back) run by Eurolines Polska. As I know, it's a quite large and reliable company. You can book and buy their tickets online. Look, please here: eurolinespolska.pl/index.php... The buses departure from "dworzec autobusowy" (bus terminal) VIB Erdberg, Erdbergstrasse 200 in Wien. The buses arrive to "Dworzec RDA, ul. Bosacka 18, płyta górna, stan. G8" that means "Bus Terminal RDA; 18, Bosacka Street; upper level; bus stand G8" - it's located just behind Krakow Glowny Main Railway Station located at northeastern edge of the historic center (to get to downtown as well as city trams/buses/taxis take a lift or go downstairs to lower level and take underground passage across the Railway Station). The bus cost (one way) 128 or 150 PLN per person (ca 32 or 37.5 euros) and the jorney takes about 7 and half hour in total, 50% discount for children up to the age of 12 and others (students with ISIC cards etc.) You are very, very welcome to Krakow and Poland :-))). Do enjoy and keep smiling, please :-))). Matt + Urszula! WOW!

HHmmm it seems to me that it is the same bus and it stops in Bratislava… Matt what is the difference between tickets for 128 and for 150 pln? Do you have any idea if I can leave my language in the bus station or in railway station? And what can I do till my hotel will be open? Haha it seems I will have 2 sunrise tours instead of 1 :)

I am not sure, but I think that there is no difference between tickets for 128 and 150 PLN: 128 PLN is just their promotional price (-15% discount) available up to 3 days prior to departure. Well, you can surely leave your luggage in a locker at railway station. My other idea is to ask staff at the reception of Unikat B&B to allow a few people including you (even if you don't stay there but close) to leave luggage at the reception there (it's too early to wake anyone from VT, I suppose :-). What do you think? Hugs, Matt.

I saw these buses, but their schedule is crazy! I hoped there was a transport at more "civilized" times, not even worse than train... If there is not enough people to hire a private van, and no other possibility I guess I'd go for the train. Lets count, people interested on hiring a van, please raise hands!! - Karl - Yana?? - Isa ... anyone else???

You do a great job Matt! but if railway station is close then it is ok to spend few euro and leave lagguage there, haha maybe it is better to go by train if I can buy cheap ticket... I hope we will have enough people to fill the VT minibus from Wien, but as I understand some of them already bought train ticket

yes yes I will go if there will be enough people... but if not I would prefer to go to Bratislava and from Bratislava to Krakow by bus or train. I have used Eurolines buses from Budapest to Wien and all of them were bew at comfortable, if to choose between cheapest seat in the train and bus I think bus is better. If to choose between sleeping seat in the train for 65 EURO and bus then train is better, but this price seems too expencive for me.

I will keep things completely open. I we can do the bus, then that is great. If not I will join Michael et al on the early train from Vienna to Krakow even if it costs me a little more. Thanks for everyone's effort. Karl

If you look at a map, to get to Krakow you must drive past Bratislava anyway. Maybe it can be arranged to pick up other VTers in Bratislava on the way?