Prague Travel Forum

After reading most of the tips about transportation from Prague, I figured out that to get to Paris by night train would be too expensive and too much hassle to change all these trains in the middle of the night. Did anybody try to use Student Bus that leaves Prague at 23:30 and arrives at 5:50 in Paris? Do we need to make ticket reservation on-line? The word "student" makes me worry as in my mind it associates with something cheap and not comfortable. At my age of 40+ these are not my priorities anymore! Any feedback would be much appreciated!

If you must travel by night, there is at least one train that has only one change: the 20:25, which involves a change at Karlsruhe at 08:18, a pretty civilised hour.

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/international_guests.shtml for info.

However, if you really want to travel by coach (and I'd far rather go by train, personally) then http://www.bei.cz/ is the coach operator's site (accessed via www.eurolines.com) Sadly, it doesn't seem to be working properly at the moment..... I'd book my ticket beforehand I think, not necessarily online but certainly in Prague before the day you want to travel.

It won't be particularly comfortable on any coach, 'student bus' or not, although it will probably be a bit cheaper than the train. It will be a very long journey (15 hours will feel a lot longer on a coach than on a train, simply because you can move around more on a train).

I'd go with the overnight train-with-one-change myself.

Don't worry about Student Agency coaches, it's more comfortable than eurolines. You get free drinks, newspapers, headphones etc. Price is 1500 CZK one way (www.studentagency.cz). Generally the best way is by air. Skyeurope.com has tickets starting at 899 CZK all in. You can also take an overnight train to Amsterdam or Cologne and continue by Thalys high speed train.

Thank you!

Thank you! Amazingly yes, by air is cheaper and faster, but then you have to pay for 1 extra night at the hotel. We always travel by night train within Europe just to save money, but in case of Prague it appeared to be not the best option...

Student Agency buses are an excellent value. It is operated by university students supporting themselves by working. Nothing wrong with that. The option is 100 times better than the train.

It does not sound "excellent value" to me (at €60 a single, that's €120 for a RTN and about 40% more expensive than the plane), for 16 hours stuck on a bus, and as for it better so much better than the train, what nonsense.

The train is probably only marginally more expensive (I haven't priced it from Prague but I suspect there's not much in it), travelling by train is quicker (12 hrs) and far more relaxing (restaurant, bar, more space), and the 1 or 2 changes allow for a refreshin stop. How travelling by bus is 100 times better than that I can't figure out.

Hi,

I have checked the web page and only found Student Agency bus departing 17:30 from Prague and arriving 7:00 to Paris. Be aware that bus goes only on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday!

They say it is necessary to reserve. For assistance you can contact levnejizdenky@studentagency.cz

They use these yellow buses presented on the pictures. They are comfortable as much as can bus be comfortable.

Rolandas, I don't understand Czech obviously, I had a look at the czech train company, but couldn't work much out, could you work out the price of a Prague-Paris single and return by train on the national railway company. I'd be curious to know how much a ticket is for an adult.

Hi,

Unfortunately, Czech Rail has very basic web page which does not allow interactive pricing for each trip. It is only working well for local routes.

New price calculator http://www.jizdenka.cz/ which is in testing mode shows basic one way price 153 EUR, return 306 EUR, but it does not include TGV and other extras in the route (and I can not select this option). I presume that trip via Karlsruhe using TGV will be substantially more expensive.

On the other hand, night train has special pricing. I only could find price Prague - Frankfurt = 155 EUR one way for 1 bed in 3 beds compartment. I presume price to Karslruhe will be similar.

On the Praha - Karlsruhe night train there are special "Sparnight" deals available. They do however sell out fast, so you need to book in advance. However, for a weekday in June I still found the following priceS:
- Seat: 29,-
- Couchette 6: 49,-
- Couchette 4: 59,-
- Economy single: 159,- (yes, that is a whole compartiment to yourself...)

You would then also need a ticket for Karlsruhe - Paris. Tickets for this train are also available starting at 29,-
So the cheapest by train would be 58,-
All this needs to booked in advance, but www.bahn.de is your friend here.

Hi R13,

Thanks for the tips. However, the link you gave me is not exactly for the student bus, it's for airfare. Here's for the bus: www.studentagencybus.com
I agree, that 16 hours on a bus is not fun, but there's an option (if you click on Prague-Paris-Bus-coach in the top left corner) for a bus leaving Prague at 23:55 and arriving in Paris at 5:15 (5.5 hours only - not bad!).
Train or bus is a matter of personal choice I think. I thought the train was really expensive as I found a website with the rate of $1084 for 1 first class coupé (2 beds only there - ideal). 2nd class was $700 (not much less, but very inconvenient). Thanks for the train ticket prices you provided me with, I may reconsider taking a bus now...

Thanks KVB, really grateful for this detailed info! Now I can tell that I'll take a bus for sure: yes, the prices are more or less the same for bus or train, but if I take a train I'll be in Paris only at 12:34, and by the time we reach our hotel it'll be probably 1:30-2 p.m., which means half day is gone! In Paris half day for me is worth 3 days somewhere else... No, can't afford that!
Thanks again though, really appreciate everybody's help!!

Hi vasilyec,

I was not aware of http://www.studentagencybus.com/ as it is run by Hungarian daughter company.

www.studentagency.cz has all the information about buses and other activities in Czech but only airfares info in English - you are right about that.

Hovever also in http://www.studentagencybus.com/ I can not see the bus leaving Prague at 23:55 and arriving in Paris at 5:15 you are mentioning (these times are valid for Germany destinations, like Berlin). Listed there is 17:30 - 7:00 bus.

Weirdly, it was there this morning when I checked (because it seeemed such an unlikely journey length: the viamichelin site gives a journey time of 9 hours+ ).

But it's not there now.

So I think there must have been a mistake on the website, which has now been corrected.

http://www.studentagencybus.com/en/424_424/STUDENT%20AGENCY%20%20PRAGUE%20-%20FRANCE

Yes, guys, you are right. There WAS a trip from Prague to Paris from 23:30 to 5:50 or something like that, but when I sent an e-mail to confirm that, I got an answer that it was a mistake on thieir website (surprise, surprise!!), and that they were going to fix that. They've probably done it by now. I ended up booking a bus that leaves at 17:30. It's about 60 Euro/person, and will be in Paris at 7 a.m.
Maybe less comfortable than a train, but cheaper and the arrival time is much better. Thanks everybody for info and support!