Krakow Travel Forum

Hey! I was wondering how other people have travelled from Budapest to Krakow.
At the moment all the plane tickets are sooooo expensive...like 350 euros for two people. Im planning to go in August...busy time i know.
Train is an option...but i have heard good and bad things about the train.
Driving is an option...most people say its okay but some people swear the roads in Poland are a death trap? surely it can't be that bad...? I heard it takes about 7 hours mainly using the E77...
Any suggestions or advice? Please!!! :)

What is wrong with the train? You go few days before you start to the station and buy two tickets for 25 Euro each. That is the discounted price. The full price can be easily "fooled" by buying a Budapest-Plavec-Hidasnémeti round-trip for 20.16 Euro at one station in Budapest and a Plavec-Krakow/Muszyna-Plavec round-trip for 16.52 Euro (thus bringing the total for two to 36.68 Euro, regular price would be 54.60).

The absolute minimum price from Budapest would be Budapest-Cana/Cana-Hidasnémeti for 11.36 + Hidasnémeti-Plavec/Cana-Hidasnémeti for 6.64 + Plavec-Krakow/Muszyna-Plavec for 16.52 = 34.52 Euro

well some forums ive read people claimed trains in poland are not safe? im just saying what i read, ive no idea of the reality. and also i was a bit wary coz it takes so long. but the overnighter is okay.

I dont really understand what you wrote though...my friend in hungary rang the main budapest train station and they sad it would cost 79.40 euros per person, and an extra 20 euro for a sleeping cabin...
What is this discounted price you mentioned? Is that when you buy it a few days before? That last bit you wrote was very confusing! Are all those the names of train stations or something?? Haha sorry for my ignorance…

Yes, these were the names of the stations. My prices are correct, believe me.
Before you go to Hungary page here. After 15 years in USA we moving to Hungary this July, I can help you better than. Calling the station is fruitless, the competence is limited. You have to go there with ready ticket printouts.

I am doing ticketing as a hobby for ca. 30 years. Probably I won't make you tired to explain... but if you wish, here is it.

1) there are "hidden" discounts between certain countries if you buy round-trip. Round-trip means basically "in-out" of the country in that particular railroad term. What I did is to cut the Budapest-Krakow into three tickets:

- one mainly for Hungary with a tiny "back" portion of Slovakia, so we can get 60% off for that part
- one mainly for Slovakia with a tiny Hungarian portion, so we can get 60% off for that part
- one mainly Polish portion with a tiny Slovakia-Poland portion so we can get 30% off for that part.

This is a "grey line" and no ticket office will issue three tickets like that at once, only if they "know" (have connections and trust) to the "customer".

2) There is a limited contingent of seats every day, the simplest is, you call your friend and they can buy you ahead of time these 25 Euro Budapest-Krakow daytime tickets. You can go by night...

BUT I SUGGEST YOU TO GO DURING THE DAY. This is Eurocity quality train, don't worry about some unwanted folks, that time is over 10 or more years ago. The scenery is, however, very nice.

Even if Gyuri did not exist I'd say go by train. Of course! It's perfectly safe, cheaper than flying, you will see far more and it's greener. Driving is an unnecessary hassle.

Gyuri does exist, so the additional benefit of that is that you can get tickets even cheaper than you might otherwise (no, you definitely do not need a Eurail pass).

Go by train and enjoy it: Budapest is fascinating, Krakow is a wonderful place. I intend to be there this August if I possibly can!