Berlin Travel Forum

Planning to go this June 18 from Berlin to Prague.
Can I just buy at Berlin station without buying thru internet now (I am in NYC)? What is a reasonable cost of one way ticket? Any good site to check prices? I saw one in raileurope and it quotes $100..is that accurate or with added fees? Which station will I be using in Berlin?

Thanks!

You can find timetables/fares and book here:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Normal one-way fare is EUR 60.20 (USD 86).
Savings fares at EUR 39 (USD 56) are still available, but have to be booked soon as tickets are limited. Savings fares tickets are non changeable, non refundable and use of selected train is required.

I forgot to say that raileurope.com is a ticket agent (charges commission), not a train operator.

Hans has already given you plenty of good answers. I just want to add that unless you have to be on a certain train on a certain day at a certain time or if you want to try to take advantage of the special fares, there is no requirement to buy the tickets before you get to Berlin. Rail transportation is the norm in Europe, and there is a lot of capacity. From Berlin to Prague there are at least 7 trains a day, and the odds of all 7 selling out in one day is pretty unlikely.

So if you want the discounted ticket, you'll need to evaluate how sure you are that you can take a certain train on a certain day, because the deeply discounted fares are non-refundable. If you're not sure, at least be assured that you will be able to get from A to B once you are in Europe without a lot of advance planning...

Bill

Oh, as for which station...well, there is an early morning train (5:00 a.m. I think) that leaves Berlin's Ostbahnhof. But most of the trains during the day leave Berlin's Hauptbahnhof (main train station), although just picking one train at random (EuroCity 177 that leave the Hauptbahnhof at 12:54), I see that it stops at Berlin Südkreuz a few minutes after leaving the Hauptbahnhof...if you look for "Details" and "Show Intermediate Stops" in the bahn website that Hans gave you, you will be able to check this for yourself for whatever train you want to take...

Bill

> Which station will I be using in Berlin?
Buy the ticket from the closest station (incl. S-Bahn station) from where you stay in Berlin to Prague.
Ticket price is the same from any station in central Berlin.
You'll mostlikely have to change trains either at Berlin Hbf or Berlin Südkreuz, as it is unlikely that you'll stay in walking distance from these two stations.

Thanks for all the replies. The BAHN site does not give a price. It says Information about fares not available. I've given all it wants, like my age and no BAHN card, and it tells me the price and details will have to be worked out at the service center. Oh well..but it does give me the available trains running on that day.

This is what I will probably take: (Anyone know where I will make the change?)
From Berlin Hbf (tief)
To: Praha Hlavni Nadrazi (M) on Th, 18.06.2009 at 10:35
arriving 15:32 travel time 4:57 Changes: 1 Services available: EC, U

Thanks again

Hmmmmn, what website are you looking at?

The bahn website shows 2 solutions at 10:35 on that date:
#1
Th, 18.06.09
Berlin Hbf (tief) dep 10:35
Praha-Holesovice arr 15:18

#2
Th, 18.06.09
Berlin Hbf (tief) dep 10:35
Praha hl.n. arr 15:38

The difference is that the second solution stops at Praha-Holesovice and notes that you continue by Metro to Praha hl.n. I do not know Prague, but I am guessing that these are two different stations in Prague, and that Praha hl.n. is a main station, hence the duplicate routings.

You could see this for yourself if you go do this query at the www.bahn.de website, then select "Details for All" (assuming that this solution is showing).

I also see that the bahn website is showing the fare. It shows that on your desired routing that the 29 euro fare is no longer available, but the 39 euro fare is still available as well as a 49 euro fare for 1st class. You're not seeing this?

Bill

DB timetable
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
From: BERLIN
To: PRAGUE

Just use the city names. Don't select a train station as long you don't know exactly what you do.

Praha hl.n. is the main train station of Prague
There are however track works between Praha-Holesovice and Praha hl.n. at the moment. Thus the trains end at the moment in Praha-Holesovice. From there you can continue to your final destination by metro, tram or bus.

Berlin Hbf (tief) That's the underground (tief literally deep) part of Berlin Hbf used by the trains running in north-south direction.
http://www.berlin-hauptbahnhof.de/site/berlin__hauptbahnhof/en/start.html

Praha Hlavni Nadrazi (M) = Praha hl.n. metro station
As explained above the EC trains from Berlin do not run at the moment through to this station. That's why you would need to use the metro to get there. But do you have to get there? Just travel from Holesovice to your final destination.

Berlin local public transport
http://www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Start

Prague local public transport
http://www.dpp.cz/en/

Hi Bill
I clicked on see all details. But I cannot see the fares--it says unknown tariff abroad. But I can see the 2 solutions you mentioned. Thanks for letting me know how much they would cost.

Hi Abalada

Thanks so much for all the information. They will help me finalize my trip.

"it says unknown tariff abroad."

This is the message you see for June 18 for this train at the www.bahn.de website?

I don't understand, as this message is used by the bahn website when it is referring to a train trip that is wholly in another country, which is obviously not the case for this train. You really are using http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml ? Oh, are you looking at the bahn site in a language other than English? That shouldn't make a difference, but I could go check it if need be...

Bill

I just took this train last week.
I bought it online a month before i went to Berlin.
It costs me 78 Euros round trip and a few more euros to reserve a seat.

To get the discounted savings fare price from the DB Banh website, you need to click on the "Check All" button, enter your age, then hit "Refresh". You will show you which trains will have the discounted tickets.

The train arrived in Prague's Hln Nadrazi. It is < 5 mins by metro to Holesovic and very easy to figure out how to get there.

Also, when i booked the ticket, the ticket said it is stopping in Holesovic. but after you buy it, The ticket shows it stops only at Hln Nadrazi and to use the metro to get to Holesovic.
Something to be aware of.

Hello. Just a thought...seeing as your motto is 'So much too see, so little time!'...Are you in a desperate hurry to get to Prague, or on a specific schedule? It's just that I was doing this journey, I might be sore tempted to break my journey with an overnight stay in Dresden, which would be well worth the visit, especially if you were not liable to pass that way again. The rebuilt Frauenkirche is quite something, as is the Zwinger pavilion/gallery complex. You can book separate Berlin-Dresden and Dresden-Prague tickets on the DB website. The only new problem for you might be booking a night's accommodation in Dresden. Just a suggestion, and probably a useless and unwelcome one. Best wishes for your trip. JHR.